SIR ROBERT E.COWAN and the Genesis of the UCLA Library Californiana Collection - Foreword by Gary F. Kurutz

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by Hazel

Foreword by Gary F. Kurutz reflecting on the enduring work of university librarianship at UCLA. The text emphasizes building large-scale collections for faculty and students, highlights research drawn from the UCLA collections, and frames Robert Cowan’s role in understanding collection-building. It then recounts personal losses and missed opportunities, including valuable OZ books and other rare holdings, illustrating the costs of hesitation, timing, and shifting institutional needs. The narrative underscores how collections evolve through persistence, knowledge, and unforeseen events.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages40

Reading Time1 h 2 min

AccessFree to download

FOREWORD

Building UCLA Collections

Vignettes of Missed and Lost Collections

SIR ROBERT E.COWAN Digitized by the Internet Archivein 2012 http://archive.org/details/sirrobertecowang00unse SIR ROBERT E.COWANand the Genesis of theUCLA Library CalifornianaCollection By Gary F.Kurutz Los Angeles ::UCLA Library ::2012 2012 Gary E.KurutzAll Rights Reserved. Gary E.StrongUniversity Librarian "Iwish to express mygratitude to theJames and Sylvia Thayer Fellowship Programfor its generous support of myresearch on Cowan.” -GARY F.KURUTZ FOREWORD ONE OF THE PASSIONs of being university librarian is to continue to build thecollection,in all forms and formats,to meet the needs of faculty and students atUCLA.Growing to now over 10 million volumes has been no easy task.It has takenthe hard work,imagination,and perseverance of scores oflibrarians committed tobuilding one of the great libraries in North America.When I invited Gary Kurutzto present his paper on Robert Cowan at the annual Powell Society dinner,I wasmost interested in the background of building the UCLA collections.His researchon Cowan,mostly drawn from the UCLA collections,is important to an under-standing not only of building of the collection but of book collections across Cali-fornia.His paper is a true tour d'force on the subject. Some time ago,Norman Powell shared a little booklet with me recording atalk that his father,Lawrence Clark Powell delivered to the Tucson Literary Clubin 1979 entitled,Win Some Lose Some.'In his recounting of the early building of theUCLA collections he included a couple of short vignettes that deserve sharing here. Something kept me from accepting as a gift one of the most sentimental andalso most valuable collections that we were ever offered.It was the famousOZbooks.I still don’t know how Imanaged to boot it. You'll remember the author of the OZbooks was L.Frank Baum.Hewas afriend of myfather.Theybelonged to the same tennis club.Duringmygrowingupin Pasadena,Frank Baum was often a dinner guest in ourhome.He would bring a copy of his latest OZ book,inscribed to my brothers andme.Today that set ofinscribed books wouldbe worth a fortune.Whathap-pened to it?Mybrothers and Iliterally read those magical books to pieces. That is not the collection IlostThat came years later when Ihad a callfrom Frank Baum's nephew,a retired military man who lived near UCLA."I have my uncle's own collection of his OZ books and accompanying artwork that illustrated them,"he said.“I'm getting along in years and it wassuggested that Igive the collection to UCLA.Comebyfor a drink some after-noon and we can talk about it.” Well I didn't.I kept putting off going by,and it was right on the wayhome to Malibu.Time passed,and I suddenly came to and called ColonelBaum and asked ifI could come by that afternoon.“I'm sorry,"he said.“I concluded thatyou weren't interested and only last week Igave the collectionto my alma mater,Columbia University."I put my head down on my deskand cried. Another loss was due to hesitation rather than inertia.It came soonafter I had been made Librarian and I'd not yet found where the moneyfaucet was.I was in Dawson's Book Shop in downtown Los Angeles andFather Dawson offered me a set of leather-bound folios bearing the arms ofthe Duke of Northumberland or was it Rutland?They were the publicationof the Oriental Translation Fund,a19th centuryscholarlyproject to publishthe original texts and translations of the classic work of literature,philoso-phy,and religion ofIndia,Arabia,Persia,Turkey and so forth.The set wasa steal at$800. I hesitated.UCLA had no curricula in any of those languages,nor wasthereanylikelihood oftheirbeing started.Berkeley was stillcallingtheshots.So Itold Father Dawsonno thanks.Iawoke in the night,knowing that Ijustcouldn't pass up that bargain.And so Iphone Father Dawson as soon as theshop opened.“I've changed my mind,"I said.“T'lltake that set.” “I'm sorry,"was Dawson's mild reply “It was sold just a few minutesafter you left the shop.” "Who wouldwant it?"I demanded.

FAQs

What does the foreword say about the role of a university librarian at UCLA?

It describes librarianship as an ongoing effort to build collections for faculty and students, requiring hard work, imagination, and perseverance.

How is Robert Cowan connected to the UCLA collections in the foreword?

The foreword explains that Kurutz’s research on Cowan is mostly drawn from UCLA collections and helps inform how collection-building works beyond UCLA.

Why does the author emphasize hesitation and timing in collecting rare materials?

Several anecdotes show that delaying decisions or missing calls can lead to losing valuable collections to other institutions.

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by Hazel