Do you know where this window is at Wesleyan?
Too often we are so caught up in our own lives and that we forget to look at the things around us. 115 years have passed since a certain Wesleyan student graduated but his generosity is still all around us to enjoy from one corner of the campus to the other. George W. Davison graduated in 1892, served as a Trustee from 1912 until his death in 1953 and President of the Board of Trustee’s from 1928-1943. We know the Davison Art Center, which Mr. Davison’s donation of his print collection makes it one of the most important at an American university. His many contributions to Wesleyan University include funding of the Davison Health Center and Alsop House purchase and renovation.
What does this have to do with the picture of the stained glass window?
The Davison’s funded the creation of the Davison Rare Book Room in Special Collections & Archives of Olin Library and donated a superb collection of rare books. Two of the many items donated by George Davison go mostly unnoticed because of the need to close the drapes in the Davison Rare Book Room. These two items are large stained glass windows believed to come from his home in Somerset, MA. Two-thirds of the 1500 volumes in the room belonged to George Davison’s own collection. If you would like to see the Davison Rare Book Room, hand carved walnut paneling, built-in glass-fronted book shelves, a built-in exhibition case for his four Shakespeare folios, Bibles from the 13th to the 20th Centuries or the stained glass windows stop by Monday-Friday 1:00-5:00.
The more than 1000 books in the Manchester office in Olin Library have been inventoried. Of these, 22% are copies of books by William Manchester himself, representing a veritable United Nations of languages. American Caesar is represented in French and Spanish, but also in Japanese, Indonesian and Hebrew. His most well known book, The Death of a President appears on the shelves in Russian, Greek, German, Japanese, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Romanian, Portuguese, Italian, French, Spanish, Slovenian and Finnish.
Of the remaining books, 8% are references such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases and thesauri. There are, of course, many books on his last subject, Winston Churchill, and many books on 20th century history in general. Manchester traveled widely and there are travel guides to England, France and Germany. As an old Baltimore Sun reporter, he had books on the history of various publishers and newspapers. He was a Marine Corps survivor from World War II and had many books and publications relating to the sixth marine division. Books written by H.L. Mencken are well represented. Mencken was the subject of his first major published work, and was the reason that Manchester came to Baltimore and worked at Sunpapers. There are also books by Wesleyan authors, notably Joseph Reed and Paul Horgan. Nine of the Horgan books are inscribed by the author.
It is easy to tell which books Manchester used frequently; they show evidence of hard wear. Book jackets are often missing, the pages are heavily underlined and highlighted. Sometimes there is the mark of late night sessions sustained by coffee. Many books had interesting inserts and inscriptions, especially the books by Mencken. Newspaper Days is inscribed by Mencken to Manchester’s mother: “Mrs. Sallie T. Manchester – At the command of her excellent son, and with the assurance that the newspaper business has improved since my day – HL Mencken”. William Manchester was an author dedicated to his art and actively involved with the world around him. The library bears witness to the man.
NOW AVAILABLE AT SPECIAL COLLECTIONS & ARCHIVES
The official SC&A pencil for only 25¢
●Everybody did you know for the small sum of 25¢ you can buy a writing instrument that writes under water, in zero gravity and upside down!!!!!!!!!
●Thesis writers did you know a pencil can write 45,000 words.
●Art majors did you know a pencil can draw a line 35 miles long.
●Environmentalists did you know more than two billion pencils are used in the
United States every day.
●College of Letters majors do you know what Henry David Thoreau and pencils have in common? In 1821, Charles Dunbar (the brother-in-law of author Henry David Thoreau) discovered a graphite deposit in
New England. This graphite was certified as far superior to any previously found in the
United States. With this high-quality material for its writing cores, the Thoreau pencil company came to be known as the maker of the finest pencils in
America.
