"Brooks, Vincent" <[log in to unmask]>
Thanks for all I learn from VA-Hist. Now I can return the favor.
Terry Belanger's account of this catalogue sounded so interesting that I
ordered a copy immediately. It just arrived and justifies his enthusiasm.I
thought other VA-Hist members ought to know about it.
Best wishes,
Karen
Karen Reeds, PhD, FLS
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On Mar 29, 2022, at 5:04 PM, Belanger, Terry <[log in to unmask]>
[log in to unmask] wrote:
This summer, David R. Whitesell retires as curator of rare books at the
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library of the University of
Virginia. In honor of the occasion, the library has published meditations
by Whitesell on his ten years of acquisitions work, titled *A curator’s
Wunderkammer: a decade of collecting for the University of Virginia*. The
catalog accompanies an exhibition (on view through July 2022) of 64 of
Whitesell’s most notable acquisitions for UVa.
This is not your usual exhibition catalog. Item by item, Whitesell
explains why, how, and from whom he made each purchase, naming the dealers
involved, and citing the UVa endowed and other funds that made the purchase
possible. The dashingly-designed color catalog illustrates all of the items
discussed. The result is as a textbook of canny special collections
high-end acquisitions.
The named dealers include Antiquariat Banzhaf, James Arsenault, Asia
Bookroom, Bartleby’s Books, Simon Beattie, Bookvica, Ian Brabner, the Brick
Row Book Shop, Paul Brzozowski and Michael Brown Rare Books, Leo Cadogan,
John Carbonell, Rodolphe Chamonal, James Cummins, DeWolfe and Wood, Roger
Gaskell, Samuel Gedge, Christopher Edwards, Mark Godburn, Peter Harrington,
Hünersdorff Rare Books, Michael Laird, Peter Luke, Bruce McKittrick Rare
Books, Nicholas Marlowe Rare Books, Howard S. Mott, Musinsky Rare Books,
Cal Packard, Bernard Quaritch, Richard C. Ramer, the William Reese Company,
L. and T. Respess, Savoy Books, Swann Auction Galleries, the Veatchs, John
Waite, and Charles B. Wood III. These are the headliners: Whitesell
estimates that in all he purchased about 15,000 books for UVa, from several
hundred dealers, during a decade in which about a hundred thousand gifts
came into Special Collections (many of them through his efforts).
Stepping back: until well after World War II, the title pages of
major American art and book exhibition catalogs routinely omitted the names
of their authors. An exhibition catalog’s preface, usually signed by the
chief executive officer of the organizing museum or library, would almost
always mention and thank the curators responsible for the text that
followed; but the focus was institutional. One sometimes learned the names
of a catalog’s author or authors only by word of mouth, or when alert
library catalogers eventually ferreted out their names and gave them credit.
In the 1970s, it became increasingly common practice for exhibition
catalog authors to receive title-page acknowledgement; and these days, such
credits are routinely provided. UVa’s publication of the Whitesell catalog
is a significant further step in the institutional acknowledgement of
curatorial expertise. *A curator’s Wunderkammer* was designed by Holly
Robertson and Jeff Hill, with digital production and photography by Stacey
Evans, Rob Smith, and Bobbi Morris. The final pages of the catalog are
devoted to a modest pitch, inviting contribution to the UVa Library’s
endowed acquisitions funds; I gather that a considerable part of the modest
pressrun of *A curator’s Wunderkammer* has been allocated to institutional
purposes.
Some copies of the 106-page *Curator’s Wunderkammer*, however, are
available for public sale via the UVa Bookstore for $25 plus s/h: see
https://uvabookstores.com/shop_product_detail.asp?catalog_group_id=MTU1&catalog_group_name=R2VuZXJhbCBCb29rcw&catalog_id=1903&catalog_name=Qm9va3MgJiBDYWxlbmRhcnMgQWJvdXQgVXZh&pf_id=48311&product_name=V2hpdGVzZWxsLCBEYXZpZCAvIEN1cmF0b3IncyBXdW5kZXJrYW1tZXI6ICBEZWNhZGUgT2YgQ29sbGVjdGluZyBGb3IgVGhlIFVWQQ&type=3&target=shop_product_list.asp
If you wish to have a copy, personally or institutionally, you
should probably act quickly.
Terry Belanger . 101 Amherst Commons . Charlottesville, VA 22903
*Land*: 434-296-9917 *Mobile*: 434-825-8968 *Email*:
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ReplyReply allForward
from Karen Reeds
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On Tue, Apr 5, 2022 at 4:00 AM VA-HIST automatic digest system <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> There is 1 message totaling 30 lines in this issue.
>
> Topics of the day:
>
> 1. The UncommonWealth
>
> ______________________________________
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> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2022 09:09:15 -0400
> From: "Brooks, Vincent" <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: The UncommonWealth
>
> Your local public library just might be the perfect place to begin your
> gardening adventure. Read more about seed libraries in today's The
> UncommonWealth.
>
>
> https://uncommonwealth.virginiamemory.com/blog/2022/04/04/growing-as-a-community-virginias-seed-libraries/
>
>
> *Vincent T. Brooks*
> Senior Local Records Archivist
> Library of Virginia
> 800 East Broad St.
> Richmond, VA 23219
> 804-692-3525
> Fax 804-692-2277
> *The Uncommonwealth* <https://uncommonwealth.virginiamemory.com/>
>
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> ------------------------------
>
> End of VA-HIST Digest - 31 Mar 2022 to 4 Apr 2022 (#2022-38)
> ************************************************************
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