Item 106: Bookplate, Library of the University of Rochester, 1921
Item — Box: 20, Folder: 106
Dates
- Created: 1921
Creator
- Fisher, William Edgar, 1872-1956 (Person)
Disclaimer for Name and Subject Authorities
Some of the name and subject authority tags have been assigned by educated guessing and estimation of persons and subjects by region, age, profession, and familial relationships. They have been thoroughly researched by using primary and secondary sources available digitally, and named in each description, or in some cases linked directly to the person tag.
Access:
All series and subseries within this collection are open for research, with the exception of a few files within the Academia series that are restricted. The Academia series contains financial and sensitive institutional records from Wilkes College, and financial report records from Princeton University that will remain restricted for 80 years upon creation.
Extent
1 items
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Type of Material:
Bookplate
Condition Note:
Good, no issues.
Measurements:
4 ⅛ in. x 2 ¾ in.
Title:
The Library of the University of Rochester
Description:
A bookplate made in memory of Isaac Butts and John Webster Oothout. At the top, there is a circle surrounded by boughs of ivy. Around the crest there is text that reads “Seal of the University of Rochester, 1850.” Inside the circle there is a crest with some symbols that reads “Melioka” Below the names on the bookplate, there is a book with a lamp in front of it. Bookplate collector and newspaper editor Isaac Butts was born on January 11, 1816 in Dutchess County, New York. When he was twelve, he and his family relocated to Irondequoit, New York. When his dad died, Isaac and his siblings took over the farm, and Isaac was the second oldest. Despite challenges, Butts made good strides when he was younger. Prior to turning thirty, he had already been running The Daily Advertiser in Rochester, and it is thought to be the oldest daily paper to the west of Albany.” When “personal journalism” was on the rise in New York, with Greeley, Bryant, and Bennett starting off in the city, Butts found an interest in “writing political editorials. Rochester already had a newspaper-reading public of more than ordinary discrimination. He had a “pungent, terse editorial style” that people really liked. In 1848, he was one of the Democratic editors in New York who sided with the “barnburner” sect of the party and supported Martin Van Buren. However, the “hunker” Democrats won, and he took a break from editing. He died in 1874. Bookplate collector John Webster Oothout was born on October 28, 1844 in Rochester, New York. His parents were Samuel N. Oothout. He died on February 11, 1902. Bookplate collector Elizabeth “Lily” Butts Oothout was born in 1847. Her mother was Mary Smyles Butts and her father was Isaac Butts. She was married to John Webster Oothout. She had five siblings, Robert Henry Butts, Mary Isabella Butts Macomber, Caroline Sarah Butts Stoddard, John DeWitt Butts, and Isaac William Butts. She died in 1933.
Bookplate creator William Edgar Fisher was born in Wellsville, N.Y. on October 24, 1872. He attended Phillips, Andover Academy, and Cornell University. He was a well known artist, advertiser, and bookplate designer and was a former president of the American Book Plate Society. He became an art editor of Judge magazine during the early 1920s. Additionally, Fisher was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Society of Colonial Wars. He was also a member of the Players of New York City. He died at the age of 84 in 1956. To see other bookplates created by William Edgar Fisher, please visit Yale University’s archive and finding aids here.
Location:
Rochester, NY
Creator
- Fisher, William Edgar, 1872-1956 (Person)
Repository Details
Part of the Wilkes University Archives Repository
Contact:
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu