Confessions of a Bibliographer (Yankee) in American Poetry

As a junior in Brown University, selling second-hand books from his dormitory room and studying Bibliography with Lawrence Wroth at the John Carter Brown Library, Roger Stoddard  bought a copy of Oscar Wegelin’s bibliography Early American Poetry (1930) for reference. The book obsessed him, so now, 57 years later, he has produced a hefty revision, and he has a story to tell.

Roger E Stoddard worked for 42 years in the Harvard Library, retiring in 2004 as Curator of Rare Books in the Harvard College Library, Senior Curator in the Houghton Library, and Senior Lecturer in English. His bibliography of American Verse 1610-1820 was recently published by Penn State Press for the Bibliographical Society of America.

Supported by the Eccles Centre for American Studies