Developing and Managing the Brown University Library Collections
Recent Acquisitions

New Titles Cataloged | New Collections | New Databases

• John Hawkes Library
   Through the generosity of his family, many books from the library of the late Professor John Hawkes have been given to the John Hay Library. The books fall into several categories; books, by many authors, which Hawkes annotated for use in his classes and in his readings; books inscribed by their authors to Hawkes; books and short stories by Hawkes; published interviews with Hawkes; and screenplay adaptations of works by Hawkes. Taken together, the Hawkes material will provide considerable primary and secondary information for scholars and students of Hawkes’ literary career and his career as teacher/inspiration to a generation of Brown students.

  

• Papers of Sergei Khrushchev 
  Dr. Sergei Khrushchev, Senior Fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies, has donated materials relating to his father and himself to the John Hay Library. The Nikita Khrushchev materials include transcripts of dictated reminiscences, edited by Sergei Khurshchev and later published; photograph albums of official visits both within and outside the Soviet Union; and a pair of shoes similar to the one made famous at the United Nations. In addition there are various books, articles, clippings, taped interviews, and various documents pertaining to his role as author and public speaker, both about his father and also about his own circumstances in becoming a naturalized American citizen.
  Contact: Mark_Brown@brown.edu.  An exhibition is planned for Spring 2001.

• Barton St. Armand Papers on Emily Dickinson and H.P. Lovecraft
  Professor Barton St. Armand of the American Civilization Department has donated, as two separate collections, extracts from his professional correspondence and other files.  One collection pertains to Emily Dickinson and was donated in honor of Professor George Monteiro, Professor Emeritus of English.  The other, pertaining to H.P. Lovecraft, was donated in honor of John Stanley, Senior Special Collections Bibliographer and longtime curator or Brown's Lovecraft Collection.

• James Jackson Collection 
  Through the bequest of James Jackson, the John Hay Library has received approximately 1500 titles in the area of gay/lesbian literature, much of it dating from the pre-Stonewall era. The Jackson Collection contains many titles not owned my Brown and virtually all are in very good condition and retain their dust jackets. There are a quite a few lesbian-related titles which fills in a gap in our existing holdings and quite a few gay-related science fiction and fantasy titles which complement one of existing collection strengths. Quite a few of the books are signed or inscribed, this being particularly true of the post-Stonewall titles. Contact: Rosemary_Cullen@brown.edu

• Robert S. and Margaret A. Ames Collection—Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Ames
  Consisting of approximately 200 volumes, the Ames Collection complements both Special Collections and the Government Documents Collection. The focus of the Ames Collection is primarily 19^th century illustrated books, especially those employing engravings and lithography. The majority of the books are travel narratives which often employed many such illustrations in the days before photography became the most common illustration technique. Approximately half the volumes are of travel to "exotic" locales throughout Europe, the middle east and especially North America. Also included are important 19^th century sets of illustrated histories of the US, e.g. William H. Hinton’s History of the U.S. Also of importance are several different editions of Picturesque America, one of the earliest coffee table books to be published in the U.S. Because William Cullen Bryant was its editor, the Harris Collection already owned one or two bound sets of Picturesque America (including one in the original paper-bound parts) but the Ames sets are all in bindings not owned by Brown, including the special full-leather de luxe binding. Perhaps the most significant portion of the collection are the publications that resulted from the official exploratory expeditions of the American west. Ranging from the early expeditions in the 1830s to the massive Railroad Surveys of the 1850s to several of the "Great Expeditions" of the post Civil War period, these publications provided much of the inspiration (and practical information) that led to western settlement. Many of these publications are already represented at Brown, but in almost every case, the Ames copy is in better condition and is a variant. In sum, the Ames Collection adds new titles to Brown’s holdings and some important variants as well. The Ames Collection will be added to the Starred Book Collection.
  The Ames Collection was exhibited in part in the spring of 2000. See the web version of the exhibit. Contact: Samuel_Streit@brown.edu for further information.

  

• New Alcoholism Collections  
  To complement the Chester H. Kirk Collection on Alcoholism and Alcoholics Anonymous, letters, notes and writings of Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Dr. Robert H. Smith have been acquired through the efforts of Dr. David Lewis, director of Brown's Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies. Among the items are Smith's "Big Book" and the coffee pot he used to help himself and others stay sober. See Archive of Recovery, Brown Alumni Magazine, March 2000

  A collection of foreign-language pamphlets and serials dealing with alcohol abuse and temperance was transferred to Brown from Rutgers University in early 1999. Originally assembled by the Anti-Saloon League, these publications number approximately 15,000 dating from the first half of the 20th century.  Contact: Mary-Jo_Kline@brown.edu