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Finding Aid for the Roy Vernon Sowers Collection, 1940-1996
MS.1997.006
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Title: Roy Vernon Sowers Collection,
Date (inclusive): 1940-1996
Collection number: MS.1997.006
Creator: Burford-Mason,
Roger
Extent:
1 box (.25 linear feet)
Repository:
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library.
Los Angeles, California 90018
Abstract: This collection is the research material
collected by Roger Burford-Mason for his book, Roy Vernon Sowers : a
life in rare books (1997).
Physical location: Clark Library
Language of materials: Collection materials in English
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to the William Andrews Clark Memorial
Library, UCLA. All requests for permission to publish or quote from
manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Clark Librarian.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of the William Andrews
Clark Memorial Library, UCLA as the owner of the physical items and is
not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder,
which must also be obtained.
[Identification of item], Roy Vernon Sowers Collection, MS.1997.006,
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California, Los
Angeles.
Purchase, 1997.
Roy Vernon Sowers was born in Brantford, Ontario on August 7th, 1897.
He spent most of his youth in the nearby town of London, Ontario, where
he had a variety of odd jobs. Sowers attended the University of Toronto
and graduated in 1921 before attending St. John's College at Oxford.
Limited finances caused him to leave Oxford and travel to Germany before
returning to Ontario.
He later moved to Pasadena, California and worked for Mrs. Willard,
an antiquarian book dealer who lived in one of the area's Frank Lloyd
Wright homes. Sowers eventually moved on to work at the Huntington
Library in San Marino, California. He later moved to San Francisco after
marrying, but divorced his first wife and built a home in the mountains
near Santa Cruz, California. Sowers was familiar with the owners of the
Grabhorn Press and set up one of the first exhibitions about their
press. He operated a rare book and fine print business out of his
personal library until the late 1960s before his death in 1970.
This collection is the research material collected by Roger
Burford-Mason for his book Roy Vernon Sowers : a life in rare books
(Toronto : Subway Books, 1997). It contains biographical material and
requests for information about Sowers by Burford-Mason. The
correspondence includes letters and interviews of individuals who knew
Sowers, including his daughter and son.
The collection is arranged in thematic order.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Sowers, Roy Vernon,
1897-
Antiquarian
booksellers--California--20th century
Antiquarian
booksellers--Canada--20th century