Competitive book collecting? Get Jeff Probst on the phone. (“I didn’t come here to make friends!”)
Meet John Russell Bartlett: co-founder of the Providence Athenaeum, statesman, author, publisher, scholar; member of numerous societies devoted to the advancement of human knowledge; and the official librarian for John Carter Brown’s library collection from 1856 until his death in 1886. So the man was somewhat bookish.
And every year the John Bartlett Society holds a rather unusual prize competition in honor of Brown’s first woman Professor of Bibliography, Margaret Stillwell, “with the intent of encouraging students to share her lifelong pleasure in reading and book collecting.” This is open to undergraduates at any Rhode Island college or university.
A contestant’s collection may be in any field. It may emphasize some particular interest within a field, or exemplify certain bibliographical features such as edition, issue, and other conditions of manufacture and sale; illustration, type, calligraphy, binding, etc. All types of books, including paperbacks, may be included, as long as their place in the collection can be justified (the inclusion of textbooks is nevertheless discouraged, except in rare cases).
The deadline is April 5, 2013; top prize is $750. Before entering, contestants are strongly encouraged to contact the Stillwell Prize chair, Richard Noble, at the John Hay Library, Brown University (Richard_Noble@Brown.edu; 401.863.1187. Complete info at Stillwell Prize 2013.
It’s like Kindle never happened . . . or computers . . . or steam-powered weaving machines . . .