The College recently received a mouthwatering
collection of rare books that includes a 1755 edition of
Johnson's Dictionary (the first dictionary of the English
language), a 1645 edition of John Milton's Poems, a 1632
edition of Ovid's Metamorphosis, the 1713 second edition
of Swift's Miscellanies in Prose and Verse, and much
more.
The collection was the gift of Carl
Booth '38, a retired neurologist at Veterans
Administration Medical Center in the Bronx, who left more
than 350 books to the College in his will. The collection
focuses on literature of the late seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, especially the works of Milton,
Swift, Pope, and Johnson.
“We looked at the list of books
and it was full of wonderful, really significant
titles,” says Jim McCord, associate professor of
English and a rare book enthusiast. “But when they
arrived, we saw that their condition was
extraordinary.”
Beautifully bound in leather, their
fine paper and unique type are well preserved and many of
the illustrations are still sharp and clear. They do not
show their age and are invitingly readable. Unlike most
collections the College receives, the Booth collection
also includes secondary sources, such as biographies of
the authors, and critical works of many of the titles
included in the collection. From this, we can infer that
Booth collected these books for more than just their
looks — that he in fact read them carefully, sometimes
leaving slips of paper to mark the pages he studied.
The new collection fits perfectly with
the College's curriculum, one of the goals of Union's
special collections. These great works are read not only
in Union's “Major English Authors” courses but
also in seminars concentrating on Milton and eighteenth
century literature. “One of the great things about
special collections in the expanded library is that we
now have a space that is specifically designed to be a
classroom for just these kinds of classes,” says
Ellen Fladger, the College's archivist.
McCord says that very few students have
seen original editions of seventeenth and eighteenth
century literature, so bringing them to the special
collections is “very special.”
Hugh Jenkins, associate professor of
English, points out that much can be learned from reading
these early editions. Just looking at the placement of
footnotes, the illustrations, and the type can reveal
much about a book. “That sort of editorial choice
can show us a lot about the tastes and ideals of the
time,” he says.
Pulling Milton's first published work
— a book of poems from 1645 — off the shelf, he points
out the lack of footnotes. “It's just poetry to be
read — and that to me is intriguing,” he says.
Browsing these books also gives
students a chance to read books as they appeared when
they were written. Rather than read Pope's Of the
Characters of Women in a 2,000-page Norton Anthology,
students can enjoy the fifteen-page original work.
Fladger says students should not look
at these books as if they are in a museum, but should
become familiar and comfortable with them. “I feel
that it is important that students get as much exposure
to this kind of material as possible, even students who
might be science or engineering majors,” she says.
Humidity control, appropriate security,
and light fixtures with UV filters in the special
collections ensure that these books will be available for
students and scholars for many years to come.
A gift of Swift
Carl Booth's recent bequest to the
College complements the 1996 gift of Fred J. Emery '54 in
honor of William M. Murphy, the Thomas Lamont Professor
Emeritus of Ancient and Modern Literature. Emery donated
his collection of several editions of Jonathan Swift's
Gulliver's Travels, which are now available for student
and scholarly research.