One of Stephen Barabas' colleagues stated that Barabas had the "best and best-used theological library in the [Bible] department." The Keswick Collection is composed of over 900 books, pamphlets and periodicals from this excellent library. His personal and academic interest in Keswick inspired him to write his Th.D. thesis on this topic. The completion of his work was hindered by a fire which destroyed the first draft, but it was finished in 1948 and later published as So Great Salvation (1952).

Barabas was educated at Princeton University (A.B. 1937) and Princeton Theological Seminary (Th.B. 1940, Th.D. 1948). He taught at Albany Bible School, Nyack Bible College, Princeton Theological Seminary and served as a pastor at Ballston Center Presbyterian Church (NY) prior to taking a position in the Bible Department at Wheaton College. He taught at Wheaton for 25 years, retiring in 1974. While at Wheaton he met and married Mary Jane Hendrickson. They had two children. Dr. Barabas died May 22, 1983.

The collection includes books and pamphlets written by people associated with the Keswick Movement. Prominent among these are J. Stuart Holden, J. C. Metcalfe, F. B. Meyer, G. Campbell Morgan, H. C. G. Moule, Andrew Murray, Ruth Paxton, Jesse Penn-Lewis, A. T. Pierson, Alexander Smellie, I. Lillias Trotter, and Gordon Watt. A nearly-complete run of the Keswick annual, dating from 1874 is also available along with copies of The Overcomer from 1909-1948. Several books relating to Keswick and holiness have been added to the collection by the Special Collections staff and these are marked with an asterisk on the bibliography.

The Keswick Collection was a gift to Wheaton College from Mrs. Stephen Barabas. A reception at the opening of the collection was held on April 12, 1988. Items from the collection do not circulate, though researchers are free to use them in the Special Collections reading room. All photocopying will be performed in accordance with the Archives and Special Collections Photocopying Policy, which is available upon request.