The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 10.0611 Monday, 5 April 1999.
From: Steven Smith <
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Date: Wednesday, 31 Mar 1999 11:45:25 -0600
Subject: The Hinman Collator: A History and Census
Dear List Members,
I am appealing to the list for help with my census and history of the
Hinman Collator. The Hinman Collating Machine is an optical instrument
designed for making detailed comparisons of printed texts from within
the same edition or press run. The purpose of these comparisons is to
find variants within the texts. The machine, which in its final form
stood just under six feet tall, five feet long, and weighed 450 lbs, was
invented by Charlton Hinman in the late 1940's. Its most famous use was
made by Dr. Hinman and resulted in his Printing and Proofreading of the
First Folio of Shakespeare (OUP, 1963) and The First Folio of
Shakespeare (Norton, 1968). Because of the tremendous impact the
machine has had on Shakespeare studies, I thought this list would be an
appropriate forum for my appeal.
I believe there were about 55 or so of these machines manufactured from
the early 1950s to the late 1970s. They were purchased, for the most
part, by libraries, museums, and university English Departments. The
last census (published in the PBSA in 1969) listed 28 machines. I have
added 16 to the list for a total of 44. A brief list, arranged by
location, is attached below. I would be very interested to hear if I
have overlooked any locations.
I have found a few machines in England, Germany, and Canada, but most
are located inside the United States. If I have overlooked any machines
they are probably in locations outside the United States, and so I would
be especially interested to hear from list members who can help or
provide leads for non-U.S. locations. I am reasonably confident that
no Hinman ever made it to France, the Netherlands, Australia, or New
Zealand, but that still leaves a big chunk of the world to cover. I
have reason to believe that one or two machines may have made their way
to Japan, so I would be doubly interested to hear from anyone who could
help with this country.
Since I am also writing a history of the Hinman, I would also be
interested in hearing from anyone who has extensively used one of these
machines or had any dealings with the manufacturer or was at a
particular library when a particular machine showed up or has had any
experience whatsoever relating to the Hinman.
The list below is arranged, in deference to the 1969 census, by state
and then by country for locations outside the U.S. Asterisks identify
locations I am still attempting to confirm.
Offlist replies would probably be preferable.
Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.
Steven E. Smith
Associate Professor,
Special Collections Librarian
Cushing Memorial Library
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843-5000
(409) 845 1951
FAX (409) 845 1441
THE LIST
CALIFORNIA
1. Oakland, privately owned (previously owned by the Folger Shakespeare
Library)
2. University of California, Davis.
3. University of California, Los Angeles, Clark Library.
COLORADO
4. University of Colorado at Boulder
CONNECTICUT
5. Yale University*
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
6. Central Intelligence Agency*
Folger Shakespeare Library (see under Oakland, California)
7. Folger Shakespeare Library
8. Library of Congress*
FLORIDA
9. University of Florida, Smathers Library East, Rare Books and Special
Collections, Gainesville
GEORGIA
10. Athens, privately owned (previously owned, in the following order,
by University of South Carolina, Institute for Southern Studies;
McMaster University; and the Williamsburg Imprint Project)
ILLINOIS
11. University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign
12. Northern Illinois University, Dekalb
13. Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.
14. Newberry Library, Chicago
INDIANA
15. Indiana University, Bloomington
IOWA
16. University of Iowa, Iowa City
KANSAS
17. University of Kansas, Spencer Research Library, Lawrence
MASSACHUSETTS
18. Harvard University
19. American Antiquarian Society, Worcester.
MINNESOTA
20. Minneapolis, privately owned (past president of General Mills)*
NORTH CAROLINA
21. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
NEW YORK
22. Cornell University.
23. New York Public Library (deaccessioned)
OHIO
24. Kent State University, Kent*
25. Ohio State University, Columbus
Miami University, see under Charlottesville, Virginia
PENNSYLVANIA
26. Lessing Rosenwald, Jenkintown*
27. Penn State, University Park
RHODE ISLAND
28. Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island*
SOUTH CAROLINA
29. University of South Carolina
University of South Carolina, Institute for Southern Studies (see under
Athens, Georgia)
TEXAS
30. University of Texas, Austin, HRHRC.
31. Texas Tech University
32. Texas A&M University
33. University of Houston
VIRGINIA
34. University of Virginia, Charlottesville
35. Charlottesville, privately owned (previously owned by Miami
University)
Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg Imprint Project (see under Athens,
Georgia)
WISCONSIN
36. University of Wisconsin, Madison
37. University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee*
CANADA
38. Rare Book Division, National Library of Canada
McMaster University (see under Athens, Georgia)
UNITED KINGDOM
39. British Museum, London (deaccessioned)
40. Oxford University, Oxford
41. Cambridge University
42. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh
GERMANY
43. Institutum Erasmianum, Westfaelische Wilhelms-Universitaet, Muenster
44. Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbuettel
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