George Brinley, pioneer Americanist.

Abstract

George Brinley was a collector of books and one of the pioneers of the Americanist movement. The manner in which he acquired his books, the subjects in which he specialized, the scope of his collection, and the impact of the auction of his library, are the content of this investigation. John Carter Brown and James Lenox, Brinley's most important rivals, were extremely wealthy and were able to employ others to locate the titles they desired. Brinley's financial status was limited, vis a vis his peers, which forced him to locate materials on his own and to rely upon his extensive bibliographic knowledge in order to find the books he wanted. The methods he utilized included buying, bartering, and trading, as well as through auctions. Another unique point of the Brinley Library was its complete devotion to Americana. Although his collection contained nearly 33,000 titles, far more than any of his rivals, only two did not relate to the New World in some manner. All other major Americanists of that period collected significant numbers of books in other areas. The scope of Brinley's collection was far broader than that of any other Americanist. He collected material related to all parts of the country. He was the first book collector to realize that a book about one of the western states printed in 1850 was as valuable to a complete understanding of the United States and its development as a book about New England printed in 1650. The sale of the Brinley Library was the most important auction of the period. More books were sold, and for a larger sum of money, than any other auction in the nineteenth century. The most important factor was that it was the first and only book auction of the nineteenth century in which the majority of lots were bought by public institutions (academic, public, and historical society libraries) not private individuals. Thus, the unique collection which George Brinley brought together was of great importance to the developing research libraries during the last quarter of the century.