| Special Collections | Original Library | Library Catalogue of 1823 |
| Bentley Observations | Winthrop Observations | Thomas Observations | Ex-Dono Observations | General Observations | Closing Remarks |
| Observations on the Winthrop, Bentley Thomas and 'Ex Dono' Collections of the Original Library of Allegheny College, 1819-1823, |
| first listed by President Timothy Alden in Catalogus Bibliotecae Collegii Alleghaniensis, E Typis Thomae Atkinsonet Soc. apud Meadville. 1823 |
| Edwin Wolf, 2nd |
| Mr. Edwin Wolf, 2nd, Librarian of the Library Company of Philadelphia, was commissioned by Allegheny College to make a survey of the Original Library, March 6-16, 1962 |
| Through his observations, Mr. Wolf uses the original spelling of the College's name: Alleghany. |
| The library of Alleghany as it existed when Timothy Alden made his catalogue of it in 1823 has importance today for several reasons: 1) it was the most scholarly library in the west, which was the result of its major component parts; 2) the component parts were distinguished in their day: the Bentley collection, strong in the classics, moderately strong in the church fathers and representative in theology and linguistics; the Winthrop collection, amazingly strong in linguistics and in voyages and travels, representative in the classics and, because of the influence of John Winthrop, important in the sciences; the Thomas collection, a typical early 19th-century selection of books; 3) the early and interesting provenance of many of the volumes throw light upon an earlier New England culture; 4) there is a present day scholarly interest in individual titles which are of great rarity and/or have considerable value. |
| Bentley Observations | Winthrop Observations | Thomas Observations | Ex-Dono Observations | General Observations | Closing Remarks |
| Special Collections | Original Library | Library Catalogue of 1823 |
Permission to publish
this report has been given by the Library Company of Philadelphia.
Property of Pelletier Library,
Allegheny College, Meadville PA 16335
Sited Designed by Emily MacKinnon, Class of 2000 and Jane Westenfeld / Maintained by Jane Westenfeld
Date Created March 14,
2001 Last Modified: January 16, 2002
URL: http://library.allegheny.edu/Special/Observations.htm