College of Charleston receives remarkable rare book collection

Image by Flickr user teachernz

The College of Charleston’s Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library recently received a collection of more than 2,000 angling and sporting books published between the 17th and mid-20th centuries in Great Britain and the United States.

The collection, compiled by Dr. Greville Haslam, boasts more than 400 volumes of Izaak Walton’s The Compleat Angler, the third most reprinted book in publishing history, exceeded only by the Bible and Pilgrim’s Progress.

Other treasures in the Haslam Collection include eighteenth and nineteenth century angling titles from the collections of Dean Sage and John Heckscher, two notable early sporting book collectors, as well as inscribed copies of many important early twentieth century angling and sporting works. The Haslam Collection was given to the College of Charleston by Howard and Mary Phipps.

The public will get its first glimpse of the Haslam Collection during the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition on February 18-20, 2011. The exhibit will feature select volumes from the collection, as well as travel journals, photographs and memorabilia that belonged to Dr. Haslam.

For more information on the impressive collection, scope out the College's official press release. For a sneak peek at the collection, The Post and Courier has a photo gallery with some great shots of the extremely rare books.

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