Robert H. Taylor (died, aged 76, on 5 May 1985) was a

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 ...

who was president of 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 ...

, the Keats-Shelley Association of America and 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 ...

(1970-1971). He donated his collection of 7,000 books, manuscripts and drawings to

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in 1971. He had graduated from Princeton in 1930. Grandson of businessman and politician

John Emory Andrus John Emory Andrus (February 16, 1841 – December 26, 1934) was mayor of Yonkers, New York, a U.S. Congressman from New York, and founder of the Surdna Foundation, SURDNA Foundation. Biography Born in Pleasantville, New York, Andrus was the son o ...

, Taylor served as director of the Surdna Foundation, a philanthropy established by Andrus in 1917.

Collecting

Taylor's collection was noted for its works by

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope ( ; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among the best-known of his 47 novels are two series of six novels each collectively known as the ''Chronicles of Barsetshire ...

and

Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Anglo-Irish playwright, writer and Whig politician who sat in the British House of Commons from 1780 to 1812, representing the constituencies of Stafford, Westminster and I ...

. One important item owned by Taylor was the original manuscript for Sheridan's ''

The School for Scandal ''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777. Plot Act I Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling S ...

'' which he acquired via

Barton Currie Barton Wood Currie (March 8, 1877 – May 7, 1962) was an American journalist, author, and book collector. Writer of hundreds of articles and stories for publications such as '' New York Evening World'', '' New York Evening Sun'', ''Harper's We ...

.Barton Currie: Formidable Book Angler.
Kurt Zimmerman, ''American Book Collecting'', 6 February 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2014. Randall, David A. (1969) ''Dukedom Large Enough''. New York:

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

, p. 77. The collection also includes a number of original manuscripts of

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) – 28 October 1704 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.)) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thi ...

. One of his notable works was translating the Burmese writer,

Thein Pe Myint Thein Pe Myint ( ; also ''Thakin'' Thein Pe ( ); 10 July 1914 – 15 January 1978) was a Burmese politician, writer, and journalist. He wrote several politically and socially prominent books and founded the influential newspaper, ''The Botataung. ...

's ''Wartime Traveller'' into English. In 1981 he was awarded the Sir Thomas More Medal for Book Collecting by 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 ...

Gleeson Library and the Gleeson Library Associates. Sir Thomas More Medal for Book Collecting.
University of San Francisco Library and the Gleeson Library Associates. Retrieved from The Wayback Machine July 9, 2024.

References

External links

Robert H. Taylor Collection of English and American Literature 1280-1958 Finding Aid
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Robert H. American book and manuscript collectors Year of birth missing People from Gloucester, Massachusetts Princeton University alumni 1900s births 1985 deaths 20th-century American writers 20th-century American male writers Presidents of the Bibliographical Society of America