continuing role of the (bound) original
DURHAM, N.C. -* A 5,000-volume collection containing many rare and
historically important 19th and 20th century American newspapers has
been
donated to Duke University Libraries.
Novelist and essayist Nicholson Baker announced the transfer of the
American Newspaper Repository (ANR) during a speech Thursday at Duke.
Baker
founded the repository in 1999 and acquired the bulk of the collection
from
the British Library, which like other major libraries got rid of long
runs
of original edition newspapers and now rely instead on microfilm
editions.
“Many of the newspapers in the collection exist nowhere else in their
original print format,” Baker said. “These 19th and 20th century
newspapers
are magnificent landmarks of American publishing.
“I’m thrilled that they’re going to Duke. This is the best possible
thing
that could happen to a singular collection.”
The ANR collection includes extensive runs of the Chicago Tribune, the
New
York Tribune and Herald Tribune and The New York World. The World,
published by Joseph Pulitzer, had the largest circulation of any
American
newspaper in the 1890s. Short stories by O. Henry were printed in The
World, as were caricatures by Al Frueh. The World also was the first
newspaper to include crossword puzzles and children’s activities.
ANR also preserves many immigrant newspapers, including the Irish World,
and foreign language papers such as the Yiddish Forward and the Greek
Atlantis.
“The papers form a documentary collection of great importance for
historical and cultural studies,” said University Librarian David
Ferriero.
“The Duke University Libraries are proud to serve both society and
scholarship by preserving them.”
Researchers began using the newspapers at Duke even before the gift was
announced. Robert Byrd, director of the Rare Book, Manuscript, and
Special
Collections Library at Duke, reported that users have included students
from Duke and other institutions, a well-known graphics artist and the
compilers of a retrospective collection of a long-running American comic
strip. “Some of the comic strips could be located nowhere else, not even
in
the artist’s archive,” Byrd said.
***“Note: No newspapers were cut or disbound in order to make these pictures.”
Robert Milevski also writes about the ANR:
“I visited ANR two years ago. The mill building housed different
businesses. Since then it may have been converted to other
(gentrified/redevelopment) uses. Based on the Duke press release, the
entire collection went to Duke. The number of volumes listed sounds
comprehensive and complete. I do not think that Baker had any intention
of
giving anything but the entire collection to a responsible and
responsive
institution. Although the mill space did not have A/C at the time, and
being a mill is located next to a river, preservation meant, simply,
that the British Library originating newspapers were preserved by Baker from
being sold and shipped to the binding breakers who cut out pages for
birthdays and other anniversaries. He put his money and reputation on
the line to save artifacts of another era that would have been irrevocably
lost from history.
Duke placing the newspapers in environmentally controlled conditions is
the first step to real preservation. The second thing is that they have put the collection under the aegis of special collections. This collection is a special collection in every sense of the word.
Special collections is where it belongs. These bound volumes should be treated as rare books
and served up as such in rare books reading rooms, under the usual strict
supervision, including white gloves. Too many people think bound papers
are expendable. Therefore, the past mass microfilming and the mass
discard
of the perfectly functional newspaper volumes. These papers may have
been widely held, but not anymore in any shape or form. I know (without
going
into details).
The ANR newspapers, in the condition they are in, are unique. No
institution in the US or the world can claim to have anything near to
this resource. Nowhere in the US can any amalgam of institutions constitute
any shared resource of any quality with the meager holdings that may still
exist in them. (Searching for newspapers on Eureka and WorldCat is a
frustrating experience.) Not even New York Public. NYPL’s collections
for breadth, depth and condition cannot compare to ANR’s. And, of course,
LC has little as well.
As you can see I am and have been very enthusiastic about this
collection. The Pulitzer papers and their color pages, etc., are simply the cream of the crop. The pivot upon which the PR about the collection turns. The real research potential of the collection lies in the
regular
titles. Turning the pages and discovering history as it happened, from
the world to the neighborhood; from politics to the local art scene and
police blotter. The resources for history, design, advertising, news coverage,
typography, illustration processes, etc., are all there. You cannot get
this from the microfilm. God help us all in preserving what remains of
these artifacts.”