Rosenthal/Mardersteig collection

Collection

Identifier: Wing-Modern-MS-RosOB

Staff Only

Scope and Content of the Collection

The collection consists largely of Samuel R. Rosenthal’s correspondence with Giovanni Mardersteig and with collectors, scholars, and book dealers who shared his admiration for the work of the Officina Bodoni. Many pieces of Officina Bodoni ephemera are included. Materials in the collection date from 1954 to 1994, but the bulk concerns Rosenthal’s most active period of collecting from 1969 to1989. Correspondents include Bruce Beck, Herman Cohen, John Ryder, Hans Schmoller, and James M. Wells.

Mr. Rosenthal’s copies of books by and about Mardersteig, some 141 items, are individually cataloged in the online catalog with a tracing (“author” search) for the “Rosenthal/Mardersteig collection.”

Dates

Creation: 1954-1994

Creator

Rosenthal, Samuel R. (Person)

Language

Materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

The Rosenthal/Mardersteig collection is open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).

Ownership and Literary Rights

The Rosenthal/Mardersteig collection is the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections at reference@newberry.org.

Biography of Samuel R. Rosenthal

Lawyer, philanthropist and book collector. Samuel R. Rosenthal was a long-time senior partner of the law firm of Sonnenschein, Nath and Rosenthal, specializing in probate and estate law. Rosenthal was born in Manistique, Mich., served in the Army in World War I, and earned an A.B. in 1921 from the University of Michigan and a law degree in 1924 from Harvard. He went to work at the Sonnenschein firm in 1926 and became a partner in 1937. He and his wife Marie-Louise were active philanthropists and book collectors. Mr. Rosenthal served as trustee of the Newberry Library from 1965 to the time of his death. One of Mr. Rosenthal’s many collecting interests was the work of Giovanni Mardersteig and his Officina Bodoni press. Rosenthal’s collection was notable for including not only books of the press but also many ephemeral and privately printed pieces, some produced in editions as small as ten copies.

Extent

0.8 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

Additional Description

Abstract

Correspondence and subject files relating to Samuel R. Rosenthal’s collection of the work of Giovanni Mardersteig (1892-1977) and his Officina Bodoni press (1923-1977).

Arrangement

Organized by type of material: general correspondence (folders 1-17); individual-publication correspondence (folders 18 - 62); other Officina Bodoni collections (folders 63-65); and publications about Giovanni Mardersteig (folders 66 - 79). Individual publication correspondence is arranged by OB numbers, according to the standard bibliography of Mardersteig’s output, Hans Schmoller’s Officina Bodoni, (Verona, 1980).