The oldest book displayed at the exhibition, De Ivstita (Freedom of Thought) was printed in 1632 and the recent one in 1900. While 10 books are in Latin, the rest are in English.

The books are from the personal collection of the Jesuit priests, who came to the city in the beginning of the 19th Century, and had donated it to the college in 1860. '

History of Metal Currency (1737), Biography of Goethe (1882), Ancient History of the Egyptians, Babylonians, Mexicans & Persians (1849) and Principles of Science (1900) are some of the few important books of the collections most of which deal with subjects such as religion, history and some biographies.

The college authorities had stumbled upon a collection of 200 rare books, five years ago, which were in a bad shape, said Father P C Mathew, Principal St Xavier's College.

The college then approached the New Delhi office of the UNESCO for funds and received a grant of $ 6,230 in 2006. Almost 200 of about 1 lakh books have been chosen for the preservation that involve fumigation, de-acidification and tissue lamination.

Now the college is mulling over digitising the books.