After Robert Oppenheimer–a theoretical physicist most well known as the director of Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II and the “father of the atomic bomb”–died in 1967, his books moved from the director’s house at the Institute for Advanced Study, 97 Olden Lane, to 63 Maxwell Lane, the new home for his wife and daughter, also on the Institute grounds.
In October 1972, his wife, Katherine (known to friends and family as “Kitty”), died in the Panama Canal Zone during a yacht cruise in the Caribbean. When Katherine’s house was being cleared out, the books in the house were donated to the Bryn Mawr Book Sale, an annual scholarship-fundraising event held each spring in Princeton since 1932. Presumably, their daughter “Toni” made the donation.
Image Source: Princeton U. Library
Robert Fraser, curator of rare books at Princeton University Library (PUL), who had provided expertise to the sale in the past, was called in to advise on the Oppenheimer books. He realized the permanent importance of both the books annotated by Robert Oppenheimer as well as the association value of many others and he made a selection of such with the intent that they would be purchased by PUL.
Alexander Wainwright, assistant university librarian for acquisitions, effected the purchase of these selections, amounting to a total of 186 volumes, using monies from the Charles F. Wells Library Fund during the academic year 1973-74. The acquisition was announced in the Princeton University Library Chronicle.
Source: Princeton U. Library
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The majority of the books in the collection are gifts–inscribed from authors and academics to Oppenheimer (or as Christopher Fry writes, “Oppy”) and Kitty. Some, however, are clearly the Oppenheimer’s personal copies. Henry James’ The Ambassadors, James Joyce and Francis Ferguson’s New Directions, and Abraham Lincoln’s Collected Works all offer a peek into an open and vast mind.
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
