Mark Samuels Lasner (born 1952) is an American researcher. He is an authority on the literature and art of the late

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

. He is also a collector,

bibliographer 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 ...

and

typographer Typography is the art and technique of Typesetting, arranging type to make written language legibility, legible, readability, readable and beauty, appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, Point (typogra ...

. Samuels Lasner is senior research fellow at the University of Delaware Library.Biography on the Center for Material Culture Studies

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

website

Mark Samuels Lasner Collection

A graduate of

Connecticut College Connecticut College (Conn) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in New London, Connecticut. Originally chartered as Thames College, it was founded in 1911 as the state's only women's colle ...

, Samuels Lasner has served as an honorary

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

at several institutions and is active in numerous

bibliophile 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, aut ...

and scholarly organizations. His life's work has, however, been the amassing of what Samuels Lasner calls "A Period Library", one of the country's foremost private collections of books, manuscripts, letters, and artworks by British cultural figures who flourished between 1850 and 1900.News in the Department of English
at the

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

His collection comprises 2,500 first and other editions, including many signed and association copies, manuscripts, letters, works on paper, and

ephemera Ephemera are items which were not originally designed to be retained or preserved, but have been collected or retained. The word is etymologically derived from the Greek ephēmeros 'lasting only a day'. The word is both plural and singular. On ...

. The materials in his collection, particularly those relating to

Aubrey Beardsley Aubrey Vincent Beardsley ( ; 21 August 187216 March 1898) was an English illustrator and author. His black ink drawings were influenced by Woodblock printing in Japan, Japanese woodcuts, and depicted the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. ...

Max Beerbohm Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, Parody, parodist and Caricature, caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the theatre crit ...

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

, and other writers and artists of the 1890s, have provided the basis for numerous publications and exhibitions. Samuels Lasner is senior research fellow at the Library of the

, which now houses the larger portion of his collection.

Publications

Samuels Lasner is the author of ''The Bookplates of Aubrey Beardsley'' (Rivendale Press, 2008), ''A Bibliography of Enoch Soames'' (Rivendale Press, 1999), ''

The Yellow Book ''The Yellow Book'' was a British quarterly literary periodical that was published in London from 1894 to 1897. It was published at The Bodley Head Publishing House by Elkin Mathews and John Lane, and later by John Lane alone, and edited by th ...

: A Checklist and Index'' (Eighteen Nineties Society, 1998), ''A Selective Checklist of the Published Work of

'' (Thomas G. Boss Fine Books, 1995), and ''

William Allingham William Allingham (19 March 1824 – 18 November 1889) was an Irish poet, diarist and editor. He wrote several volumes of lyric verse, and his poem "The Faeries" was much anthologised. But he is better known for his posthumously published ''Di ...

: A Bibliographical Study'' (Holmes Publishing Co., 1993); he has co-authored books such as ''England in the 1880s: Old Guard and Avant-Garde'' (University of Virginia Press, 1989) and ''England in the 1890s: Literary Publishing at

the Bodley Head The Bodley Head is an English book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1887 by John Lane and Elkin Mathews, The Bodley Head existed as an independent entity or as part of multiple consortia until it was acquired by Random ...

'' (Georgetown University Press, 1990). His articles and notes have appeared in ''

The Book Collector ''The Book Collector'' is a London-based journal that deals with all aspects of the book. It is published quarterly and exists in both paper and digital form. It prints independent opinions on subjects ranging from typography to national heritag ...

'', ''Browning Institute Studies'', ''

Notes and Queries ''Notes and Queries'', also styled ''Notes & Queries'', is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to " English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism".From the inner ...

'', and other journals. He has organized or co-curated exhibitions held at the

University of Virginia Library The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his Academical Village, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The original governin ...

;

Georgetown University Library The Georgetown University Library is the library system of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. The library's holdings now contain approximately 3.5 million volumes housed in seven university buildings across 11 separate collections. Histo ...

; the

Houghton Library Houghton Library, on the south side of Harvard Yard adjacent to Widener Library, Lamont Library, and Loeb House, is Harvard University's primary repository for rare books and manuscripts. It is part of the Harvard College Library, the library s ...

and the

Fogg Museum The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

; Bryn Mawr College Library and the

Grolier Club The Grolier Club is a private club and society of bibliophiles in New York City. Founded in January 1884, it is the oldest existing bibliophilic club in North America. The club is named after Jean Grolier de Servières, Viscount d'Aguisy, T ...

Awards

Samuels Lasner was the 2003 recipient of the

Sir Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry V ...

medal from the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

, which was awarded to honor the spirit of "private collecting, a public benefit." In 2009 The American Printing History Association (APHA) announced a fellowship award, the ''Mark Samuels Lasner Fellowship in Printing History'' for the study of printing history. An award of up to $2,000 is available for research in any area of the history of printing in any form, including all the arts and technologies relevant to printing, the book arts, and letter forms.The Fellowship on the College & University Letterpress Printers' Association website
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References

External links

at the

Library
Biography on the Center for Material Culture Studies

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Samuels Lasner, Mark 1952 births American bibliographers Connecticut College alumni University of Delaware faculty Living people American typographers and type designers