Jump to Content

Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Guide to the Letterpress copy books of University Librarian, Joseph Cummings Rowell, 1878-1907
308e.l  
View entire collection guide What's This?
Search this collection
Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Collection Summary
  • Information for Researchers
  • Scope and Content

  • Collection Summary

    Collection Title: Letterpress copy books of University Librarian, Joseph Cummings Rowell,
    Date (inclusive): 1878-1907
    Collection Number: 308e.l
    Creator: University of California (1868-1952). General Library
    Extent: Number of volumes: 15 Linear feet: 3
    Repository: The Bancroft Library. University Archives.
    Berkeley, California 94720-6000
    Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

    Information for Researchers

    Access

    Collection is open for research.

    Publication Rights

    Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Letterpress copy books of University Librarian, Joseph Cummings Rowell, 308e.l, University Archives, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

    Scope and Content

    These letterpress copy books were kept by Joseph Cummings Rowell from 1878 to 1904. Many of the volumes had slips inserted commenting on interesting developments for the history of the library. Unfortunately these slips were in danger of harming the bindings of the volumes, so it was decided to remove them. It seemed a shame, however, to discard them without making some effort to preserve the information that had been so laboriously gathered.
    Date references were added to the slips and this list of comments was created from the annotated slips. In some cases the document in question was not dated, so the preceding date was used, with the letter 'f' for 'following.' Often the slips had page references (there are printed page numbers on each sheet of the volumes); these have been retained and must be used in conjunction with the date span of the surrounding references since the volumes are not numbered. In addition, most volumes came with index pages, and these were often used by Rowell himself to index each volume as he went along.
    It was May Dornin, archivist from 1945 to 1964 who made these comments. The comments on the slips were typed, but occasional handwritten notes also appear, in her handwriting. Miss Dornin had known and worked for Rowell before his death in 1938, and her personal knowledge of and respect for him shows through in some of the comments.