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LC Conference Report <fwd>
On Wednesday, 4 April 2001, the Rare Book and Special Collections
Division of the Library of Congress (LC) co-sponsored a one-day
conference with LC?s Center for the Book: ?Private Collectors &
Special Collections in Libraries.? The conference took place in the
Mumford Room in LC?s Madison Building on Capitol Hill, and it attracted
more than 200 persons from a surprisingly wide geographical area for a
one-day event, including attendees from institutions circling Washington
in a fertile crescent stretching from Cambridge, Ithaca, and Oberlin
around to Durham. There were a good many book collectors and antiquarian
booksellers in attendance, including a number of heavy hitters in both
groups.
Here follows an informal and unofficial account of the conference
proceedings. The speakers included Alice Schreyer (University of
Chicago), William Reese (William Reese Company), Robert H.
Jackson (Cleveland, OH); other program participants included Selby
Kiffer (Sotheby?s NY), Edmond Lincoln (NYC), Merrily E.
Taylor (Brown University), John Warnock (Adobe/Octavo), and
Mark Dimunation (LC).
Welcoming the attendees at 9:30 am, James H. Billington (Librarian of
Congress) said that this conference inaugurated a new series similar to
the joint Center for the Book/Rare Book Division undertakings of the
1980s taking place when William Matheson was LC?s Chief of the Rare Book
& Special Collections Division.
ALICE SCHREYER
Alice Schreyer gave the first formal presentation of the conference:
?Elective Affinities: Private Collectors and Special Collections in
Libraries.?
Spending
public funds or student tuition money on special collections, she began,
has long been thought to be an elitist activity, right back to the days
of Jefferson. She divided the history of collectors and libraries into
three periods: the last decades of the c19 and the first years of the c20
(the Golden Age of American book collecting); the post-World War II
period of institutional expansion; and the current scene.
The Golden Age of American Book Collecting
The notion that students need libraries is a necessary
precondition for library development; in the final decades of the c19,
academic libraries began to grow significantly, a period in which
individuals began to build great libraries of their own (Lenox, Morgan,
Huntington, Folger). During this period, collectors? libraries -- many of
them high-spot -- tended to be dispersed at auction. Those collectors who
donated their books to academic and other already-existing libraries had
strikingly similar goals: to put students in contact with early books in
the belief that such contact would enrich the academic curriculum. After
the First World War, institutions increased their efforts to attract
library donors; the effectiveness of such campaigns depended in part on
their success in hiring faculty members and curators able to interest
undergraduate and alumni collectors in giving their collections to their
alma maters. George Parker Winship and after him William H. Jackson, the
first curator of the Houghton Library at Harvard, were notably successful
practitioners in this area, though the going wasn?t entirely smooth (the
head of the Harvard College Library?s visiting committee felt that
neither the Houghton nor Jackson were desirable additions to Harvard
Yard).
Various
individual collectors gave book collections to institutions during this
period (Berg to NYPL; Rosenwald to LC). By the later 1930s, Seymour de
Ricci could defend his decision to include individual collectors?
holdings among the institutional entries of his Census of Medieval and
Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada: private
ownership of such material was a transitional feature, he said: most of
the manuscripts he listed were destined for an institutional home, sooner
or later.
Post-War Developments
The post-WWII period saw rapid institutional growth, and research
libraries became powerful forces in the rare book market. Public funds
began to be used for the purchase both of rare books (Ransom at Texas;
Powell at UCLA) and of buildings to house them (the Lilly Library at
Indiana Univ was built with funds raised by a public bond issue). Special
rooms within libraries were created (James Ford Bell at the Univ of MN;
Taylor and Scheide at Princeton; Elkins at the Free Library of Phila;
McGregor at the Univ of VA; Hunt at Carnegie-Mellon). A tradition of
long-term cooperation developed between collectors and institutions
(Graff at Newberry; Hofer at Harvard). A generation of institutional
collection builders developed (Rosenthal at Chicago; Lohf at Columbia;
Towner at the Newberry; Wolf at the Library Company of Phila). Rare book
departments changed their name to Special Collections as part of a desire
to shed their Treasure Room image. Friends groups were begun or
revived.
The Current Scene
In the latter decades of the c20, the focus shifted from collection
development to cataloging, preservation, and access. Blockbuster
exhibitions with elaborate catalogs proliferated. Fellowship programs
(funded by the NEH and others) were developed to stimulate
collection use. Undergraduate book collecting contests became common.
Surrogates created new audiences. But providing access to collections is
expensive, and there is a sense that many of our present solemn physical
spaces intimidate potential users. Education for rare book librarianship
has become more professionalized -- so much so that some librarians look
more like MBA?s. Curators need a wider variety of skills than was
formerly the case: but where are they to come from? In rare book
acquisitions, libraries have necessarily become more selective, though
deaccession has not yet become important (the publicity surrounding
deaccession undermines trust in institutions). Collectors continue to
shape libraries: the gift of Carter Burden?s great (and enormous)
American literature collection to the Pierport Morgan Library has
significantly altered the Morgan?s focus, as has the gift of the Cotsen
collection of children?s books to Princeton (?not an area previously of
great interest to Princeton?). Are such gifts appropriate? It?s hard to
evaluate them over the short haul. Meanwhile, we cannot over-emphasize
the impact that collectors continue to have on libraries.
The
questions book collectors should ask themselves before giving their books
to libraries remain the ones that Randolph Adams listed a 1950 New
Colophon article called ?How Shall I Leave My Books to a Library??
What library? Are you satisfied that the library understands what you are
giving it? What is the library?s track record for other such gifts? Will
your books be kept in the same condition they are now in? Are you making
conditions about the disposal of duplicates, and are you sure that anyone
on the staff of the library of your choice knows what a duplicate is? Is
security such that your books can easily be stolen by ?nimble-fingered
and migratory experts?? What provisions are you making for the expansion,
growth, and evolution of your collections?
Similarly,
research libraries should ask themselves: will the proposed gift support
the institution?s programs or curriculum? add to or create strength, or
serve as a magnet to attract other collections? stimulate new fields of
research or help recruit new faculty? What are the implications for
staff? preservation? other resources? Are the donor?s expectations
reasonable?
WILLIAM REESE
The conference?s second major presentation was given by the New
Haven-based Americana dealer, William Reese, introduced by John Y. Cole
as a major force in American antiquarian bookselling, ?despite his
youthful appearance -- well, let?s face it: despite his youth!?
Reese
began his presentation, ?What Have You Done for Me Lately? Collectors and
Institutions in the Modern World,? by noting that collectors have played
a big role in building libraries in this country since Colonial days, and
that there ought to be a natural symbiosis between the two. Though
the relationship between donors and libraries seems simple, however, it
has a way of becoming complex.
The major
driving force in the rare book market today is the scarcity of material,
a scarcity caused by the tendency of materials to move from private hands
to institutional ones: ?most antiquarian books in the world are in
institutions.? The attics have largely been opened out; and rare books
are now uncommon: in good condition, very rare. Collectors from Hoe to
Siebert have realized that gifts to institutions would eventually dry up
the market. Dr Siebert was angered by libraries, and he could never bring
himself to give his collections to any library. He was a
misanthrope: but his attitudes are increasingly shared by today?s
collectors.
Stamps vs Books
Stamp
collecting offers an instructive comparison to that of book collecting;
there is virtually no institutional participation in the market. Here any
collector who lives long enough and who has enough money can eventually
end up with virtually everything.
At the
time of the Hoe sale, there was no distinction between books and
information: the transfer of books represented a transfer of knowledge,
and the culture of books and the culture of learning was the same. The
first area to come under attack was newspapers, because of microfilming,
with pamphlets and government documents next. The importance of books as
texts has been greatly reduced; today?s collectors have few illusions
that by collecting they are establishing a body of knowledge; they are
collecting icons, not information, and no one who owns a copy of Dunlap?s
printing of the Declaration of Independence is likely to read the text in
that copy. Libraries continue to have a dual role: delivering information
while preserving the artefact. Digitization puts libraries in a double
bind: on the one hand, some institutions will see digital copies as
acceptable replacements for original artefacts; on the other hand,
digitization will release some collectors from an obligation to give
their books to libraries since they are no longer needed as
artefacts.
There is a
lively current debate as to the likely effects of current tax reform. Tax
laws in the post-WWII era favored donations, providing an extraordinary
opportunity to donate highly appreciated items to institutions. The end
of the death tax will be a major blow to institutions. The higher prices
that rare books are currently fetching will also mitigate against
donation, since book collectors? books tend to loom larger in their
estates than was formerly the case.
Collectors
Collectors used to be concentrated in the northeastern United States;
they tended to know each other, and they tended to work with a relatively
small number of dealers. Collectors are now more dispersed, with less
contact with each other. Modern collectors are more skeptical of
libraries than they used to be, and every mass disposal by libraries
lessens their confidence (viz the dispersal of the Franklin Institute
library; that of the Foreign Office, London; and the guillotining of
NYPL?s pamphlet collection). Collectors need to be convinced that
libraries need their support.
On the
other hand, institutions should look beyond the gift of books to more
general support. Dealers can bring collectors and librarians together.
Dealers themselves are sometimes considerable collectors (cf Jammes and
photographs, Rosenthal and annotated books, H P Kraus and Sir Francis
Drake).
Curators
The greatest single thing curators can do is to bring students into
contact with rare books; such moments can shape lifetime loyalties.
Collectors and institutions should have goals in common beyond the
transfer of books. Collectors have a stake in scholarship, too, and they
should move beyond the donation of materials to become supporters of
programs; in this, libraries should look for guidance to museums, who are
already in this business (we are a drop in the bucket, compared to the
museum world).
There are
many more stumbling blocks than there used to be between collectors and
libraries, though the situation is not necessarily bleak. There are still
plenty of comprehensive collectors out there, putting together
collections likely to be attractive and appropriate gifts to libraries. A
skillful collector of modest means can still do well -- as can one of
considerable means: witness Michael Zinman?s collection of pre-1800
American imprints, headed for the Library Company of Phila (its
collection of such material is now second only to that of the American
Antiquarian Society). The collection stayed intact because of the
willingness of collector and institution to work together.
ROBERT H. JACKSON
The morning?s final speaker was Robert H. Jackson: lawyer, bibliophile,
and collector of Dickens, Thackeray, George Eliot, George Meredith,
c19 literature in general, books in parts, Rockwell Kent, Eugene O?Neill,
Robert Penn Warren, color plate books.... His subject was ?Will the
Collectors of Today Be the Donors of Tomorrow??
He noted
that the Internet has greatly changed our world, but more people are
reading more books than ever before: ?at the moment, the rise of the
computer has not killed books, only trees!? Looking around us, the
triumph of the printed book would seem to be complete. Yet whenever
anybody speaks of the future of the book, ?we get nervous.?
Though
special collections are a relatively recent development in the history of
the world, many American collections are now relatively mature, and in
danger of becoming ossified. Younger librarians may be increasingly
comfortable with computers, but less so with books; and there are fewer
venues for training than there used to be. Much of the material in
canonized collecting areas is either already institutionalized or too
expensive for most institutions to buy. Donors need to be reminded of the
existence of special collections
Collectors
From a collector?s viewpoint, the real problem is paucity of material;
the days of the open bookshop have passed. Book fairs are the last place
where we all meet. Book fairs are like quattrocento balls, places where
traditional roles change: dealers become buyers; buyers become sellers,
and you never know who?s lurking behind the curtain.
Today?s
younger collectors are not trying to prove themselves via their
collections; they are well-educated; they rely on expert advice. Book
collectors of moderate means (unlike art collectors) can still
prosper.
Donation
remains an attractive option for collectors, especially those who bought
in the 1960s, whose collections have greatly appreciated in value.
Despite the lessening of tax advantages in donating material, today?s
generation of collectors is likely to continue to be generous. Our
present cultural infrastructure is largely the result of the generosity
of the robber-baron generation of a century ago; it?s difficult to
believe that today?s generation of better-educated collectors won?t be as
generous as they were. Finally, collectors will be driven by altruism,
not tax benefits.
PANEL
The afternoon session featured a panel chaired by Mark Dimunation, chief
of LC?s Rare Book & Special Collections Division; members included
Selby Kiffer, Edmond Lincoln, Merrily E. Taylor, and John Warnock.
Selby Kiffer
What librarians want collectors to do and what dealers want collectors to
do are quite different! Auction houses tend to have closer relations with
collectors than with dealers: they?re loyalty is with the seller. Kiffer
isn?t as sure as William Reese of the scarcity of material: new
collecting interests constantly emerge, and older materials have a way of
turning up (five new copies of the Dunlap printing of the Declaration of
Independence have appeared since Goff?s 1976 census).
Edmond Lincoln
Lincoln discussed his long association with the research library at
Winterthur; he grew up outside of Wilmington and used the library while
he was still in high school; he worked briefly as acting rare book
librarian there between college and graduate school. He has been a donor
to the library for three decades; it?s his way of saying thank you. He
tries to give the library material that will fill in its holdings and add
to strength; as a donor, he?s reassured by the excellence of Winterthur?s
conservation program. For him, the traditional models of donor - library
relations still work. He knows where his book are going to go.
When
Lincoln was a student at the Harvard Business School, Kenneth Carpenter
was the Kress Librarian. Carpenter used to let students have out-of-scope
antiquarian catalogs; this was a wonderful way for a librarian to develop
an extended family.
The
dealer-collector relationship is essential. Dealers run open-stack rare
book libraries, and let you come in! They are more accessible than many
librarians, and often more knowledgeable about their own special
fields.
Merrily E. Taylor
Taylor keeps a list of Brown University?s librarians outside her office,
to remind herself and her staff that they are part of a larger whole, and
they hold not only positions, but also an inheritance. Libraries have a
shared passion and commitment to the future to offer collectors: books
are a more lasting memorial than buildings. Taylor?s role is to find
resources and provide support so that the Brown special collections staff
can do what it does; it?s hard to over-estimate the competition
within institutions for resources, both within the library itself
and within the institution as a whole.
Taylor?s
first library job was in the circulation department, ?the Russian front
of the library.? Circulation departments tend to view special collections
as devoted to keeping patrons from books. She advises special collections
librarians to educate their directors as much as they can about what they
do.
She
doesn?t believe collections are drying up; Brown was recently given a
collection of 60,000 comic books (the press was interesting on this one:
Ivy institution given collection of comic books what is the world coming
to &c. &c.). Where there?s a variety of human interests there
will continue to be a variety of collections.
Taylor
knows more collectors than dealers. In the places she has worked,
relations among collectors and dealers and librarians have been
overwhelmingly positive.
Giving
away a collection is like giving away a child in marriage: you need to
let go and let the child go off with another.
John Warnock
Warnock became a high-spot collector (history of science, mathematics,
economics) in the late 1980s. One of his motives in starting Octavo was
to make books like the ones he owns more accessible. Artefacts are icons;
there?s nothing like them. But not everybody has access to them.
Books are
like Niagara Falls going into a large library; but they?re like a garden
hose, coming out. Collectors are afraid their collections will die on
library shelves. In order for me to be persuaded to give my books to a
library, I?d have to be assured that the library would put the same sort
of energy into the collection that I do. You have to know whom you?re
giving up your kids to, to be sure they won?t be brutalized.
-o0o-
Future conferences in this series are planned for October 2001 and April
2002 (the latter featuring Christopher de Hamel, marking the occasion of
the 50th anniversary of Lessing Rosenwald?s gift of the Giant Bible of
Mainz to LC).
Terry Belanger : University Professor : University of
Virginia : Rare Book School : 114 Alderman Library : Charlottesville,
VA 22903 : Telephone 804/924-8851 fax
804/924-8824 email belanger@virginia.edu :URL
<http://www.virginia.edu/oldbooks/>