Allan H. Stevenson Papers, 1944-1970

Gift, Rachel (Mrs. Allan) Stevenson, 1993.

The Allan H. Stevenson Papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).

The Allan H. Stevenson Papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.

Allan H. Stevenson Papers, The Newberry Library, Chicago.

Sarah Cusk, July 1997.

Expert on paper history; scholar on the works of Renaissance dramatist James Shirley.

Allan Henry Stevenson (1903-1970) was best known for his innovative work on watermarks as a means of dating early printed books. Born in Canada, Stevenson came to the U.S. as a child. He graduated from Rice University (B.A.; 1924, M.A., 1926) and took a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in 1949. He taught at Rice, the University of Chicago, DePaul University, and the Illinois Institute of Technology. In 1952 he left teaching to continue his research as a professional bibliographer. His research was supported by a number of grants (e.g. from the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Huntington Library, the Newberry Library, the Fulbright Commission, and the Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia) as well as by his wife, Rachel Waples Stevenson, a pioneering television producer in Chicago, whom he met at Rice and married in 1949.

Allan Stevenson developed a new method for the bibliographical description of botanical books while cataloging the collection of Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt between 1956 and 1961; his best-known work was a study of the Constance Missale Speciale, using watermark evidence to prove its date. Stevenson was member of many learned societies and was particularly active in the Bibliographical Society (London), the International Association of Paper Historians, and the Paper Publications Society.

Research notes, original manuscripts and typescripts of published and unpublished works, professional correspondence, and photographs of watermarks used for research by Allan H. Stevenson.

There is extensive correspondence with such prominent bibliographers and paper historians as Fredson Bowers, Sir Frank Francis, Frederick Goff, E. J. Labarre, Herbert Schulz, J. S. G. Simmons, Archer Taylor, and Bé Van Ginneken. There are related materials in the James M. Wells Papers in the Newberry Library Archives concerning Stevenson’s projects at the Newberry. Another collection of Stevenson’s papers is found in the Manuscripts Division of the Princeton University Library.

Papers are organized in the following series:

Title Box Series 1: Biographical materials, 1944-1970 Box 1 Series 2: General Correspondence, ca. 1952-1969 Boxes 1-6 Series 3: Works, ca. 1952-1969 Boxes 6-9 Series 4: Miscellaneous and Artifacts, n.d. Boxes 9-12

• Names
  • Bowers, Fredson
  • Catholic Church. Missale Constantiens.
  • Francis, Frank Chalton, Sir, 1901-1988
  • Ginneken-van de Kasteele, B. J. van, (Be´ J.)
  • Goff, Frederick Richmond, 1916-1982
  • International Association of Paper Historians.
  • Labarre, E. J.
  • Newberry Library. -- History
  • Paper Publications Society.
  • Schulz, Herbert Clarence, 1902-
  • Simmons, J. S. G., (John Simon Gabriel), 1915-2005
  • Stevenson, Allan, 1903-1970
  • Taylor, Archer, 1890-1973
• Subject
  • Bibliography
  • Chicago
  • Manuscripts, American -- Illinois -- Chicago
  • Papermaking -- History
  • Printing -- History -- 15th century
  • Printing -- History --16th century
  • Printing History and Book Arts
  • Watermarks -- History