A Holiday Reflection

This post has nothing to do with libraries, archives, or special collections. Or, it may have everything to do with my life as a curator and how I perceive, or partially perceive, this world. I see through a glass, and darkly. Indeed, this may be the first time I have published something as personal as this in this space. But something moves me to do this, if for no other reason than to say out loud, and thus share with you, a thing that makes up part of my inner life--and thus informs who I am, not only as a librarian, but as a human being.

Not all who might read this will share its faithful underpinnings. They may, in fact, reject it completely. And yet, I write this knowing that something must be said, something done on my part, to counter the bitter darkness, division, and evils of this age. This is but a small piece of what is a much longer pilgrimage. I am on a path, one that favors the light, even as it moves through shadows and mist.

What follows is a hint at what I believe and why I am so passionate about things such as my engagement with the scholarships committee in my professional association, or of libraries and librarians as activists for social justice. This meditation is part of a much longer series of writings I've shared over the years with a group of close friends and family. Consider it a gift, or at least a wish, from a friend.

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“If you’re younger than 35 years old, you’ve never seen less sunshine during our meteorological autumn (September through November) than you saw in 2018. You might impress your friends with that fact at your next party.” — Ron Trenda, Minnesota Public Radio meteorologist, in the MPR Updraft blog, December 2, 2018

It was the first Sunday in Advent, the first evening of Hannakuh when this perception surfaced, triggered by a friend’s injury. Now, later in the week, having experienced it firsthand, the same thought remains: it is difficult to watch someone suffer; even more so to observe suffering in the lives of family or friends. We don’t normally associate an observation of affliction with the holiday season. Rather, it is a time of lights and singing, of joy, hope, and anticipation. And yet, here I sit, wondering about suffering and my relationship to the sufferer.

This particular misery has nothing to do with a time of year or arising from a seasonal affective disorder. On the other hand, a recent posting from the Minnesota State Climatology Office doesn’t help lighten the load: “September through November 2018 was quite gloomy across Minnesota. In fact, looking at solar radiation records at the U of M St. Paul Campus Climate Observatory it was the least sunny meteorological autumn since 1983.” No, this hardship is something greater, a ubiquitous human condition—assuming, of course, the existence of some capacity for compassion in the observer.

My attention is drawn to this anguished relationship. Since this is the time of year—between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day—when I traditionally read works by or about C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, or other “Inklings” (including, for me, Dorothy L. Sayers), I am reminded of Lewis’s marriage to Joy Davidman, his writings on pain and grief, as well as his thoughts on “subsititution.” As Andrew Stout described it in a 2016 article, the practice of substitution as developed in the literary works of Lewis’s friend, Charles Williams, depicts a metaphysical “character of a universe in which individuals can consciously and intentionally ‘bear one another’s burdens’ of fear, anxiety, and possibly even physical sickness or pain.”

By examining writings of Williams and Lewis, Stout compares and contrasts Williams’s willingness to embrace substitutionary practice with Lewis’s more cautionary approach. He concludes: “Though acknowledging the effectiveness of Williams’s use of the practice, Lewis’s appropriation of substitution would indicate that it is too much to presume on the mystery of God’s ways to turn this principle into a technique or discipline to be practiced intentionally.” Near the end of his article, Stout focuses on Lewis’s relationship with Joy Davidman’s illness and death, events indicative of Lewis’s thinking on substitution.

Lewis wrote to Sheldon Vanauken in November 1957 and noted that “the cancerous bones have rebuilt themselves in a way quite unusual and Joy can now walk,” observing that this event coincided with an apparent attack of osteoporosis on Lewis’s part. Lewis was not satisfied to view these gains and losses of health as merely coincidental: “The intriguing thing is that while I (for no discoverable reason) was losing the calcium from my bones, Joy, who needed it much more, was gaining it in hers. One dreams of a Charles Williams substitution! Well, never was a gift more gladly given; but one must not be fanciful.” (Collected Letters III. 901)

Lewis’s final remark, “one must not be fanciful,” confirms the thought that substitution should not be seen as an intentional spiritual discipline or practice.
Stout makes a final observation, in a marital context, on the practical limits of Williams’s beliefs by quoting from Lewis’s A Grief Observed:

There’s a limit to the “one flesh.” You can’t really share someone else’s weakness, or fear or pain. What you may feel may be bad. It might conceivably be as bad as what the other felt, though I should distrust anyone who claimed that it was. But it would still be quite different. When I speak of fear, I mean the merely animal fear, the recoil of the organism from its destruction; the smothery feeling; the sense of being a rat in a trap. It can’t be transferred.

It may not be transferred, but in some way it can still be shared. The Apostle Paul urges me to “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” A quick glance at some online sources tells me that commentators and theologians are not quite sure what Paul meant by the phrase “the law of Christ.” I have neither time nor space here to investigate possible interpretations of the phrase. Allow me, however, to share a brief story as a way to suggest that “the law of Christ” involves love.

While vacationing with family in Little Falls, my siblings and I played in the backyard. I don’t recall the exact game, but think it was some form of tag. A small two-story playhouse or shed was next door. My sister Lenore was on the upper level and while reaching or throwing something, lost her balance and fell face-down to the ground. She suffered a serious injury and was taken to the hospital. Later, during a meal, her twin, Lynette, was so upset by her sister’s hurt that she became ill at the table. It struck me then, with an intensity of feeling that remains to this day, that Lynette loved Lenore so much that together they somehow shared this awful pain. One might chalk this up to internal distress or biological realities of being a twin. But I think it was more than that. What I witnessed was not a substitution in the sense of Williams, but a bearing of one another’s burden and the essence or fulfillment of the law, more in line with what Lewis felt and believed. As it is written: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind....Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

In A Grief Observed, Lewis points to something (and Someone) beyond a faulty or suspect spiritual discipline. He guides us toward a reality many of us celebrate in this season of Advent, to a life that begins in anticipation and, ultimately, to something much greater. Lewis writes:

And then one babbles — ‘if only I could bear it, or the worst of it, or any of it, instead of her.’ But one can’t tell how serious that bid is, for nothing is staked on it. If it suddenly became a real possibility, then, for the first time, we should discover how seriously we had meant it. But is it ever allowed? It was allowed to One, we are told, and I find I can now believe again, that He has done vicariously whatever can be done. He replies to our babble, ‘you cannot and dare not. I could and dared.’

He could and dared. As I write these last words, listening to resurrection assurances embedded in the funeral service of President George H. W. Bush, these lyrics from an anthem float my way. May they bring you peace and hope and light during this special season of the year.

The King of love my Shepherd is, | Whose goodness faileth never, | I nothing lack if I am His | And He is mine forever.... Perverse and foolish oft I strayed, | But yet in love He sought me, | And on His shoulder gently laid, | And home, rejoicing, brought me....

Keeper

Some Observations on "His Last Bow"

This is the text of a talk I gave on the evening of December 7, 2017 as part of the program for the annual holiday dinner of the Norwegian Explorers of Minnesota, our Sherlockian scion society of the Baker Street Irregulars. Other papers were given that evening by Julie McKuras, former president of the Norwegian Explorers, and Steven Schier, Dorothy H. and Edward C. Congdon Professor of Political Science, Emeritus at Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota.

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By my count—and absent a current functioning online concordance of the Tales—there are ten references to “spy” in the Canon (The Sign of Four, Missing Three Quarter, Second Stain, Hound, Valley of Fear, and His Last Bow—which contains two instances) and another six for “spies” (Red Headed League, Copper Beeches, Priory School, Second Stain, and the Bruce-Partington Plans). Sixteen total occurrences out of a total of 667,793 Canonical words—according to Christian Peccei’s “A Statistical Analysis of the Sherlock Holmes Stories." So why do I think “His Last Bow” is all about spies, spying, and the intelligence services of His Majesty’s government?

In short, because there was a need for such an operation. Mycroft Holmes knew of this need, as did his brother. Consider the opening words of “His Last Bow.” “It was nine o’clock at night upon the second of August–the most terrible August in the history of the world. One might have thought already that God’s curse hung heavy over a degenerate world, for there was an awesome hush and a feeling of vague expectancy in the sultry and stagnant air.”

We know from basic sources that the Security Service (MI5) and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) mark their beginnings with the Secret Service Bureau, which was authorized and created in October 1909 by the War Office. William Melville (1850 – 1918) was an Irish law enforcement officer and the first chief of the British Secret Service Bureau. Melville concentrated on looking for German spies. After the outbreak of World War I, the Secret Service received more funding. Melville also recruited more personnel, especially after it was attached to the newly founded G-section which concentrated on investigating suspected agents. In addition, Melville founded a spy school opposite the War Office at Whitehall Court. Surely, in those orbits around Whitehall, Melville was known to, and in conversation with the Holmes brothers. And we can imagine, most certainly, that as Melville built the Bureau in the late days of 1909 or early 1910, looking for new recruits, he didn’t have to look far in acquiring the services of the country’s most well-known consulting detective. One wonders, especially after events chronicled in “His Last Bow,” if Holmes offered the occasional course at Melville’s school.

According to Rupert William Simon Allason, writing under his pen name Nigel West in The Telegraph, the “foundations [of MI5, the United Kingdom’s counter-intelligence agency] were inauspicious to say the least. The perceived intelligence disaster of the Boer War—here one wonders if Doyle’s book on the Boer War contributed to this perception—prompted the Committee of Imperial Defense to review the failure of the British Secret Service. However, it was discovered that no such organisation existed. So the CID recommended the creation of a new branch of government, the Secret Service Bureau, the origins of MI5.”

“The Security Service was headed by Captain Vernon Kell, a veteran of the Boxer rebellion in China (and an occasional Telegraph correspondent); while Director-General, he was known simply as "K". The Bureau launched with a tiny staff consisting of a single ex-Scotland Yard detective (Lestrade, perhaps?) and three clerks.” The first director of what would become MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, was Captain Sir Mansfield George Smith-Cumming, who often dropped the Smith in routine communication. He typically signed correspondence with his initial C in green ink. This usage evolved as a code name, and has been adhered to by all subsequent directors of SIS when signing documents to retain anonymity.

The Secret Service Bureau was a joint initiative of the Admiralty and the War Office to control secret intelligence operations in the United Kingdom and overseas, particularly concentrating on the activities of the Imperial German government. There was a special interest from the Admiralty in knowing the maritime strength of the Imperial German Navy.

In this milieu, we are introduced in “His Last Bow” to two German agents: Von Bork and his “handler,” Baron Von Herling in the embassy. Their names and titles tell us that they are part of the German aristocracy. “A remarkable man this Von Bork—a man who could hardly be matched among all the devoted agents of the Kaiser. It was his talents which had first recommended him for the English mission, the most important mission of all (emphasis mine), but since he had taken it over those talents had become more and more manifest to the half-dozen people in the world who were really in touch with the truth.”

Von Bork and Von Herling display a mix of confidence and uneasiness, characteristics common to intelligence agents. Baron Von Herling, the chief secretary of the German legation, differs with his countryman in their views of the English. Von Bork thinks the English “not very hard to deceive….A more docile, simple folk could not be imagined.” Von Herling counters: “I don’t know about that….They have strange limits and one must learn to observe them. It is that surface simplicity of theirs which makes a trap for the stranger. One’s first impression is that they are entirely soft. Then one comes suddenly upon something very hard, and you know that you have reached the limit and must adapt yourself to the fact.”

Von Herling goes further, echoing and contrasting Britain’s own intelligence abilities, perceptions, and realities. “[W]e live in a utilitarian age. Honour is a mediaeval conception. Besides England is not ready. It is an inconceivable thing, but even our special war tax of fifty million, which one would think made our purpose as clear as if we had advertised it on the front page of the Times, has not roused these people from their slumbers….I can assure you that so far as the essentials go—the storage of munitions, the preparation for submarine attack, the arrangements for making high explosives—nothing is prepared. How, then, can England come in, especially when we have stirred her up such a devil’s brew of Irish civil war, window-breaking Furies, and God knows what to keep her thoughts at home.”

Similarly, Von Bork’s safe illumines both German and British intelligence interests and activities. “The light shone vividly into the opened safe, and the secretary of the embassy gazed with an absorbed interest at the rows of stuffed pigeon-holes with which it was furnished. Each pigeon-hole had its label, and his eyes as he glanced along them read a long series of such titles as “Fords,” “Harbour-defences,” “Aeroplanes,” “Ireland,” “Egypt,” “Portsmouth forts,” “The Channel,” “Rosythe,” and a score of others. Each compartment was bristling with papers and plans.” It took the German agent four years—1910 to 1914—to gather such information; the same period in which British intelligence services begin to bloom. “But the gem of my collection,” Von Bork continued, “is coming and there is the setting all ready for it.” He pointed to a space over which “Naval Signals” was printed.” Von Herling replied, “But you have a good dossier there already.” To which the agent responded: “Out of date and waste paper. The Admiralty in some way got the alarm and every code has been changed. It was a blow, Baron–the worst setback in my whole campaign. But thanks to my check-book and the good Altamont all will be well to-night.”

Little did they know, as we do who are familiar with the tale, the true identity of the Irish-American Altamont. Or Martha, the personification of Britannia. It is only in hindsight that we recognize Martha’s extinguishing of her lamp as a signal to her compatriot, in the same way we comprehend Altamont’s chauffeur, “a heavily built, elderly man with a gray moustache, settled down like one who resigns himself to a long vigil” as Dr. Watson. Did they learn their tradecraft at Melville’s school? Or was it the result of a long, rewarding companionship with the Master?

Altamont's mention of failures in Von Bork’s network: Jack James, Hollis, Steiner—especially the latter—shook the German’s confidence, even as he prepared his departure for Berlin.

Well, they’ve got him, that’s all. They raided his store last night, and he and his papers are all in Portsmouth jail. You’ll go off and he, poor devil, will have to stand the racket, and lucky if he gets off with his life. That’s why I want to get over the water as soon as you do…. My landlady down Fratton way had some inquiries, and when I heard of it I guessed it was time for me to hustle. But what I want to know, mister, is how the coppers know these things? Steiner is the fifth man you’ve lost since I signed on with you, and I know the name of the sixth if I don’t get a move on.

(Fratton—home to Altamont’s landlady—is a very interesting passing reference in the tale. At the time of this story it was an industrial area—now residential—in Portsmouth. If you ever find yourself in Portsmouth, I recommend a visit to St. Mary’s Church or the Carnegie Library, both on Fratton Road.) These failures, and Von Bork’s eventual demise, are linked with reality.

History tells us that together Kell, i.e. “K” and Smith-Cumming, i.e. “C” enjoyed great success in a combined operation of the security and intelligence services, resulting in “the arrest in the opening days of the First World War (emphasis mine) of the entire German spy ring in Britain, which conveniently centered on a barber's shop in north London. The arrest of Karl Gustav Ernst, his assistant Wilhelm Kronauer, and 21 of their network effectively eliminated what had been intended as a large enemy operation.” One is tempted to ask: were these arrests the results of Holmes’, Martha’s, and Watson’s activities?

Eleven of the spies were executed, as was Sir Roger Casement, found guilty of treason in 1916. Materials in the British Library document Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s interest in Casement, including Doyle’s privately printed (in an edition of twelve copies) A Petition to the Prime Minister on behalf of Roger Casement.

The security service's performance during the First World War was mixed, because it was unable to establish a network in Germany itself. Most of its results came from military and commercial intelligence collected through networks in neutral countries, occupied territories, and Russia. As Holmes noted near the end of the tale, “Things were going wrong, and no one could understand why they were going wrong. Agents were suspected or even caught, but there was evidence of some strong and secret central force. It was absolutely necessary to expose it. Strong pressure was brought upon me to look into the matter. It has cost me two years, Watson, but they have not been devoid of excitement.”

The excitement continued, and with it, another war. Russia, a conduit for British intelligence in this war and an uneasy ally in the next, was the focus of Holmes’ final observation in “His Last Bow.” In a prescient moment, Holmes knows what will happen—at least in its broad outlines—in Saint Petersburg in 1917 and in the years to follow. “There’s an east wind coming all the same, such a wind as never blew on England yet. It will be cold and bitter, Watson, and a good many of us may wither before its blast.” Given his experience and elevated expertise—even in retirement—one wonders if, on a later date, having survived the blast, Holmes might be found wandering the halls of MI5 or MI6, consulting with those in need.

Some Remarks on the Limited Editions Club

This is the text of a talk I gave at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts on December 7, 2017.

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Sara Ludewig curated a lovely exhibit including some helpful insights about The Limited Editions Club and George Macy. Allow me to reiterate a few points that appear throughout this little chat:

• The Club was founded in 1929 
• George Macy’s mission was to produce beautiful, illustrated editions of classic pieces of literature. 
• Each text was produced in 1,500 copies and signed by the illustrator 
• Macy hired the best illustrators, designers, and typographers to create original work. 
• Each title was printed from original type and engravings, and used fine papers and cover materials. 

In considering these and other points, I’d like to uncover a little bit more about The Limited Editions Club by examining an item that belonged to another collector—well known, I’m sure, to the Alcotts and to the MCBA community: Governor Elmer L. Andersen.

Governor Andersen’s personal library came to the University of Minnesota in March 1999, housed in the library that bears his name. Within his collection are a number of works from The Limited Editions Club. What caught my eye were some of the earliest items: not the books themselves, but what we might call ancillary publications. 

What particularly caught my eye is a prospectus, copyright 1929, for The Club. The cover is in marbled paper with the simple title, “The Limited Editions Club,” printed on a label and affixed to the board. Penciled inside on the flyleaf by an unknown bookseller is the note “Printed by D. B. Updike” and the price: $7.50. A back page, the colophon, reveals the same information: “Printed by D. B. Updike | The Merrymount Press | Boston.” Laid in the back of the book, and also printed on page 25, is an application to The Club, located at 551 Fifth Avenue in New York City. 

Let us unpack this slender volume a little further—as a collector is wont to do. Already, at this point, there are a number of questions. Who marbled the paper? Who bound the prospectus? This is not noted in the colophon. But before addressing the prospectus, a bit more on the application. 

The application and its address are intriguing. Unless street numbers have changed, 551 Fifth Avenue, New York is the site of the Fred F. French Building, designed by architects H. Douglas Ives and the firm of Sloan & Robertson. Erected in 1927, with a striking art deco façade and decorations and designs influenced by ancient Middle Eastern art—including the recently discovered tomb of King Tutankhamun—the French Building rose to the highest of heights on Fifth Avenue. Fred F. French was a real estate developer, who believed in spending money in the design and decoration of his buildings. Does this sound familiar? He “believed in spending money in the design and decoration of his buildings” in the same way George Macy thought about books. He named the building after himself and located his offices within. One wonders: did French and Macy know each other? 

The application offered three payment options: 1) “to pay the postman ten dollars for each book upon its delivery,” 2) “to send you [the LEC] ten dollars for each book whenever you notify me that it is ready,” or 3) take “a discount of ten per cent., and enclose herewith my check for $108, for which the first twelve books will be sent me without further charge.” Ten dollars in 1929 is worth somewhere around $141 today. A pre-paid, discounted membership of $108 in 1929 would set one back by about $1,525 today. According to the Internal Revenue Service, the average net income for 1929 was $6,132.22 for all returns and $8,337.30 for taxable returns. So a full $120 membership in TLEC in 1929 represented somewhere between 1.4 and 1.9 percent of a person’s annual income—the equivalent of what we might pay if we bought coffee five times a week for a year. 

After providing a payment preference, name, address, and bank reference, the applicant was invited to refer others to The Club. “I think these people might want to apply,” the form read, “for membership in The Limited Editions Club.” 

I’m not sure, had I been living back then (and doing what I do), what my chances of becoming a member might have been. In the Prospectus, Macy states that “[m]ore than twenty-five thousand people in the United States are actively engaged in the collection of limited editions. They want beautiful books in their homes, books so well designed and so well printed that they are a joy to own and to preserve. And they want to own books which always maintain, and usually increase, their values.” If my math and Macy’s numbers are correct, 1,500 members in the LEC represented 6% of the total number of limited edition collectors. I’m not sure where he got his 25,000, but there might be a clue in those individuals already identified in the Prospectus as enrolled members of the Club. This is how the Prospectus reads regarding “The Members:”

The membership of The Limited Editions Club is restricted to fifteen hundred. All of the books will be printed from the original type or the original wood-blocks and engravings made for the illustrations. When books are printed from these original processes, it is felt that only sixteen or seventeen hundred equally perfect impressions can be made. The logical limit for such a book is therefore an edition bordering upon this figure. For that reason, the books printed for this Club will be printed in editions of fifteen hundred; and for that reason (emphasis in the original), the membership is limited to that number. Each book in each edition will be numbered, and each member will receive the same number in each edition. These numbers are assigned to the members in the order in which their applications are received.

No attempt will be made to limit the membership to any one class of person. Prominent members of The Institute of Graphic Arts, such as John Clyde Oswald, Burton Emmett, William Reydel, are enrolled. Prominent members of The Grolier Club, such as Earnest Elmo Calkins, Melbert B. Cary, Jr., Parke Simmons, Mitchell Kennerly, are enrolled. Prominent book publishers, such as Alfred A. Knopf, F. N. Doubleday, M. Lincoln Schuster, Crosby Gaige, are enrolled. Booksellers and book collectors are in the membership. And hundreds of people who just love fine books.

What strikes one immediately is that it was the materiality of the printing process that determined membership size, not, as I immediately presumed, the population of limited edition collectors. Type, wood-blocks, and engravings—based, we assume, on the testimony of expert craftspeople—are good for sixteen or seventeen hundred perfect impressions. After that, the quality is diminished. Fifteen hundred, allowing for waste, is the perfect number. 

Notice, too, the strategy Macy employed by seeding the membership with men—and they are all men—from the Institute of Graphic Arts, the Grolier Club, publishers, booksellers, and collectors. No attempt will be made to limit the membership to any one class, but one does wonder: how many women were members of TLEC? How many people of color? These are questions we can ask today. It is doubtful such questions came to mind in the late 1920s. 

A minor kerfuffle erupted on the pages of the New York Times regarding the value of limited editions. In a May 12, 1929 “Notes on Rare Books” column, the unnamed writer noted:

If the book-collecting game is to remain interesting to any large number of its adherents, it must be played within decent price limits. The inordinate rise in the money value of rare and early examples of English literature, manuscripts, association books and typographical masterpieces left many collectors bewildered.

This, no doubt, refers to such stellar results at auction as seen in the January 1929 Jerome Kern sale which realized over $1.7 million—about $24 million in today’s dollars. The unnamed writer continued: 

Substitute fields of enjoyment had to be found for them [the collectors] and one noted the mad scramble for first editions of prominent living authors, the exploitation of the New England school of literature and books remembered from childhood, and, inevitably, the manufacture of artificial rarities in the form of limited editions….Publishers have grown careless in their definition of a limited edition: it may embrace as few as twenty-five or as many as 3,000 copies of a book….Sensitive collectors are outraged at the turn of affairs, but this new game continues merrily.

The drumbeat continued in a June 9 “Notes on Rare Books” column with these anonymous and pointed observations:

Will someone please start a Last Edition Club to reprint, once and for all, in an unlimited quantity all the hackneyed old favorites, so competently edited and so beautifully designed that no publisher will dare challenge them in the future with rival editions?...The book club idea has been sweeping the country and has finally burst upon the collecting game with a vengeance. Now we shall see the wholesale resurrection of classics and neo-classics and mediocre publications placed on an equal footing with works of real merit, while collectors are to be clubbed into acquiescence. Within the past few months at least three such organizations have sprung into existence, and we fear that they are but an advance guard….We must confess that we are not stirred to any great heights of enthusiasm by the prospectuses of these various enterprises….Personally, we feel that none of them offers the happy substitute for high-priced first and limited editions. With no desire to minimize their influence on a certain class of collectors, we think that none of them will be of long duration. They seem to us to represent a phase through which book collecting must pass, and having passed, may purge itself of much that is undesirable.

George Macy read these columns—certainly the second one—and quickly responded.

Your contributor,” Macy wrote, “says ‘the appeal is to collectors’; ‘it remains to be seen whether the clubs will sweep collectors off their feet.’ No attempt at all is being made to sweep ‘collectors’ off their feet! Nowhere in our literature is any such statement made; in the several advertisements we have inserted in The New York Times Book Review we have deliberately said that the books to be issued by The Limited Editions Club are intended for those who realize that ‘collectors’ items’ are beyond them, but who want to build libraries of beautiful books at moderate costs to themselves. It is obvious that your contributor thinks of ‘collectors’ as an esoteric group….Yet, when we decided to send out a prospectus announcing The Limited Editions Club, we gathered lists of those people who have actively indicated a desire to purchase limited editions. These lists totaled more than twenty-five thousand names! I should scarcely refer to this as an esoteric group.

After outlining the plan of the Club, Macy continued:

I think this whole idea should indicate that we are not appealing to an esoteric group at all, even though that esoteric group may be included. Your contributor says, ‘confirmed collectors have been quick to register objection to the club idea.’ With whom? Certainly they have not registered such objections with us. At least two hundred of our present subscribers (names on request) are ‘confirmed collectors,’ some of them internationally famous as book collectors….But at least three hundred more are people who are just beginning to build libraries, to whom such a venture as ours is an altogether valuable help.

From this we gather that by July 1929 Macy had at least five hundred subscribers to the Club. By early December the ranks were nearly filled. In a display advertisement in the New York Times of December 8, the Club offered “to that number of booklovers a final opportunity of acquiring the finest examples of modern book craftsmanship at a very low cost. Because of a reduction in the number of subscriptions entered for our English agents, The Limited Editions Club has 69 of its 1500 memberships open for subscription. This offers a final opportunity to a few discriminating readers to obtain the finest works of outstanding, living illustrators and typographers at the remarkably low price made possible by the plan of group subscription.” 

As we know from the exhibit, The Limited Editions Club published 548 titles between 1929 and 1985. It survived the Great Depression and during those grim 1930s employed a number of artists and illustrators. Many of these books increased in value. By most measures, one can call this a success. It was, to many, “an altogether valuable help.” 

The Prospectus raises a number of other questions. One wonders, for example, where those wood-blocks and engravings used in the production of LEC volumes are today. I’m sure they are as equally collectible as the volumes themselves. A quick search on eBay show 997 items for the term “Limited Editions Club.” A search on the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America website yielded 260 items, with some LEC titles listed for five figures. (But then, collectors and curators don’t like to discuss how much an item might be worth.) My quick searches for wood-blocks produced no results, but I’m certain they are out there, somewhere. I know of at least one block, alas, not used in a LEC production currently up for auction. 

There are, of course, the printers and papermakers and binders and designers to consider. But that is probably a topic for another talk. Suffice it to say here that the Prospectus for The Limited Editions Club was produced by the American printer and typographical historian Daniel Berkeley Updike (died December 29, 1941), who was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on February 14, 1860. As a teenager, after leaving school, Updike assisted at a local library after the librarian had taken ill, a thought that warms my heart. About three years later, in early 1880, he moved to Boston, where he found work as an errand boy for the publishers Houghton, Mifflin and Company. 

Updike was fascinated by book and print-making. While carrying proofs from the printers on Beacon Hill to the Riverside Press in Cambridge, Updike studied the pages and imagined what each page might look like coming from his own hand. He trained as a printer but it was typographic design that interested him even more. In 1893 he opened his own studio, designing type fonts. Three years later, in 1896, Updike founded the Merrymount Press. 

In its list of the first twelve books, the Prospectus tells us who was involved as printer or designer. This list included designers and/or printers W. A. Kittredge, Frederic Warde (born in Wells, Minnesota), William Edwin Rudge, Allen Lewis, Norman T. A. Munder, Carl Purington Rollins, Daniel Berkeley Updike, John Henry Nash, W. A. Dwiggins, Thomas Maitland Cleland, and Frederic W. Goudy. Presses included The Lakeside Press in Chicago, the Harbor Press in New York, the Merrymount Press in Boston, the Marchbanks Press in New York, the Georgian Press in Westport, the Village Press in Marlborough, and the Grabhorn Press in San Francisco. Interestingly, only one woman appears in this list, in the eleventh volume, which was to be “printed by Mr. and Mrs. Goudy at The Village Press.” 

Finally, being a curator, I wondered about the archives of The Limited Editions Club. I’m curious about that list of names George Macy was so eager to share with the correspondent for the Times, or for more information about the printers, designers, papermakers, and binders. Also, I’d like to know which edition numbers were assigned to each member. Who always received Copy 1 or Copy 100 of each edition? I think it would be very interesting, if we don’t know already, the provenance of volumes on display today, along with others in the Alcott collection. It would be fascinating to know who owned these volumes and when. 

And where are the archives? Happily, they are under the excellent stewardship of colleagues at the University of Texas in Austin. The archives of the George Macy Companies, including both the Limited Editions Club and The Heritage Press, were purchased by the Harry Ransom Center in 1970. The archive includes the original art works that were used in Limited Editions Club publications and the few that were used for The Heritage Press. The art files contain 6,731 items by over 100 artists, and include original watercolors; pen and ink, wash, and charcoal drawings; colored overlays; proofs; original photographs; and photographic negatives. I think a field trip at some future date might be in order. 

Thank you for this opportunity to reflect a bit on The Limited Editions Club, the legacy of James and Marilyn Alcott, and the continuing work of the Minnesota Center for Book Arts.

* * * * * * * 

The Limited Editions Club published 548 titles between the years 1929 and 1985. Upon George Macy’s death in 1956 his wife, Helen Macy, took control of the business. In 1970, the Limited Editions Club was sold along with the rest of the Heritage Press to the Boise Cascade Corporation.

George Macy’s love of books and commitment to the art of the book is visible in the large variety of publications by the Limited Editions Club. All of the Limited Edition Club books on display were once held in the private library of James and Marilynn Alcott and are now a part of MCBA’s collection. James Alcott was the Vice President of Cowles Media Company and was a founding member of MCBA, serving as the first board president. The books featured here are demonstrative of the art found within the Limited Editions Club.

A List to Remind Me

Here's an incomplete list of things I've written or performed over the past three decades that have been published in the traditionally understood sense of the word, or as the Oxford English Dictionary defines it: "To make generally accessible or available for acceptance or use (a work of art, information, etc.); to present to or before the public; spec. to make public (news, research findings, etc.) through the medium of print or the Internet." I'll come back and add more as I dig them out from my files. If I'm feeling particularly energetic, I may add more hyperlinks.

I'm posting this as a reminder to myself, as an act of self-care: the last three decades have seen a little bit of my writing and book-making, if not always the kind frequently demanded by or desired in the academy. The list does not include most of the 400+ posts I've made on this blog (with the exception of a few more noteworthy pieces) nor does it include the 150+ personal essays I've written and sent to close friends under the running title "Bulletin of the International High Coffee Society."

I write because I need to write.
I write to refine my craft.
I write to explore my soul.
I write to engage the world.

Last updated: 31 August 2018

1.       (2018) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2018, Vol. 22 (2): 5, 7. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

2.       (2018) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2018, Vol. 22 (1): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

3.       (2018) “The Posnansky Auction,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2018, Vol. 22 (1): 1, 6, 8. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

4.       (2018) “Read This Book! Ridgway Award Winners.” University of Minnesota Libraries, posted January 26. ONLINE VIDEO SERIES.

5.       (2017) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2017, Vol. 21 (4): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

6.       (2017) “Read This Book! Books to Give-Part 3.” University of Minnesota Libraries, posted December 18. ONLINE VIDEO SERIES.

7.       (2017) “Theofanis G. Stavrou: Bookman,” in Thresholds into the Orthodox Commonwealth: Essays in Honor of Theofanis G. Stavrou (Bloomington: Slavica Publishers/Indiana University). BOOK CHAPTER.

8.       (2017) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 2017, Vol. 21 (3): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

9.       (2017) “A Note from the Podium,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 2017, Vol. 21 (3): 3, 7. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

10.   (2017) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2017, Vol. 21 (2): 5, 7. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

11.   (2017) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2017, Vol. 21 (1): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

12.   (2017) “The Adventure of the Greater Light,” book chapter/essay in On Being a Sherlockian. (Cabin John, MD: Wildside Press). BOOK CHAPTER.

13.   (2017) Johnson, Timothy Jerome, and Cheryll Lynne Fong. “The Expanding Universe of Sherlockian Fandom and Archival Collections.” In “Sherlock Holmes Fandom, Sherlockiana, and the Great Game,” edited by Betsy Rosenblatt and Roberta Pearson, Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 23. http://dx.doi.org/10.3983/twc.2017.0792. PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLE.

14.   (2017) “Whack-a-Mole, Swedish Style.” Review, with Cheryll Fong, of Mattias Boström’s From Holmes to Sherlock (New York: Grove Atlantic/Mysterious Press, 2017) posted on NetGalley and Goodreads. (95% contribution as author). BOOK REVIEW.

15.   (2017) “Read This Book! Short Stories.” University of Minnesota Libraries, posted February 22. ONLINE VIDEO SERIES.

16.   (2017) “Regarding Sherlock.” Review of British Broadcasting Corporation’s “Sherlock” television series, seasons 1-4, posted on my personal blog, “Special and Rare on a Stick,” February 16. TELEVISION SHOW REVIEW.

17.   (2017) “Read This Book! Books about Puppies, Critical Thinking.” University of Minnesota Libraries, posted February 8. ONLINE VIDEO SERIES.

18.   (2017) “Secrets of the Archives: Balloons Over Broadway.” University of Minnesota Libraries, posted February 7. ONLINE VIDEO SERIES.

19.   (2017) “Read This Book! Ridgway Award Winners.” University of Minnesota Libraries, posted January 4. ONLINE VIDEO SERIES.

20.   (2016) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2016, Vol. 20 (4): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

21.   (2016) “Against His Wishes,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2016, Vol. 20 (4): 1, 6-7. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

22.   (2016) “Read This Book! Books to Give, Volume 2: Sherlock Holmes.” University of Minnesota Libraries, posted December 12. ONLINE VIDEO SERIES.

23.   (2016) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 2016, Vol. 20 (3): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

24.   (2016) “Read This Book! Murder at the 42nd Street Library.” University of Minnesota Libraries, posted September 23. ONLINE VIDEO SERIES.

25.   (2016) “Read This Book! Raina Telgemeier to launch 'Ghosts' at University of Minnesota.” University of Minnesota Libraries, posted August 30. ONLINE VIDEO SERIES.

26.   (2016) Julie McKuras; Timothy Johnson; Ray Riethmeier; Phillip Bergem, editors. The Missing Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes (Minneapolis: Norwegian Explorers of Minnesota). (25% contribution; selection of stories; editorial review). BOOK CO-EDITOR.

27.   (2016) “The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes.” University of Minnesota Libraries, exhibit preview, posted August 4. ONLINE VIDEO.

28.   (2016) “Stew Pot of the Soul: Some Professional, Political, and Personal Reflections.” Review and reflection on the 2016 Rare Books and Manuscripts Section annual conference, posted on my personal blog, “Special and Rare on a Stick,” July 29. CONFERENCE REVIEW.

29.   (2016) “A conversation with John Randle of Whittington Press.” University of Minnesota Libraries, posted July 22. ONLINE VIDEO.

30.   (2016) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2016, Vol. 20 (2): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

31.   (2016) “Secrets of the Archives: The Midwives Book from 1671.” University of Minnesota Libraries, posted June 6. ONLINE VIDEO SERIES.

32.   (2016) “Secrets of the Archives: Computing History and Social Activism.” University of Minnesota Libraries, posted April 28. ONLINE VIDEO SERIES.

33.   (2016) “A New Kind of Adventure: ‘Meetup’.” University of Minnesota Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department blog, “Primary Sourcery,” posted April 22. BLOG POST.

34.   (2016) “Secrets of the Archives: Minnesota Orchestra Scrapbooks.” University of Minnesota Libraries, posted March 15. ONLINE VIDEO SERIES.

35.   (2016) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2016, Vol. 20 (1): 4-5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

36.   (2016) “A Sign of Three, or, a New Adventure,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2016, Vol. 20 (1): 1, 6-7. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

37.   (2016) “Mysteries at the Museum,” Travel Channel, appeared in episode on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Fletcher Robinson, and The Hound of the Baskervilles. TELEVISION SERIES.

38.   (2016) “Secrets of the Archives: Plans for the City of Goa.” University of Minnesota Libraries, posted February 16. ONLINE VIDEO SERIES.

39.   (2015) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2015, Vol. 19 (4): 5, 7. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

40.   (2015) “Read This Book! - 2015 Books to Give, Part 2.” University of Minnesota Libraries, posted December 7. ONLINE VIDEO SERIES.

41.   (2015) “Secrets of the Archives: Comics used to promote social welfare messages.” Posted November 19. ONLINE VIDEO SERIES.

42.   (2015) “Bonnie MacBird: A conversation with Tim Johnson.” Posted November 4. ONLINE VIDEO.

43.   (2015) “Secrets of the Archives: Book survives library burned by Nazis.” University of Minnesota Libraries, posted October 14. ONLINE VIDEO SERIES.

44.   (2015) “Read This Book! with Tim Johnson.” University of Minnesota Libraries, posted October 7. ONLINE VIDEO SERIES.

45.   (2015) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 2015, Vol. 19 (3): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

46.   (2015) “April Fool’s Day,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2015, Vol. 19 (2): 7-8. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

47.   (2015) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2015, Vol. 19 (2): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

48.   (2015) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2015, Vol. 19 (1): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

49.   (2015) “The Adventure of Sherlock Seattle,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2015, Vol. 19 (1): 1, 6. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

50.   (2014) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2014, Vol. 18 (4): 6-7. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

51.   (2014) “Echoes of Mr. Holmes,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2014, Vol. 18 (4): 1, 8, 10-11. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

52.   (2014) “Read This Book! Books to Give.” University of Minnesota Libraries, posted December 11. ONLINE VIDEO SERIES.

53.   (2014) “Sabbatical Musings.” University of Minnesota Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department blog, “Primary Sourcery,” posted November 18. BLOG POST.

54.   (2014) “Conan Doyle on the Eve of World War One.” University of Minnesota Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department blog, “Primary Sourcery,” posted October 3. BLOG POST.

55.   (2014) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2014, Vol. 18 (2): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

56.   (2014) “On the Road with Sherlock Holmes.” University of Minnesota Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department blog, “Primary Sourcery,” posted May 2. BLOG POST.

57.   (2014) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2014, Vol. 18 (1): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

58.   (2014) “On the Road with Sherlock Holmes,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2014, Vol. 18 (1): 1, 6- 7. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

59.   (2014) “Sir Arthur and the Olympic Games.” University of Minnesota Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department blog, “Primary Sourcery,” posted February 12. BLOG POST.

60.   (2013) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2013, Vol. 17 (4): 7. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

61.   (2013) “Rare Book Cataloging: A Policy Review.” University of Minnesota Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department blog, “Primary Sourcery,” posted October 24. BLOG POST.

62.   (2013) “College Football—And Libraries—Live Here!” University of Minnesota Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department blog, “Primary Sourcery,” posted October 9. BLOG POST.

63.   (2013) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 2013, Vol. 17 (3): 12. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

64.   (2013) “To an Old Irregular,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 2013, Vol. 17 (3): 10. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

65.   (2013) “Archival Emergency Planning and Response.” University of Minnesota Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department blog, “Primary Sourcery,” posted September 18. BLOG POST.

66.   (2013) “Les Klinger interview on Sherlock Holmes and the 'New Sherlockians'.” University of Minnesota Libraries, posted August 13. ONLINE VIDEO.

67.   (2013) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2013, Vol. 17 (2): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

68.   (2013) “The Adventure of the eBay Auction,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2013, Vol. 17 (2): 1, 6-7. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

69.   (2013) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2013, Vol. 17 (1): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

70.   (2013) “The Adventure of the ebay Auction.” University of Minnesota Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department blog, “Primary Sourcery,” posted March 5. BLOG POST.

71.   (2012) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2012, Vol. 16 (4): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

72.   (2012) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 2012, Vol. 16 (3): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

73.   (2012) “Swedish Americans,” in The Ethnic Handbook: A Guide to the Cultures and Traditions of Chicago’s Diverse Population (Chicago: Illinois Ethnic Coalition, 1996, revised edition 2012), 193-198. BOOK CHAPTER.

74.   (2012) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2012, Vol. 16 (2): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

75.   (2012) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2012, Vol. 16 (1): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

76.   (2011) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2011, Vol. 15 (4): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

77.   (2011) “Come Along, and I Will Personally Conduct You,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2011, Vol. 15 (4): 1, 4, 6. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

78.   (2011) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 2011, Vol. 15 (3): 5, 8. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

79.   (2011) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2011, Vol. 15 (2): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

80.   (2011) “To the Success of our Little Expedition,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2011, Vol. 15 (2): 1, 6, 8. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

81.   (2011) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2011, Vol. 15 (1): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

82.   (2011) “The Adventure of the Online Treasure,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2011, Vol. 15 (1): 1, 6. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

83.   (2010) A Holmes and Doyle Bibliography: Being a Supplement to The Universal Sherlock Holmes, 10 volumes. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Libraries, 2006-2010). URL: https://www.lib.umn.edu/holmes/useful-bibliographies. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

84.   (2010) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2010, Vol. 14 (4): 7. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

85.   (2010) “Adding to the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2010, Vol.  14 (4): 5. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

86.   (2010) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 2010, Vol. 14 (3): 7. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

87.   (2010) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2010, Vol. 14 (2): 4. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

88.   (2010) Kris Kiesling and Tim Johnson. “I am exceedingly obliged to you for your co-operation” (“The Illustrious Client”), Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2010, Vol. 14 (2): 1, 6-7. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

89.   (2010) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2010, Vol. 14 (1): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

90.   (2010) “The Adventure of the Media Buzz,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2010, Vol. 14 (1): 1, 6-7. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

91.   (2010) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2009, Vol. 13 (4): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

92.   (2009) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 2009, Vol. 13 (3): 7. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

93.   (2009) “Mr. Shaw Comes to Minneapolis,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 2009, Vol. 13 (3): 1, 6. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

94.   (2009) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2009, Vol. 13 (2): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

95.   (2009) “’He Made a Journey Abroad…,’” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2009, Vol. 13 (2): 1, 6, 8. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

96.   (2009) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2009, Vol. 13 (1): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

97.   (2008) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2008, Vol. 12 (4): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

98.   (2008) “Beacons of the Future,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2008, Vol. 12 (3): 3. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

99.   (2008) “A Visit from St. Kate’s,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2008, Vol. 12 (4): 1, 6. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

100.  (2008) “More Than a ‘Washed-up Has-Been’: Textual Aspects of the Holmes Icon.” Conference paper presented at Arthur Conan Doyle Symposium, University of Regina, November. Available on University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy. CONFERENCE PAPER.

101.  (2008) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 2008, Vol. 12 (3): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

102.  (2008) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2008, Vol. 12 (2): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

103.  (2008) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2008, Vol. 12 (1): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

104.  (2008) Tim Johnson and Gary Thaden. “Sherlock Solo,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2008, Vol. 12 (1): 1, 6. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

105.  (2007) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2007, Vol. 11 (4): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

106.  (2007) “My Name Figures in No Newspaper,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 2007, Vol. 11 (3): 7. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

107.  (2007) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2007, Vol. 11 (2): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

108.  (2007) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2007, Vol. 11 (1): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

109.  (2007) “Mr. Holmes Goes to Savannah,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2007, Vol. 11 (1): 1, 6-8. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

110.  (2006) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2006, Vol. 10 (4): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

111.  (2006) “Department of Special Collections and Rare Books,” essay in Cabinet of Curiosities: Mark Dion and the University as Installation (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press), 91. BOOK CHAPTER.

112.  (2006) “The Adventure of the Unopened Box: Building the Sherlock Holmes Collections at the University of Minnesota Libraries,” in Managing the Mystery Collection: From Creation to Consumption (Binghamton, NY: The Haworth Information Press), 121-141. Previously published in 2004 peer-reviewed journal. BOOK CHAPTER.

113.  (2006) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 2006, Vol. 10 (3): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

114.  (2006) “Curiosity Camp,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 2006, Vol. 10 (3): 2, 7. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

115.  (2006) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter JUNE 2006, Vol. 10 (2): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

116.  (2006) “Allen Mackler and His Bequest,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter JUNE 2006, Vol. 10 (2): 1, 6. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

117.  (2006) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter MARCH 2006, Vol. 10 (1): 5. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

118.  (2005) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter DECEMBER 2005, Vol. 9 (4): 7. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

119.  (2005) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter SEPTEMBER 2005, Vol. 9 (3): 6-8. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

120.  (2005) “New Conan Doyle Letters Arrive in Minnesota,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 2005, Vol. 9 (3): 1, 7. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

121.  (2005) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2005, Vol. 9 (2): 7. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

122.  (2005) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2005, Vol. 9 (1): 7-8. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

123.  (2005) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2004, Vol. 8 (4): 6. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

124.  (2004) “The Adventure of the Unopened Box: Building the Sherlock Holmes Collections at the University of Minnesota Libraries,” Collection Management 29 (3/4): 121-141. PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLE.

125.  (2004) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 2004, Vol. 8 (3): 4. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

126.  (2004) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2004, Vol. 8 (2): 7. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

127.  (2004) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2004, Vol. 8 (1): 7. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

128.  (2003) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2003, Vol. 7 (4): 8. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

129.  (2003) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 2003, Vol. 7 (3): 8. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

130.  (2003) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2003, Vol. 7 (2): 8. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

131.  (2003) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2003, Vol. 7 (1): 8. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

132.  (2002) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2002, Vol. 6 (4): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

133.  (2002) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 2002, Vol. 6 (3): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

134.  (2002) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2002, Vol. 6 (2): 9. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

135.  (2002) “Making It to the Major Leagues: Career Movement Between Library and Archival Professions and from Small College to Large University Libraries,” Library Trends, 50 (4) Spring: 614-630. NON-PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLE.

136.  (2002) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2002, Vol. 6 (1): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

137.  (2001) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2001, Vol. 5 (4): 8. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

138.  (2001) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 2001, Vol. 5 (3): 9. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

139.  (2001) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2001, Vol. 5 (2): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

140.  (2001) “The Cover,” Libraries & Culture, 36 (2) Spring: 367-371. PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLE.

141.  (2001) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2001, Vol. 5 (1): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

142.  (2000) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 2000, Vol. 4 (4): 4. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

143.  (2000) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 2000, Vol. 4 (3): 6, 7. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

144.  (2000) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 2000, Vol. 4 (2): 5, 8. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

145.  (2000) Review of Hawkinson, Zenos E., Anatomy of the Pilgrim Experience: Reflections On Being a Covenanter. Edited by Philip J. Anderson and David E. Hawkinson. (Chicago: Covenant Publications, 2000) in The Covenant Companion, June. BOOK REVIEW.

146.  (2000) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 2000, Vol. 4 (1): 4, 8. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

147.  (1999) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 1999, Vol. 3 (4): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

148.  (1999) The Universal Sherlock Holmes. Originally published in hardcopy by Ronald De Wall. Coded and converted to electronic text with author’s and publisher’s permission by Timothy J. Johnson. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Libraries). URL: https://www.lib.umn.edu/holmes/useful-bibliographies. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

149.  (1999) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 1999, Vol. 3 (3): 5. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

150.  (1999) Video. Minnesota's Resource Treasures, Special Library Collections. University of Minnesota Special Collections, Sherlock Holmes Collections (St. Paul: Metronet). 27:20 minutes. TELEVISION SERIES.

151.  (1999) Index and design/layout in On the Left in America: Memoirs of the Scandinavian-American Labor Movement (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press). 238 pp. BOOK PRODUCTION AND INDEX.

152.  (1999) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, JUNE 1999, Vol. 3 (2): 5-6. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

153.  (1999) “An Update from the Collections,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, MARCH 1999, Vol. 3 (1): 4. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

154.  (1998) “Collections Update,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, DECEMBER 1998, Vol. 2 (4): 3. NEWSLETTER COLUMN.

155.  (1998) “Meet the New Curator of Special Collections: Timothy Johnson,” Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Newsletter, SEPTEMBER 1998, Vol. 2 (3): 1-4. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE.

156.  (1995) Index in Stephen R. Graham, Cosmos in the Chaos: Philip Schaff’s Interpretation of 19th Century American Religion (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans), 256-266. BOOK INDEX.

157.  (1995) Index and design/layout in Scandinavian Immigrants and Education in North America (Chicago: Swedish-American Historical Society). 222 pp. BOOK PRODUCTION AND INDEX.

158.  (1994) “Temptation and Confession: My Knowledge About and Of C. S. Lewis,” Piestisten Vol. IX(3) Fall: 8-9. NON-PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLE.

159.  (1992) “The Independent Order of Svithiod: A Swedish-American Lodge,” in Swedish American Life in Chicago: Cultural and Urban Aspects of an Immigrant People (Urbana: University of Illinois Press), 343-363. BOOK CHAPTER.

160.  (1992) Index in Swedish American Life in Chicago: Cultural and Urban Aspects of an Immigrant People (Urbana: University of Illinois Press), 369-394. BOOK INDEX.

161.  (1992) “Bibliography: The Published and Unpublished Writings of Karl A. Olsson,” in Amicus Dei: Essays on Faith and Friendship, edited by Philip J. Anderson (Chicago: Covenant Publications), 215-293. BOOK CHAPTER.

162.  (1992) “Swedish-American Genealogy and the Archives at North Park College,” Illinois Libraries 74 (5) November: 446-448. NON-PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLE.

163.  (1990) Review of Sherry Butcher-Younghans, The American Swedish Institute: A Living Tradition, in Swedish-American Historical Quarterly, 41 (3) July: 177-178. BOOK REVIEW.

164.  (1991) “Archives Pushes Past into Present,” Accent Scandinavia 2 Winter/Spring: 3. NON-PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLE.

165.  (1989) “Swedish-American Life in Chicago, 1838-1988: Report on a Conference Held October 13-15, 1988 At North Park College, Chicago,” Origins, A Newsletter of the Local & Family History Section and the Family & Community History Center at The Newberry Library 6 (1) December: 8-10. NON-PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLE.

166.  (1988) “A Story of No Small Importance,” The North Parker Spring/Summer: 12-13. NON-PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLE.

167.  (1987) “The Covenant Archives and Historical Library,” Illinois Libraries 69 October: 574-75. NON-PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLE.

168.  (1987) “The Swedish-American Archives of Greater Chicago,” Illinois Libraries 69 October: 600-01. NON-PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLE.

169.  (1987) A Directory of College and Research Librarians in Illinois, prepared by the Illinois Association of College and Research Libraries, compiled by Timothy J. Johnson, et al.. (Chicago: The Association). COMPILER/EDITOR.

170.  (1987) Guidelines for Local Covenant Church Archives and Photograph Preservation, by Beth Stordahl. Edited by Timothy J. Johnson. (Chicago: Commission on Covenant History). BOOKLET EDITOR.