Collection Programs Broadsides Related Ephemera (1 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. A collection of 25 pieces of printed ephemera (programs and folded broadsides) and related newspaper clippings, tipped onto the leaves of a printed book: *Laws of Vermont Vol. III* (1807-16). Octavo, about 300 pages, bound in contemporary sheep over boards. One board is lacking, the other is detached, else overall very good, with only a few pieces of slightly protruding ephemera frayed along the exposed outer edges, and some modest scattered foxing. The collection consists of material retained by William C. Fowler of Connecticut. A graduate of Yale College (1816), Fowler was professor of chemistry at Middlebury College in Vermont, and later of rhetoric and oratory at Amherst College in Massachusetts. In 1825 he married Harriet Webster, the daughter of lexicographer Noah Webster. He served as co-editor of a revised edition of *Webster's Dictionary* published in 1845, and was a leading figure in American educational circles throughout his career. The volume is signed on the front fly leaf by his son (Charles Chauncey Fowler, grandson of Noah Webster). Most of the material dates from 1837-43, during William C. Fowler's professorships at Middlebury and Amherst. Included are two Middlebury commencement programs from 1837 and 1838, both of which include an "Ode" printed as a separate broadside insert. Among the 14 pieces from Amherst are three folded "Anniversary Commencement" broadsides (from 1840, 1842, and 1843) each announcing in thick display type the exercises scheduled to take place during the week, together with five commencement programs and various other programs dating from 1837-43. Also included are two earlier commencement programs from Yale (1819) and Williams College (1829), several contemporary newspaper reports, and three other folded broadsides. These include a broadside from 1834: "In Memory of Charles R. Webster," 1840 (printed for the American Education Society), and from 1842 (printed at Bowdoin College). All 25 pieces (plus three additional duplicate copies) are scarce: 12 items are not found in *OCLC*, and among the other pieces most are only known in only one copy located at either Amherst or the American Antiquarian Society. A detailed list is available.