Overview

While a reconstruction of the whole of William James’s personal library isn’t feasible, there are significant portions of it that reside within the Harvard University Library system and this book is a partial reconstruction of their story. Reconstructing the Personal Library of William James offers a new, comprehensive account of the James collection at Harvard University, bringing together all known Harvard-owned entries into one comprehensive volume. The annotated bibliography contains data on 2,554 entries (2,862 volumes) from James’s personal library, including both the 1923 “Philosophical Library” and all known additional donations by James and his family. . Each entry, when applicable, contains the following data points: Harvard Library location and call number, provenance, bookplate, accession record, autographs, inscriptions, ownership marks, indexical annotations, markings, and marginalia. To orient the reader, Ermine L. Algaier IV supplements the bibliography with essays that examine the history of the James’s library at Harvard, assess the size of the collection and how it came to reside at Harvard, and showcase patterns that emerge from looking at the collection as a whole. Additional essays are devoted to explaining the source lists and archival resources used in reconstructing James’s personal library, as well as outlining steps for continued research on the collection.

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9781498552905

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Reviews

Algaier brings meticulous research and a thorough knowledge of James's writings, life, and interests to this important volume. In reconstructing James's personal library, Algaier has produced a work of impressive scholarship. -- Linda Simon, Skidmore College A scholar's bookshelves can track the travels of a mind's adventures. The product of meticulous academic research, Algaier's work is practically unparalleled. To know William James's library and marginalia presents a rare opportunity to get acquainted with him personally. This reading bibliography amounts to an intellectual biography of one of America's most profound minds. -- John Shook, Bowie State University

Algaier brings meticulous research and a thorough knowledge of James's writings, life, and interests to this important volume. In reconstructing James's personal library, Algaier has produced a work of impressive scholarship. -- Linda Simon, Skidmore College A scholar's bookshelves can track the travels of a mind's adventures. The product of meticulous academic research, Algaier's work is practically unparalleled. To know William James's library and marginalia presents a rare opportunity to get acquainted with him personally. This reading bibliography amounts to an intellectual biography of one of America's most profound minds. -- John Shook, Bowie State University

Algaier brings meticulous research and a thorough knowledge of James's writings, life, and interests to this important volume. In reconstructing James's personal library, Algaier has produced a work of impressive scholarship. -- Linda Simon, Skidmore College A scholar's bookshelves can track the travels of a mind's adventures. The product of meticulous academic research, Algaier's work is practically unparalleled. To know William James's library and marginalia presents a rare opportunity to get acquainted with him personally. This reading bibliography amounts to an intellectual biography of one of America's most profound minds. -- John Shook, Bowie State University Based on years of dedicated (and talented) archival research, Algaier's book offers readers of James a studied portrait of James's own reading. A labor of true scholarly dedication, the resulting book is indispensable for those looking to understand James's own writing through his reading. In so doing the book offers compelling portraiture of Jamesian wisdom excavated from, for instance, his comments in the margins of the books he read. -- Colin Koopman, University of Oregon A major contribution to William James studies, Algaier’s bibliography brings together the multiple sources documenting James’s large library, but more importantly provides detailed descriptions of over 1,600 volumes, many annotated by James. This book is certain to provide a springboard for fresh insights into multiple aspects of James’s thought. -- Leslie A. Morris, Gore Vidal Curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts We are, mostly, what we have read. This account of the Library of William James' library is extremely well done and it provides us with an indispensable--and in many cases a fresh--look into the mind of the man Whitehead called ""that adorable genius."" A major achievement. -- Robert D. Richardson, author of ""William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism"" “For those who are eager to know more about James’s bibliographies and how to use James’s collection as well as for the Chinese professionals who are now intensively interested in James’s thought and works, this book is a great academic guide. The history, original source lists, resources, conservation and preservation, markings, marginalia, and other dates of James’s bibliographies and collections described here illuminate James as a real, living philosopher.” -- Wang Chengbing, Shanxi University

Algaier brings meticulous research and a thorough knowledge of James's writings, life, and interests to this important volume. In reconstructing James's personal library, Algaier has produced a work of impressive scholarship.  -- Linda Simon, Skidmore College A scholar's bookshelves can track the travels of a mind's adventures. The product of meticulous academic research, Algaier's work is practically unparalleled. To know William James's library and marginalia presents a rare opportunity to get acquainted with him personally. This reading bibliography amounts to an intellectual biography of one of America's most profound minds. -- John Shook, Bowie State University

Author Information

Ermine L. Algaier IV is visiting assistant professor of philosophy and religious studies at Monmouth College.

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