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

Rosamond Thaxter (Donor)

Rosamond Thaxter (1895-1989) was a lifelong resident of Kittery Point, Maine. She was a philanthropist, writer, public speaker and world traveler. Rosamond was a granddaughter of Celia Thaxter. She published a biography of her grandmother in 1962 titled Sandpiper: The Life and Letters of Celia Thaxter. It contains an extensive selection of photographs and poems.

Biographical details about Rosamond’s life and work are provided by the Rosamond Thaxter Foundation, which she established in 1964.

ROSAMOND THAXTER AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

Rosamond Thaxter’s first gift of Celia Thaxter materials was received in May 1961. She gave additional materials in May 1968. A last gift came from her estate in 1990.

The Colby Library Quarterly article titled “Celia Thaxter’s Library” (December 1964) lists volumes owned by Rosamond that eventually came to Special Collections. These volumes are listed in the Colby Libraries web catalog with a THAXTER LIBRARY prestamp before the call number.

Additional work consulted:

Rosamond Thaxter donor file, Colby College Special Collections.

ASSOCIATED COLLECTIONS

Celia Thaxter

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