The Biography of a Collection

The Biography of a Collection

In March 1970, Dr. Wachs read an article about New York rare book shops. Looking for a birthday present for his wife, Glorya, he visited one of the stores mentioned in it, Ximenes Rare Books, Inc. Ximenes was founded by Stephen Weissman and two friends in 1961 when they were undergraduates at Harvard. They were all devotees of the Sunday Observer's cryptic crossword puzzle. With collegiate whimsy they took the name of the Inquisition-era Cardinal Ximenes from the pseudonym–traditionally chosen to recognize the devilishly difficult nature of the puzzle – of one of the Observer's compilers (or "setters"). Weissman bought out his partners and moved his business to New York. When Dr. Wachs stopped by, he recommended a first edition of Bryon's Hebrew Melodies (1815), which includes "She Walks in Beauty."

Thus began a professional collaboration and personal friendship that lasted over forty years. They decided to use The New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (1969-77) as their road map and discussed at length whether or not the goal should be to acquire a copy of everything listed in volume 3, which covers 1800-1900. As Steve Weissman recalls, "To some extent Jerry and I were both stamp collectors by instinct, and shared a philatelic predilection for completeness. At the same time I was hesitant about applying the same principle to collecting books.... my instinct was that for certain obviously common titles we should hold out for inscribed copies, or copies with interesting provenance."

As the collection evolved, they were able to apply these criteria to the books selected for the Wachs collection. As opportunities arose, they replaced copies purchased early on or supplemented them by ones in finer condition or with association significance.

Starting with Hebrew Melodies, which is "Wachs No. 1," each item added to the collection was given a sequential accession number. The "Wachs number," included on each item label in the exhibition, thus indicates when in the development of the collection a particular item was acquired and makes it possible to trace its growth.