Special Collections
in the A. Frank Smith, Jr. Library
Center
Jessie Daniel Ames Collection
Ames was a well-known suffragist and anti-lynching activist. This
small collection reflects her retirement interests and activities
and primarily contains clippings, articles, and cartoons related
to politics and social issues. She placed many of these into scrapbooks
on specific subjects, such as "The Negro and the Schools, 1954-1956"
and "Foreign Policy and Foreign Relations, 1954-1958." One document
case contains personal notes and correspondence, most of which is
with family members, especially her daughter, Lulu. Ames,
a Southwestern University alumna (1902), also donated a large portion
of her library to the University.
Thomas
Bewick Collection
The Thomas Bewick Collection of 33 volumes contains works by the
English naturalist and wood engraver Thomas Bewick. Some of the
titles in this collection include his General History of Quadrupeds
and History of British Birds. Also included in the collection
are letters and other printed materials containing Bewick's engravings.
William Blake Collection
The William Blake Collection contains works by and about the poet and printer William Blake (1757-1827), many donated by alumna Margarett Root Brown ’17 before her death in 1963. Most notable is a complete set of Blake’s engraved illustrations of the Book of Job that is likely from the 1874 strike, the fourth and last use of Blake’s copperplates. Two works published during Blake’s lifetime are John Gay’s Fables, with a life of the author, and embellished with seventy plates (1793) containing 12 plates by Blake and Robert Blair’s The grave (1813), illustrated with 12 large water colored plates. The collection also holds 7 titles of the well-known Trianon Press facsimiles, and two of these include a set of hand-colored plates showing progressive stages, color collotype proofs, and an original guide sheet and stencil.
Brown Collection
The Brown Collection, donated by Margarett Root Brown, contains
over 200 volumes including the Bewick Collection (above), Bibles,
English histories, religious books, the Englishwoman's Domestic
Magazine and descriptive books on Europe and the Middle East.
Included are books by several prominent authors such as Stephen
Crane, Daniel DeFoe and Emile Zola.
Edward A. Clark Australia Collection
Collected during the time that Edward A. Clark was ambassador to
Australia in the 1960's, this collection of 240 titles includes
works on natural history, social life and customs, art, literature,
ethnology and history.
Edward A. Clark Burr Collection
Chronicled in a collection of 49 printed works is the life of Aaron
Burr with highlights of his career, trials and memoirs. The collection
was donated by Ambassador Edward A. Clark.
Edward A. Clark Texana Collection
One of the largest special collections in the nation among schools
of Southwestern's size, the Edward A. Clark Collection was a gift
of more than 2,400 volumes donated in 1965 from the private collection
of Ambassador Edward A. Clark. It is rich in basic, printed materials
for the period of the Republic of Texas (1836-1845), the annexation
by the United States (1845) and Reconstruction (1865). Also included
in this collection are a number of periodicals, photographs and
other printed materials. Since Clark's original gift, the collection
has grown to more than 10,000 items, including more than 7,000 books.
Cox Map Collection
A large set of maps, the Cox Map Collection features maps of early
19th century through the mid-20th century. Maps of all parts of
the world are included.
Bertha McKee Dobie Collection
The Bertha McKee Dobie Collection contains a large collection of
her correspondence, memorabilia, manuscripts, personal documents
and books from the personal library of the wife of the noted author,
J. Frank Dobie.
Isabel Gaddis Collection of J. Frank Dobie
A collection of 542 titles rich in early J. Frank Dobie materials,
it included contributions made by the noted folklorist and author
to the university's yearbook, the Sou'wester, proof copies
and manuscripts of many of his books, and a complete collection
of all his printed works.
Jackson/Greenwood Collection
The Jackson/Greenwood Collection is very large and consists of several
areas of interest including literature, religion and Methodism among
others. The Collection features 19th century English and American
literary titles; Wesleyana materials focusing on the extensive Wesley
family; history of religion, including an English translation from
the Greek of Eusebius' History of the Church; Methodism
and church history, including journals, such as the Arminian
Magazine and Martin Luther's Artzneybuch (Doctor Book);
books issued to German prisoners of war in San Antonio; and books
about China. A collection of correspondence, issues of The Emancipator,
picture postcards and personal papers belonging to Bishop John Cowper
Granbery and his family are part of this collection. A large collection
of youth titles including an extensive selection of Horatio Alger's
books and Martha Finley's Elsie Dinsmore stories, as well as a number
of works by L. Frank Baum, is included.
Henry E. Meyer Hymnal Collection
The Henry E. Meyer Hymnal Collection of 106 volumes contains hymnals,
Bibles and religious texts. Some of the items unique to the collection
are a hymnal in the Delaware Indian language, an English Old
Version Psalm Book and the first Wesleyan Hymn Book.
Many of the books are more than 100 years old and have fine leather
bindings handsomely embossed with gold.
Osborne
Collection of Herman Melville
The Duncan E. Osborne Collection of Herman Melville, on loan, contains
papers and memorabilia pertaining to his great-great-grandfather.
Of particular note is a letter from Herman Melville to his aunt
Lucy Melville written in 1828 when he was 9 years old.
May Peterson Collection
May Peterson was an internationally acclaimed opera singer whose
career flourished in the early 1900s. Her collection includes her
sheet
music as well as her personal
papers.
Additional Collections
Through the years complete libraries of several ministries were
given: Rev. Homer S. Thrall, Rev. R.G. Mood, Rev. C.M. Bishop, Dr.
H.L. Gray, Rev. F.L. Batchelor and Rev. Bruce Galloway. Some of
the libraries include Methodist Conference Minutes and other books
that help form the present-day valuable collection on Methodism.
Other large gifts were received from the following friends: Dr.
Decherd Turner, Dr. and Mrs. Donald Klein, I. Edward Tonkon, Roger
M. Busfield, Elizabeth Beaver, Dr. William E. Barnes, and Jessie
Daniel Ames. Other donors include Dr. King Vivion, Dr. J.W. Bergen,
Dr. J.N.R. Score and Dr. Durwood H. Fleming. In 1933, Mrs. J.T.
Sneed gave copies of the Methodist Conference Minutes from 1773-1813.
In 1946, Dr. Carl Bergquist gave a set of rare works of John Wesley.
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