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Bookplate Index by Library or Collector
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Revere Osler, Milton S. Eisenhower Library, Johns Hopkins University Revere Osler
tried “to emulate the almighty Izaac by combining angling with
literature.” Revere's books, about 750 volumes, form the nucleus of the
1,500-volume Tudor and Stuart Collection being developed in Special
Collections at the Milton S. Eisenhower Library, The Johns Hopkins
University, since 1983. It is a small, but important, collection founded
in 1918 by the famous physician bibliophile Sir William Osler and his wife
Grace Revere Osler in memory of their son Edward Revere Osler (1895-1917).
Fishing was among Revere's interests, so it is not surprising that his
collection contained twenty-two books by Izaac Walton, eight editions of The
Compleat Angler, and thirty-four other books on fishing. However, most
of the collection was English literature of the Tudor and Stuart period,
including some by Edmund Spenser. Revere's books arrived in America over
a several-year period beginning in 1922, but from the start they were
accompanied by an endowment to Johns Hopkins for the English Department to
establish a Tudor and Stuart Club. The members of the Tudor and Stuart
Club emphasized the collecting of Spenser for some time, and it is in this
area of Revere's collection that extremely fine holdings were developed.
The noted scholar Edwin Greenlaw came to Hopkins to work on his famous
nine-volume Spenser Variorum (eventually published from 1932 to
1949 after Greenlaw's death), and the research value of the Tudor and
Stuart collection was established. Revere's books contain his bookplate, which he designed, drew, and etched
himself (artistic ability is not unexpected in a direct descendant of Paul
Revere, colonial silversmith). The original copperplate etching by Revere
Osler is now in the Alan Mason Chesney Archives at Johns Hopkins. Carolyn
Smith, rare books librarian, introduced me to the manuscript papers
related to this collection. They include a letter Revere Osler wrote to
his aunt explaining the copy of his bookplate that he was sending to her.
He describes for her the ''gothic window'' design that frames the crest of
his school, Christ Church College, Oxford University, in the upper right
of the bookplate. The other illustrations reflect his interest in
woodworking by the framing of a plane, saw, and compass in the upper left,
and especially his love of fishing. The plate contains a fishing reel at
top center (he drew an arrow to aid his aunt in finding it), a fishing rod
and line down the middle of the plate, a bobber just below his initials
"E. R. O." and even fishhooks, bottom right and left. The plate
contains the words "Discip. Iz. Wa." To leave no doubt about
their meaning Revere wrote to his aunt: "the line takes a twist among
'ex libris' which means that I try to emulate the almighty Izaac by
combining angling with literature.'' Judith Ann Overmier School of Library and Information Studies University of Oklahoma
[Originally published in Journal of Library History, vol. 26, no. 4 (Spring 1991): 608-610.]
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| Last updated June 30, 2001 |
