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Finding Aid for the Robert Ernest Cowan Library and Bibliographical Lists, ca. 1935
2046
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Title: Robert Ernest Cowan Library and Bibliographical Lists,
Date (inclusive): ca. 1935
Collection number: 2046
Creator:
Cowan, Robert Ernest, 1862-1942
Extent: 8 boxes (4 linear ft.)
1 oversize box
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library.
Dept. of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Abstract: Robert Ernest Cowan (1862-1942) was a San Francisco bookseller (1895-1920) and author of bibliographies of history of California
and the Pacific Coast. He was also the librarian for William Andrews Clark, Jr. (1919-33). Cowan's collection of books and
manuscripts form the nucleus of the UCLA Department of Special Collections' holdings in Californiana. The collection consists
of library and bibliographical lists of the Robert E. Cowan Library made by Mr. Cowan and members of the UCLA Library staff.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Language:
English.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of 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.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
[Identification of item], Robert Ernest Cowan Library and Bibliographical Lists (Collection 2046). Department of Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
4232913
Robert Ernest Cowan was born in 1862 in Toronto, Canada; came to San Francisco in 1870; student at UC Berkeley 1882-84; San
Francisco bookseller from 1895-1920 and author of bibliographies of history of California and the Pacific Coast; librarian
for William Andrews Clark, Jr., 1919-33; moved to Los Angeles at Clark's request in 1926; Cowan's collection of books and
manuscripts form the nucleus of the UCLA Department of Special Collections' holdings in Californiana; married Marie Margaret
Fleissner in 1894; only child was Robert Granniss Cowan; died in 1942.
Collection consists of library and bibliographical lists of the Robert E. Cowan Library made by Mr. Cowan and members of the
UCLA Library staff. Includes a manuscript catalog made in Cowan's hand in 1935, a list of 3534 items in the Cowan Library
with a bibliography, manuscript catalogs with Cowan's valuations, UCLA catalog cards with full entries on 3 × 5” slips, and
a manuscript volume of a list of Cowan's books, chiefly Californiana. Cowan's Library formed the nucleus of UCLA's Californiana
holdings.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Cowan, Robert Ernest, 1862-1942--Archives.
Bibliographers--California--Archival resources.
California--Bibliography--Archival resources.
- California bibliographers: father and son [oral history transcript] / Robert G. Cowan, interviewee. UCLA Oral History Department interview, 1979. Available at the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.
- Robert Ernest Cowan Papers (Collection 232) . Available at the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.
- Robert Ernest Cowan, Californiana (Collection 2048). Available at the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.