Boley Blog

Adelaide Beeman-White's Prize Winning Book Collection

Adelaide Beeman-White's book collection recently won the Himes & Duniway Society's annual book collecting competition for her eclectic collection of books from the late 18th and early 19th century. The Himes & Duniway Society is a rare and antiquarian bibliographic society in Portland that supports a competition of book collectors with a prize of up to $500. Boley Blog caught up with one of the three winners, Adelaide Beeman-White, to discuss the collection:

Tell us a little about your book collection that was awarded the Himes & Duniway Society Collection Award:

(ABW) My collection currently has somewhere between 150-200 books in it (I have lost count).  The oldest, based on my research, dates from some time around 1600, and the newest dates from 1925.  Most of them fit into the late 18th century/early 19th century range.  They are of pretty eclectic categories, but generally they are nonfiction.  I am very interested in books on science and religions, and on foreign places.  

My favorite scientific book in my collection is the 1893 edition of Other Worlds than Ours by Richard Procter.  I love it not only because it has amazing illustrations, but it also feels very modern in its content.  The author speculates about the possibility of there being life on Mars and the moon.  At times, it reads less like a 19th century scientific treatise, and more like a 1950s science-fiction novel.  It was amazing to discover that people were thinking about such things so early.

I am also interested in books about distant lands, because they offer excellent insight into the Western view of non-western countries in addition to telling about their subject countries at the time that the books were published.  It is difficult for me to choose my favorite book from this section of my collection, but I will hi-light The History of Ancient India.

It contains an account of the history of India's trade relations with the Western world, and a detailed description of India as it was in 1799.  It is very interesting to see how the author writes about India, and the Indian people.  Although he is slightly patronizing, he generally treats them with the greatest admiration.  He is a great admirer of Indian culture, and he even says that India was perhaps the first country on earth to become “civilized,” and certainly feels that it became “civilized” before any country in Europe.  Although he is certainly not politically correct by today’s standard, the author takes a far more progressive tone than I had expected.  Because the author of that book is so prone to editorializing, this book is very good for demonstrating the diversity of opinions and viewpoints that the people of the past held, and it shows just how unexpected some of these opinions could be.

My favorite theological book in my collection is the 1726 edition of Physico-Theology.  This book bridges the gap between my interest in antiquarian scientific and theological books.  It is a collection of sixteen sermons about evidences of God to be found in nature.  It also includes extensive footnotes, with some pages containing no actual text of the sermons, only footnotes.  These footnotes are a wonderful contrast between what people were actually thinking as compered to the sermons that they were hearing.

My interest in religious texts also caused me to become interested in esoteric and occult texts, and I think that is one direction in which my collection may possibly expand.  Although most people in the past were not commonly reading occult books, occult books often record various folk beliefs and stories that people likely would have heard and believed.  One example of this from my collection is The Demonism of the Ages, Spirit Obsessions so common in Spiritism, Oriental and Occidental Occultism, which gathers accounts of demonic possessions from around the world, often times recounting local, folk practices used for curing a person of possession.

When did you first start collecting books?

(ABW) I first started collecting them in the summer of 2016.  My initial intention was not to collect books per se, it was to collect antiques, and I just sort of stumbled into books.

What is your favorite book in your collection and why?

(ABW) I think it has got to be the one I bought with the money from the Himes & Duniway award.  It is called Newton’s Complete Herbal and was printed in 1752.  It contains detailed illustrations of pretty much every conceivable plant, including sea plants and mushrooms, along with their names written in English.  It was printed before the system of Latin names was developed.  My favorite illustration is of “The moss that grows upon dead men’s skulls.”  It is just as unsettling as it sounds.

Do you have a favorite bookstore or library in Portland? If so, what is it/where is it located?

(ABW) Yes, it is a little used bookstore called David Morrison Books.  It is located at 1416 SE 17th Ave.  It is a little hole-in-the-wall place.  It does not have an internet presence at all.  I stumbled upon it completely by accident.  An added bonus is that 100% of their profits go to funding childhood diabetes research. 

Do you have any tips for someone who wants to start a book collection?

(ABW) Don’t get caught up in needing to buy expensive, perfect books.  Some of my favorite books in my collection were purchased at flea markets for under $20.  Of course, you can get some amazing books if you can spend a lot of money on them, but spending a ton of money is not required.