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
© 1998
California State University, Fresno. All rights reserved.
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
© 1998 California State University, Fresno. All rights reserved.
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.
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
Copyright has not been transferred to California State University, Fresno.
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.
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
"The Elusive Letters of George Sterling," 1994
"The Rather Press: An Informal History of a Unique California Press," 1988 (includes notes and various drafts)