Poignant: Elmer Belt Library Dispersed
Sex-Reassignment, Leonardo da Vinci & Upton Sinclair
Who was Dr. Elmer Belt? (1893-1980)
I read an article in The Book Collector (1989) about the Dr. Elmer Belt Library of Vinciana, a special collection donated by Dr. Belt to the University of California, Los Angeles which focused on the life, thought and enduring cultural influence of Leonardo da Vinci.1
I then found an article in Fine Books & Collections that reported Dr. Belt’s remaining books and manuscripts were auctioned for high prices in 2014.2
Dr. Elmer Belt was a renowned urologist, practicing in California who was among the first to do sex-reassignment surgery. He was also instrumental in the foundation of the UCLA medical school.3
He was an ardent book collector. His collecting focus included Leonardo da Vinci, Upton Sinclair 4 and Florence Nightingale.
Dr. Belt donated his Leonardo da Vinci collection to UCLA as the Elmer Belt Library of Vinciana. It included 60 incunabula,5 and was the focus of several major exhibitions. The condition of his donation of the Leonardo da Vinci collection was that it be maintained as a separate collection. An elegant suite was created within the Art Library in UCLA’s Dickson Art Center (see image above).6
Dr. Elmer Belt was honored in 1972 with the Sir Thomas More Medal, awarded for "Private Book Collecting, A Public Benefit."7
An exhibit based on the Leonardo da Vinci collection was held in 1973 in honor of Dr. Belt’s 80th birthday. 8
However, in 2000 a multi-million donation from Eli Broad was used to revamp the UCLA Art Center and the Art library was moved to quarters that did not have space for the Dr. Elmer Belt Library of Vinciana. The furnishings were sent to storage and the books and manuscripts transferred to Library Special Collections, still shelved together but no longer a distinct collection.
Dr. Belt died before the library was dismantled.
The auction announcement for his remaining books in Auction Central News noted:
The volumes being offered by PBA Galleries have remained in the Belt family since the doctor’s death in 1980 and reflect his wide range of interests. From the first significant scientific work printed in England to the fine printing of the Kelmscott, Ashendene and Grabhorn Presses, to the works of Sir Winston Churchill and William Faulkner, Belt’s refined collecting taste is evident throughout. 9
The Wikipedia article about Elmer Belt was in need of work. In looking at the history of Elmer Belt and his book collecting library I have added additional background and citations to Wikipedia because people will more likely look there than here.
Marmor, Max (1989). "The Elmer Belt Library of Vinciana." The Book Collector, 38, no. 3 (Autumn 1989): 1-23.
Sangorski Manuscript a Top Lot at PBA's Sale of Dr. Elmer Belt's Collection. Fine Books & Collections. (May 28, 2014).
Arthur, Ransom. By the Old Pacific's Rolling Water: Birth of the UCLA School of Medicine. Los Angeles: School of Medicine, University of California, 1992.
Dr. Belt donated his Upton Sinclair books to Occidental College, Special Collections. Upton Sinclair Collection.
Finger, Frances L. Catalogue of the Incunabula in the Elmer Belt Library of Vinciana. Los Angeles: Friends of the UCLA Library, 1971.
There is more about the Elmer Belt Library of Vinciana at Wikipedia. I have added additional information.
Elmer Belt's Sir Thomas More Medal for Book Collecting. PBA Galleries. (The University of San Francisco's Sir Thomas More Medal for Book Collecting include 1968 Norman H. Strouse; 1969 Wilmarth S. Lewis; 1970 C. Waller Barrett; 1971 Lessing J. Rosenwald; 1972 Elmer Belt; 1973 Gordon N. Ray; 1974 Frederick R. Goff; 1975 Mary Hyde; 1976 Otto Schafer;
1977 Lawrence Clark Powell; 1978 John S. Mayfield; 1979 John Dreyfus; 1980 Phyllis Goodhart Gordan; 1981 Robert H. Taylor; 1982 Albert A. Sperisen; 1983 Bern Dibner; 1984 William H. Scheide; 1985 Sanford L. Berger; 1986 Mitsuo Kodama; 1987 Carlton Lake; 1988 Lawrence Lande;1989 William P. Barlow, Jr.; 1990 Kenneth E. Hill; 1991 Arthur Holzheimer;
1992 T. Kimball Brooker; 1993 William J. Monihan, S.J.1994 The Lord Wardington; 1995 Albert Shumate; 1996 Michael Harrison; 1997 Lloyd Edward Cotsen; 1998 Virginia & Jenkins Garrett; 2000 W. Michael Mathes; 2003 Mark Samuels Lasner; 2007 Bernard M. Rosenthal. (I could not find recipients after 2007).
Pedretti, Carlo. Leonardo da Vinci: Studies for a Nativity and the 'Mona Lisa Cartoon' with Drawings after Leonardo from the Elmer Belt Library of Vinciana: Exhibition in Honour of Elmer Belt, M.D. on the Occasion of his Eightieth Birthday. Los Angeles: University of California, 1973.
PBA Galleries will offer the Library of Dr. Elmer Belt in Sale 533 to be held on Thursday, May 22. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding. Auction Central News, May 5, 2014.