Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
d'Alté Welch Bibliography of English Children’s Books Printed before 1821, with annotations and additional entries by Wilbur
Jordan Smith
1991
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: d'Alté Welch Bibliography of English Children’s Books Printed before 1821, with annotations and additional entries by Wilbur
Jordan Smith
Collection number: 1991
Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections
Language of Material: English
Physical Description: 2 boxes (1.0 linear ft.)
Date: Undated
Abstract: Manuscript for the Bibliography of English Children’s Books Printed Before 1821 by James d'Alté Aldridge Welch, with annotations
and additional entries by Wilbur Jordan Smith
Arranged by author and title.
James d'Alté Aldridge Welch was born in New York City on April 9, 1907. He attended Johns Hopkins University, earning a master’s
degree in biological sciences in 1931. He then served as Assistant Malacologist at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu. He returned
to Johns Hopkins University, earning his Ph.D in 1937. As a research biologist, he studied the distribution and variation
of the Hawaiian tree snail. He joined the faculty of John Carroll University in 1942. He died suddenly as a result of injuries
incurred during an attempted robbery near the Cleveland Racquet Club in December 1970.
d'Alté Welch was a dedicated collector of English and American children’s books, inspired by a visit to England with his mother
in 1922. Children’s books and book collecting remained a lifelong passion for him. His manuscript, A Bibliography of American
Children’s Books Printed prior to 1821 was published posthumously. In his transmittal letter to the UCLA Library Special Collections
at the time of his gift, Wilbur Smith noted that this bibliography of English Children’s Books, “ … ought to be published,
despite its not being quite complete.”
Biographical information extracted from A Bibliography of American Children’s Books printed prior to 1821 [by d'Alté Welch],
[Worcester, Mass.]: American Antiquarian Society, 1972 , foreword by Marcus A. McCorison. Comments on Wilbur Jordan Smith’s
contributions to the manuscript extracted from UCLA Library Special Collections files.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library Special
Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
[Identification of item], d'Alté Welch Bibliography of English Children's Books Printed Before 1821 manuscript (Collection
1991). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
7173939
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Wilbur Jordan Smith, 1988.
Processed by Benjamin Formaker Olivas and Lilace Hatayama, October 2012.
The collection consists of a typescript of d'Alté Welch’s bibliography of English Children’s Books printed before 1821. The
manuscript was sent to Wilbur Jordan Smith by Welch’s widow after his death. Smith annotated and added entries to the manuscript.
d'Alté A. (d’Alte Aldridge) Welch Papers (Collection 1407). Available at UCLA Library Special Collections.