History and Mission of the Fiske Icelandic Collection

Daniel Willard Fiske (1831-1904)

One of D. Willard Fiske's several outstanding literary bequests to Cornell University Library, the Fiske Icelandic Collection had its origins in Fiske's collecting efforts from the 1850's onward. With the assistance of two Icelanders, he organized his several thousand purchases into the nucleus of the collection as it now exists. In 1905, these 8600 titles became part of Cornell University Library. Halldór Hermannsson, one of Fiske's assistants in Florence, became the first curator and proceeded to catalog the Fiske Icelandic Collection and to prepare the first volumes of the Islandica series. For decades, Hermannsson's 1914 Catalogue of the Icelandic Collection bequeathed by Willard Fiske, and its Additions, 1913-1926 and Additions, 1927-1942 have served as the collection's chief bibliographic descriptions.

The Fiske Icelandic Collection today counts over 32,000 titles on its shelves. Its expansion, largely the effort of Halldór Hermannsson, has continued under the six succeeding curators. Holdings include a new CD-ROM of Icelandic saga texts and recently acquired videos of Icelandic films as well as several manuscripts and a number of very rare printings from the 16th and 17th centuries. While the virtual explosion in publishing precludes the comprehensive purchasing that was the rule in Fiske's day, the Icelandic Collection remains very strongly representative in works on many aspects of Icelandic language, literature and culture.

Return to the Index Page.	Fiske Icelandic Collection Cornell University Library Reference queries welcome through: fiskeref@cornell.edu http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/fiske