Princeton’s Grand Tradition of Collecting and Preserving

Thank you, Gregg Lange ’70, for succinctly and fluidly encapsulating the much honored Princeton tradition of donating to the Princeton University Library and passing on through University-fashioned exhibits, publications, research and teaching, the awareness and appreciation of the riches the library holds and preserves. Truly, it is has been an Ivy League passion, shared across the country by other colleges, universities, libraries and museums; and it establishes our nation as a protector of history from around the globe. It’s thrilling to be able to feel the aura, know the impact of and see such documents first hand. For every von Kienbusch, Black, Crawford, Mathey, Taylor, Lapidus, Milberg and Scheide, there are thousands of Princetonians who have gone and are going to book shows and bookshops of all sizes and specialties, regularly scouring the listings in eBay and contents of catalogs, checking attics and basements for hidden, unnoticed gems. Princeton is fortunate to have an active cadre of Undergraduate Library Friends to continue the tradition as it evolves and every year the Elmer Adler cash prizes are awarded to three Princeton undergraduates and one Princeton graduate student for essays on the collecting of books and other objets. Those essays are some of the most riveting works by Princeton students that I have read. Perhaps one day a compilation will be published of selected essays from the long line of annual Adler competitions.