PHILADELPHIA - The University of Pennsylvania Library's newest volumes include books donated by more than 50 world leaders, including Pope John Paul II, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. The works range from a modern CD to historic literature several hundred years old.

To mark the Library 250th anniversary, Penn President Judith Rodin invited dozens of world leaders to join in the Library anniversary celebration with a symbolic gift of a book. The Saudis sent a royal printing of the Koran. An additional gift was a spectacularly displayed letter from King Fahd engraved on a silver and gold sculpture of an open book. Pope John Paul II gave a three volume set of the Latin bible, the Bible de Gutenberg. Armenia donated a CD-ROM chronicling its history. Queen Elizabeth II sent 77 volumes of historic literature. The majority of the books reflect England history and culture from Caesar first sighting of Dover to World War II.

"You might ask yourself: 'What do these gifts have in common?'" says Vice Provost and Director of Libraries Paul Mosher. "The answer is: nothing and everything. Collectively, they represent a sample of the range of what is collected by a modern academic library."

The books are on display at the University of Pennsylvania Van Pelt-Dietrich Library, and will be included in the Library rare books and manuscripts collection.

The University of Pennsylvania has a long history of donations from world leaders. Books donated by Louis XVI of France in the 18th century are among the Library original holdings.