UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 7, Page 1
October 17, 1991
Library's friends celebrate 2 millionth volume Oct. 9

     On the bright autumn afternoon of Oct. 9, on the South Mall,
a group of approximately 300 guests, members of the University
community and friends of the University of Delaware Library,
gathered to celebrate the acquisition of the library's 2 millionth
volume. The 1 millionth volume was purchased in 1974.
     The 2 millionth volume is the Second Folio edition of William
Shakespeare's plays, published in London in 1632. This acquisition
was made possible by gifts from individuals and groups, including
the University of Delaware Library Staff Association and the
University of Delaware Library Associates, as well as members of
the University community (see list below).
     Susan Brynteson, director of libraries, presided at the event,
introducing President David P. Roselle, who welcomed guests, and
called the library the "cornerstone of the University."
     Andrew Kirkpatrick, chairman of the Board of Trustees, brought
greetings from the board and paid tribute to the friends of the
library. He spoke about the role of the library in the history of
the University of Delaware from its inception as the Academy of New
London in 1743, when the works of the Greek poets and of Francis
Bacon were among the volumes catalogued.
     James O. Freedman, president of Dartmouth College, was the
featured speaker for the occasion.
     Freedman congratulated the library on its selection of a
Second Folio of William Shakespeare for its 2 millionth volume,
saying "Shakespeare remains our greatest maker of books, our
supreme exemplar of poetic achievement, our most luminous symbol of
the capacity of language to capture for all time the dilemmas of
the human condition...."
     Later in his talk, Freedman paid homage to all authors,
saying, "As we celebrate the University of Delaware's acquisition
of its 2 millionth volume, we also celebrate those who undertake
the daunting task of writing books," quoting Huckleberry Finn who
said, "(I)f I'd 'a' knowed what a trouble it was to make a book, I
wouldn't `a' tackled it, and ain't a-going to no more."
     Pointing out that "many authors of worthy books never receive
full or proper recognition," Freedman said, "Consider, for example,
the chagrin of rejection that the historian Edward Gibbon must have
felt when he presented the second volume of his great work, The
History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, to the Duke of
Gloucester. The duke examined the volume and is supposed to have
said, "Another damn'd thick, square book! Always scribble,
scribble, scribble! Eh! Mr. Gibbon?"
     Freedman cited authors who were passed over for Nobel Prize
for Literature, including Chekhov, Tolstoy, Twain, Proust, Conrad,
Joyce, Frost and Nabokov, while some authors who did receive the
Nobel Prize are relatively unknown today.
     Authors of books "can change the climate and culture of our
time," Freedman said, mentioning Thomas Paine's Common Sense, Upton
Sinclair's The Jungle, Rachel Carson's The Silent Spring, Robert
Coles' Children of Crisis and Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's
Cabin, among others.
     Freedman also saluted libraries in his talk. He said
"Libraries collect in a single place learning and literature of all
sorts....By taking into themselves the ordinary and fabulous, the
real and the ideal, libraries create a wondrous whole that is
greater than the sum of the parts....Libraries then are not ivory
towers of hushed voices and lowered lights, comfortable sanctuaries
on the margin of world's rough strife. Rather, they are essential
harbors on the voyage toward understanding ourselves."
     Freedman concluded his remarks by saying, "I am pleased to
join this gathering of travelers. I wish you well as you continue
to explore the `many goodly states and kingdoms' within this
library's rich collection of books."
     Following the address, Robert F. Taggart, president of the
Faculty Senate, presented Roselle with the 1,999,999th volume, The
Darker World Within: Evil in the Tragedies of Shakespeare and His
Successors by Mollie Smith and published by the University of
Delaware Press.
     Robbie McAnnally, president of the Delaware Undergraduate
Student Congress, presented the 2,000,001st volume, The Oxford
English Dictionary: The Original Oxford English Dictionary on
Compact Disc.
     Daniel F. Wolcott Jr., president of the University of Delaware
Library Associates, presented the 2 millionth volume to Roselle,
who thanked all those who made the gift possible.
                                        - Sue Swyers Moncure