Satisfaction, Gratification, Fulfillment
The collecting bug bites hard
At a reception almost four decades ago, I met a successful, sophisticated Chicago businessman, board member of the art museum where I was then working. He had assembled an outstanding collection of European porcelain and ultimately endowed two galleries and a curatorship at the Art Institute of Chicago. World class, both the man and his collection.
I was about to inquire about his porcelain when he asked me, “So, Kurt, what do you collect?” Somehow, my childhood baseball cards, packed away in a Velveeta box, did NOT seem like an adequate response. So, I muttered something about multiple interests but not yet settling in on any one thing, certainly true at that time.
However, this brief exchange got me thinking. My collecting would focus on books. No, too general. I’d collect AUTHORS… and have, almost since the time of the above conversation. Drumroll. I’ve now reached completion on my third author, Henry Blake Fuller (1857 – 1929), meaning I’ve now acquired all his published books, plus five additional books written not by him but about him. Fuller was a Chicago author, born into comfort if not great wealth. My interest was prompted by his longstanding friendship with author Hamlin Garland, wouldn’t you know.
The two met early in Garland’s Chicago years, late in the 19th century, and remained close until Fuller’s death. Fuller was not especially prolific (13 books), unlike Garland (40) and Edna Ferber (35), the other two I’ve collected to completion. Fuller is often hailed as the first Chicago writer with a national reputation, arguably the first U.S. author to address matters of homosexuality in fiction. Fuller’s writing AND his personality were both an acquired taste. His books were NOT bestsellers, making some of his volumes hard to come by today.
I had hoped to write about completing TWO authors, Fuller and Sigurd Olson, before realizing I’m still one book short on Olson. I’m also close on Iowa-born Frederick Manfred, a couple obscure books to go. I’m past the three-quarters mark on Ivan Doig (mostly fiction) and Agnes Repplier (focusing on her collected essays). Tom Wolfe (mostly fiction) and John Gunther, author of sociopolitical “Inside” books, like “Inside Europe” and “Inside Africa,” are both within reach, especially if I disregard Gunther’s lesser fiction works.
I have 16 books by Iowa-born Meridel Le Sueur, another nine to go, and comparable status for poet Richard Eberhart, from nearby Austin, Minnesota. I’m near halfway with MacKinlay Kantor (50 books!) and must decide whether to continue. Collecting Kantor, from Webster City, Iowa, might be the easy part. Some of his books, like “Andersonville” (768 pages) and “Spirit Lake” (957), run long, which makes finishing them an arduous task.
Ah, but there’s distinct satisfaction, gratification, fulfillment in attaining completion… akin to earning the degree, finishing the marathon, reaching the goal. True, I haven’t yet read all these books – most, not all. Periodically I grab one off the shelf to check a good but imperfect memory. “Didn’t Garland say that first?” “Didn’t Fuller tell a similar tale in one of his short stories?” Etc. I recently encountered the observation that for centuries, the word “shenanigans” was shenanigan, singular. The first appearance of shenanigans, plural? My source says Ferber’s “Show Boat;” prompting me to thumb through this novel seeking just one word.
Final point. The collecting bug bites hard and, in some respects, doesn’t stop. For instance, once an author is complete, you can always upgrade: all first editions, all with dust jackets, all signed by the author, and so on. Furthermore, occasionally, another book ABOUT one of “my” authors is published requiring my attention. Recent example: a first-rate volume about making the movie “Giant,” released in 1956, based on Ferber’s 1952 book, was published last December, written by Edna’s grandniece. (I’m now reading it.) The desire to complete is powerful; the desire to MAINTAIN completion is equally strong.
So, I now ask you what the Chicago businessman asked me. What do YOU collect? And if your response is basically, “I haven’t started yet,” let me cite three benefits noted above: satisfaction, gratification, fulfillment. You just might be missing out.
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I’m pleased to be part of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. These are my colleagues:
Books, ahh! I have a very odd selection of authors and interests that keep growing as well, I have maps, and agricuture books, books on barns, books on the under ground railroad, books on odd ball early religions (having to do with the UGRR) Iowa History, Mark Twain, Civil War, archaeology, and one of my real favorites is political rock throwers and active protesters of all sorts! Mother Jones, IWW folks, Abbie Hoffman, Black Panthers, Farm protesters, you name it, I probably have it! LaSeur is part of that collection as well. seven book cases and a closet full of maps, also the remnants of my baseball card collection! We have lots in common us bookie's!