The Bridge Volume 29 Number 2 Article 35 2006 The Jean Hersholt Collection of Anderseniana at the Library of Congress Kristi Johnson Taru Spiegel Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/thebridge Part of the European History Commons, European Languages and Societies Commons, and the Regional Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Johnson, Kristi and Spiegel, Taru (2006) "The Jean Hersholt Collection of Anderseniana at the Library of Congress," The Bridge: Vol. 29 : No. 2 , Article 35. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/thebridge/vol29/iss2/35 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Bridge by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. The Jean Hersholt Collection of Anderseniana at the Library of Congress by Kristi Johnson and Taru Spiegel Introduction Hans Christian Andersen was already well known in the United States during his lifetime. Though he wanted to meet his American admirers, fear of accidents at sea kept Andersen from crossing the Atlantic. Three quarters of a century after the author's death, another Dane ensured that a part of Andersen's legacy would remain permanently in America. The Danish American actor, author, and humanitarian, Jean Hersholt, together with his Danish born wife, Via, donated a treasure trove of Anderseniana to the Library of Congress in 1951. The Library's preeminent collection of Scandinavian materials is often overlooked amidst the institution's 130 million items in more than 400 languages. Andersen scholars in the United States, however, may want to explore the American Hersholt riches before venturing overseas for their research.