Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Stuart B. Schimmel collection of Frederick Rolfe papers
Schimmel, Stuart B
4078365
MS#1079
Primarily in English, with one item in Italian.
/repositories/2/resources/5652
1 linear feet
2 boxes
1892-1980
A collection of materials by and about the nineteenth century English writer and eccentric Frederick Rolfe (also known as Baron Corvo), assembled by the book collector Stuart B. Schimmel.
Arrangement
Selected materials cataloged; remainder arranged.
Related Materials
See also: MS #1080, David Roth collection of Frederick William Rolfe papers; MS #1081, Columbia University collection of Frederick Rolfe papers; and MS #0610, Ned Edward Hoopes papers
Restrictions on Access
This collection is located on-site.
Restrictions on Access
This collection has no restrictions.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Stuart B. Schimmel collection of Frederick Rolfe papers; Box and Folder (if known); Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Papers: Source of acquisition--Schimmel, Stuart B. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1983.
Biographical sketch
Stuart B. Schimmel (1925-2013) was a prominent book and manuscript collector who lived in Greenwich, Connecticut. He joined the Grolier Club, a private society for New York City bibliophiles, in 1961, and served on its Council from 1972 until 1986. The Stuart B. Schimmel collection of Frederick Rolfe papers is one of several collections of rare books and manuscripts Schimmel gave to the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University.
Biographical sketch
Frederick William Rolfe, whose pen name was Baron Corvo, authored numerous books and stories. Amongst the most famous are the Toto stories, HADRIAN THE SEVENTH, called by some the greatest ecclesiastical novel ever to be written, and the masterpiece THE DESIRE AND PURSUIT OF THE WHOLE. To say that Rolfe was at times eccentric, acerbic and petulant is understatement, but he was also an excellent story teller, conversationalist and amateur athlete. His life of trials and tribulations ended in 1913, when he died in Venice at the age of 53.
Ownership and Custodial History
The collection was assembled by the book collector Stuart B. Schimmel in the early 1970s. He donated it to the Rare Book and Manuscript Library in 1983.
Processing Information
Papers Processed AMS 10/--/84.
Processing Information
Finding aid written by CLB May 2018.
Scope and Content
Original Rolfe materials in the collection include six folders of letters to Wilfrid Meynell, dating from 1892 to 1893, a fragment of an unidentified Rolfe manuscript in Italian, and bookplates designed by Frederick Rolfe for Edward Pirie-Gordon. The collection also includes reproductions of photographs by Rolfe, photocopies of Rolfe's letters to Barnard and Taylor written in 1904 and 1905, and handwritten copies (not made by Rolfe) of letters written to Charles Masson Fox by Rolfe in 1909 and 1910. Memorial cards for Frederick Rolfe and blank stationery for the Order of Sanctissima Sophia are included as well.
Scope and Content
In addition, the collection contains secondary materials about Rolfe's life, work, and collectors. Some correspondence and ephemera related to Schimmel's acquisition of some items in the collection are included. Letters by James Agate to the Rolfe biographer and collector A.J.A. Symons from 1939 are also present, as are a typescript of Symons' lecture, "Frederick, Baron Corvo" from 1927 and a binder's dummy for the First Edition Club's 1937 publication of Rolfe's
The Songs of Meleager. Printed materials include clippings and ephemera related to posthumous publications of Rolfe's works, biographies of Rolfe by Donald Weeks and Miriam Benkovitz, and exhibition materials from Marylebone Public Library's exhibition for Rolfe's centenary. Playbills, clippings, and a printed copy of Peter Luke's 1968 theatrical adaptation of Rolfe's Hadrian the Seventh, are also included.
Scope and Content
This collection was formerly called the Frederick Rolfe papers. Its name was changed in order to differentiate it from the other two assembled collections of Frederick Rolfe materials at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Selected Related Material
Columbia University collection of Frederick Rolfe papers, A collection of Frederick Rolfe manuscripts and related materials assembled by the Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Selected Related Material
David Roth Martyr Worthy collection of Frederick William Rolfe papers, The Rare Book and Manuscript Library's most extensive collection of Frederick Rolfe materials, assembled by the English book collector David Roth and named after the Hampshire village in which he lived.
Selected Related Material
Miriam J. Benkovitz papers, Benkovitz was a Frederick Rolfe biographer, book collector, and English professor at Skidmore College. Further materials related to her biography of Rolfe are located in the Benkovitz papers.
Selected Related Material
Ned Edward Hoopes papers, Hoopes was another Frederick Rolfe biographer; his papers include notes and other materials related to that work.
Processing Information
This collection was processed in 1984. In addition to manuscripts and printed ephemera, it also originally contained books and periodicals, which were individually cataloged and incorporated into the Rare Book and Manuscript Library's book collections.
The collection was formerly called the Frederick Rolfe papers. Its name was changed in May 2018 in order to differentiate it from the other two assembled collections of Frederick Rolfe materials at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and to comply with DACS 2.0 rules.
A cataloging error identified a group of Rolfe collectors' letters, mostly to Donald G. Brien, as being components of this collection. Those materials are in fact components of the Columbia University collection of Frederick Rolfe papers (MS #1081).
Accruals
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
Book collectors
English literature -- 19th century
Rolfe, Frederick, 1860-1913
Symons, A. J. A (Alphonse James Albert), 1900-1941
Symons, Julian, 1912-1994
Weeks, Donald
Woolf, Cecil
Frederick Rolfe letters to Wilfrid Meynell (6 folders)/repositories/2/archival_objects/5279711892-18931Frederick Rolfe fragment of Sforza family history, with translation by Donald Weeks/repositories/2/archival_objects/527972undated1Bookplates designed by Frederick Rolfe for Edward Pirie-Gordon/repositories/2/archival_objects/527973undated1Reproductions of photographs taken by Frederick Rolfe/repositories/2/archival_objects/527974undated1Photocopies of Frederick Rolfe letters to Barnard and Taylor (2 folders)/repositories/2/archival_objects/5279751904-19051Handwritten copies of Frederick Rolfe letters to Charles Masson Fox/repositories/2/archival_objects/5279761909-19101Memorial cards for Frederick Rolfe/repositories/2/archival_objects/527977undated1Stationery for the Order of Sanctissima Sophia/repositories/2/archival_objects/527978undated1Lecture typescript by A. J. A. Symons on "Frederick, Baron Corvo,"/repositories/2/archival_objects/52797919271Binder's dummy for First Edition Club's publication of The Songs of Meleager,/repositories/2/archival_objects/52798019371James Agate letters to A. J. A. Symons/repositories/2/archival_objects/5279811939 June 11-171Exhibition materials from Marylebone Public Library's centenary exhibition on Corvo, "Baron Corvo: 1860-1960,"/repositories/2/archival_objects/52798219601Book dealers' catalogs with annotations by Schimmel/repositories/2/archival_objects/5279831965, 1970, undated1Clippings on Peter Luke's Hadrian the Seventh theatrical adaptation/repositories/2/archival_objects/527984undated1Full text of Hadrian the Seventh, in Plays and Players (vol. 15 no. 8)/repositories/2/archival_objects/5279851968 May1Playbills for Hadrian the Seventh,/repositories/2/archival_objects/52798619691Correspondence and other materials related to Schimmel's acquisition of some items in his Frederick Rolfe collection/repositories/2/archival_objects/5279871970-19711Clippings: reviews of Donald Weeks' Corvo,/repositories/2/archival_objects/52798819731Clippings: reviews of Miriam J. Benkovitz's Frederick Rolfe: Baron Corvo,/repositories/2/archival_objects/52798919771Ramparts, vol. 2 no. 4/repositories/2/archival_objects/5279901964 Winter2The Saturday Book, Fifth Year/repositories/2/archival_objects/52799119452Life and Letters, vol. 1 no. 2/repositories/2/archival_objects/5279921928 July2Columbia Library Columns, vol. 25 no. 2/repositories/2/archival_objects/5279931976 February2Books at Iowa, no. 1/repositories/2/archival_objects/5279941964 October2Invitations to RBML exhibition, "Baron Corvo: Madman and Genius,"/repositories/2/archival_objects/5279951986 March 62Oversized Photographs/repositories/2/archival_objects/122825713-I-9