---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Terry Belanger <belanger(a)virginia.edu>
Date: Wed, May 13, 2009 at 5:22 PM
The following, just in from a source I trust:
During his tenure at the University of San Francisco
(USF), President Stephen Privett has been devoted in giving all his time and energy to its
benefit. In the current economic crisis, he is tasked with painfully difficult, thankless,
and unpopular decisions to identify academic programs to discontinue and assets to sell,
if necessary, to stabilize USF's finances.
On Sunday, 10 May 2009, the San Francisco Chronicle published a story on the
cancellation of USF's M.A. in Theology program amid protest. Earlier, on April 30th,
the lead story in the campus newspaper, The Foghorn, told of assets identified for
possible sale, primarily USF's renowned rare book collections, but even including the
possibility of the Lone Mountain campus. The story may be accessed at
http://foghorn.usfca.edu/2009/04/rare-books-could-become-financial-safety-n…
(or Google foghorn rare books).
Faculty and library donors and supporters have been appalled and dismayed that the
Library could be stripped of its collections, virtually all of which were donated to the
Library or purchased with donated funds. In the last 50 years, under the visionary
leadership of Fr. William Monihan, S.J., Bay Area families and others worldwide have
generously contributed books, manuscripts, artworks and funds to create the Gleeson
Library and its Donohue Rare Book Room which, together, State Librarian emeritus Kevin
Starr has described as "an epicenter of Jesuit Humanism" and "a library
second to none." Donors reasonably anticipated that their collections might have a
permanent and secure home there.
Unfortunately, President Privett, has not only identified library treasures for sale,
he has already quietly and anonymously started to consign them for sale at auction. He
recently stripped from the Timken-Zinkann Collection, an early founding core collection of
the Library, a series of original woodcuts and engravings - mostly iconic images of
Catholic and Christian tradition - by leading Renaissance artist and author, Albrecht
Durer, in effect destroying the integrity of the collection. Together with an early,
original Rembrandt etching, the Durer prints were anonymously offered for sale at auction
Tuesday morning, 11 May, at Bonhams, despite a valiant last-minute effort on the part of
faculty and library supporters to persuade Privett to suspend the sale.
In a down market, only the Rembrandt and a few of the
Durers sold. Those of us who support the integrity of the Library's collections, hope
the unsold items may be returned to their home of many years for the continued benefit of
students, researchers and faculty.
According to the Forhorn Online story cited above, Privett insists that, if the items
compiled from the Rare Book Room were ever sold, they would be "non-book items,
duplicate volumes, or single volumes, not part of a series or collection." As for the
Durer collection, Privett said, "They (the prints) were discovered by accident. We
have an art gallery, not a museum. We didn't have a place for them."
Sadly, one of the Durer engravings sold (for $67,100 including buyer's premium) is
"St. Jerome in His Study," an image which noted author Stephen Mitchell has
described movingly in his writing. St. Jerome is the patron saint of librarians whose
feast day is September 30th. Traditionally, every September his engraving was exhibited in
the Gleeson Library to bring blessings and protection to the Library itself, to the
librarians who selflessly work there, and to all those who research and patronize it.
Whose or what image will now bless and protect USF's Gleeson Library? Perhaps, come
next September, some one will hang black mourning cloth where once the image of St. Jerome
was displayed.
Ironically, President Privett has stated that money made from the sale of Rare Book
Room items will go towards the renovation of the room itself. Once collections are
compromised and books, manuscripts, artworks, ephemera and related items have been
cannibalized from them, for what pupose will the Rare Book Room be renovated?
Both history Professor Martin Claussen, claussenm(a)usfca.edu, and Gleeson Library
Associates Co-President, Walrave Jansen, wallyj(a)ix.netcom.com, have written eloquently
about saving USF's rare book collections and are actively working to do so.
President Privett has agreed to meet with faculty tomorrow (Thursday 14 May), to discuss
the situation.
President Privett emphasized in the campus newspaper that he was only making worst
case scenario contingency plans. The fact that he had already quietly and secretly
consigned items from the Library for sale at auction - courageously uncovered and exposed
by history Professor Martin Claussen - belies the contingent nature of his plans.
Contingencies have a way of becoming realities all too quickly!
When one thinks of Gleeson librarians Father William Monihan and D. Steven Corey, and
all the collectors and donors who contributed to make the rare book collections of USF
what they are, it is dismal to recognize what is happening today.
In addition to Prof. Claussen, Walrave Jansen, Gleeson Library Associates
Co-President, has been doing remarkable work to attempt to staunch the bleeding of the
Donohue Rare Book Room holdings. One thing that amazes me is that the University President
seems to have taken over and is attempting to micromanage deaccessioning, something that I
would think should be the responsibility of the Library Dean and Library staff members.
Should you wish to express yourself to USF President Stephen Privett, or Library Dean
Tyrone Cannon, they can be addressed respectively at privett(a)usfca.edu and
cannont(a)usfca.edu.
I have not yet been able to verify all of the details of this story,
but (for openers) it's clear that the prints were indeed auctioned
off. The most offensive part of this sad tale is that the sales were
conducted surreptitiously.
I think that the first order of business is to alert journalist
friends and colleagues; there's an important story percolating here.
Terry Belanger
University Professor, Honorary Curator of Special Collections
Director, Rare Bk School : University of Virginia
Rare Book School : PO 400103 : Charlottesville, VA 22904-4103
Email belanger(a)virginia.edu : Phone 434-924-8851 : Fax 434-924-8824
URL <http://www.rarebookschool.org>
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