From Private to Public: The Emmerson Collection as a Test Case

Abstract

John Emmerson’s rare book collection was acquired by the State Library of Victoria in 2015. While the collection has a clear focus on events surrounding the English Civil War, it includes many volumes which reach beyond that theme. In this essay I consider what it means for such a personal collection to enter a public library space. In particular, I explore the way the acquisition of this kind of  collection clarifies the tension within rare book collections in libraries between preservation and access. I compare the arrival of the Emmerson collection at the State Library with the impact of private collections on a number of other libraries, principally the Folger Shakespeare Library, the New York Public Library, the Pierpont Morgan Library, and the University of Pennsylvania Library (which has the Furness Collection).