An Interview with Terry Belanger of the Rare Book School,<br>Recipient of $500,000 MacArthur Award
- by Michael Stillman
none
Columbia did choose to close its School of Library Service a decade later. However, the Rare Book School did not choose to join the library school in shuttering its doors. Mr. Belanger simply up and moved it to Virginia. The University of Virginia offered him an appointment as a University Professor, an interdisciplinary post without fixed responsibilities. It allowed him to reopen the Rare Book School as an officially unaffiliated school in Charlottesville (a formal relationship with the University which will still afford the Rare Book School its independence is expected later this year). Meanwhile, the school continues to thrive and grow. It now offers courses in Baltimore, Washington and its old hometown of New York, along with Charlottesville. Additionally, it has helped to set up similar schools in France, New Zealand and Australia, with another scheduled to open on the U.S. west coast in Los Angeles in 2006.
The MacArthur Fellowships, one of which Mr. Belanger received, represent an unusual type of award. Funded by the independent MacArthur Foundation, you cannot apply for them, and there are no demands that come with them. An anonymous panel of experts chooses individuals who show exceptional creativity across many fields of work, from sciences to humanities to artistic fields and more. Their intention is to facilitate the recipients' achievements in the future, rather than being a reward for past accomplishments. However, it is a no-strings-attached award. Like other recipients, Terry Belanger has complete discretion to decide how the award can best be used.
We asked Mr. Belanger how the award would assist the Rare Book School in reaching its goals. He responded that it will help in several ways. First, some of the award will go directly towards the RBS' endowment. Currently, the school is completing the "quiet" stage of a fund drive to increase the school's endowment by $2 million, with more than half of this amount raised already. Secondly, Mr. Belanger is hopeful that the award and the scholarship it acknowledges will help the school obtain a hearing with foundations and individuals when they ask for contributions toward the endowment. Additionally, these funds will be used to eliminate debts in the operating budget, fund various program expansions, and fund the endowment campaign. The latter means that 100% of money raised during the campaign will go to fund the endowment. None will be used to fund overhead of the campaign itself.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
