Frederick Woodward Skiff (1867–1947), was an author, noted collector, bibliophile, expert on Americana, and founder of the Acorn Club.
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Skiff traveled widely throughout the United States during his adult life, but is most associated with Connecticut and Portland, Oregon. In 1899,[1] he founded the Acorn Club in Hartford, Connecticut, a membership organization of Connecticut historians which publishes fine press-work specialty books on American historical subjects.
Skiff wrote two books—Adventures in Americana: Recollections of Forty Years Collecting Books, Furniture, China, Guns and Glass (1935, Metropolitan Press, Portland, Oregon) and Landmarks and literature: An American Travelogue (1937, ibid).[2]
Over the course of his life, Skiff amassed one of the most important private libraries in the United States, with particular emphases on literature and history.[citation needed] After his death in 1947, the library's contents were sold at auction by Butterfield & Butterfield (now Bonham's) in San Francisco. Many of the books made their ways into other important collections.[citation needed] Countess Doheny purchased 800 books from Skiff's library, becoming part of the Estelle Doheny Collection of American Literature, which was in turn auctioned off by Christie's New York in 2001.[citation needed]
References
edit- ^ Grant, Steve (16 June 1999). "From a Little Acorn". Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
- ^ "Noted collector to visit campus". The Eugene Register-Guard. Eugene, Oregon. 22 May 1938. p. 18. Retrieved 31 July 2019 – via newspapers.com.
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