[PADG:2372] Fwd: Duke News -- [EMBARGOED] Unusual Collection of American Newspapers Donatedto Duke Libraries

["Lorraine Olley" <lolley@xxxxxxx>]

>>> DukeNews <dukenews@xxxxxxxx> 4/22/2004 3:07:16 PM >>>




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DUKE UNIVERSITY NEWS
Duke University Office of News & Communications
http://www.dukenews.duke.edu 
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HOLD FOR RELEASE: 7 p.m. Thursday, April 22, 2004

CONTACT: Ilene Nelson
(919) 660-5816
Ilene.nelson@xxxxxxxx 

UNUSUAL COLLECTION OF AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS
DEPOSITED WITH THE DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Note to editors: High-resolution images from the collection can be found on
the Web at <http://home.gwi.net/~dnb/gallery.htm>. Media wanting to attend
Thursday's 7 p.m. event are asked to contact Ilene Nelson in advance at
660-5816.

DURHAM, N.C. -* A 5,000-volume collection containing many rare and
historically important 19th and 20th century American newspapers has been
donated to Duke University Libraries.

Novelist and essayist Nicholson Baker announced the transfer of the
American Newspaper Repository (ANR) during a speech Thursday at Duke. Baker
founded the repository in 1999 and acquired the bulk of the collection from
the British Library, which like other major libraries got rid of long runs
of original edition newspapers and now rely instead on microfilm editions.

"Many of the newspapers in the collection exist nowhere else in their
original print format," Baker said. "These 19th and 20th century newspapers
are magnificent landmarks of American publishing.

"I'm thrilled that they're going to Duke. This is the best possible thing
that could happen to a singular collection."

The ANR collection includes extensive runs of the Chicago Tribune, the New
York Tribune and Herald Tribune and The New York World. The World,
published by Joseph Pulitzer, had the largest circulation of any American
newspaper in the 1890s. Short stories by O. Henry were printed in The
World, as were caricatures by Al Frueh. The World also was the first
newspaper to include crossword puzzles and children's activities.

ANR also preserves many immigrant newspapers, including the Irish World,
and foreign language papers such as the Yiddish Forward and the Greek
Atlantis.

"The papers form a documentary collection of great importance for
historical and cultural studies," said University Librarian David Ferriero.
"The Duke University Libraries are proud to serve both society and
scholarship by preserving them."

Researchers began using the newspapers at Duke even before the gift was
announced. Robert Byrd, director of the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special
Collections Library at Duke, reported that users have included students
from Duke and other institutions, a well-known graphics artist and the
compilers of a retrospective collection of a long-running American comic
strip. "Some of the comic strips could be located nowhere else, not even in
the artist's archive," Byrd said.

Baker, whose novels include "Vox," "The Fermata" and "The Mezzanine," has
in recent years become known as a passionate defender of the print medium.
His 2001 book, "Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper,"
criticizes libraries for their practice of discarding original newspapers
in favor of microfilm.

At Duke, the newspapers in the ANR are housed at a state-of-the-art library
facility where the well-regulated temperature and low humidity are
conducive to their long-term preservation. Previously, they were kept in an
old mill converted into a public building in Rollinsford, N.H.

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