Frederick Richmond Goff (April 23, 1916 – September 26, 1982) was an American rare book

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

and specialist in incunabula.

Early life and education

Goff was born in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

, on April 23, 1916. He earned bachelor's and

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

degrees from Brown University.

Professional life

Goff joined the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

in 1940, became Assistant Chief of the Rare Book Division in 1941, and Chief of the division in 1945. In 1961, he served as chair of the

Rare Books and Manuscripts Section The Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) is a section of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The section is devoted to supporting the activities of special collections ...

of the

Association of College and Research Libraries The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association, is a professional association of academic librarians and other interested individuals. It is dedicated to enhancing the ability of academi ...

, a division of the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

, and from 1968 to 1970 as president of the Bibliographical Society of America. Goff retired in 1972. Goff was a prolific

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

of scholarly works on incunabula, book history, and bibliography. His ''

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

'' is ''Incunabula in American Libraries: A Third Census of Fifteenth-century Books Recorded in North American Collections'' (New York: Bibliographical Society of America, 1964) which later formed the basis for the

Incunabula Short Title Catalogue The Incunabula Short Title Catalogue (ISTC) is an electronic bibliographic database maintained by the British Library which seeks to catalogue all known incunabula. The database lists books by individual editions, recording standard bibliographic ...

Death

Goff died of

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

and a heart ailment at a

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

hospital on September 26, 1982. He was in London attending a conference on incunabula. He is buried at

Swan Point Cemetery Swan Point Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Established in 1846 on a 60-acre (0.24 km2) plot of land, it has approximately 40,000 interments. History The cemetery was first organ ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goff, Frederick Richmond 1916 births 1982 deaths American bibliographers Brown University alumni Incunabula Librarians at the Library of Congress Writers from Newport, Rhode Island Deaths from kidney failure Burials at Swan Point Cemetery Rare book librarians 20th-century American non-fiction writers Presidents of the Bibliographical Society of America