David A. Randall
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David Anton Randall (5 April 1905 – 25 May 1975) was an American
book dealer Book collecting is the collecting of books, including seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever books are of interest to a given collector. The love of books is ''bibliophilia'', and someo ...
, librarian and bibliographic scholar. He was head of
Scribner's Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City that has published several notable American authors, including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjo ...
rare book department from 1935 to 1956, librarian of the
Lilly Library The Lilly Library, located on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, is an important rare book and manuscript library in the United States. At its dedication on October 3, 1960, the library contained a collection of 20,000 bo ...
and Professor of
Bibliography Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliograph ...
at
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...
. Randall was responsible for the sale of two copies of the
Gutenberg Bible The Gutenberg Bible, also known as the 42-line Bible, the Mazarin Bible or the B42, was the earliest major book printed in Europe using mass-produced metal movable type. It marked the start of the "Printing Revolution, Gutenberg Revolution" an ...
. As a practitioner of bibliology with a
bibliophilia A bookworm or bibliophile is an individual who loves and frequently reads or collects books. Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. Bibliophiles may have large, specialized book collections. They may highly value old editions, au ...
c addiction, a raconteur of
history of books The history of books begins with the invention of writing, as well as other inventions such as paper and printing; this history continues all the way to the modern-day business of book printing. The earliest knowledge society has on the history o ...
, and an avid collector, he developed a keen appreciation for books as physical objectsincluding the tasks of
collecting The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining items that are of interest to an individual ''collector''. Collections differ in a wide variety of respects, most obvi ...
, cataloging, finding and preserving them.


Early life

Randall was born in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania and educated at
Harrisburg Academy Harrisburg Academy is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory day school in Wormleysburg, Pennsylvania, United States. The school has a diverse student body in nursery through 12th grade. The school was established in 1784 by John Har ...
(graduated 1924) then
Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...
from which he graduated with a B.A. degree in English in 1928. He began to study law at Harvard but dropped out after one term after attending George Parker Winship's course on the history of the book. He got a job working for
E. Byrne Hackett E is the fifth letter of the Latin alphabet. E or e may also refer to: Computing and computation * E (1970s text editor), a text editor developed at the Stanford AI Lab in the 1970s * E (complexity), a set of decision problems solvable by a ...
in New York for whom he attended the
Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...
auction. In 1931 the depression found him unemployed and he took up independent book scouting to support himself. He had doubts about the decision, his wife was pregnant and "the only thing to do, it seemed, was to return to the Pennsylvania coal mines."Randall, 1969, p. 15. Mrs Randall, however, thought otherwise, saying that he was hard enough to live with as it was and he would be "completely intolerable" if he wasn't doing a job he liked. He formed a relationship with Max Harzof through whom Randall met important figures in the book world. Randall also prepared catalogs based on Harzof's stock."Randall, David A." in


Scribner's

In 1935 Randall was appointed to head Scribner's rare book department, a position he held until 1956. In that capacity he got to know leading dealers and collectors of the day including Estelle Doheny, Carl H. Pforzheimer, Carroll A. Wilson, and Thomas W. Streeter. Through his friendship with John Carter in Scribner's London office, Randall was able to acquire many important British and European books, including the re-discovered Schuckburgh copy of the Gutenberg Bible.''The David A. Randall Retrospective Memorial Exhibition: Twenty Years' Acquisitions''
Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, 1975.
Together, Randall and Carter published catalogues that developed new markets and appealed to a younger generation of collectors. Subject included modern first editions, mysteries, musical firsts and familiar quotations.


Indiana University

One of the collectors Randall met through Herzof was Josiah K. Lilly Jr. of the pharmaceutical Lillys. When Lilly decided to give his collection to Indiana University in 1955, where they formed the basis of the Lilly Library, Randall was asked to take up the post of Lilly Librarian which he did on 1 July 1956. He also received the title of Professor of Bibliography. Among the collections that Randall acquired for Indiana were the
Bobbs-Merrill The Bobbs-Merrill Company was an American book publisher active from 1850 until 1985, and located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Company history The Bobbs-Merrill Company began in 1850 October 3 when Samuel Merrill bought an Indianapolis bookstore ...
archive, the Bernardo Mendel Latin American library, the
Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American author, muckraker journalist, and political activist, and the 1934 California gubernatorial election, 1934 Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
papers, the George A. Poole early printing collection, the
Wendell Willkie Wendell Lewis Willkie (born Lewis Wendell Willkie; February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was an American lawyer, corporate executive and the 1940 History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican nominee for president. Willkie appeale ...
papers, and
Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...
's collection of nineteenth century science and thought and his
James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
novel typescripts.The Ian Fleming Collection of 19th-20th Century Source Material Concerning Western Civilization together with the Originals of the James Bond-007 Tales: a machine-readable transcription.
Lilly Library Publications Online. Retrieved 25 August 2014.


Writing

Randall was a prolific contributor to bibliographic journals, including ''
Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'', '' The Colophon'', ''Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America'', and ''Bibliographical Notes and Queries'' (for which he was the American editor). In book form, Randall tended to work with others, contributing chapters or editing. Important works included his essay "American First Editions 1900-1933" in John Carter's ''New Paths in Book Collecting'' (1934) and a revision of ''A Primer of Book Collecting'' with John T. Winterich in 1946. He was a member of the committee charged with preparing the ''Bibliography of American Literature''. His reminiscences for the years 1929–1956, ''Dukedom Large Enough'', were published by Random House in 1969.


Memberships

Randall was a member of the
Bibliographical Society of America The Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) is a North American organization that fosters the study of books and manuscripts. It was constituted from the earlier Bibliographical Society of Chicago (created in 1899) as the national membership began ...
, the
Grolier Grolier is one of the largest American publishers of general encyclopedias, including '' The Book of Knowledge'' (1910), '' The New Book of Knowledge'' (1966), ''The New Book of Popular Science'' (1972), '' Encyclopedia Americana'' (1945), '' Ac ...
and University Clubs of New York and the
Caxton Club The Caxton Club is a private social club and bibliophilic society founded in Chicago in 1895 to promote the book arts and the history of the book. To further its goals, the club hosts monthly events, collaborates with institutions like the New ...
of Chicago.


Honors

In 1966 Lehigh University awarded Randall an honorary Doctor of Letters degree. He also received the "Leather Medal" from
Sigma Delta Chi The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, letter ...
. A thousand items of Randall's drafts, correspondence and personal memorabilia are in the collection of the Lilly Library at Indiana University. Donald Dickinson, author of the
Dictionary of American Antiquarian Bookdealers A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical and stroke for logographic languages), which may include infor ...
, opined that Randall was a knowing and resourceful bookman and antiquarian, who cultivated relations with a broad range of collectors, dealers and bibliographers. Randall effectively parlayed his knowledge and extensive contacts in bookstores, the industry and libraries to further the cause.


Selected publications

*''A Primer of Book Collecting. New revised and enlarged edition''. New York, Greenberg, 1946. (With John T. Winterich) *Wilson, Carroll A. ''Thirteen Author Collections of the Nineteenth Century, and Five Centuries of Familiar Quotations''. Scribner, New York, 1950. (Editor with Jean C.S. Wilson) *''The J.K. Lilly Collection of Edgar Allan Poe: An account of its Formation''. Bloomington, Lilly Library, Indiana University, 1964. *''Three Centuries of American poetry: An Exhibition of Original Printings the Lilly Library, Indiana University.''. Bloomington, Lilly Library, Indiana University, 1965. *''Dukedom Large Enough''. Random House, New York, 1969. *''Science Fiction and Fantasy: An Exhibition, January–April 1975''. Bloomington, Lilly Library, Indiana University, 1975.


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Randall, David 1905 births 1975 deaths American bibliographers American booksellers Librarians from Indiana American bibliophiles American book and manuscript collectors Indiana University faculty Lehigh University alumni Lilly Library People from Nanticoke, Pennsylvania Writers from Indiana Writers from Pennsylvania Rare book librarians 20th-century American non-fiction writers Harrisburg Academy alumni