Page History

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Books were our bond. I collected books for a living; the Masers collected books for fun. What fun they had visiting bookshops, poring over catalogs, attending auctions. Here's Fred on the prowl:

Wiki Markup_Leary's was, at the time \ [1960s\], a Philadelphia landmark. It was located on Ninth Street at an alley that bisected Gimbels Department Store. It had four huge floors of old books, and its trademark was a Pickwickian figure standing on the top of a ladder in a library holding a book between his knees and another under one arm while, at the same time, scanning a volume he had just taken from the shelf. I always entered Leary's in a state of suppressed excitement. One never knew what treasure might turn up in that labyrinth of bookshelves._  

On this day I rode the rickety elevator with its metal folding door to the religious book department on the fourth floor. A red headed clerk looked up and said, "You're the man who collects Wesley." 

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"I have a life of Wesley that just came in. You can have it for $2.50." She drew a small thick book off a shelf and handed it to me. 

Wiki Markup_I looked at the book in temporary disappointment. It was a green, cloth-covered commonplace edition of Southey's_ Life of Wesley, _published in London in 1864. I was about to hand the volume back to her when a natural curiosity prompted me to open it. On the half title was scrawled a comment. "I have nearly finished reading Southey's Wesley, which is a very superficial concern indeed; interesting of course. He does not treat it historically in its connection with the age, and he cannot treat it theologically if he would. I do not like Wesley--putting aside all his exceeding self-confidence, he seems to me to have a black self will, a bitterness of religious passion, which is very unamiable. Whitefield seems far better. \ [signed\] J. H. Newman."_  

I bought the book at once and hastened to Miss Mabel Zahn at Sessler's Book Shop. At that time she was the most knowledgeable book dealer in the country. She noted the date of publication, studied the hand- writing carefully, made some comparisons with available data and nodding her head said, "It's hard to be certain, but it looks to me as though you have purchased a little gem." 

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From the beginning of my thirty-two year tenure as Drew's Methodist Librarian, the Masers were gracious in hospitality and generous in giving. Their giving never stopped. Even after the big gifts of 1977, the couple continued to finance the purchase of additional items for both collections. And, as a final gesture upon his death, a generous bequest established the Mary Louise Jarden and Frederick E. Maser Book Fund for the preservation and expansion of the rare book collections of Drew University Library.

Wiki MarkupTouching the splendid collections Fred and Mary Louise assembled and added to several college and university libraries, I can only prayerfully wish they were not unique. It is not just that the materials they assembled and donated are so distinctively valuable, which they are; but the love and joy of the collecting are so keenly evident in the collections, in the fine bindings, one wishes for more pursuers of "sleepers" \ [valuable, possibly rare books that appear at auction, but for some unknown reason are overlooked by bidders\] and "association copies" \ [books once owned by a famous person\]. If only they could be as intelligently informed and as generous in sharing the fruits of their efforts and the fun of the search. No wonder they command our fondness and our respect.

Thanks be to God for giving us Fred and Mary Louise Maser!

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