Halsted B. Vander Poel: Papers Relating to Book Collecting, 1937-1986

RLIN ID No.
NYGG04-A15

Main Entry
Vander Poel, Halsted B., 1911-

Title
Papers relating to book collecting, 1937-1971.

Physical Description
2 boxes
Loose-leaf binder (ca. 75 pages) ; 19 cm.

Organization and Arrangement
Invoices and correspondence with antiquarian booksellers; chronological arrangement.

Organization and Arrangement
Association copies exhibition correspondence; alphabetical arrangement by correspondent.

Historical/Biographical Note
Collector and archaeologist. Halsted Billings Vander Poel was born in New York City on 1912 August 11. He started collecting books and manuscripts about 1937, concentrating on nineteenth and twentieth century English and American authors. From 1958 he lived in Rome, where he was amassed a research library and architectural historiography of archaeological investigations conducted around the Bay of Naples, with emphasis on Pompeii and Herculaneum. He bought from many Continental dealers as well as those in England and the United States. Vander Poel edited or contributed to four books about Pompeii and Herculaneum, including the multi-volume Corpus Topographicum Pompeianum. He left this “Campian Collection” to the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles. Other benefactions include the donation of his Charles Dickens collection to the University of Texas and his Boswell collection to the Beinecke Rare Book Library at Yale University.

Scope and Contents Note
Correspondence and invoices for book purchased between 1937 and 1971, including material documenting his purchases for his “Campian Collection.” From 1958 on the material reflects his interest in collecting material about Pompeii and Herculaneum. Also: a loose-leaf binder bound in red morocco with individual entries for authors with last names beginning with A and B and the disposition of some items; the latest entries are dated 1986. One folder contains correspondence relating to the exhibition of Association Copies that Vander Poel organized for the Grolier Club when he was chairman of the exhibitions committee. It was on display in late January and February 1947.Correspondents include but are not limited to: Elmer Adler, George Arents, Frederick R. Goff, John D. Gordon, Alfred C. Howell, Donald F. Hyde, William A. Jackson, and the antiquarian booksellers Howard S. Mott and Arthur Pforzheimer.

General Note
Title Devised by cataloger.

Publication Note
Association Copies Exhibition. “News from the Rare Book Sellers,” by Jacob Blanck. Publishers’ Weekly, February 22, 1947, Section II, p. B153-154.

Names
Adler, Elmer, 1884-1962. Correspondence.
Arents, George, 1875-1960. Correspondence.
Goff, Frederick Richmond, 1916-. Correspondence.
Gordon, John Dozier, 1907-1968. Correspondence.
Jackson, William A. (William Alexander), 1905-1964.Correspondence.
Howell, Alfred C. Correspondence.
Hyde, Donald Frizell, 1909-1966. Correspondence.
Mott, Howard S. Correspondence.
Pforzheimer, Arthur. Correspondence.
Vander Poel. Halsted B., 1911- Correspondence.
Grolier Club.

Subjects
Antiquarian booksellers. Correspondence. 20th century.
Association copies of books. Correspondence. 20th century.
Book collectors. United States. 20th century.
Book collecting. United States. 20th century.

Genres
Bills of sale. 20th century.
Invoices. United States. 20th century.
Loose-leaf binders. 20th century.

Occupation
Book collectors. United States. 20th century.

Location
Grolier Club, 47 East 60th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022-1098.