FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Stacy Schiff visited the Marvin & Sybil Weiner Spirit of America Collection at the FAU Libraries. She was able to see the Samuel Adams-related items from Weiner’s vast collection of Revolutionary Era books and manuscripts.
Schiff met with FAU Libraries donors and friends of the library before her scheduled lecture at the Palm Beach Book Festival. The author discussed her latest book, “The Revolutionary Samuel Adams,” currently number nine on the New York Times Nonfiction Bestsellers list.
Victoria Thur, Assistant Dean for Research and Distinctive Collections and curator of the Weiner collection, used Stacy Schiff’s book as an inspiration to create the special Sam Adams exhibit. It included a few items that describe the Boston Massacre and one of Adams’ most famous speeches, “An Appeal to the World,” accompanied by a quote from Schiff’s book.
“One aspect of the book is Adams’ use of pseudonyms, so while working on the exhibition, I reviewed our newspapers and found examples of Adams writing to the Boston Gazette using his pseudonym,” said Thur.
Stacy Schiff was impressed with the collection and exhibit, especially the Paul Revere engraving “Bloody Massacre Perpetrated in Kings Street in Boston” and its complementing materials. Not having the time to see the vault and the rest of the collection, she expressed a desire to return. The Dean of Libraries, Dr. Linda Golian-Lui, and the Special Collections staff assured the author she is welcome to come back anytime for future research or pleasure.
Comparable in scope and content to the collections of the American Antiquarian Society and the Library Company of Philadelphia, Weiner’s collection was initially inspired to emulate the personal libraries of men like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams.
Marvin Weiner spent a lifetime collecting the books and pamphlets that a colonial gentleman would have owned. Taking great care to purchase the same editions that were available in 18th-century America, he eventually amassed a collection of more than 13,000 books, pamphlets, government publications, newspapers, and serials, including rare works from as early as the 16th century.
For more information about the Spirit of America Collection or other Special Collections in the FAU Libraries please visit our website.
