Guide to the Roger K. Larson Papers, 1988-1997

Processed by Hülya Reshad; machine-readable finding aid created by James Lake

Sanoian Special Collections Library

California State University, Fresno

5200 North Barton Avenue M/S ML 34

Fresno, California 93740-8014

Phone: (559) 278-2595

Fax: (559) 278-6952

Email: specialc@listserv.csufresno.edu

URL: http://www.lib.csufresno.edu/SubjectResources/SpecialCollections

Guide to the Roger K. Larson Papers, 1988-1997

Sanoian Special Collections Library

Henry Madden Library

Fresno, California

Contact Information:

Sanoian Special Collections Library
California State University, Fresno
5200 North Barton Avenue M/S ML 34
Fresno, California 93740-8014
Phone: (559) 278-2595
Fax: (559) 278-6952
Email: specialc@listserv.csufresno.edu
URL: http://www.lib.csufresno.edu/SubjectResources/SpecialCollections

Processed by:: Hülya Reshad
Date Completed:: 1998
Encoded by:: James Lake

Descriptive Summary

Title: Roger K. Larson Papers,

Date (inclusive): 1988-1997

Creator: Larson, Roger K., 1924-

Extent: 5 linear inches

Repository: Henry Madden Library (California State University, Fresno).

Sanoian Special Collections Library.

Fresno, California

Language: English.

Administrative Information

Acquisition

The papers were donated by Dr. Roger K. Larson in 1997.

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Roger K. Larson Papers, Sanoian Special Collections Library, California State University, Fresno.

Biography

Roger K. Larson, an avid book collector, has led an active career as a doctor and professor of medicine. Born in Cadillac, Michigan, Larson attended Northwestern University, Wheaton College and the University of Illinois before moving to California in 1949 for his residency in internal medicine. After a stint in the Korean War, Dr. Larson moved to Fresno to practice medicine and eventually became Chief of Medicine at Valley Medical Center.

In the early 1970s, Dr. Larson started buying rare and fine antiquarian books. Thus began his passion for book collecting. Over the next twenty-five years, he built an extensive collection of important and valuable books on Californiana and Western Americana. In the early 1990s, Dr. Larson decided to auction off his collection so that other collectors could experience the thrill of building their own collections. The Pacific Book Auction Galleries held a series of auctions in San Francisco from 1995 to 1997.

Scope and Content

The Roger K. Larson papers measure 5 linear inches and date from 1988 to 1997. The papers are comprised of book auction catalogs which document one man's deep respect for scholarship as well as the sweep of California and Western history and the books that have chronicled that history. Written by Larson himself, the catalogs provide a very detailed description of each book as well as substantive annotations. The essays in the catalogs are particularly useful in understanding both the collection and the collector.

Also included are two essays that Larson wrote. One is on the search for the letters of writer George Sterling to Ambrose Bierce. The other is a history of The Rather Press, a private press in California, all of whose works Larson collected and eventually donated to the Sanoian Special Collections Library.

Box Box 1

Auction catalogs

Part I: Western exploration: the fur trade, the Native American settlement and exploitation, 1995

Part II: California: Exploration through the Gold Rush, 1995

Part III: California: After the Gold Rush to the present time, 1996

Part IV, Day one: Western literature, Lawrence Clark Powell, 1997

Part IV, Day two: Western art books, original art, photography books, photographic images, UCSF-Fresno Foundation, 1997

Essays

"The Elusive Letters of George Sterling," 1994

"The Rather Press: An Informal History of a Unique California Press," 1988 (includes notes and various drafts)