Whatever Happened to the Rare Books?

Abstract

In 1964, Edward Dahlberg published his autobiography, ‘Because I Was Flesh’, to immediate and nearly universal acclaim. In that book, Dahlberg recollected his poverty stricken childhood in Kansa City, as the son of a lady barber; its language, paradoxically, was by turns lyrical and richly ornate, densely laden with adages culled from the world’s best ‘belles lettres’. Though still in print, Dahlberg's greatest work is not currently available in any bookstore in Kansas City. He once remarked that he would have stayed here if there had been two people he could have talked with about books. Around the world, 'privatisation' of cultural resources and treasures is reaching unprecedented levels. There are many accounts of tomb-robbers making off with artifacts, but this is also going on every day in our own literary culture.

Keywords

• edward dahlberg
• bookstores
• rare books
• kmco
• kcmo rare books collection
• thomas jefferson fitzpatrick
• privatisation of cultural resources
• ala
• guide to review of library collections
• kansas city rare books