Old University Books
When the University of Chicago reopened in 1892, it did so with an extensive research collection for its Library already in place. In her Decennial Report to the President, Zella Allen Dixson, the first librarian at the new University of Chicago, reported on the collections that "form the nuclei of the University Library." Included in this list were the books from the Old University of Chicago. (University of Chicago. Library, and Zella Allen Dixson. The University Library. [Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1904], 230.) Dixson spent the first months of 1893 unpacking and shelving the books from Morgan Park, which would have included the Old University's books, along with cataloging and distributing them between the General collection and the Departmental Libraries. In the 1930s, this work was still not completed.
The Old University of Chicago Library was a broad collection of standard academic publications, almost entirely in English and published in the mid-19th century. In 1912, Harper Memorial Library opened, which held the General Collection. In 1970, the Joseph Regenstein Library opened and the General Collection for undergraduates was merged with the departmental libraries. At this point, most of the volumes of the Old University of Chicago Library were reunited under one roof.
In March of 2019, there were 32 known volumes from the Old University collection, identified from their bookplates by Catherine Uecker. As of the end of 2019, Anne Knafl and Nancy Spiegel have identified another 70 volumes. Patricia Williams is adding notes to the catalog records of any identified volumes. You can see the growing list of the Old University of Chicago Collection in the catalog and a list of digitized, public domain books in HathiTrust.
In June, 2019, Anne Knafl located Accession logs for the bulk of the Old University collection. Accession Book 20001-30000 has been digitized by Kathleen Feeney. It records approximately 4800 titles from the Old University of Chicago Library or "Chicago University," which were added to the collection starting in 1891.
Volumes from the original collection can be identified by the presence of a bookplate from the original library or a gift acknowledge plate added later. Below are images of all the types of plates that have been identified thus far. If you find a book with such a plate in our stacks, please alert Anne Knafl or Nancy Spiegel.
Zella Neal Dixson added approximately 4800 of the Old University of Chicago Library to the collection in 1891. The volume has been digitized. (University of Chicago. Library. Office of the Director. Zella Allen Dixson. Records, [Volume 3, Accessions Books 20001-30000], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.)
Researchers believe Stephen A. Douglas donated his collection of public documents to the Old University of Chicago Library. The Accession Book from 1891 includes long lists of similar documents. (University of Chicago. Library. Office of the Director. Zella Allen Dixson. Records, [Volume 3, Accessions Books 20001-30000], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.)
This is the most common, original bookplate found in the Old University of Chicago Collection.
It was common to add a gift acknowledge plate under the original bookplate that confirmed the provenance of the volume. The early gift plates include a handwritten acknowledgment, while later they were typewritten.
This green bookplate is a less common, original bookplate found in volumes from the Old University of Chicago Collection.
This is a gift bookplate from the Old University of Chicago Collection. It is the only one of its kind identified thus far.
Edit: Another example of this book plate was found by Anne on 2.16.2024. It appears in the 1878 volume of Engineering News and can be viewed online in HathiTrust.
Walker, Edwin Sawyer, and Baptists. Illinois. Springfield association. History of the Springfield Baptist Association: With Sketches of the Churches of Which It Is Composed, and Biographical Sketches of Deceased Ministers. Springfield, IL: Rokker, 1881.
Another example of a rare bookplate from the old University of Chicago Library. As of February 2024, only three examples have been found.
This volume was donated by Galusha Anderson, the last President of the Old University of Chicago.
When the current University was incorporated in 1892, Galusha Anderson joined the faculty of the Divinity School as professor and chair of the department of Homiletics. A portrait of him still hangs in the Common Room on the first floor of Swift Hall. "His career embodies the continuous tradition of the two institutions bearing the name of the University of Chicago." John W. Boyer, “Not As A thing for the Moment, But for All Time: the University of Chicago and its Histories," Occasional Papers on Higher Education XX. The College of the University of Chicago, 2010: front matter.
Image of plaque on portrait, "Galusha Anderson 1832-1918. President of the Old University of Chicago, 1878-1886. Professor of Homiletics, 1892-1904. Painted by Frederick Vinton.
H.M. Thompson donated a complete collection of the Bohn libraries series to the Old University of Chicago in 1870, when he served as librarian. Many of the original bookplates bear his name. As a result, some of the gift acknowledgement plates added by the new University recognized Thompson as the donor and not the old University, though they are part of the Old University of Chicago Collection.
The original plate, on the right, reads "H. M." while the later gift plate, on the left, reads "H. C."
By the 1920s, the University of Chicago Library had adopted the Library of Congress call number system. An early gift acknowledgement plate featured the Dewey call number.
Romero, Matías. El Estado De Oaxaca. Barcelona: Tipo-litografía de Espana y Comp., 1886. This is one of the few titles in the Old University of Chicago Collection identified thus far that is not in English.
Some of the volumes of the Old University of Chicago Collection bear hand written notations of their provenance on the title page or page facing. In some cases, this is the only proof of provenance, since many of the volumes have been rebound for preservation and their original covers were discarded, along with the bookplates on them.
Bookplates from the old University of Chicago Library and the University of Michigan Library in volume 1 of Boston, T. (1773). The whole works of the late Reverend and learned Mr. Thomas Boston, Minister of the Gospel at Etterick. Dundee: Printed by L. Chalmers for R. Nicoll.
Some of old University of Chicago Library volumes were transferred to the University of Michigan Library as part of a duplicate exchange program. Libraries would commonly exchange their duplicate copies for the duplicate copies of another library. In this way, both libraries could hold a copy without the added cost of purchase.
See, for example, Journal of the Senate of the General Assembly of the State of Illinois. 1st (1818)-, State printer, 1818-.
Bookplates adhered to 13th-14th century manuscript of parts of the Qur'an, ISACM A16964.
109 leaves, Suras 1:1-2:58, 2:158-12:45. Some leaves missing. Maghribi script. Binding is binder's board and marbled paper, probably English, brown leather back and corners.
H. M. Thompson donated an Arabic manuscript to the Old University of Chicago Library. This manuscript was part of the books that made up the library of University of Chicago in 1892. Given its age, it would have been held in Special Collections. It is documented as part of the collection in A descriptive catalogue of manuscripts in the libraries of the University of Chicago, published in 1912.
By 1975, this same manuscript was located in the Oriental Institute (renamed Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures in 2023).
University of Chicago. Library. Office of the Director. Zella Allen Dixson. Records, Volume 1, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
University of Chicago. Library. Office of the Director. Zella Allen Dixson. Records, Volume 1, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library