We not infrequently get questions about the history of our collections: where a particular book came from; what other books were in the collection, etc. We also sometimes get folks coming into the library saying things like, “My grandfather donated some books to the Harvard Library; where can I see them?”
Unless a collection has particular significance, books donated to or purchased for Widener are not usually kept together in discreet collections; they are dispersed according to subject. Therefore, unless the provenance is of particular importance, books can be challenging to trace by owner. It’s also important to note that not all gifts to the library have been retained.
Unfortunately, Widener's files are sketchy at best. Provenance was indicated on the verso of the catalog cards that formed the old "Official Catalog." Unfortunately that catalog was destroyed after the microfiche catalog was produced, so those "tracings" were lost. (See Nicholson Baker, "Discards," New Yorker, 4 April 1994, 64-86.) Old donor files are in the Archives.
Houghton has excellent provenance records for books (excluding Widener transfers), from 1942 to 1992, and those records are searchable through Oasis. From 1993 to the present, Houghton provenance info is noted in HOLLIS. I’m not sure when/if provenance info was/is routinely entered into HOLLIS.
Aside from physical evidence in books such as autographs, book plates, inscriptions or library stamps, the following sources can be useful in provenance searches.
1. Catalogs
·
HOLLIS
Search [name of donor] gift or [name] library – sometimes there’s a catalog
for books sold at auction.Some major collections can be searched by call number in HOLLIS classic to locate books in that collection, e.g. Fearing Collection in Widener, search Widener call number F. In Houghtron, TS Eliot, AC9.El464.zz, Herman Melville AC85.M4977.zz, Henry James AC85.j2335.zz
·
OASIS
·
The HUL Union Catalog on fiche and
·
The old Widener "Public Catalog" on
the third floor
2. Shelflists (Thanks to Fred for some of this info.)
The old (sometimes handwritten) bound shelflists are stored in the cage that’s adjacent to the periodical room stacks. Access is for staff only, through Serials Services, Room 190, off the Newspaper Microfilm Reading Room. These are irreplaceable and fragile, so care must be taken utilizing them, and they should never be removed from that area.
In the cage, starting at the end away from the Periodical
Room, there are some boxes of old bindery cards, then the new shelflist in
bound printouts, then in shorter loosefleaf binders the classification
schedule, and then the old shelflist in slightly taller black looseleaf
binders. Note that when a volume of the
new shelflist was not produced, the corresponding volume of the old shelflist
was put in its place.
An entry in the old shelflist consists of bibliographic
information followed, often, by a date (of acquisition) and sometimes a name
(of fund or donor). A number after a
name indicated the number of the item in a gift, so the name is of a
donor. If there is no number the only
way to judge whether it is a fund or a donor is to recognize the name.
When a book was reclassed, the new call number was
written beside the old one and the old cards were pulled. Occasionally some of the old cards were
left. When one of these old cards was
sent to OCLC we got two call numbers for one book. The old shelflist can correct these.
After the old shelflist (toward the Periodical Room) is a
set of almost certainly obsolete big blue binders of Slavic shelflist and some
card file boxes of NEDL shelflist (possibly useful for tracing reclasses).
There are also some drawers of shelflist cards on the south wall of the
third floor between study N and 783. They are terribly out of order, and
most drawers have no labels. Has a variety of classes including V, Int, S
Thr and PZ.3. Harvard Periodicals
Library Annual Reports.
Recent reports are available online at http://hul.harvard.edu/publications/hul_ar.html. Reports back to 1878 are in Widener B 8416.10. Major gifts or purchases are usually documented there.
Online archives of The Crimson.
Harvard Library Bulletin
You can search it online at http://pds.lib.harvard.edu/pds/search/2573358, but reading it online is painfully slow. Better to use the print version in Loker RR 58.20. For earlier years, see see also Bibliographical Contributions, ( 1878-1911) RR 58.6 and Harvard Library Notes, ( 1920-1942) RR 58.8.
University's Annual Reports at http://hul.harvard.edu/huarc/refshelf/AnnualReportsSearch.htm.
4. Auction Catalogs
Start with the Scipio - Art & Rare Book Sales Catalogs database, which
has the full text of many catalogs.
HOLLIS does include some titles, but Houghton
has a large collection of auction catalogs, many of which are not cataloged
individually in HOLLIS. Their collection
is split into “live” (still receiving) and “dead” sequences. Some are housed on-site; some are in HD.
You can get a sense of it by looking at the box lists in
the records in Hollis, and you can request material from HD.
99SC-1
99SC-2
2006SC-1
(this one also has a finding aid:
5. Google and Google Books
Useful for locating auction catalogs or other mentions
Often Widener books that came in as part of a particular person's library will have bookplates that indicate their origin. Since Google Books includes bookplates, sometimes you can hit the jackpot there, although you often have to sift through many entries.
6. JStor or other subject-related databases sometimes have articles that provide helpful background information.
7. The Archives
The "Tolman Index," an exhaustive name and subject index covering the records of Harvard University from 1636-1870, can be searched through Oasis. However, reading it online is terribly slow, so it's often best to go to the archives yourself.
There used to be a department in Widener called "Gifts & Exchange" that maintained donor files, although the records were far from comprehensive. That department moved from Widener to Hilles and then was dissolved. Their files (40 boxes) were sent to the archives in 2005, and are listed there as "donor cards, inventories, and correspondences re: gifts, c. 1900-1969." (See http://hollis.harvard.edu/?q=subjects:%22Harvard%20College%20Library.%20Gifts%20and%20Exchange%20Section.%22+)
The archives also have other relevant files including library accessions records and reports of the librarian, but they're all pretty spotty. See The Harvard University Library A DocumentaryHistory, a bibliographic guide compiled by former Harvard librarian Kenneth Carpenter (RR 1039.8.4.) Section VII lists acquisitions files up to 1829.
Depending on the dates, special permission may be needed for patrons to access Archives’ files.
Always feel free to forward provenance questions to archives, archives-ref@hulmail.harvard.edu or 5-2461.
What do you do when somebody asks a provenance question?
Unfortunately, we do not have comprehensive provenance records..
I start searching in HOLLIS, then the Microfiche catalog and the old Widener catalog on the third floor if appropriate. Sometimes the old Widener shelflists are helpful. Then I check Oasis, annual reports for both the library and the university, the Harvard Library Bulletin and the Crimson archives. I also often search Google, Google Books, and JStor for background information.
Depending on the question and who is asking it, I most often stop there, but sometimes I will search auction catalogs and other sources.
Ultimately, the Archives is the place to look, as all the old library records are there. The particular files to search depend on a variety of factors, so if the above searches are unsuccessful, I usually direct patrons there. For a distance patron, or a FAQ, I will go to the Archives and do some preliminary searching there before turning the question over to Archives’ staff.
Commonly requested collections:
Reisner Collection of detective fictionGeorge Andrew Reisner, class of 1889 and Professor of Egyptology, bequeathed to Harvard in 1942 his large collection of detective fiction. While the books were originally shelved in the Widener stacks, the collection is currently housed in the Harvard Depository.
The only way to find them in Hollis is by title, but there is a copy of the original title list of the collection in the file drawer at the reference desk in the Atkins Reference Room on the second floor of Widener. There is also a copy in the University Archives in Pusey Library.
Science Fiction collections.
There are two major sci fi "collections" among the thousands of sci fi books in the Harvard Library.
The Ordway collection is in Widener; you can search Hollis Classic for "ordway gift" to find the titles.
The Clarkson Collection, augmented by other acquisitions, is in Houghton Library. You can find the titles by searching in Hollis Classic for "other call number" "sf".
Angling Fearing Collection There is an excellent article in the Harvard Alumni Bulletin about the Fearing Collection.
The shelflist is available in Widener. If you want to see an online "shelflist" of sorts, you can do so by searching the Hollis Classic catalog. Under "search type" use "widener call number" and enter F 10.2 as your search. The rare volumes in the collection were transferred to the Houghton Library. To search for those, use "other call number" as the search type and, once again, enter F 10.2
Santa Domingo Collection, aka Sex and Drugs collection. Recently placed on deposit in Houghton, it has an estimated 30,000 books and 25,000 posters, photographs, and other ephemera assembled by Colombian businessman Julio Mario Santo Domingo Jr.
For more information about Provenance searching:
Provenance Research in Book History . Wid-LC Z994.G7 P43 1998x
CERL online provenance resources http://www.cerl.org/resources/provenance/geographical
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