Lamont Library
Visiting Committee Prize for Undergraduate Book Collecting
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(l-r): Ming Emily Vandenberg ’08; Susan Fliss, Associate Librarian of Harvard College for Research and Instruction; Nancy Cline, Roy E. Larsen Librarian of Harvard College; Alison Scott, Charles Warren Bibliographer for American Literature; Trisha Pasricha ’11; Heather Cole, Librarian of the Lamont Library; and Gregory Scruggs ’08.
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Introduction
The Visiting Committee Prize for Undergraduate Book Collecting was established in the spring of 1977 to recognize and encourage book collecting by undergraduates at Harvard. It is sponsored by the Members of the Board of Overseer's Committee to Visit the Harvard University Library. The Librarian of the Lamont Library coordinates the annual competition and is responsible for selecting the jury with noted bibliographic expertise from among Harvard College Library staff.
Eligible collections may be of any kind — author, subject, illustrators, etc. — and three prizes are given: the first prize is $1,500, the second $1,000, and the third $750.
2008-09 Entry Rules
- The competition is limited to undergraduates enrolled in Harvard College.
- Each contestant must state in writing that he or she is interested in applying for the competition on or before 5pm on Friday, November 28, 2008. The statement must include: (a) the name and class of the contestant; (b) a brief description of the subject or scope of the collection in one to three sentences; and (c) the contestant's phone number, e-email address, and mailing address. It should be submitted in paper or e-mail to Martin M. Schreiner, Interim Librarian of the Lamont Library (e-mail: schrein@fas.harvard.edu).
- Submissions are due on or before 5 pm on Friday, February 6, 2009. Each contestant must submit: (a) an essay of approximately 2,500 words describing the scope, contents, and goal of the collection, and (b) an annotated list or bibliography of not less than 30 or more than 50 items in the collection, selected to illustrate its nature. These notes can be informal or anecdotal if desired.
- The judges may ask to examine the entire collection, or a representative part of it, of any contestant who is considered in the running for the prize, and the judges may wish to talk informally with the contestants about their books. For this reason, the custom of making prize submissions under pseudonyms is not observed for this contest.
- Collections may be of any kind, whether they deal with authors, subjects, kinds of books, bindings, illustrations, printing processes and technology, etc. Collections may or may not be allied to the student's career or educational interests. Although rarity and cost are not criteria for judging, the order and condition of the books and the owner's concern for their conservation will be important considerations.
- To be eligible, collections must be personally owned and must have been formed by the contestant.
- The first prize will be $1,500, the second $1,000, and the third $750. The judges reserve the right to divide the prize in other proportions if it seems appropriate, or to award no prizes if in their view no submissions warrant it.
Read about the most recent winners — Visiting Committee Prize for Undergraduate Book Collecting Winners Announced
Past Visiting Committee Winners
2008 Winners
- First place ($1500): Gregory Scruggs, The Francophone Collection
- Second place ($1000): Trisha Pasricha, Finding P.G. Wodehouse: Catalytic Legacies of My Grandfather's India
- Third place ($750): Ming Emily Vandenberg, Representative Works in Science and the History of Science
2007 Winner
- First place ($1000): Robin Worth Reinert, Songs that Never Die: Community Songbooks in America
Reinert was also recongized in 2007 with an Honorable Mention in the international Fine Books & Collections Collegiate Book Collecting Championship for her entry American Songbooks.
2006 Winners
- First place ($1000): Harrison Greenbaum, A Uniquely Portable Magic: A Collection of Treasures from the Conjuring Arts
- Second place ($750): Alexis Kusy, The Peculiar Collection
- Third place ($500): Michael Sanchez, Collecting the French Avant-Garde
2005 Winners
- First place ($1000): Loren Bienvenu, Shining Through the Ashes: A Collection of Beat Literature
- First place ($1000): Brian Distelberg, “An Interesting Trio of Writers”: Books By and About Edward Everett Tanner III
- Third place ($500): Kate Ward, Women’s Spaces and Social Safety: American Etiquette and Lifestyle Manuals, 1846 – Present
2004 Winners
- First place ($1000): Matthew Gibson, Learning to Read Russia
- Second place ($750): Adrien Finlay, Untitled essay and bibliography exploring materials about opera
- Third place ($500): Amy Lee, Zines as Feminist Ephemera
2003 Winners
- First place ($1000): Phoebe Kosman, ‘To Arlie’: An Intergenerational Collection of Early 20th Century Boys’ Books
- First place ($1000): Roland Lamb, A Personal Encounter with Philosophy
- Third place ($500): Anna Harkey, Out of Thin Air: A Collection of Old Time Radio Books and Memorabilia
2002 Winners
- First place ($1000): David M. Orenstein, Untitled essay and bibliography on China
- Second place ($750): Jura Pintar, Praxis Philosophy and Book Collecting Practi(s)e: From Marxians to Martians?
- Third place ($500): Susan Long, Untitled essay and bibliography on family-owned books
2001 Winners
- First place ($500): Max Hirsh, Untitled essay and bibliography on the Berlin transportation system
- Honorable Mention: Hourng Kaing, Unusual Females
2000 Winners
- First place ($500): David Timothy Horn, French Colonialism in the 1920's and 1930's
- Second place ($400): David Mihalyfy, Autographed Books
- Third place ($300): Shawn P. Saler, All I Needed to Know, I Learned from Comic Books: My Collection of Graphic Novels
