The Fresno State Library is profoundly honored by the donation of a significant new collection to our campus. The Library has acquired an extensive collection of over 6,500 volumes on pre-Columbian Aztec and colonial Mexican art history from the late Dr. Eloise Quiñones Keber, thanks to the generosity of Michel Besson, the widower of Dr. Quiñones Keber.

Dr. Quiñones Keber was a pioneering scholar in her field, a Chicana from Los Angeles who earned a doctorate in art history from Columbia University in 1984. Her work has had a lasting impact on the study of pre-Columbian art, and her collection of English and Spanish scholarly resources—many rare, out-of-print, or difficult to obtain—is a valuable addition to our academic resources.

Esplendor del México Antiquo. Editorial del Valle de México, 1978. From the Eloise Quiñones Keber Collection of Aztec and Colonial Mexican Art Resources, Fresno State Library.
Esplendor del México Antiquo. Editorial del Valle de México, 1978. From the Eloise Quiñones Keber Collection.

The Library plans to highlight the collection in our new and highly accessible Featured Collections area on the first floor. We anticipate the collection will be of great interest not only to art students but also to students and researchers in the areas of history, literature, archeology, anthropology, and Indigenous and ethnic studies. 

We are delighted to provide this exceptional collection with a permanent home at Fresno State and to steward it for the enrichment of our scholarly community. Please stay tuned for further updates as the collection is catalogued and made available for research in our community over the next few academic terms.