The Reserve Collection
A rare book collection, such as that held by the American
Antiquarian Society, serves not only as a source of research
materials but also as a museum of a culture's printed documents. At
AAS some of its treasures, but not all, are placed in the Reserve
Collection. The purpose of the collection is, of course, to assure
special handling of the books that have been assigned to it by the
staff and by readers whose research requires the use of items of
great rarity and, often, monetary value. Because the rarity,
"value," or desirability of a particular item may lie in the eye of
the beholder (being, in the case of the Society, its librarian) the
selection of materials to be placed in Reserve is essentially
subjective. Indeed, it must be because the extent and range of AAS
collections is so far-reaching that it becomes impossible to
segregate all worthy candidates for such an honor. In the past,
only American imprints were placed in Reserve. However, with the
discovery in our stacks of the London, 1677, edition in original
vellum of William Hubbard's Present State of New-England, with
the "Wine Hills" map of New England intact, it seemed reasonable to
afford special treatment to some American historical documents that
have originated elsewhere than on this continent.
Monetary value may not be a reliable guide in making such
determinations. Items that years ago sold for very little money
have appreciated mightily in the market in recent years, not
necessarily because they have become more useful as research
documents, but, perhaps, because collectors have found them
attractive as historical souvenirs. Nevertheless, this is a weighty
consideration when assigning one or another rarity to Reserve.
The motivating factor, then, is importance. Thus, such books
are admitted to Reserve as The Whole Booke of Psalmes, the Bay
Psalm Book in its original vellum binding (Cambridge, Mass., 1640);
Pamela by Samuel Richardson (Philadelphia, 1742), the unique copy
of the first modern novel published in America; the first American
edition of Milton's Paradise Lost (1777); Specimen of Printing
Types, from the Foundry of Binny & Ronaldson (Philadelphia, 1812),
the first example of American cast types; History of the
Expedition under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark ... to the
Pacific Ocean (Philadelphia, 1814) in original, printed boards;
Tales for Fifteen (New York, 1823) and The Wept of Wish-Ton
Wish (Florence, 1829), the scarcest of the works of James Fenimore
Cooper; The Remarkable Story of Chicken Little (Roxbury, Mass.,
1840); Ovando J. Hollister's History of the First Regiment of
Colorado Volunteers and The March of the First, being a History
of the ... Regiment (both Denver, 1863), among the earliest
Colorado publications. These few titles are suggestive of the
books that find their way into Reserve as the prime examples of
their kind, ranging over the Society's entire collection. All
items in the Reserve Collection have been cataloged; all through 1840 are
fully described in the online catalog, as are a portion of the post-1840
titles.
- by Marcus A. McCorison, President Emeritus; updated by Alan
N. Degutis, Head of Cataloging
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The Bay Psalm Book (Cambridge, Mass., 1640) is the first book
printed in
North America. The AAS copy is in its original vellum binding and was
formerly owned by Isaiah Thomas.
AAS holds the unique copy of the first novel published in
America. (Philadelphia, 1742).
For current information on the cataloging status of this and
other AAS collections, choose "Collection Access" below.
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