Manhattan — Dr. Karl Menninger's taste in books ranged from the serious to the speculative, from religion in 18th-century England to the Rat Pack of 1960s Las Vegas.
And that's just the first 17 boxes.
"This is not a library of an obsessive collector of books, but a library of someone who read and was interested in knowledge," said Roger Adams, the rare books librarian at Kansas State University. "It's really obvious when you start looking at these books, he had eclectic interests - ranging from world religions to criminology and of course the obvious, his interest in psychiatry."
Menninger, whose clinic in Topeka was world-renowned and who is considered the father of American psychiatry, died in 1990 at the age of 97. Last year, after his namesake clinic closed, the psychiatrist's heirs gave his book collection to the Hale Library at K-State.
The books, which had been stored in an underground storage vault in Hutchinson, were delivered last month. Hale estimated the collection at more than 2,000 books.
Among his finds so far is a signed copy of astronaut Buzz Aldrin's 1989 autobiography, "Men from Earth" - and a $2 paperback edition of "Contact," astronomer Carl Sagan's 1985 science fiction novel.
Menninger also owned a history of English Quakers, published in 1760, and a copy of "Yes I Can," singer-actor Sammy Davis Jr.'s 1985 autobiography.
The Hale Library staff will inventory and catalog the books, a task expected to last into next year.
The Quaker history and Aldrin's book already are earmarked for the rare books room, which means they won't be available for checkout.
"Aldrin's signature, somebody might just cut that out," Adams said, "and those 18th- and 19th-century books, they won't circulate because of their age. They tend to be scarcer, anyway."
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johnadavies (anonymous) says…
Oddly enough, I have two books (bought at J. Hood years ago) that once belonged to him. I suspect he, like a lot of us, was prone to getting rid of books that were no longer needed!