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Introducing the
Robert J. Wickenheiser
Collection o John Milton
September 21, 2006Thomas Cooper Library
University o South Carolina
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Dr. Robert Wickenheiser is the uncontested premier collector o Milton and
Miltoniana in the world. . . . There is, to the best o my knowledge, no other privately
held collection in the world that even remotely begins to approach the Wickenheiser
Milton Collection in scope, range, or importance. . . . The purchase o this collection
would immediately catapult the purchaser into world-class status.
G.W.StuartJr.
. . . one o the major collections o materials related to John Milton, editions and
studies and artworks, in the world . . . indicating the breadth and nature o Miltons
position in the literary, political, religious, and sociological world over the nearly
three and a hal centuries since his death.
JohnT.Shawcross
. . . a magnifcent collection, in mint condition, preserved under ideal
circumstances, broad in scope, and unique in some o its items . . . what has to be
one o the best private collections o Milton and Miltoniana in existence.
JohnMulryan
Dr. Wickenheisers collection is . . . a paradise or a scholar o seventeenth-century
English literature.
RoyFlannagan
. . . breathtaking in its reachMilton is here but also Miltoniana, the latter
in abundance. This is a collection that, unlike any other I have seen, represents
Milton on an international scene and as an important token o his culture.
JosephWittreich
Cover illustration:
Adam and Eve leaving Eden, rom
John Martin, illus., Paradise Lost, 2 vols.(London, 1827), with proos o themezzotint illustrations
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Introducing the Robert J. Wickenheiser Collection
The Robert J. Wickenheiser Collection o John Milton is a very signicant as wellas a very welcome acquisition or the University o South Carolina and its library. To
support the teaching and research o a major university, its library must provide both
current resources and distinguished research collections. The Wickenheiser collection
brings the library its rst major seventeenth-century research collection, to join our
earlier acquisition o great collections in succeeding centuries. It brings a collection
with the depth, scope, and size to support and stimulate a wide range o teaching
and research, rom the undergraduate level upward. It brings to the University a
collection that is already widely recognized among scholars in the eld. We believe
it is a collection that will draw aculty and scholars to South Carolina, to the
continuing benet o the academic community here.
The Wickenheiser collection has come to the University through the generosity and
support o three people. Dr. and Mrs. Wickenheiser, who had built the collection over
a period o nearly orty years, held to their wish that it could be maintained and made
available to uture scholars as a single collection, in one library, and to accomplish
that aim accepted a very conservative valuation or purchase. Their cordiality and
helpulness throughout the acquisition process have been much valued.
The leading support or the acquisition has been generously provided by Mr. William
L. Richter and the William L. Richter Family Foundation. Mr. Richters willingness
to visit the University, to recognize what the collection might accomplish here or the
University, and to commit the lead unding to bring the collection here were pivotal
to the acquisition.
From the librarys rst contact with Dr. Wickenheiser, in 2004, we recognized that the
prospect o additional space in the projected Special Collections library wing would
be crucial i the collection is to have the greatest long-term benets to teaching and
research. The Board o Trustees has approved naming a dedicated room in the new
wing The William L. Richter Room, recognizing Mr. Richters generosity and ensuring
that the Wickenheiser collection will be known and used. President Andrew A. Sorensen
and Provost Mark Becker have both been extremely supportive o the acquisition o
the Wickenheiser collection.
Paul Willis
Dean o Libraries
Jonathan Richardson (16651745),
sepia drawing o Milton rom clay
bust (ca. 1730)
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Dr. Robert J. Wickenheiser started collecting Milton and other seventeenth-century
poets as a graduate student at the University o Minnesota in the late 1960s. As a
young proessor at Princeton in the early seventies, he began ocusing on the historyo Milton illustration, and with his wie, Pat, and the late Robert H. Taylor, past
president o the Grolier Club, he visited and established riendships with many o
the best-known antiquarian book dealers on both sides o the Atlantic. The Milton
collection o more than 6,000 volumes that he and Pat built over the next 35 years
became a place o pilgrimage or Milton scholars. Since retiring, Dr. Wickenheiser
has completed a ull-scale illustrated catalogue o the collection that is scheduled
or publication or the John Milton quatercentenary in 2008.
The Robert J. Wickenheiser Collection o John Milton has been purchased or the
University with the leading support oMr. William L. Richter and the William L.
Richter Family Foundation. In recognition and appreciation o this generous git, the
Universitys Board o Trustees has approved naming a room in the librarys new Special
Collections wing or Mr. Richter, dedicated to housing and selectively displaying the
Wickenheiser collection.
Books are not absolutely dead things, but do contain a potency o lie. . . . They
do preserve as in a vial the purest efcacy and extraction o that living intellect
that bred them. . . . A good book is the precious lie-blood o a master-spirit.
JohnMilton,Areopagitica(1644)
The slightest Pamphlet is nowadayes more vendible than the Works o learnedest
men; but it is the love I have to our own Language that hath made me diligent to
collect, and set orth such peeces both in Prose and Verse, as may renew the wonted
honour and esteem o our English tongue . . . presenting . . . these ever-green, and
not to be blasted Laurels.
HumphreyMoseley,Miltonspublisher,in Poems(1645)
A portion o the Robert J. Wickenheiser
Collection, in the library o the
Wickenheisers home in Olean, N.Y.
Many o the photographs in this
publication were taken in this room by
Carl V. Margeson, o Allegany, N.Y., or
Dr. Wickenheisers orthcoming book
about the collection and are used here
courtesy o Dr. Wickenheiser.
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Richard Westall (17651836), Milton
ComposingParadise Lost, hand-coloredaquatint (ca. 1810)
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An Overview o the Robert J. WickenheiserCollection o John Milton
John Milton (16081674) is the most important English-language poet o the
seventeenth century, and central to the wider culture o his time. He was active in
politics (as author o the rst major text on the reedom o the press and as Latin
secretary to Britains revolutionary government in the late 1640s and 1650s), deeply
involved in the same religious debates as the Pilgrim athers, and a pioneer also in
his writings on education and on marriage law. He was a learned, even bookish, poet
whose works lead outward to other writers and thinkers. For centuries ater it was
written, his poetry drew responses rom poets, learned scholars, ordinary readers,
musicians and composers, and (as the Wickenheiser collection particularly shows)
artists and illustrators.
The Robert J. Wickenheiser Collection o John Milton, with more than 6,000 volumes,
has both depth and range. Its holdings o rst and other seventeenth-century editions
o Miltons own writings places this library among the top ten Milton collections in
North America. The holdings o seventeenth-century Miltonianabooks reerring to
Milton or otherwise relating to himare likewise distinguished. The long ranges o
shelves in the collection with eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth century Milton
editions present a comprehensive record o Miltons continuing impact, while similarly
comprehensive holdings o Milton biography, scholarship, and criticism document the
development o knowledge about his writings, thought, and infuence.
Dr. Wickenheiser has been especially successul in building what is perhaps the most
comprehensive collection anywhere o Milton illustration, rom the rst illustrated
edition in 1688 through all the major illustrators that ollow, with original drawings
by several o the artists, and with especial depth or the work o John Martin (1789
1854) and Gustave Dor (18321883).
The Wickenheiser collection broadens the historical range represented in the
Universitys research collections. It is the rst major acquisition ocused on any
author or topic beore the mid-eighteenth century. Moreover, the breadth o Miltons
own interests and the international and chronological range o those who have
responded to him make this a collection that will stimulate an equally broad range
o research projects, across a variety o disciplines, both by established researchers
and by students at the graduate and undergraduate levels. This is the kind o special
collection, on a major author o central cultural signicance, with the strength to
support both teaching and research, that any University library should covet. We
salute with gratitude the collector and the donor who have brought it here to Thomas
Cooper Library.
Patrick Scott
Director o Special Collections
Frontispiece portrait rom Paradise Lost(1688), engraved by Robert White ater
William Faithorne
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Milton in theSeventeenth Century
The Robert J. Wickenheiser Collection
includes more than sixty dierent
rst and other early editions o Milton
published in Miltons own century.
These cover all phases o Miltons
career and all the varied aspects
o his published writing.
Milton as PoetLea with Miltons frst published poem,
rom the Shakespeare Second Folio (1632)
The oundation o Miltons signicance remains his poetry, and the
Wickenheiser collection includes Miltons rst published poem,
his tribute to William Shakespeare, published while he was still a
student at Cambridge.
Miltons Early RecognitionMiltons Poems English and Latin (1645)
From his rst published collection in 1645, whicincluded tributes rom Italian scholars, Miltons
stature as a poet was recognized not only by
English readers, but also internationally.
The Wickenheiser collection has a ne copy
o the 1645 collection, with the Marshall portrai
Miltons Historical ImportanceMiltons Eikonoklastes (1649)
Milton was deeply engaged in the English political revolution o
the mid-seventeenth century, both as pamphleteer and as Latin
Secretary to the Commonwealth ater the execution o King
Charles I. The Wickenheiser collection includes rst editions
o many o his political writings.
Five variant issuesoParadise Lost (166769)Paradise Lost
At the heart o the Wickenheiser collection
are ve ne copies o the rst edition o
Miltons masterwork, the epic Paradise Lost
(1667). The collection includes ve o the six
variant issues traditionally identied rom the
rst edition, which was arranged in ten epic
books rather than the twelve o the second
and later editions.
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Illustrated Editions oParadise LostThe frst illustrated edition (1688)
The initial ocus o Dr. Wickenheisers Milton collectingwas Milton illustration, and the collection has all three variant
issues or the rst illustrated edition, the ourth olio (1688),
with twelve engravings chiefy by J.B. Medina. Shown here is
the expulsion rom Eden.
Books that Infuenced MiltonDuBartas, His Divine Weekes and Workes (1605)
In addition to Miltons own works, the Wickenheisercollection has more than ty related seventeenth-century
items. O writers that infuenced Milton, the collection has
rst editions o Giovanni Andreini (1617), Phineas Fletcher
(1633), Thomas Heywood (1635), and George Sandys (1636),
as well as several editions o Sallust DuBartas.
Contemporary Reaction to MiltonJudgment and Decree of the University of Oxford (1683)
Miltons political views made him a controversial gure to
his contemporaries. In addition to books mentioning and
commenting on Miltons poetry by George Sikes, Joshua Poole,
John Phillips, Patrick Hume, and others, the Wickenheiser
collection has items like this, the Universitys condemnation o
pernicious books and damnable doctrines, including Miltons.
Milton as Political ThinkerThe frst edition oAreopagitica (1644)
Miltons ideas on controversial issueschurch-state
relations, marriage law, education, and the rights o those
governed to remove the governmentwere o lasting
infuence. His 1644 letter to Parliament,Areopagitica, was
a milestone in establishing the reedom o the press.
By labour and intent study . . .
I might perhaps leave something
so written to ater-times, as they
should not willingly let it die.
JohnMilton(1641)
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Milton in theEighteenth and
Nineteenth Centuries
The Wickenheiser collection contains
holdings in depth charting Miltons
readership and infuence in the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
These holdings in particular hold
the potential or a wide variety o
research projects, not only on Milton,
but on his publishers, illustrators,
biographers, and commentatorsand on the developing history
o book production.
The Growth o Miltons InfuenceJoseph Addisons copy oParadise Lost (1711)
Among items documenting Miltons infuence isthis unassuming edition, once owned by the poet
and critic Joseph Addison (16721719), given to
Dr. Wickenheiser in 1980 by the late John Fleming,
to whom it came rom the legendary Dr. A.S.W.
Rosenbach. The rst separate edition o Addisons
infuential essays on Milton is also in the
Wickenheiser collection.
Miltons International ReputationParadise Lost (Paris, 1792), with color illustrations
The Wickenheiser collection documents Miltons extraordinaryinternational infuence, with early translations that include Latin
German, French, Dutch, and Italian. The French edition shown
here (in a sumptuous binding) pioneered a new technique or
direct color printing, rather than hand-colored engravings.
Milton and His EditorsParadise Lost (1727), interleave
with manuscript annotationsThe Wickenheiser collection also
documents how editors wrestled
over the texts and interpretation
o Miltons poetry. This specially
interleaved copy preserves the
copious and detailed annotations
o its mid-eighteenth-century own
Milton and AmericaThe frst American edition oParadise Lost (1777)
Milton was as infuential in America as in Europe
and not only among the Puritans. The Revolution
reed Americans rom British copyright, and the
Wickenheiser collection includes not only the
rst American editions o Miltons poetry but also
rare printings o political pamphlets, infuential in
debates on the Constitution and Bill o Rights.
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Francis Hayman (17081776)Hayman, Satan, Sin & Death
The Wickenheiser collection has twooriginal Hayman watercolors. The subject
o this one is also treated by several other
artists, including Hogarth and (in political
caricatures) Rowlandson and Gilray.
Henry Richter (ca. 1770ca. 1820)Richter, original drawing (ca. 1794)
Henry Richters illustrations or Paradise Lost were published in
1794. In addition to the published versions, the Wickenheiser
collection has a portolio with twelve o Richters original
drawings or the series.
John MartinOriginal mezzotint proo or Paradise Lost (1825)
The Romantic or apocalyptic landscapes by
John Martin (17911855) are among the greatest o
Milton illustrations. The Wickenheiser collectionhas an extraordinary range o the published editions
o Martins work, including this proo or his rst
mezzotint edition. Another Martin proo is used
on the cover o this publication.
Gustave DorDors Milton in original parts (1866)
Among the most widely popular mid-nineteenth-century Milton
illustrations were those by the French illustrator Gustave Dor
(18321883). Dors work was marketed using all the resourceso Victorian mass publishing, including part issues (as here) and
multiple variant bindings. The Wickenheiser collection includes
all these, along with Dors other illustrated works.
Milton andHis Illustrators
The Wickenheiser collections
comprehensive holdings o illustrated
editions o Milton include many
rare variant issues and editions and
a number o original drawings and
separately issued engravings by such
artists as Francis Hayman, Thomas
Rowlandson, James Gilray, Henry
Richter, Henry Fuseli, Richard Westall,
Henry Howard, John Martin, John Belland Gustave Dor.
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Milton and theHistory o the Book
A collection o this depth not only
illustrates its own special eld but
also provides research opportunities
in many adjacent disciplines. The
Wickenheiser collection is especially
valuable in the research materials it
provides or the growing research
interest in book production and
the history o the book.
Milton and Fine PrintingParadise Lost (Golden Cockerel, 1937)
The Wickenheiser collection includes editions o Milton byinfuential printers and book designers rom John Baskerville
in the eighteenth century through to the modern ne printing
movement, with examples rom the Daniel Press, Eragny Press,
Vale Press, Doves Press, Chiswick Press, Cresset Press, Nonesuch,
Golden Cockerel, Rampant Lion Press, and Whittington Press.
Fine BindingsParadise Lost (1688), in contemporary black morocco
Many o the volumes in the Wickenheiser collection have beenspecially bound, and in addition to such earlier ne bindings as
the one illustrated, the collection contains examples by many
o the major binders o the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries: the Doves Bindery, Rivire, Sangorski and Sutclie,
Bayntun, and others.
The Development o Book Production Techniques
Victorian decorated cloth bindings
The scale o the collection means that it also includes, generally in ne condition, a very ull
range o examples o book production history, rom seventeenth-century olios (and pamphlets),
through the paper-covered boards o the late eighteenth century, through the evolution o
publishers decorated cloth bindings in the nineteenth century.
Milton Scholarship and Reerence
The primary materials in the Robert J. Wickenheiser Collection are supported by a ull range o
the scholarship on Milton, including modern biographies, critical monographs, editions, specialist
journals, auction and booksellers catalogues, and reerence works relating to Milton illustrators
and the history o illustration techniques. Many o these books are inscribed to Dr. Wickenheiser
by their authors.
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Rare Books and Special Collections at Thomas Cooper Library
The University o South Carolina (then South Carolina College) started building its library
collections in 1803. By 1850, with 25,000 volumes, it had the largest library collection south
o Washington, D.C., housed in the rst purpose-built ree-standing college library building.
Many o the valuable books acquired during that time period are still in the librarys care and
orm the core o the current Special Collections. Since the mid-twentieth century, the libraries
as a whole have grown exponentially until, with more than 3.3 million volumes, USCs libraries
constitute a major research and teaching resource or the University, the community, the state,
and the nation. USC has the only nationally ranked research library in the state and the only
S.C. membership in the Association o Research Libraries.
The Department o Rare Books and Special Collections at Thomas Cooper Library has also
grown dramatically in recent years. Its special mission is to acquire, preserve, and make
available distinctive (oten rare or valuable, sometimes unique) materials and collections,
such as books, manuscripts, and other materials, in support o teaching and research. Over
the past twenty years the departments holdings have grown sixold, attracting international
scholarly attention and adding signicant new collections, largely through generous response
to an expanded git program, in the areas o philosophy (Hume, Russell); history (Garibaldi),
exploration (Renaissance maps), military history (Civil War, World War I), and military
aviation (World War II); natural history (eighteenth century watercolors, Abbot) and the
history o science (Darwin, Babbage); English literature (Milton), Scottish literature (Ramsay,
Burns, Carlyle, Stevenson, MacDiarmid), and American literature (Emerson, Fuller, Whitman,
Johnson, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Heller, Dickey); childrens literature (Rawlings, Arican-
American); and the history o the book.
Over the same period, the department has also added new initiatives in the areas o teaching,
exhibits, digitization, and scholarly and public programs. Its community organization, the
Thomas Cooper Society, ounded in 1990, now has more than 600 members. An extensive
series o Web exhibits and Web projects based on the collections has been attracting more
than 25 million hits a year.
When it opens in 2008, the departments new home, part o a multistage plan to modernize
and upgrade physical acilities or all USC libraries, will provide attractive space or all these
activitiesexhibits, teaching, public programs, and digital projects as well as expanded and
up-to-date study space or researchers, enhanced environmental conditions and security or
both people and books, and much increased and upgraded stack space to ensure the long-term
availability o these extraordinary collections.
The Thomas Cooper Librarys new
west wing will provide space or the
collections and services oered by
the Department o Rare Books and
Special Collections.
The University o South Carolina is an equal opportunity institution. 06497 University Publications 9/06
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Books are not absolutely dead things, but do contain a potency o lie. . . .
A good book is the precious lie-blood o a master-spirit.
JohnMilton,Areopagitica (1644)
Rare Books & Special Collections
Thomas Cooper Library