History Sandwiched In
Wisconsin Historical Museum 30 N. Carroll St., Madison, Wisconsin 53703
press release: “Volumes from Wizard’s Library”- The Thordarson Collection
Visitors to Door County may know of Rock Island State Park, property once owned by Icelandic immigrant, entrepreneur, and inventor Chester Thordarson (1867-1945). Thordarson was also a renowned and avid book collector, whose collection, described by the Milwaukee Sentinel as “Volumes From ‘Wizard’s’ Library,” was acquired by the University of Wisconsin shortly after his death. Perhaps best known for its double-elephant folio edition of Audubon’s Birds of America, the Thordarson Collection also features a complete set of Gould’s monographs on birds of the world, lavish bookbindings, long runs of English almanacs beginning in the 17th century, and many Icelandic titles, as well as rare works in other fields.
Thordarson built the collection through good times and bad and shared it with visitors first in his Chicago factory and then at his impressive boathouse on Rock Island. It is now shared with students, faculty, and visitors in the Department of Special Collections in Memorial Library on the UW-Madison campus. Join Dr. Robin Rider, curator of special collections in the UW-Madison Libraries, to learn how and why the UW negotiated its acquisition, and what the Thordarson Collection has to say to researchers -- decades later -- on subjects from agriculture, astronomy, and the book arts to history, satire, and zoology.
Time 12:15-1 pm
Cost: Suggested donation of $3/person
Venue: Wisconsin Historical Museum, 30 N. Carroll Street, Madison, WI 53703
Phone: 608-264-6555
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