History of Special Collections @ Colby

  • INTRO
    • Goals
    • Student Scholars Wanted
    • Acknowledgments
    • Contact Us
  • CHRONOLOGY & CONTEXT
    • What Happened (early on)
      • The First Library & Edward Hall
      • The “Rare Book” Section (early 1930s)
    • Our Chronology (1935-1975)
    • Some Context
  • THE PEOPLE
    • Curators
      • Carl Jefferson Weber (Curator 1940-1958)
      • Richard Cary (Curator 1958-1975)
    • Librarians
      • N Orwin Rush (Librarian 1936-1945)
      • Gilmore Warner (Librarian 1945-1947)
      • James Humphry III (Librarian 1947-1957)
      • John R McKenna (Librarian 1957-1964)
      • Kenneth P Blake, Jr (Librarian 1964-1973)
      • Eileen M Curran (Acting Librarian, 1973-1976)
    • Other Colby People
      • Ernest C Marriner ’13
      • Frederick A Pottle ’17
      • Carroll A Wilson ’40 LLD
      • Franklin Winslow Johnson (President 1929-1942)
      • Julius Seelye Bixler (President 1942-1960)
      • Robert Edward Lee Strider II (President 1960-1979)
    • The Colby Library Associates
    • Highlighted Donors
  • HIGHLIGHTED COLLECTIONS
    • Rare Book Collections
      • Early Books
      • Thomas Hardy
      • Book Arts
      • The Rubáiyát
    • Personal Libraries
      • Library of Edwin Arlington Robinson
      • Library of Thomas Sergeant Perry
      • Library of Harold Trowbridge Pulsifer
      • Library of James Augustine Healy
      • Library of Ben Ames Williams
    • Manuscript Collections
    • “A Recent Accession”: The Colby Library Quarterly

Library of Thomas Sergeant Perry

TSP portrait 1889
1889 portrait of Thomas Sergeant Perry by Lilla Cabot Perry. (http://www.the-athenaeum.org)

The personal library of Thomas Sergeant Perry exemplifies his vast range of literary knowledge and interests. These volumes were given by his daughter, Margaret Perry, beginning in 1948.

Perry’s library confirms his reputation as a remarkably attentive reader. It features acknowledged and newer masters of American poetry in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Works consulted:

Cocks, Fraser. Report on Special Collections. February 1985. Colbiana Collection. Colby College Special Collections.

Margaret Perry donor file. Colby College Special Collections.

Robinson, Edwin Arlington. Selections from the Letters of Thomas Sergeant Perry. New York: MacMillan, 1929. Print.

“Two Friends of Robinson.” Colby Library Quarterly. Waterville, ME: Colby College Library. February 1949. Print and web.

IN THE CATALOG…

Books in Perry’s library are described in the Colby Libraries web catalog and are designated with a PERRY prestamp before the call number.

RELATED MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION

The Thomas Sergeant Perry Collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, and clippings.

Explore Common Threads – and Student Scholarship – in our Manuscript Collections

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