Huntington,
Scholars, and Booklovers
There are at least two different ways of expressing the opening
of the Huntington library as a public institution, because it was located in
two different locations.
The
Huntington library was first used by Henry E. Huntington, as a private library
inside his house. In 1919, the library was founded, designed, and built in San
Marino, California, and completed in 1920. Before the San Marino library was
built, Huntington lived in a mansion in New York City, where he had his private
library and collected books, art, plants and rare manuscripts, while the San
Marino building was constructed. Huntington collected books and artwork for his
own personal collection, and his own reading pleasure. Since the library, in
New York, was Huntington's private library inside his mansion, it was not open
to the public. In the beginning, Huntington's library had very limited access
in New York, and in San Marino. In 1915, Huntington's library became famous in
the academic world. The newspaper covered some of his purchases, which led the
public to be curious about his collection. Scholars asked Huntington if they
could look at items in his collection for research purposes. Huntington agreed
to let scholars view his materials, and was interested in their research conclusions.
Since more scholars were asking him to view the library, Huntington allowed his
library collection to be visited on a registration basis. However, the scholars could
view an item from the collection only while Huntington was present. Scholars
were seeking Huntington's permission to use his rare books and manuscripts for
study. Huntington allowed scholars to access the library, and invited them into
his New York mansion, where the books were first held. However, the number of
scholars increased. Huntington decided to add a large table next to his desk so
they could view items in his collection (Bernal, 72). Scholars from prestigious
colleges (Yale, Columbia, Harvard, Wellesley) came to use books that were for
their research in their field. It does not appear that the scholars were
charged a fee to look at the materials, since many of them traveled far to get
to Huntington's house. Huntington allowed his staff to mount small exhibitions and open
the grounds to visitors on a limited basis (Bernal, p. 73). Huntington was very
overprotective of his collection; he refused to send any manuscripts to
scholars through the mail. Scholars who could not travel could receive a photocopy of any document. Many of Huntington's staff answered questions about his collection from
scholars everywhere.
Therefore,
for Huntington the library was considered a private library room. For scholars,
it was a research library.It is not clear as to whether the regular public were allowed to visit the early Huntington library for free in 1925. According to Thorpe’s Henry Edwards Huntington: A Brief Biography, the public was able to view Huntington’s collection if they were interested: book lovers came to see his collection, and he enjoyed showing them anything they were interested in seeing; Huntington became known as "The Prince of Book Collectors" and his collection as "the greatest private library in the world" (Thorpe, p. 31). In this case, it appears that the early Huntington library was a private library that could be accessed to anyone interested in learning, including scholars who were conducting advanced research. According to Peggy Park Bernal’s book The Huntington: Library, Art Collections,
Botanical Gardens, the library officially opened to scholars in 1925 and
about fifty scholars used the collections over the course of one year (p. 15).
It appears that after the library was opened to the public more researchers
were able to view the materials. The main purpose of the institution is to
provide the advancement of learning.
So, the earliest patrons were scholars, who wanted to study early
books and manuscripts for their research projects, as well as booklovers who
wanted to observer the collection, and Huntington who enjoyed reading. With all
the requests, Huntington decided to make his library accessible for the public.
Although Huntington allowed many scholars to use his resources inside his private library, he did not make the facility an institution until after his death. In other words, Huntington layed out specific plans for the use of his collection after his death. He wanted the library to be used as research institution to serve scholars. Huntington's "deed of trust" established the guidelines for the Huntington institution. Therefore, before the Huntington library became a public institution, the library was a reading room for scholars. There is no indication whether or not the scholars knew how to handle these old artifacts carefully. However, since Huntington liked to read the books he collected we can assume that the scholars were handling early manuscripts like regular books.
The Huntington Library officially opened to scholars and the public in 1925. In one year, about fifty scholars used the collections, over time. The first scholar-patron to use the collection was a historian for the American frontier, named Fredrick Jackson Turner. He was in "long-term residence, which is a tradition that started as Huntington's fellowship program in support of research (Zeidberg, p. 16). Many scholars had to register to use the collections, and this was a way to keep track of how many people used the collection. Almost 600 scholars were registered to use the collection from 1946 to 1947. Today, more than 2,000 scholars visiting the Huntington for research. The people that Huntington targets are scholars who are doing advanced research in the arts and sciences field of study. Huntington's principal areas of collecting is in printing history, the history of science, British and American history and literature, and the history of California and the West (Zeidberg, p. 17
As mentioned, Fredrick Turner was
the first scholar to be resident to the Huntington Library. He is an example of
the type of patron that had first access to the library. He grew up in a white,
middle class family and graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1884. He
obtains a Ph.D in history from Johns Hopkins University in 1890, and became a
professor of history at Wisconsin for a few years, and then Harvard. Therefore,
well educated people were allowed to attend the early Huntington library. In
the early 1900s, more educated people of Turner's caliber were white,
middle-class people, because they were developers and researchers. Many immigrants
migrated in San Francisco during this time, and they were not necessarily
educated individuals. Therefore, the
Huntington private library was a white middle class institution, only because a
few brilliant people were allowed to attend the library for research, under
Huntington’s watch.
- Primary source for manuscripts and rare books
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