Artist's rendition of new Houghton Library in Corning.
A major renovation of the Houghton Library is scheduled to be completed by the beginning of next year. Perhaps many at Harvard University's rare book library will react with puzzlement, as in, I didn't know there was major reconstruction going on at the Houghton Library. There is, just not at that Houghton Library. There is another, and it is the only other library to share the manuscript collection of their mutual benefactor, Arthur A. Houghton, Jr.
This “other” Houghton Library, the Arthur A. Houghton, Jr. Library, is located at the Corning Community College in Corning, New York. The division of his manuscripts, along with his largesse, between such different institutions might seem puzzling. It isn't, once one understands Houghton's background. The Harvard connection was sealed by his days as an undergraduate. Arthur Houghton graduated from Harvard in 1929.
The Corning Community College connection relates to his family background, and his business career. Mr. Houghton was the great-grandson of the founder of the Corning Glass Works. He undoubtedly could have lived comfortably without working a day in his life, but instead he went into the family business. In 1933, he was named President of Corning's Steuben Glass division. The artistic glass division had been struggling during the Depression. Houghton took on the task of revitalizing its designs, and building the company into the most important designer and manufacturer of high quality, crystal designs. Steuben Glass, under his leadership, became legendary. He remained Steuben's President for the next forty years, though part of the time was spent elsewhere, focused on other endeavors.
One of those other endeavors was serving as curator of rare books at the Library of Congress from 1940-1942. Along with his love of art, Arthur Houghton had a love for rare books and manuscripts, the result of his appreciation for English literature, developed during his days at Harvard. He would emerge from his undergraduate days as a book collector, becoming one of the most important collectors of his time (the middle of the 20th century). Houghton provided the major financing for the library at Harvard which bears his name, along with contributing to its collection, most notably the world's largest collection of Keats material. The library opened in 1942.
In the late 1950's, Houghton would be much involved with the formation of Corning Community College. He donated 273 acres of land, along with providing money and part of his personal collection to the library. It is not surprising that the Corning college would name its library after its generous benefactor. This is how the Corning Community College library came to share a name and a collection with the rare book and manuscript library at Harvard University. Now, with the extensive reconstruction being completed at the Corning edition of the Houghton Library, students will have a modern facility in which to read and learn, and the collections donated by Arthur Houghton and others will receive the proper level of care. So three cheers are in order for the Houghtons, one for each library, and one for the man.
Koller, Mar. 26: Wit, Frederick de. Atlas. Amsterdam, de Wit, [1680]. CHF 20,000 to 30,000
Koller, Mar. 26: Merian, Maria Sibylla. Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandelung, und sonderbare Blumennahrung. Nürnberg, 1679; Frankfurt a. M. und Leipzig, 1683. CHF 20,000 to 30,000
Koller, Mar. 26: GOETHE, JOHANN WOLFGANG VON. Faust. Ein Fragment. Von Goethe. Ächte Ausgabe. Leipzig, G. J. Göschen, 1790. CHF 7,000 to 10,000
Koller, Mar. 26: Hieronymus. [Das hochwirdig leben der außerwoelten freünde gotes der heiligen altuaeter]. Augsburg, Johann Schönsperger d. Ä., 9. Juni 1497. CHF 40,000 to 60,000.
Koller, Mar. 26: BIBLIA GERMANICA - Neunte deutsche Bibel. Nürnberg, A. Koberger, 17. Feb. 1483. CHF 40,000 to 60,000
Koller, Mar. 26: HORAE B.M.V. - Stundenbuch. Lateinische Handschrift auf Pergament, Kalendarium französisch. Nordfrankreich (Rouen?). CHF 25,000 to 40,000
Sotheby's Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
Sotheby's Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
Sotheby's Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
Swann Printed & Manuscript African Americana March 20, 2025
Swann Printed & Manuscript African Americana March 20, 2025
Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 7: Thomas Fisher, The Negro's Memorial or Abolitionist's Catechism, London, 1825. $6,000 to $9,000.
Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 78: Victor H. Green, The Negro Travelers' Green Book, New York, 1958. $20,000 to $30,000.
Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 99: Rosa Parks, Hand-written recollection of her first meeting with Martin Luther King Jr., autograph manuscript, Detroit, c. 1990s. $30,000 to $40,000.
Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 154: Frederick Douglass, Autograph statement on voting rights, signed manuscript, 1866. $20,000 to $30,000.
Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 164: W.E.B. Du Bois, What the Negro Has Done for the United States and Texas, Washington, circa 1936. $3,000 to $4,000.
Swann Printed & Manuscript African Americana March 20, 2025
Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 263: Susan Paul, Memoir of James Jackson, Boston, 1835. $6,000 to $9,000.
Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 267: Langston Hughes, Gypsy Ballads, signed translation of García Lorca's poetry, Madrid, 1937. $1,500 to $2,500.
Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 274: Malcolm X, Collection from Alex Haley's estate, 38 items, 1963-1971. $4,000 to $6,000.
Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 367: Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave, Auburn, NY, 1853. $2,500 to $3,500.
Swann, Mar. 20: Lot 402: Anna Julia Cooper, A Voice from the South, Xenia, OH, 1892. $2,000 to $3,000.