Recently in Adler Prize Category

Written by Regine Heberlein

The winners of the 2013 Elmer Adler Undergraduate Book Collecting Prize were announced at the Friends of the Princeton University Library’s winter dinner on March 17, 2013. The jury awarded first and second prize.

First prize went to Natasha Japanwala, Class of 2014, for the essay “Conversation Among the Ruins: Collecting Books By and About Sylvia Plath,” in which Natasha compares her inquiry into the multitude of representations of Plath to “an excavation site where I tried to unearth the narrative of Plath’s life.” Natasha received a prize of $2000 and Helen Vendler’s book Last Looks, Last Books: Stevens, Plath, Lowell, Bishop, Merrill.

Amanda Devine [left] with Regine Heberlein

Second prize was awarded to Amanda Devine, Class of 2015, for the essay “A Clothes Reading: Finding Meaning in Fashion’s Past,” in which Amanda frames her collecting interest in books about the history of fashion as an interest in “the evolution of society and …what our fashions today say about us.” Amanda received a prize of $1500 and Philippe Perrot’s book Fashioning the Bourgeoisie: A History of Clothing in the Nineteenth Century.

Each of the winners also received a certificate from the Dean of the College. The book prizes, chosen to complement each student’s collecting focus, were donated by the Princeton University Press. The first prize essays will be printed in the Princeton University Library Chronicle and will represent Princeton in the National Collegiate Book Collecting Competition, which is sponsored by the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America.

My sincere thanks to this year’s judges for their congenial service: Richard Levine, member of the Friends of the Princeton University Library; Louise Marshall, member of the Friends; John Logan, Literature Bibliographer; Paul Needham, Scheide Librarian; Rob Wegman, Associate Professor of Music; John Delaney, Curator of Historic Maps and Leader of the Manuscripts Cataloging Team, and Julie Mellby, Curator of Graphic Arts.

Congratulations to our winners!!

The deadline for the Elmer Adler Undergraduate Book Collecting Prize has been postponed by one week, due to the storm and its aftermath. The new deadline for entries is Monday, November 12. The prize is endowed from the estate of Elmer Adler, who for many years encouraged the collecting of books by Princeton undergraduates.

The personal essay is about a collection owned by the student. It should describe the thematic or artifactual nature of the collection and discuss with some specificity the unifying characteristics that have prompted the student to think of certain items as a collection. It should also convey a strong sense of the student’s motivations for collecting and what their particular collection means to them personally. The history of the collection, including collecting goals, acquisition methods, and milestones are of particular interest, as is a critical look at how the goals may have evolved over time and an outlook on the future development of the collection. Essays are judged in equal measures on the strength of the collection and the strength of the writing.

Essays should be submitted via e-mail, in a Microsoft Word attachment, to Regine: heberlei@princeton.edu by Monday, November 12, 2012 and should be between 9-10 pages long, 12pt, double-spaced, with a 1-inch margin. In addition to the ten-page essay, each entry should include a selected bibliography of no more than 3 pages detailing the items in the collection. A separate cover sheet should include your name, class year, residential address, email address, and phone number. Please note that essays submitted in file formats other than Microsoft Word, submitted without cover sheet, or submitted without a bibliography will not be forwarded to the judges.

Winners will receive their prizes at the annual winter dinner of the Friends of the Princeton University Library, which they are expected to attend. The first-prize essay will be published in a forthcoming issue of the Princeton University Library Chronicle. In addition, the first-prize essay has the honor of representing Princeton University in the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest organized by the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America. Please note that per the ABAA’s contest rules, the winning essay will be entered exactly as submitted to the Adler Prize contest, without possibility of revision.

Suggested readings from Paul Needham, Scheide Librarian:
Michael Sadleir, preface to his XIX Century Fiction (1951). Firestone 3579.079
A.N.L. Munby, Essays and Papers (1977). Firestone Z992.M958
John Carter, Taste and Technique in Book Collecting (1970). Firestone 0511.241.2.1970
G. Thomas Tanselle “The Rationale of Collecting,” Studies in Bibliography. Online at http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/bsuva/sb

Image: (c) Jane and Louise Wilson, Oddments Room II (Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle), 2008. C-print, Edition of 4. Courtesy 303 Gallery, New York

The Elmer Adler Undergraduate Book Collecting Prize is endowed from the estate of Elmer Adler, who for many years encouraged the collecting of books by Princeton undergraduates.

The personal essay is about a collection owned by the student. It should describe the thematic or artifactual nature of the collection and discuss with some specificity the unifying characteristics that have prompted the student to think of certain items as a collection. It should also convey a strong sense of the student’s motivations for collecting and what their particular collection means to them personally. The history of the collection, including collecting goals, acquisition methods, and milestones are of particular interest, as is a critical look at how the goals may have evolved over time and an outlook on the future development of the collection. Essays are judged in equal measures on the strength of the collection and the strength of the writing.

An informational session introducing the contest will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, October 22, 2012 in the Scheide Library, located in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Firestone Library. The Scheide Library holds outstanding collections of Bibles in manuscript and print, including a Gutenberg and a 36-line Bible; medieval manuscripts and incunabula; music manuscripts of Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven; and other rare materials. Scheide Librarian Paul Needham will give a brief tour and talk about the importance of book collecting. Regine Heberlein, RBSC archivist, will be on hand to answer questions about the Adler Prize.

Essays should be submitted via e-mail, in a Microsoft Word attachment, to Regine: heberlei@princeton.edu by Monday, November 5, 2012 and should be between 9-10 pages long, 12pt, double-spaced, with a 1-inch margin. In addition to the ten-page essay, each entry should include a selected bibliography of no more than 3 pages detailing the items in the collection. A separate cover sheet should include your name, class year, residential address, email address, and phone number. Please note that essays submitted in file formats other than Microsoft Word, submitted without cover sheet, or submitted without a bibliography will not be forwarded to the judges.

Winners will receive their prizes at the annual winter dinner of the Friends of the Princeton University Library, which they are expected to attend. The first-prize essay will be published in a forthcoming issue of the Princeton University Library Chronicle. In addition, the first-prize essay has the honor of representing Princeton University in the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest organized by the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America. Please note that per the ABAA’s contest rules, the winning essay will be entered exactly as submitted to the Adler Prize contest, without possibility of revision.

Suggested readings from Paul Needham, Scheide Librarian:
Michael Sadleir, preface to his XIX Century Fiction (1951). Firestone 3579.079
A.N.L. Munby, Essays and Papers (1977). Firestone Z992.M958
John Carter, Taste and Technique in Book Collecting (1970). Firestone 0511.241.2.1970
G. Thomas Tanselle “The Rationale of Collecting,” Studies in Bibliography. Online at http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/bsuva/sb

Image: (c) Jane and Louise Wilson, Oddments Room II (Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle), 2008. C-print, Edition of 4. Courtesy 303 Gallery, New York

Posted by Regine Heberlein, Processing Archivist and Administrator of the Adler Prize

Chloe Ferguson; Mohit Manohar, Lily Healey, Mary Thierry

The winners of the 2012 Elmer Adler Undergraduate Book Collecting Prize were announced at the Friends of the Princeton University Library’s winter dinner on March 25, 2012. The jury awarded two first prizes, one second prize and one honorable mention.

First prize went to Chloe Ferguson, class of 2013, and Mary Thierry, class of 2012. Mary’s essay, entitled “Mirror, Mirror: American Daguerrean Portraits” is about her interest in the intimate nature of daguerrean portrait photography. She received a prize of $2000 and a copy of Roger Taylor and Edward Wakeling’s book Lewis Carroll: Photographer. Chloe’s essay is entitled “The Farther Shore: Collection, Memory, and the East Asian Literary Tradition” and discusses how she came to love and collect titles about East Asia. She received a prize of $2000 and a copy of Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney’s Rice as Self: Japanese Identities through Time..

Second Prize was awarded to Mohit Manohar, class of 2013, for his essay “An Indian Reading Life,” in which he recounts his discovery of Indian literature at a young age, and the difficulty of collecting modern literature in India before he had access to online shopping. Mohit received a prize of $1500 and a copy of Partha Chatterjee’s narrative history, A Princely Impostor? The Strange and Universal History of the Kumar of Bhawal.

Honorable mention was awarded to Lily Healey, class of 2013, for her essay “Running After Gatsby,” in which she describes her passion for collecting modern editions of The Great Gatsby. Lily received a prize of $500 and Paul Giles’s The Global Remapping of American Literature as well as the winter 1992 issue of the Chronicle, which contains Charles Scribner III’s essay on Francis Cugat’s cover art for The Great Gatsby.

Each of the winners also received a certificate from the Dean of the College. The book prizes, chosen to complement each student’s collecting focus, were once again donated by the Princeton University Press. Thanks to Peter J. Dougherty, Director of the Press for his continuing support of this competition. The first prize essays will be printed in the Princeton University Library Chronicle and will represent Princeton in the National Collegiate Book Collecting Competition, which is sponsored by the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America.

My sincere thanks to this year’s judges for their congenial service: Richard Levine, member of the Friends of the Princeton University Library; Louise Marshall, also a member of the Friends; John Logan, Literature Bibliographer; Paul Needham, Scheide Librarian; Maria DiBattista, Professor of English and Comparative Literature and a member of the Friends; and Rob Wegman, Associate Professor of Music.

Congratulations to all our winners.

The Elmer Adler Undergraduate Book Collecting Prize is endowed from the estate of Elmer Adler, who for many years encouraged the collecting of books by Princeton undergraduates.

The personal essay is about a collection owned by the student. It should describe the thematic or artifactual nature of the collection and discuss with some specificity the unifying characteristics that have prompted the student to think of certain items as a collection. It should also convey a strong sense of the student’s motivations for collecting and what their particular collection means to them personally. The history of the collection, including collecting goals, acquisition methods, and milestones are of particular interest, as is a critical look at how the goals may have evolved over time and an outlook on the future development of the collection. Essays are judged in equal measures on the strength of the collection and the strength of the writing.

An informational session introducing the contest will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 6, 2011 in the Scheide Library, located in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Firestone Library. The Scheide Library holds outstanding collections of Bibles in manuscript and print, including a Gutenberg and a 36-line Bible; medieval manuscripts and incunabula; music manuscripts of Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven; and other rare materials. Scheide Librarian Paul Needham will give a brief tour and talk about the importance of book collecting. Regine Heberlein, RBSC archivist, will be on hand to answer questions about the Adler Prize.

Essays should be submitted via e-mail, in a Microsoft Word attachment, to
Regine: heberlei@princeton.edu by Monday, November 28, 2011 and should be between 9-10 pages long, double-spaced. In addition to the ten-page essay, each entry should include a selected bibliography of no more than 3 pages detailing the items in the collection. A separate cover sheet should include your name, class year, residential address, email address, and phone number. Please note that essays submitted in file formats other than Microsoft Word, submitted without cover sheet, or submitted without a bibliography will not be forwarded to the judges.

Winners will receive their prizes at the annual winter dinner of the Friends of the Princeton University Library, which they are expected to attend. The first-prize essay will be published in a forthcoming issue of the Princeton University Library Chronicle. In addition, the first-prize essay has the honor of representing Princeton University in the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest organized by the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America. Please note that per the ABAA’s contest rules, the winning essay will be entered exactly as submitted to the Adler Prize contest, without possibility of revision.

DATES TO REMEMBER
Informational meeting: 4:30 pm, October 6, 2011
Deadline for entries: November 28, 2011

First prize: $2000

Second prize: $1500

Third prize: $1000

Suggested readings from Paul Needham, Scheide Librarian:
Michael Sadleir, preface to his XIX Century Fiction (1951). Firestone 3579.079
A.N.L. Munby, Essays and Papers (1977). Firestone Z992.M958
John Carter, Taste and Technique in Book Collecting (1970). Firestone 0511.241.2.1970
G. Thomas Tanselle “The Rationale of Collecting,” Studies in Bibliography. Online at http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/bsuva/sb

The winners of the 2011 Elmer Adler Undergraduate Book Collecting Prize were announced at the Friends of the Princeton University Library’s winter dinner on January 29, 2011. The jury awarded first and second prize as well as two honorable mentions.

The $2,000 first prize went to Lindsey Breuer, Class of 2011, for her essay “If Only I Could Apparate, My Harry Potter Collection Would Truly Appreciate.” Lindsey impressed the jury with her focused collection of foreign-language editions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first volume of the Harry Potter series. Buying a copy every time she visits a new country, Lindsey has acquired the British, French, Italian, and Greek editions as well as editions from Australia, Japan, Spain, Morocco, and an Arabic version found in Egypt, among others. What makes her collection special is, in Lindsey’s words, that “I can’t just purchase Sorcerer’s Stone in Russian on Amazon; I need to travel there and find it myself in a Russian bookstore. Collecting is all about the experience and the memories that I make in the process of adding to my vast hoard.”

The $1,500 second-place prize went to Connor Martin ‘2013, for his essay “The Bookshelf as Biography: On the Lives of Others.” In his essay, Connor explains how his collection of biographies is at the same time a physical manifestation of his own biography: “The books that I have accrued serve as a kind of map that charts the winding intellectual and physical paths I have trodden—a tactile biography which technology…can never hope to match.” In precise language, Connor walks the reader through his acquisitions, from the first edition of Julian Barnes’s Nothing to be Frightened Of to his battered copy of Robert Graves’s Goodbye to All That, which appears, as he writes, “nobler for [its] dilapidation” because its back cover “remained in West Africa.” Connor concludes: “Just as Barnes said, memory is identity: The bibliophile’s gift is thus the ability to stand before his collection and recognize himself.”

Honorable mention and $500 went to Brendan Carroll ‘2011, for his essay “Tracing Shadows.” Brendan’s essay on his collection of theological texts stood out through its scholarly approach and attention to the book as an object of art. Brendan’s collection spans, in his words, “fact and fiction, scripture and science, in a multidisciplinary attempt to find ‘that shadow which turns the corner always a pace or two ahead of us.’” Brendan’s essay interweaves the history of how he came by his most important books with a broad history of religious thought, recognizing that, “as Dante knew, it takes art—in particular, story-telling—to motivate belief.”

Honorable mention and $500 was also awarded to Thomas Lowenthal, ‘2011, for his essay “The End of the World (as We Know It).” Thomas captured the jury with an innovative collection topic centered on rediscovering, in his words, “the skills of our past.” Arguing provocatively that the world is headed for a “zombie apocalypse,” Thomas presents his collection of wilderness guides and zombie combat manuals as the essential survival kit that will guarantee the continued existence of the human species. He concludes his essay by saying “when zombies knock down my door tomorrow, I know what knowledge is going in my bag.” Thomas could not attend the ceremony.

Each of the winners also received a certificate from the Dean of the College and a new book, chosen to complement his or her collection, from Princeton University Press. Thanks to Peter J. Dougherty, Director of the Press for his continuing support of this competition. Breuer’s first prize essay will represent Princeton in the National Collegiate Book Collecting Competition, which is sponsored by the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America.

My sincere thanks to this year’s judges for their congenial service: to Friends of the Princeton University Library Richard Levine, Louise Marshall, and Terry Seymour; to John Logan, Literature Bibliographer; and to Stephen Ferguson, Assistant University Librarian for Rare Books and Special Collections and Curator of Rare Books. My special thanks also to Paul Needham, Scheide Librarian, for hosting this year’s information session, and to the outgoing chair of the Adler Prize Committee, Julie Mellby, Curator of Graphic Arts, for her many years of coordinating the Prize.

Congratulations to all our winners.
Regine Heberlein

Deadline for entries: 12:00 Midnight, Tuesday, November 30, 2010

An informational session introducing the contest will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 19, 2010 in the Scheide Library, located in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Firestone Library. The Scheide Library holds outstanding collections of Bibles in manuscript and print, including a Gutenberg and a 36-line Bible; medieval manuscripts and incunabula; music manuscripts of Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven; and other rare materials. Scheide Librarian Paul Needham will give a brief tour and talk about the importance of book collecting. Regine Heberlein, RBSC archivist, will be on hand to answer questions about the Adler Prize.

Essays should be submitted via e-mail, in a Microsoft Word attachment, to Regine: heberlei@princeton.edu by 12:00 Midnight, Tuesday, November 30, 2010 and should be no more than ten pages, double-spaced. Your entry should include a bibliography of the items in your collection. Please note your name, class year, residential address, email address, and phone number on a separate cover sheet.

Winners will receive their prizes at the annual winter dinner of the Friends of the Princeton University Library. The first prize essay will be published in a forthcoming issue of the Princeton University Library Chronicle and has the honor of representing Princeton University in an international book collecting competition.

DATES TO REMEMBER

Deadline for entries: 12:00 Midnight, November 30, 2010

First prize: $2000

Second prize: $1500

Third prize: $1000

Suggested readings from Paul Needham, Scheide Librarian:

Michael Sadleir, preface to his XIX Century Fiction (1951). Firestone 3579.079

A.N.L. Munby, Essays and Papers (1977). Firestone Z992.M958

John Carter, Taste and Technique in Book Collecting (1970). Firestone 0511.241.2.1970

G. Thomas Tanselle “The Rationale of Collecting,” Studies in Bibliography. Online at http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/bsuva/sb

From left to right: Lauren VanZandt-Escobar, Emily Dunlay, Maria Shpolberg, and Ruthie Nachmany

The winners of the 2010 Elmer Adler Undergraduate Book Collecting Prize were announced at the Friends of the Princeton University Library’s winter dinner on March 28, 2010. The $2,000 first prize went to Emily Dunlay, class of 2011, for her essay, “The Real Belles-Lettres: On Collecting Beautiful Books.” In it, she poses the question, “Can our great works of fiction lead a dual life as both literary and visual art?” and goes on to answer, “I certainly believe so—I have spent the past five years in pursuit of beautifully and meaningfully designed editions of the classics of English literature.”

This year, the $1,500 second place prize was a tie. Lauren VanZandt-Escobar, class of 2012, was awarded the honor for her essay “The Lives, Letters, and Diaries of Great Female Artists.” She wrote, “As an artist myself, it is a privilege to have access to the writings of these artists … . Reading facsimiles of their diaries and letters, and their biographies … provides a unique perspective on the creative process behind the works produced. I collect these books because they are a means of interacting with these people whose ambitions I share, and from each one I learn something valuable.”

Maria Shpolberg, class of 2010, was also given a second place award for her essay, “In Favor of Interpretation: The Marriage of Theory and Fiction or, From Formalism to Form.” Shpolberg’s essay is a response to Susan Sontag’s 1966 ground-breaking work “Against Interpretation” and she notes that when she first read Sontag’s declaration, “In place of a hermeneutics we need an erotics of art,” she felt her hands quiver. This encounter with one author’s work led her to collect other authors’ critical writings and fiction focusing on “influences and consequences, responses and rejections.”

The judges awarded an honorable mention and a check for $500 to Ruthie Nachmany, class of 2012, for the essay, “Next Year in Jerusalem: Imaginations and Images of Israel.” Nachmany collects visual works depicting Israel, “through which we can shed light upon our culture’s fixation with ‘the promised land’.”

Each of the winners also received a certificate from the Dean of the College and a new book, chosen to complement her collection, from Princeton University Press. Our thanks to Peter J. Dougherty, director of the Press for his continuing support of this competition. Dunlay’s first prize essay will represent Princeton University in the National Collegiate Book Collecting Competition, which is now sponsored by the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America.

My sincere thanks to this year’s judges: Fernando Acosta-Rodriguez, Librarian for Latin American Studies; Volker Schroder, Associate Professor of French and Italian; Laura M. Giles, Curator, Prints and Drawings, Princeton University Art Museum; and Dallas Piotrowski, Independent artist and Friend of the Princeton University Library. They faced a particularly difficult selection this year, given the wide variety of topics and high scholarship of the papers submitted. Congratulations to all our winners.

Please come to an informational session about the Adler Prize at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 in the Scheide Library, located in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, ground floor of Firestone Library. The Scheide Library holds outstanding collections of Bibles in manuscript and print, including a Gutenberg and a 36-line Bible; medieval manuscripts and incunabula; music manuscripts of Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven; and other rare materials. Scheide Librarian Paul Needham will give a brief tour and talk about the importance of book collecting. Julie Mellby, graphic arts curator, will be on hand to introduce the prize and answer questions about your competition essays.

The essay should be no more than ten, double-spaced pages and should be submitted along with the bibliography via e-mail, in a Microsoft Word attachment, to jmellby@princeton.edu by 5:00 p.m. Monday, November 30, 2009. Remember, the value or number of items is less important than the quality of their selection in satisfying the goal(s) of your collection. Please note your name, class year, residential address, email address, and phone number on a separate cover sheet.

Winners will receive their prizes at the annual winter dinner of the Friends of the Princeton University Library. The first prize essay will be published in a forthcoming issue of the Princeton University Library Chronicle and has the honor of representing Princeton University in an international book collecting competition.

DATES TO REMEMBER

Deadline for entries: 5:00 pm, November 30, 2009

First prize: $2000

Second prize: $1500

Third prize: $1000

Suggested readings from Paul Needham, Scheide Librarian:

Michael Sadleir, preface to his XIX Century Fiction (1951). Firestone 3579.079

A.N.L. Munby, Essays and Papers (1977). Firestone Z992.M958

John Carter, Taste and Technique in Book Collecting (1970). Firestone 0511.241.2.1970

G. Thomas Tanselle “The Rationale of Collecting,” Studies in Bibliography. Online at http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/bsuva/sb

See the 2008 winner: http://paw.princeton.edu/issues/2009/09/23/perspective/

The Friends of the Princeton University Library are pleased to announce the winners of the 2009 Elmer Adler Undergraduate Book Collecting Prize. The $2,000 first prize goes to Jac Mullen, Class of 2010, for his essay, “A Zealous Declaration,” in which he reveals his passion for the great novels of the twentieth century, “those works of linguistic robustness and playfulness, the brashly experimental, fiercely prophetic works of Weltliteratur.” The Adler award also put Mullen in touch with some family history. “When I told my grandfather I’d won,” Mullen said, “he gave me a copy of a very old issue of the Princeton University Library Chronicle [which] featured a bibliography of works collected by my great-grandfather, Gilbert Chinard, who was a professor of French literature here at Princeton in the 1930s and 1940s. More to the point, however, the issue was introduced by an essay my great-grandfather wrote about—of all things—book collecting!”

The second place prize of $1,500 is presented to Emily Rutherford, Class of 2012, for her essay, “The Beat Generation: A Book Collection for My Generation.” When Rutherford first read Allen Ginsberg’s famous line “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked …,” she was hooked, and she began to acquire and read everything she could by and about Ginsberg and his contemporaries. She now lives with that first page of Howl affixed to the wall over her desk. The lines, she writes, “never, ever fail to comfort and inspire me.”

The Friends awarded the $1,000 third prize to Cindy Hong, Class of 2009, for her essay, “Dipping into Life: Collecting Letters of Modernist Writers.” The key to her favorite authors, she discovered, was in their personal correspondence. “No matter what happens to the future of letters,” writes Hong, these published collections will “provide contemporary readers with a glimpse into the lives of favorite modern writers.”

Each winner will receive a certificate from the Dean of the College and a new book chosen specifically for her/his collection, donated by Princeton University Press. Jac Mullen’s first prize essay will be published in the Princeton University Library Chronicle and will also be submitted to the National Undergraduate Book Collecting competition sponsored by Fine Books & Collections magazine.

The Friends of the Princeton University Library play a vital role in supporting the acquisitions and operations of the Library. All members of the community who have an interest in books, libraries, manuscripts, and the graphic arts are welcome to join. For further information on the Friends, please contact Linda Oliveira at 609-258-3155.

Entries due at 5:00 p.m., Friday, November 28, 2008

Jane & Louise Wilson, Oddments Room II (Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle), 2008. C-print, Edition of 4. Courtesy 303 Gallery, New York

The Elmer Adler Undergraduate Book Collecting Prize is awarded annually to the student or students who, in the opinion of the judges, have shown the most thought and ingenuity in assembling a thematically coherent collection of books, manuscripts, or other material normally collected by libraries. The prize is endowed from the estate of Elmer Adler who for many years encouraged the collecting of books by Princeton undergraduates. The rarity and value of the student’s collection are not as important as the creativity and persistence shown in collecting and the fidelity of the collection to the goals described in a personal essay.

Essays should be submitted via e-mail, in a Microsoft Word attachment, to jmellby@princeton.edu by 5:00 p.m. Friday, November 28, 2008 and should be no more than ten pages, double-spaced. Your entry should include a bibliography of the items in your collection. Please note your name, class year, residential address, email address, and phone number on a separate cover sheet.

Winners will receive their prizes at the spring dinner of the Friends of the Princeton University Library. The first prize essay will be published in a forthcoming issue of the Princeton University Library Chronicle and has the honor of representing Princeton University in a national book collecting competition. See last year’s national winner: http://www.finebooksmagazine.com/issue/0605/bookchampionship2008-1.phtml

Third prize: $1000

Deadline for entries: 5:00 p.m., Friday, November 28, 2008

An informational session introducing the contest will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 in the Scheide Library, located in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Firestone Library. The Scheide Library holds outstanding collections of Bibles in manuscript and print, including a Gutenberg and a 36-line Bible; medieval manuscripts and incunabula; music manuscripts of Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven; and other rare materials. Scheide Librarian Paul Needham will give a brief tour and talk about the importance of book collecting. Julie Mellby, graphic arts curator, will be on hand to answer questions about the Adler Prize.

Essays should be submitted via e-mail, in a Microsoft Word attachment, to jmellby@princeton.edu by 5:00 p.m. Friday, November 28, 2008 and should be no more than ten pages, double-spaced. Your entry should include a bibliography of the items in your collection. Please note your name, class year, residential address, email address, and phone number on a separate cover sheet.

Winners will receive their prizes at the annual winter dinner of the Friends of the Princeton University Library. The first prize essay will be published in a forthcoming issue of the Princeton University Library Chronicle and has the honor of representing Princeton University in an international book collecting competition.

DATES TO REMEMBER

Deadline for entries: 5:00 pm, November 28, 2008

First prize: $2000

Second prize: $1500

Third prize: $1000

Suggested readings from Paul Needham, Scheide Librarian:

Michael Sadleir, preface to his XIX Century Fiction (1951). Firestone 3579.079

A.N.L. Munby, Essays and Papers (1977). Firestone Z992.M958

John Carter, Taste and Technique in Book Collecting (1970). Firestone 0511.241.2.1970

G. Thomas Tanselle “The Rationale of Collecting,” Studies in Bibliography. Online at http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/bsuva/sb

It gives me great pleasure to announce the winners of the Elmer Adler Undergraduate Book Collecting Prize. The $2,000 first prize goes to Laura Fitzpatrick, Class of 2008, for her essay, “‘Love goes towards love’: Collecting Romeo and Juliet,” in which she explores used copies of Shakespeare’s play and the marginal notes left by other readers. “My books are a key,” she writes, “to understanding the passion that brings readers like myself coming back for more.”

In a tie for second place, both Caroline Hayley Crowell, Class of 2008, and Ian Segal, Class of 2008, will receive a $1,500 prize. Crowell’s essay, “New Orleans on My Mind: Books of the Big Easy,” focuses on her native New Orleans and the books that “help keep alive for me a city that is struggling to rebuild itself.” Each time she opens one of these volumes, she listens to hear the rhythm, the cadence and the accent of her home.

In “Irish Poetry and Its Contemporary Context,” Segal makes a case for examining Irish poetry “against the hurdling innovations and destructions of our contemporary era.” In this way, he begs to allow a curatorial gesture in which international writing finds itself reconsidering its own postcolonial contexts.

The Friends awarded the $1,000 third prize to Efe Murat Balikcioglu, Class of 2010, for his essay, “Major Poets of Czech and Polish Literature,” in which he grapples with verse written in languages he has not mastered. “To understand a poem does not mean to understand solely the language itself,” argues Mr. Balikcioglu. “There is a transcendental moment in which the reader’s feelings coincide with what the poem tries to convey.”

Each winner received a certificate from the Dean of the College and a new book chosen specifically for her/his collection, donated by Princeton University Press. Laura Fitzpatrick’s first prize essay will be published in the Princeton University Library Chronicle and will also be submitted to the National Undergraduate Book Collecting competition sponsored by Fine Books & Collections Magazine.

Although the collecting continues, the entries are in and the 2007/2008 Elmer Adler Undergraduate Book Collecting Prize is closed. I would like to thank all the students who entered and wish them the best of luck. The judges are reading the essays and will select the winners before the end of the calendar year. These names will be announced at the Winter Banquet of the Friends of the Princeton University Library on Saturday, February 2, 2008 and to the general public on February 4.

Our first place essay will be entered into the National Collegiate Book Collecting Championship, established and sponsored by Fine Books & Collections Magazine. http://www.finebooksmagazine.com/contest/index.phtml

For a list of past Princeton University contest winners and their topics, continue with this posting below:

Deadline for entries: 5:00 p.m., Friday, November 30, 2007

The Elmer Adler Undergraduate Book Collecting Prize is awarded annually to the student or students who, in the opinion of the judges, have shown the most thought and ingenuity in assembling a collection of books, manuscripts, or other material normally collected by libraries, on a directed theme. The prize is endowed from the estate of Elmer Adler, first Curator of Graphic Arts at Princeton (1940-1952), who for many years encouraged the collecting of fine and rare books by Princeton undergraduates. The rarity and value of the student’s collection are not as important as the creativity and persistence shown in collecting, and how the final collection meets the stated goals.

An informational session introducing the contest will be held at 4:30 on Wednesday, October 17, 2007 in the Graphic Arts Collection (2nd floor) of Firestone Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections. Julie Mellby, curator of graphic arts, will go over the rules and then, Dr. Robert Ruben, Class of 1955 and three-time Adler Prize winner, will give a talk on his collections and how he got started. For more information, you can call 609-258-3197 or email jmellby@princeton.edu.

Essays should be submitted via e-mail, in a Microsoft Word attachment, to jmellby@princeton.edu by 5:00 p.m. Friday, November 30, 2007 and should be no more than ten pages, double-spaced. Your entry should include a bibliography of the books in your collection. Please note your name, class year, residential address, email address, and phone number on a separate cover sheet.

Winners will receive their prizes at the annual winter dinner of the Friends of the Princeton University Library. The first prize essay will be published in a forthcoming issue of the Princeton University Library Chronicle and has the honor of representing Princeton University in an international book collecting competition.

DATES TO REMEMBER

Deadline for entries: 5:00 pm, November 30, 2007

First prize: $2000

Second prize: $1500

Third prize: $1000