Repping The Rare Books: A Three Week Old Acquisition Speaks of His New Job

Gerald Cloud has only been working in Columbia’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library for three weeks, but he’s already settled into a comfortable office on the sixth floor of Butler. Formerly a reference librarian at the University of California, San Diego, Cloud was hired by Columbia to create programs to study and raise awareness of the sizeable collection—one which few Columbia students know about.

Spectator: How did the RBML get its start?

Gerald Cloud: The department didn’t officially form until about 1930, but Columbia owned rare books and manuscript material long before that. Samuel Johnson, the first president of the University, and his son William were both book collectors,

What are some of your favorite books and manuscripts in the collection?

The literary manuscripts–particularly the collections of Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, and Allen Ginsberg’s work. We have, for example, letters that Kerouac wrote to both Ginsberg and Burroughs as early as the late ’40s—not too long after they had met at Columbia, when they were all still quite young.

How does the library go about acquiring documents like those letters?

There are a variety of ways. Sometimes they’re offered by the estate of a writer, sometimes they’re offered by the writer him or herself, sometimes they’re offered through a book dealer or manuscript dealer who has bought them from a collector. Very occasionally, they’re actively sought after and purchased at auction. There are rare book auctions on a weekly basis in the city, so there’s a constant exchange.

What’s the standard life expectancy of these documents? For how long can the library expect to keep them?

I mean, it depends on the paper. But if the item comes to us in solid condition—that is to say that it hasn’t been folded or torn or tattered—you can expect it to last for hundreds of years. With some writers, though—especially for the beats—they were very informal in their use of materials. Many of those documents are written on the backs of flyers, diner napkins, and so on. In fact that makes some of the collections of that type or writer more interesting because you can track what they were up to when they were composing their work. There’s artifactual value in the items themselves.

Does Columbia frequently go out of its way to hunt down a specific book?

Yes and no. Some things we can because they fit well with collections that we already have. So if we see things that complement our collections, we will. Sometimes, collections come by being offered by somebody and support is sought within the University, whether it’s money from the president’s office or outside this office or alumnae or other donors who are keen to support the collections.

So what’s the deal with that hidden room? Why was it built?

Well, it’s really not supposed to be that secret. We try to let people know that the conference room is available for anyone to use—I’m pretty sure that panel that hides the room from view was just installed for the purpose of symmetry. As with all good myths, the truth ends up being a little less romantic.

What sort of precautions have been taken to protect the collection?

We’re almost finished remodeling the stacks with new fire systems, and there will be new secure doors and alarm systems. But that aside, the books are all catalogued so we know what we’ve got, and the materials in this department are most frequently unique artifacts. If they end up being offered on eBay, it’s fairly easy to realize that they were once part of this library. There is only one copy 32 of Ulysses, for instance.

What’s your favorite rare book store in Manhattan?

James Cummins Bookseller—it’s not an open shop, but he’s on the Upper East Side.

What one book should all Columbia students come to the RBML to see?

That’s the thing—there’s not just one. You could bring somebody in and say, “Here’s a copy of Herodotus’ Histories that belonged to Erasmus.” Somebody who’s gone through Lit Hum might really find this exciting. Or they might like the copy of Homer’s Odyssey that was inscribed to Martin Luther. But someone else might be equally excited about coming in to see a third printing of Vladimir Nabokov’s Pale Fire, which is a book that’s worth maybe $30, but includes an inscription by Nabokov and a sketch of a butterfly that he drew in books for people he liked or was close to. That would probably be far more interesting to a Columbia student.

Daniella Zalcman can be reached at daniella.zalcman@columbiaspectator.com.