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John Bidwell: A Life in Libraries, Thanks to Gutenberg

23 June 2011
Dr. John Bidwell received his master's at Columbia's School of Library Service and his doctorate in English from Oxford. "I've had no other job but to work in libraries since I was a college undergraduate", he says. "As soon as I realized it was time for me to go back to graduate school, I knew I wanted to work in rare book libraries, and that's all I've done." For The New York Times John Bidwell explains, what makes books rare, why books become rare, and what is his most favourite book among the treasures of J.P. Morgan and Museum.

“Before he became the first name of a bank, J. P. Morgan was a Wall Street mogul who, a century ago, bequeathed his collection of 14,000 or so rare books to what his son would transform into the Morgan Library and Museum on Madison Avenue. Since then, the collection has grown to about 80,000 printed books, supervised since 1999 by John Bidwell, 63, the Astor Curator of Printed Books and Bindings.“

Dr. John Bidwell received his master’s at Columbia’s School of Library Service and his doctorate in English from Oxford. “I’ve had no other job but to work in libraries since I was a college undergraduate”, he says. “As soon as I realized it was time for me to go back to graduate school, I knew I wanted to work in rare book libraries, and that’s all I’ve done.”

For The New York Times John Bidwell explains, what makes books rare, why books become rare, and what is his most favourite book among the treasures of J.P. Morgan and Museum.


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>>> A Life in Libraries, Thanks to Gutenberg, by Sam Roberts (The New York Times, June 22, 2011)

>>> Current exhibitions at The Morgan Library & Museum