Otto F. Ege (1888–1951) was a teacher, lecturer, bookseller, and well-known book-breaker. He worked for many years at the

Cleveland Institute of Art The Cleveland Institute of Art, previously Cleveland School of Art, is a private college focused on art and design and located in Cleveland, Ohio. History The college was founded in 1882 as the Western Reserve School of Design for Women, at f ...

where he served as Chair of the Department of Teacher Training, instructor of Lettering, Layout, and Typography, and Dean. He was also employed by the School of Library Science at

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

as a lecturer on the History of the Book, and instructor of History and Art of the Book. Otto Ege's greatest fame, however, came as a result of his book-breaking. Over a period of decades in the early 20th century, Ege systematically removed the pages of some 50

illuminated Illuminated may refer to: * Illuminated (song), "Illuminated" (song), by Hurts * Illuminated Film Company, a British animation house * ''Illuminated'', alternative title of Black Sheep (Nat & Alex Wolff album) * Illuminated manuscript See also

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

manuscripts, and divided them into 40 unique compilation boxes, commonly referred to as " Otto Ege Portfolios". These portfolios were in turn sold and distributed world wide. Although strong profits were made from each sale, Ege defended his actions by stating, "Surely to allow a thousand people 'to have and to hold' an original manuscript leaf, and to get a thrill and understanding that comes only from actual and frequent contact with these art heritages, is justification enough for the scattering of fragments". Over the last several years, Prof.

Peter Stoicheff Richard Peter Stoicheff (born 1956) is a Canadian academic. He is the 10th and current president of the University of Saskatchewan, succeeding Ilene Busch-Vishniac, following an interim appointment of Gordon Barnhart. Born in Ottawa, Ontario, ...

of the

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

has been working to locate all existing Ege Portfolios, and to foster co-operation from their respective owners in creating an "Ege Medieval Manuscript Database" with the ultimate goal being the digital reconstruction of the complete books. Ege's personal collection, including 50 unbroken manuscript books, was in 2015 acquired by the

Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library () is the rare book library and literary archive of the Yale University Library in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the largest buildings in the world dedicated to rare books and manuscripts and ...

(part of

Yale University Library The Yale University Library is the library system of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Originating in 1701 with the gift of several dozen books to a new “Collegiate School," the library's collection now contains approximately 14.9 m ...

References and notes

External links

Otto F. Ege: Fifty Original Leaves from Medieval Manuscripts Digital Collection
() created at

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...

Libraries. Stony Brook University Libraries Special Collections and University Archives owns No. 19 of the 40 unique sets created by Ege.
Book of Hours (Use of Paris) – Reconstructed Quire/Book
() A reconstruction of a Book of Hours dismantled in part by Otto Ege (Cleveland, OH) in the 1940s and used as no. 30 in his "Fifty Original Leaves of Medieval Manuscripts" portfolios. The individual leaves were catalogued in the fall of 2017 by students in Lisa Fagin Davis' course at the Simmons School of Library and Information Science (Boston, MA), "The Medieval Manuscript from Charlemagne to Gutenberg."
Otto F. Ege Collection
The Ege Manuscript Leaf Portfolios (maintained by Denison University to collect information about the portfolios).
David Bindle, 50 Medieval Manuscript Leaves
the Otto Ege Collection at the

Library. Complete book on line with images of all 50 manuscripts. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ege, Otto 1888 births 1951 deaths 20th-century American educators Case Western Reserve University faculty American booksellers American art collectors