Return to Rider University Homepage Directions | Campus Safety | Calendars | Directory | Libraries | Web Mail
Prospective StudentsCurrent StudentsAlumniCommunity PartnersParents & FamilyFaculty & Staff
About Rider AcademicsOur FacultyAdmissionsAthleticsStudent Life
Westminster College of the Arts
Home > Academics > Libraries > Talbott Library > Special Collections
Font Size:
Default  |  Small  |  Medium  |  Large

Special Collections

The Talbott Library Special Collections include:

About
Talbott Library has a number of Special Collections, many of which are not represented in the online catalog. Some of these collections go back to the founding of Westminster Choir College in 1926 and include books, scores, and manuscripts from the college founders, John Finley and Rhea B. Williamson. Other collections have come to the library through the generosity of individual donors and the Talbott Library Friends. The recent renovation of Talbott Library has created an improved, centralized location for the collections. The Librarian for Special Collections seeks new collections that support Westminster's mission and fit into Talbott Library's Collection Development Policy.

Access
Access to the Special Collections is open to all. Visitors wishing to use materials from the Special Collections are urged to call or write well in advance of the visit. This is imperative for any "in process" collection. Researchers who are not part of the Rider University community will be asked to register and show photo identification. The few collections with restrictions are indicated in the status portion of each description that follows.

Status
Current bibliographic status is indicated in the descriptions that follow. Cataloged means that the collection can be searched in the online catalog. Cataloged collections are available for on-site use during scheduled reference hours, which are slightly less than the hours the library is open. Finding aid indicates a local database or other finding aid for use in the library. In process indicates that work is underway but that bibliographic access is neither complete nor immediate. Questions are welcome and should be directed to the Librarian for Special Collections.

Photocopies
The department accepts requests for photocopies through inter-library loan or by contact with the Librarian for Special Collections. The photocopies are provided for research use or for performance by the requester; they may not be recopied or put to any other use without permission. Photocopies might not be available for these reasons:

   1. condition of the item
   2. copyright restrictions (The "INQUIRY FORM ON OUT-OF-PRINT COPYRIGHTED MUSIC" is available from the Music Publishers' Association.)
   3. restricted material
   4. extent of request and/or availability of staff

Contact
    Mi-Hye Chyun
    (609) 921-7100 ext. 8304
    FAX: (609) 497-0243
    e-mail: chyun@rider.edu

Franklin Stewart Adams Collection of Dupré Memorabilia
Franklin Stewart Adams (1885-1964) was an organist and composer who studied with Marcel Dupré (1886-1971). He and his wife Anna French Adams maintained a friendship with the Duprés over a span of many years. Mrs. Adams and Madame Dupré, an English teacher, corresponded in English. The collection includes Adams' marked copies of Dupré's organ music, photographs inscribed by Marcel Dupré, miscellaneous photographs, programs, clippings, and letters. Marcel Dupré and his daughter Marguerite performed in Westminster's Chapel in 1946. Talbott received the collection in 1998, shortly after the death of Mrs. Adams.
Status: In process; advance notice required

Nathaniel Burt Collection
Born into a Princeton family of writers, Nathaniel Burt (1913-), poet, novelist, and composer, is probably most known for his book The Perennial Philadelphians. Burt taught theory at Westminster Choir College in 1950-51, served on the Board of Trustees, and has been a benefactor to Talbott Library. Upon the retirement of President Ray Robinson, Burt created in his honor an endowed fund for the purchase of books. The collection contains his musical manuscripts and copies of his books.
Status: In process; advance notice required

Choral Octavo Reference File (CORF)
Comprising shorter choral works such as anthems, madrigals, motets, part songs, and other choral genres, this collection of approximately 80,000 octavos began with John Finley Williamson's personal collection. The oldest items are from the late 19th century, and the collection continues to grow as publishers' new issues are added. The octavos are arranged in alphabetical order by composer or arranger.
Status: In process

Richard Colwell Collection
Richard Colwell is Professor Emeritus of Music Education at the University of Illinois and the New England Conservatory of Music. He is the founding editor of the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education and the Quarterly Journal of Music Teaching and Learning. He is also a Guggenheim scholar and a member of MENC's (Music Educators National Conference) Hall of Fame. In 2004, Dr. Colwell gave his “Test files”, his life-long collection of tests and measurements in music to Talbott Library. This collection of assessment materials runs the gamut from the work of Carl Seashore in the 19th century to recent tests found on the World Wide Web.
Status: Finding aid
Search the Richard Colwell Collection

Hymnal 1982 Working Papers
After the publication of the Episcopal Church's Hymnal 1982, the working papers were given to Talbott. This primary source material (manuscripts, recordings, correspondence) elucidates how an important twentieth-century hymnal was created.
Status: In process, some restrictions; advance notice required

Douglas Jensen Organ Recording Collection
Douglas Jensen built a substantial collection of long-playing recordings which he gave to Talbott Library in 1994.
Status: Finding aid

Warren Martin Compositions
Warren Martin (1916-1982), Westminster Choir College class of 1936, was on Westminster's faculty from 1950 until his death. His compositions are part of the fabric of Westminster's musical history. The works are in a variety of forms and styles. While some of his choral music was published, most of his work remains in manuscript.
Status: Finding aid
>> Click here for information on Warren Martin's True Story of Cinderella

Carl F. Mueller Collection
Carl F. Mueller (1892-1982), a student of John Finley Williamson, was a composer, organist, choral conductor, educator, a highly successful composer of choral music and a Fellow of Westminster Choir College. This collection contains his copies of his publications, some 500 titles.
Status: In process; advance notice required

John P. Murnion Collection of Compact Discs
John P. Murnion (1936-2005), a successful writer of mystery fiction, was an ardent audiophile whose knowledge of music was entirely self-taught. In July 2006, Kathleen Murnion donated her late husband’s personal collection of approximately 13,000 compact disc recordings to Talbott Library. The Murnion Collection includes repertoire from the Middle Ages through the late twentieth century, and musical genres and forms as disparate as Gregorian chant, symphonies and concertos, chamber music, opera, jazz, film music, and minimalism. Mrs. Murnion characterized the collection—and honored her husband’s fervent commitment to researching and compiling it—with these words that appear on a commemorative plaque mounted near the collection: “A witness to the power, beauty and rich diversity of music.”
Status: Partially cataloged. A keyword search on “John P. Murnion Collection” will retrieve bibliographic records for all CDs that have been added to the online catalog.

Organ Historical Society's American Organ Archive
For information about the Organ Historical Society's American Organ Archive click here.

Erik Routley Collection of Books and Hymnals
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians calls Erik Routley (1917-1982) a writer on church music, a minister of the Congregational Church, a professor (Westminster Choir College 1975-1982), an organist. It is, however, his work on the history of church music, including books on hymns and carols "that broke much new ground". The personal library that he built to support such a productive life of scholarship numbers more than 2000 items and contains comprehensive holdings in English hymnody, including many volumes by Isaac Watts. Of particular interest is the 1719 edition of The Psalms of David inscribed by I. Watts to Thomas Bradbury. The Routley Papers include manuscripts of the following kinds: musical compositions, lectures, sermons, and books. In addition there are sound recordings and correspondence. Together with the book collection, these items offer an extraordinary glimpse into the creative life of a multi-gifted, industrious man working in various settings over many years.
Status: Books and hymnals, cataloged;
           Papers, In process; advance notice required

Robert Shaw Collection of Marked Scores
Robert Shaw (1916-1999) directed a two-week choral workshop at Westminster Choir College each year from 1972 through 1985. A major choral work was performed at the end of each week at venues ranging from Mostly Mozart in New York to Princeton University Chapel. Choral singers and directors flocked to these intensely demanding and satisfying choral experiences. To facilitate the most efficient use of rehearsal time, a set of marked scores were put on Reserve in Talbott Library to enable the singers to transfer Shaw's interpretive marks into their scores. This collection of approximately thirty-five titles includes the most beloved and often-performed major choral works.
Status: In process; on-site use only, advance notice required

Leopold Stokowski Scores
Westminster awarded the honorary degree Doctor of Fine Arts to Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977) in 1963. Although Talbott cannot boast of having the Stokowski Collection, which is now at the University of Pennsylvania, we do have a number of his "duplicate scores" which he gave to the library because of his long and fond association with Westminster's choirs. Most of these scores are not marked in his hand, but one that is so marked is of particular interest. This is the score for J. S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor that he marked up as part of the process of arranging this organ work for full orchestra.
Status: Cataloged

Tams-Witmark Collection
Arthur W. Tams (1848-1927) was a singer, opera manager and collector of music. In the mid-1880s, he began to collect scores and parts for cantatas, oratorios, masses, and some opera. By the 1920s his rental library was one of the largest in the world. In 1925 Tams merged with its rival library built by Isidore Witmark (1871-1941). The resulting rental library remained in business until the late 1960's when it was dispersed; the cantatas and oratorios were given to Westminster Choir College. See the December 1989 Choral Journal for an article by William Osborne listing the works by American composers in Westminster's Tams-Witmark Collection.
Status: Cataloged

Thomas Tiplady Collection
Thomas Tiplady (1882-1967) was a Methodist minister well known for his work in creating the Lambeth Mission in London. A poet and writer of hymns, he presented his copies of his publications and hymn-related memorabilia including a scrapbook and selected letters.
Status: Cataloged

D. DeWitt Wasson Research Collection of Organ Music
D. DeWitt Wasson (1921- ) is a church musician and recitalist and has written the reviews of organ music for The American Organist for more than thirty years. During his long career, he has amassed an enormous collection of organ scores, books, and other music pertaining to his work. In 1995 he gave this collection of approximately 20,000 scores to Talbott Library. Since then he has continued to add to the collection. A substantial portion but not all is represented in the online catalog.
Status: Finding aids; In process

Carl Weinrich Collection
Carl Weinrich (1905-1991), a student of Mark Andrews, Abram Chasins, Marcel Dupré, and Lynwood Farnam, was Head of Westminster's Organ Department from 1934 to 1940. He is known for his involvement in the organ reform movement in America, his recordings of Bach, and his premiere of Schoenberg's Variations on a Recitative. In addition to his career as a church musician and recitalist, he taught at Columbia University and was Director of Music at Princeton University Chapel from 1943 to 1974. Westminster Choir College awarded Weinrich an honorary Doctor of Music in 1973. His marked scores are of interest for what they reveal about Weinrich as a musician and also the instruments he played on campus and in Princeton. The collection also includes his copies of the recordings he made. See Ray Keck's article, which includes a discography, in The Diapason, February 2000.
Status: In process; advance notice required

Westminster Choir College Archives
The Archives include the personal papers of Rhea B. and John Finley Williamson, diaries of world tours, correspondence, minutes of Trustee Meetings, auditors' reports, institutional files for the Bristol and Robinson presidencies, including the various academic and administrative departments. There are photographs, signed photos from conductors, films (now on video) of the early years in Dayton and Princeton, recordings in several formats, posters, and scrapbooks. Printed material includes scores, books, concert programs, yearbooks, newsletters, and various publications produced by the college.
Status: In process, some restrictions; advance notice required
WCC Newsletter, 1956-1965

Walter Williams Collection of Choral and Liturgical Music
Winfred Douglas (1867-1944) and Walter Williams (fl.1950). Douglas is known for the classic text Church Music in History and Practice, and his work for the Plainsong Society and the music commission of the Episcopal Church. Williams, was director of St. Dunstan's College of Sacred Music for which he edited the "St. Dunstan Edition of Sacred Music", a choral series published by E. C. Schirmer.
Status: In process; advance notice required