Extensive Lewis Carroll collection comes to Arne Nixon Center

Lewis Carroll collector Hilda Bohem, before her death, with Arne Nixon Center Curator Angelica Carpenter.


Part of the Carroll collection now at Fresno State.


Paper engineer and artist Robert Sabuda. Photo by Monika Graff

The Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at Fresno State has acquired one of the largest Lewis Carroll collections in the country, a 2,000-item collection of books by and about the author, assembled by the late Hilda Bohem.

This collection was purchased for $150,000 -- and is valued even higher -- and was funded by donations over a three-year period, said Angelica Carpenter, curator of the center.

Hilda Bohem was a Carrollian scholar and a rare books librarian at UCLA.   Her Lewis Carroll collection was one of the largest private collections in the United States, and it is now one of the largest library collections in the country.

The Arne Nixon Center also has acquired more space, next to its office in the Madden Library. The addition will increase the center’s size from about 1,700 square feet to nearly 3,000 square feet.

The center will show off its new collection when the Lewis Carroll Society of North America holds its fall meeting on Oct. 23, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Residence Dining Hall at Fresno State The meeting is being hosted by the Arne Nixon Center.

Robert Sabuda will be the keynote speaker. With more than 2 million books in print, this paper engineer and artist is indisputably the king of pop-up books. His bestsellers include pop-up versions of “ Alice's Adventures in Wonderland” and “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” His talk will include a video and slides about the making of this book. His Web site is www.robertsabuda.com.

Author/editor Linda Sunshine will discuss her new book, “All Things Alice,” a lavishly illustrated collection of quotations and illustrations, similar to her “All Things Oz,” which was published in 2003. She is the author or editor of more than 50 books, including many books about the movies.

Peter Hanff, deputy director of the Bancroft Library at the University of California at Berkeley and an expert bibliographer, will offer a slide-illustrated history of the printing of “ Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.”

Angelica Carpenter, curator of the Arne Nixon Center and author of “Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking Glass,” will give a talk on "Accelerated Reader in Wonderland." The Kennel Bookstore will sell the authors' books at the meeting, and the authors will autograph.

Registration is free, but space is limited on a first-come, first-served basis. Deadline for registration is Oct. 15. To reserve a seat, call the Arne Nixon Center at 8-8116 or e-mail to anc@listserv.csufresno.edu. The meeting schedule may be seen at www.arnenixoncenter.org.