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| This vellum manuscript (ca. 1465-70) is part of Cornell's Fiske collection. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections |
The new exhibit from Cornell University Library's Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections celebrates Willard Fiske, the university's first librarian and one of the most fascinating and important figures in Cornell's early history. "The Passionate Collector: Willard Fiske and His Libraries" is on view in the Hirshland Gallery of Kroch Library through May 28.
In 1868 Cornell's first president, Andrew Dickson White, appointed Fiske to the faculty of the newly established university as professor of North European languages and university librarian. Fiske was a meticulous bibliographer and an avid bibliophile, and his progressive ideas about library service drew on the European model of the reference library. Cornell may have been the first American university to open its library for extensive use by undergraduate students as well as by the faculty. At a time when most libraries were open only one or two hours a day, just long enough for faculty members to check out and return books, the Cornell library was open nine hours a day.
A versatile and cerebral scholar, Fiske had interests in language and linguistics that inspired a lifelong passion for travel. When he was in his early 20s, his fascination with Norse myth led him to Scandinavia, where he learned Danish and Icelandic in Copenhagen, enrolled in the University of Uppsala in Sweden, and later delivered his own lectures on British and American literature in fluent Swedish. Returning to New York in 1852 he brought with him the first volumes of what would become an Icelandic collection that is surpassed today only by those of the Royal Library in Copenhagen and the National Library in Reykjavík. Over his lifetime Fiske acquired books on Iceland, on anything relating to the Viking forays throughout medieval Europe and on the exploration of the North Atlantic, amassing a collection of more than 8,500 titles.
After his wife, Jennie McGraw, died a year later from tuberculosis, Fiske resigned his post as university librarian. In 1883, he moved to Italy and began a seven-year battle with the university to retain his share of her estate. When the court case was finally settled in his favor in 1890, he used the inheritance to build a series of outstanding book collections.
When Fiske died in 1904 he bequeathed his entire estate to Cornell, including his extensive literary collections, the remainder of Jennie McGraw's legacy and the proceeds from the sale of his villa in Italy. In addition to his Icelandic collection, the Dante, Petrarch and Rhaeto-Romanic collections he assembled are among the finest in the world. Altogether, the books and endowments Fiske gave to the library during his lifetime and the collections he willed to Cornell are valued at more than $30 million in today's dollars.
"The Passionate Collector" celebrates Fiske's generosity and intellectual achievements, and presents highlights of the extraordinary collections he acquired for and gave to Cornell, including medieval manuscripts, rare 15th-century printed books, and 19th-century photographs. The exhibit is on view in the Hirshland Gallery from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, call 255-3530 or e-mail rareref@ cornell.edu. The exhibit can also be viewed at http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/collector.