Collector’s Progress: The Mark Samuels Lasner Collection and its Princeton Connection

Mark Samuels Lasner, a member of the Friends of the Princeton University Library and Council, is a recognized authority on art and literature of the late Victorian era. His presentation will focus on the Pre-Raphaelites and the writers, artists, and illustrators of the 1890s, two of whom—Max Beerbohm and Aubrey Beardsley—are extraordinarily well-represented in both his own and the Princeton University Library collections. Specific items featured include: Max Bebohm’s first separate publication; Carmen Becceriense (1890); a rare Lewis Carroll photograph of the Rossetti family; and a lock of Elizabeth Siddall’s famous red hair.

Materials from the Mark Samuels Lasner Collection have provided the basis for numerous exhibitions (including two at Princeton) and publications. In 2016, the collection was donated to the University of Delaware Library, the largest and most valuable gift in the Library’s history. Samuels Lasner is a senior research fellow at the University of Delaware Library, Museums and Press. He will be introduced by Ronald Schmeltzer, fellow Friends of the Princeton University Library Council member.