College and Research Libraries

ROBERT VOSPER A Century Abroad THE MOST TANGIBLE AND .PERSISTENT university library-in a fascinating se OVERSEAS RELATIONSIDP of American aca ries of letters to the contracting book demic and research libraries has been in agents in Boston, whom he convinced the search for books. Thomas Jefferson's to set up a branch office in Charlottes zealous skill as a private book collector ville.4 in Europe not only set the pattern for his later personal efforts in support of EARLy COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT the University of Virginia's library; One does not know the extent to here also was an early, exemplary model which other American academic librar-. available for later "librarians"1 as well ies in the 1820s were so carefully search as for later university presidents.2 ing the European book market, but it In his dramatic letter of September is pleasant to recall, as another possible 21, 1814, proffering his private library touchstone, that the equally bookish to the Congress, Jefferson recalled: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, profes While residing in Paris, I devoted ev sor of modern languages and librarian ery afternoon I was disengaged, for a of Bowdoin College from 1829 to 1835, summer or two in examining all the · was painstaking in purchasing European principal book stores, turning over ev literature for the library, not many ery book with my own hands, and put books in all to .be sure, but a scholarly ting by everything which related to selection. In these professional efforts America, and indeed whatever was he had the advantage of a European rare and valuable in every science. Be tour, including book buying commis sides this, I had standing orders during the whole time I was in Europe, on its sions, fostered by the college in the principal book-marts, particularly Am years just prior to his actual appoint sterdam, Frankfort, Madrid, and Lon ment.5 don, for such works relating to Amer But despite such disciplined efforts as ica as could not be found in Paris.s those of Jefferson and Longfellow, it This would have been between 1784 was pointed out in the first article in and 1789, during most of which time he this series that by 1876, our terminus a was the American minister to France. quo, even though we have no careful This experience permitted Jefferson analysis of collections at the time, ~'li then as the founding rector of the Uni brary finances were uncertain and gifts versity of Virginia, in the last few years played the largest role."6 This resulted of his life, to give meticulous directions in uneven and generally inadequate col -as to language, edition, and price of lections, but it is nonetheless also clear European books required for the new that the importance of British and Eu- 514 I Century Abroad I 515 ropean publications was not underesti British and American libraries has been mated. translated into English. He specifies im The meaty analysis of individual portant private libraries of nineteenth "College Libraries" in the famous 1876 century German scholars in theology, Report on public libraries in the United philology, history, bacteriology, and sur States not only reminds us of the eigh gical history that ended up at Andover teenth century British gifts of books to Theological Seminary, the Chicago The Harvard, Yale, and Columbia, but also ological Seminary, Adelbert College in points out a number of significant Eu Cleveland, New York University, Toron ropean acquisitions at other institutions. to, Bryn Mawr, Vassar, McGill, Virgin Of special note is the fact that Long ia, and George Washington, as well as fellow did not plow a new furrow at Harvard, Chicago, Cornell, and Pennsyl Bowdoin because in 1811, shortly after vania. its founding, the college library re This transatlantic flow began early in ceived a bequest of 4,000 French and the nineteenth century and was, of Spanish books collected by the Hon. course, but one aspect of the German James Bowdoin during his diplomatic influence on American scholarship; but mission in Spain. during the last third of the century the We also learn from the 1876 Report amount and the importance of the traf that the only "considerable donation" fic was sufficient to cause concern among received by the University of Michigan German librarians and even in the daily Library was "the library of the late Dr. press. 8 As an episode in bibliothecal his Rau, Professor in the University of tory this is mindful of the flush years Heidelberg, consisting of about 4,000 after World War II when American volumes and 6,000 pamphlets, purchased academic libraries were investing heavily and presented" by a Detroit citizen. The in the en bloc book market in almost all seminal John C. Green endowment of parts of the world. 1868 at Princeton permitted the pur The nineteenth century German com chase of "the library of Trendelenburg, plainants might have enjoyed Stanford's of Berlin, consisting of nearly 10,000 embarrassment over the 1895 purchase volumes and pamphlets" of classical of the 7,000 volume philological li and philosophical interest. brary of Professor Rudolf Hildebrand. In 1869 a local friend purchased for Through an interested Stanford facul the young Northwestern University Li ty member, friends of the university brary the 20,000 volume private library were asked to contribute toward the of a Dr. Schulze, a member of the Prus purchase price, but Mrs. Stanford her sian ministry of public instruction. And self lodged a direct protest with Presi the library of Harvard's Museum of dent David Starr Jordan about·the pur Comparative Zoology was initiated by chase of "that German Library by solic the 1858 purchase of a Belgian profes iting subscriptions from my friends and sor's paleontological collection. 7 the Trustees." In consequence, some Interestingly enough, the most thor years of effort and ingenuity were re ough calendaring of the How of Euro quired before the cost was covered. 9 pean, particularly German, scholarly One terse note in the 1876 Report book collections to American academic suggests that Rector Jefferson was not libraries was prepared by a German li the first university ·founding official to brarian, Dr. Albert Predeek, for the seek out books overseas for a new li third volume of the Milkau-Leyh brary: Pennsylvania's first pro-vost, Dr. H andbuch der Bibliothekswissenschaft; Smith, brought back books from a 1751 fortunately, his historical review of visit to Great Britain, undertaken par- 516 I College & Research Libraries • November 1976 ticularly to seek endowment funds.10 catalogue from Harrassowitz of Leip But Jefferson's involvement and exper zig," some 1,371 Slavic titles which tise were obviously much more intense amounted to 10 percent of the library's and visible. One wonders then whether total intake for that year. Similarly gen his approach may have influenced other erous European purchases, on even a founding presidents. In any event, it is larger scale, continued into the early of significance that two other such great years of the next century. founders did personally involve them Then in the spring of 1905 Coolidge selves in the European book market. marshaled a program of special signifi The classical example is Andrew Dick cance in the history of library collec son White, the first president of Cornell tion building. Having decided to bring University, founded in 1865. One of his together for Harvard 10,000 volumes on first acts as president was to spend time German history, to be known as the in Europe buying books for his · new Hohenzollern Collection, he personally university, and throughout his tenure employed a talented young bibliophile, he gave the library his personal atten Walter Lichtenstein, later to become tion. This was a natural development Northwestern University's librarian, to because throughout his whole adult life undertake "book-buying and book-trad books were an intimate and essential ing for the Library" in Europe and passion.11 then to "check off" the books on re William Rainey Harper, as the ·ceipt.13 founding president of the University In a certain sense, then, Lichtenstein of Chicago in 1891, .gave that university is a prototype of today's skilled area an early library emphasis. Like White, specialist bibliographers, many of one of Harper's initial ventures was a whom do their book buying in the field trip to Europe to acquire, among other overseas. This is the same Walter Lich things, library books. Soon after settling tenstein whose prototypical cooperative in Berlin, he secured "an option for the book buying trip to South America in purchase by the University of the Cal 1913-14 was pointed out in an earlier vary library, a collection of more than article in this series.14 200,000 books, manuscripts, and pam phlets." Later called the "Berlin Collec THE BooK DEALERS tion," this cost friends of the new uni Thus, no matter how uneven the to versity $45,000.12 tal result, it seems evident that through Archibald Cary Coolidge's tenure as out the nineteenth century a number of Harvard's librarian ( 1910-1928) came American academic libraries were in a generation later than the events just volved, at least occasionally, in . the in mentioned, but his European book buy ternational How of books. This business, ing support for Harvard began in the for libraries in general, was sufficient to late nineteenth century and is thus a generate advertisements in the earliest colorful part of the same story. As an volumes of the American Library ] our internationally minded, bookish scholar, nal from New York-based book agents later librarian, he appears a veritable who announced weekly importations paragon.

Load more