Lucille B. Emch Papers, 1960s-1990s, MSS-267

Size: 4.25 lin. feet

Provenance: The collection was received from Lucille Emch.

Access: Open

Related Collections: Landmarks Committee, MSS-154, Toledo’s Attic

Collection Summary: This collection contains biographical information on Lucille Emch, the Emch family genealogy, research notes and slides related to the history of books and printing, and records related to Emch’s business as rare book consultant and her involvement with the Maumee Valley Historical Society Landmarks Committee. This collection contains many slides and photographs related to the illuminated manuscripts of Medieval and Renaissance Europe as well as archaeological sites in Greece, Italy, and the Mediterranean as well as European cathedrals.

Subject(s): Collectors and Collecting; Education and Schools

Processing Note: Some of the items are rather brittle and should not be removed from the sleeves. Please use the facsimiles (organized in the original chronological order) instead. Please ask for assistance with slides.

Copyright: The literary rights to this collection are assumed to rest with the person(s) responsible for the production of the particular items within the collection, or with their heirs or assigns. Researchers bear full legal responsibility for the acquisition to publish from any part of said collection per Title 17, United States Code. The Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections may reserve the right to intervene as intermediary at its own discretion.

Completed by: Arjun Sabharwal, 2013

Biographical Sketch

            Lucille B. Emch was born in Toledo, Ohio, on April 30, 1909 to parents Albert and Martha (Welke) Emch. She grew up on Vance Street in Toledo, and attended Scott High School from 1922-23, and Libbey High School from 1923-26. She completed her undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Toledo, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1930 and a Master of Arts in 1939. She completed her library studies at the University of Michigan, and received a Bachelor of Arts in Library Science in 1941.
            Lucille Emch had already worked in the University of Toledo library since 1929 when she received her library science degree at Michigan. As she continued, she was Associate Librarian from 1940 to 1970, Assistant Professor of Library Science in 1946, and Associate Professor in 1953. In 1970, she became the Associate Director for Rare Books, Special Collections and Archives, and in 1979 she was appointed as Rare Book Librarian. At the commencement ceremonies on June 16, 1979, she moved to Professor Emeritus, and this promotion coincided with the creation of the Ward M. Canaday Center for Research and Use of Rare Books and Special Collections on the fifth floor of the Carlson Library on November 16 , 1979. By this time also, she could celebrate her fifty-year tenure in the library.
            Her passion for rare books took her to several countries throughout Europe where she visited the leading rare book libraries such as the Montecassino monastery’s library founded in the sixth century by St. Benedict. She had also studied at the Vatican library in 1966, 1968, and 1969; at Duke Humphries Library at Oxford University in England, and those in St. Gall, Switzerland, as well as other libraries in England, Greece, France, Germany, Ireland, and Italy.
            As professional and scholar, Lucille Emch was active in the honor societies and civic communities: she served as president of Phi Kappa Phi from 1959 to 1960, as member of the Beta Phi Mu (for Library Science), Delta Kappa Gamma (Education), and other social groups. She was also active as a member of the Lucas County Maumee Valley Historical Society, Friends of the UT Libraries, American Association of University Women, UT and Michigan Alumni Associations, William L. Clements Library Association, and other organizations.
            After retiring, she founded her own rare book consulting firm to advise rare book collectors living in this area. She worked out of her former home on Alvison Road. Her experience with repairing, cataloging, and stacking rare books at the University of Toledo library has contributed to her life-long dedication to rare books. Lucille Emch died on March 13, 2006 in Sylvania, Ohio.

Scope and Content Note

This collection focuses on the rare book collection and related activities of Lucille Emch while she was the University of Toledo Rare Book Librarian and as part of her Rare Book Consultancy business after retiring from the university in 1979. The collection represents two principal areas of interest in Emch’s professional life: 1) History of books and printing, manuscripts, and rare books related to her work as Rare Book Librarian and later, an independent consultant after her retirement from the University of Toledo; and 2) Local history, and her involvement with the Landmarks Committee of the Maumee Valley Historical Society.

Series I contains biographical and genealogical materials related to Lucille Emch and her ancestry, and it also includes press material related to her tenure at the University of Toledo.

Series II focuses on the History of Books and Printing, which was a course in the Library Science program at the University of Toledo, taught by Emch. Sub-series A contains facsimiles and research notes on illuminated manuscripts. Sub-series B contains slides arranged topically with images of illuminated manuscripts from European Late Antiquity to the Renaissance as well as writing systems. Sub-series C contains geographical arranged slides of Ancient Greek and Roman archaeological sites and various medieval European manuscript collections. Sub-series D contains slides by institutions and collections at museums (e.g., British Museum), libraries (e.g., New York Public Library) and collectors (e.g., Rosenwald).

Series III focuses on Toledo history as part of Emch’s involvement with the Maumee Valley Historical Society and the Landmarks Committee and as an independent rare book consultant. Sub-series A contains Emch’s records from working with the Landmarks committee, including pages copied or removed from originals as part of a long-term area study. Subseries B contains the slides of Toledo/NW Ohio historical sites and facsimiles of maps and illustrations from the Illustrated Historical Atlas of Lucas County and Part of Wood, Ohio 1875, arranged geographically by county and municipality. Sub-series Cfocuses on Richard and Anna Caroline Mott with biographical, genealogical, and historical information including the various funds they started to support parks and community programs.

Series List

Series	Subseries	Description
I		Lucille Emch - bio file, genealogy, press, UT/Canaday Center
II		History of Books and Printing
	A	Manuscripts (research notes, bibliographical annotations, press, etc.)
	B	Slides (arranged topically)
	C	Slides (arranged geographically)
	D	Slides (arranged by institutions/collections)
III		Local History
	A	Landmarks Committee
	B	Slides
	C	Mott

Folder List

Box	Folder	Description

		Series I: Lucille Emch


1	1	Emch, Lucille -- Professional bio file, 1941-1990
1	2	Emch, Lucille -- Professional bio file, news clippings, and other publications, 1969-1983
1	3	Emch, Lucille -- Professional bio file -- photographs, and passport, 1941-1970s
1	4	Emch Family Genealogy, correspondence, 1912-1990
1	5	Emch Family Genealogy, family trees and family group records
1	6	Emch Family Genealogy, Photographs, 1877 [reprint]-1997
1	7	Emch Family Genealogy, Photographs of unidentified (possibly related) people
1	8	Emch Family Genealogy, publications and news clippings, 1920-1998
1	9	Emch Family Genealogy, research notes
1	10	University of Toledo Libraries, Acquisition of the Charles Lanman Collection (correspondence), 1973-76
1	11	University of Toledo Libraries, Ward M. Canaday Center, 1952-97
1	12	University of Toledo Libraries, Ward M. Canaday Center, Photographs, 1959-75
1	13	University of Toledo Libraries, Friends of the Library, 1929-78; folder includes a typescript draft of a chapter titled “Grand Old Men and Women”
1	14	University of Toledo Libraries -- Last will and Testament of Lucille Emch (undated draft)
1	15	University of Toledo -- ROTC Barracks (demolition, 1952)


		Series II: History of Books and Printing
		Subseries A: Manuscripts (research notes, bibliographical annotations, press, etc.)


1	16	Emch's writings on illuminated medieval manuscripts, 1989-90
1	17	Emch's Bibliographical notes
1	18	Bible (Codex Vaticanus) – facsimiles
1	19	Bible (Codex Vaticanus) -- research notes and related publications
1	20	Deutsche Buchmalerei Vorgotischerzeit -- facsimiles
1	21	Ecclesiastical Manuscripts – facsimiles
1	22	Late Antique and Early Christian Book Illumination (partial book)
1	23	Rosenwald Collection -- research notes, booklets, photographs, and facsimiles
1	24	Print copies of slides, museum photographs (taken by Lucille Emch)
1	25	About the slide collections


		Subseries B: Slides (arranged topically)


1	26	Manuscripts (facsimiles)
1	27	Slide presentation (in original order when removed from slide tray
1	28	Manuscripts -- Travel sites visited and photographed by Lucille Emch (unsorted)
1	29	Apocalypse
1	30	Nativity
1	31	Writing; the folder also includes publications by the British Museum titled Sumerian Art and The Rosetta Stone


		Subseries C: Slides (arranged geographically)


2	1	England; this folder also contains booklets titled The Kennicott Bible and Scenes from the Life of Christ in English Manuscripts, published the Bodleian Library, Oxford
2	2	England -- cathedrals; this folder contains slides and three booklets on Canterbury and Winchester
2	3	Egypt
2	4	Europe (small collections)
2	5	France
2	6	France -- cathedrals
2	7	Germany; folder also contains a card showing the Gutenberg Bible and some information
2	8	Greece
2	9	Greece – Athens
2	10	Greece -- Byzantine and Catholic
2	11	Greece -- Crete (Minoan)
2	12	Greece – Mycenae
2	13	Greece – Patmos
2	14	Ireland -- this folder also contains two undated cassette recordings of Lucille Emch readings on St. Patrick, Book of Kells, and early Christian monasticism in Medieval Europe, and two booklets published by Trinity College
2	15	Italy
2	16	Italy – Assisi
2	17	Italy -- Montecassino -- slides, abbey information, and research notes
2	18	Italy – Rome
2	19	Italy -- Vatican (Rome)
2	20	Italy – Subiaco
2	21	Italy -- Venice -- Grimani Brevary
3	1	Near East and Mediterranean; this folder also contains a British Museum publication titled The Codex Sinaiticus and The Codex Alexandricus
3	2	Switzerland


		Subseries D: Slides (arranged by institution/collection)

3	3	Library of Congress MS
3	4	Pierpont Morgan
3	5	National Geography
3	6	New York Public Library; this folder also contains a NYPL booklet titled Livre du Petit Artus, Fils du Bon Duc Jehan de Bretagne
3	7	New York Public Library -- Seymour De Ricci collection
3	8	New York Public Library -- Spencer collection
3	9	Rosenwald collection (slides only)


		Series III: Local History
		Subseries A: Landmarks Committee/Maumee Valley Historical Society


3	10	Landmarks listings, articles, news clippings, research notes, maps, 1985-1998; see also: original map of Port Lawrence (OSC9/DF, ask for assistance)
	11	City directory information, Downtown Toledo businesses, 1987-91
	12	City directory information, residential listings
	13	photographs, postcards of Toledo
	14	1875 Atlas, maps (facsimiles)
	15	1875 Atlas, slides (facsimiles)
	16	1875 Atlas, illustrations (facsimiles)


		Subseries B: Landmarks Committee (slides)


	17	Area study -- Adams Twp
	18	Area study -- Manhattan/Monclova Twps.
	19	Area study -- Providence Twp
	20	Area study -- Springfield Twp
	21	Area study -- Swanton Twp
	22	Area study -- Sylvania Twp
	23	Area study -- Washington/Waterville/Waynesfield Twps
	24	Area study -- Memoirs of Lucas County (book pages)
	25	Area study -- Toledo and Lucas County (book parts)
	26	Area study -- Municipal Functions of Toledo (chapters 7-13, index, chronology copied)
	27	Area study -- various indices and loose pages
	28	History of the Maumee Valley, by H. S. Knapp (book in box)
4	1	Area study -- Lucas County (slides)
	2	Area study -- Wood County (slides)
	3	Area study -- Toledo History (slides)
	4	Area Study -- Toledo History -- Early Toledo, 1837-1957; this folder also contains a booklet titled St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran Church, Centenary 1857-1957, and a facsimile of the deeds contributing land to Toledo in 1837
	5	Area Study -- Toledo History -- Toledo Wards, 1911-12
	6	Area Study -- Toledo History -- biographies and genealogies
	7	Area Study -- Toledo History -- news clippings, 1925-95
	8	Area Study -- Toledo History -- Toledo events (a box of index cards)
	9	Maumee Valley Historical Society Publications, 1977-98


		Subseries C: Mott


	10	Mott, Anna Caroline -- Anna Caroline Mott Fund, Park Fund, Toledo Trust, correspondence, and news clippings, 1902-1989
	11	Mott, Anna Caroline -- biographical information and photographs, 1902
	12	Mott, Anna Caroline -- Last will and Testament, 1902
	13	Mott, Richard -- Biography and research notes
	14	Mott, Richard -- Death, obituaries, and reminiscences
	15	Mott, Richard -- Erie & Kalamazoo Railroad
	16	Mott, Richard -- Home of Richard and Anna C. Mott, 1874-1952
	17	Mott, Richard -- Last Will and Testament, 1888
	18	Mott, Richard – photographs (facsimiles), 1855-57
	19	Mott, Richard – Quakers
	20	Mott, Richard -- Toledo events, developments, and chronologies
	21	Mott, Richard -- Toledo New Century Club, 1877
	22	Mott, Richard -- Toledo Mayors (news clippings)
	23	Mott, Richard -- Toledo Savings Institution/Bank, 1868-1979
	24	Miscellaneous materials -- notes and facsimiles of letters, 1757-1998
	25	Recordings -- two cassettes: Melanie Kaufman presentation at the Maumee Valle Historical Society (12/21/1989); Genealogy presentation (no date, presenter, or location information)
5		News Journal 1910-13 (original and facsimile); scrapbook with news clippings, 1911-1914