Abraham Simon Wolf Rosenbach (July 22, 1876 – July 1, 1952) was an American collector, scholar, and dealer in rare books and manuscripts. In London, where he frequently attended the auctions at Sotheby's, he was known as "The Terror of the Auction Room." In Paris, he was called "Le Napoléon des Livres" ("The Napoleon of Books"). Many others referred to him as "Dr. R.", a "Robber Baron" and "the Greatest Bookdealer in the World".
Rosenbach is credited with popularizing the collecting of American literature at a time when only European literature was considered collectible. He also advanced the idea of book collecting as a means of investment and published several articles and books to increase interest in rare books and manuscripts.
He bought and sold numerous items throughout his life, including eight Gutenberg Bibles, more than 30 Shakespeare's First Folios, a copy of the Bay Psalm Book and the manuscripts of Ulysses and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The lifetime total of his purchases is estimated to be worth more than $75,000,000 in 2019.
His philanthropic contributions include donating his collection of children's books to the Free Library of Philadelphia, establishing the Rosenbach Fellowship in Bibliography at the University of Pennsylvania and willing his estate to the Rosenbach Foundation, which established the Rosenbach Museum & Library. Rosenbach was also closely involved in the founding of the American Jewish Historical Society (established 1892), and his early donation of printed books and ephemera relating to American Judaica provided the core of the original rare book collection. The A.S.W. Rosenbach Collection of American Judaica includes over 350 books and pamphlets published in America before 1850 that relate to Jews or their experiences in the Americas.
Early life and education
Abraham Simon Wolf Rosenbach was born on July 22, 1876, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was referred to by many in the public as "Abe", with some close-friends calling him "Rosy" and "Abie" by his family. He was the youngest of the eight children of Morris Rosenbach (May 14, 1820 – May 8, 1885) and Isabella H. Polock (November 26, 1834 – July 25, 1906). His mother was born and raised in Philadelphia, where she was an active member of the Jewish community, involved with the Female Hebrew Benevolent Society, the Jewish Orphans' Society and Congregation Mikveh Israel. His father immigrated to the United States from Gunzenhausen in 1844. Shortly after he changed his first name from Meier to Morris and entered the shirt business, selling overalls and underwear. He became a U.S. Citizen in 1855. Morris and Isabella were married by Rabbi Isaac Leeser on November 11, 1857.
At the age of 9, Rosenbach began helping out in the shop of his maternal uncle, Moses Polock (May 14, 1817 – August 16, 1903), who was a well-known and somewhat eccentric antiquarian bookseller. Polock's famous shop was located at 406 Commerce Street in Philadelphia. It was there he learned how to determine book values, how to use bibliography and how to talk to collectors.
At the age of 11, Rosenbach started collecting books when he purchased an illustrated edition of Reynard the Fox at the auction house of Stanislaus Vincent Henkel. He lowered the price to $24 and allowed the young man to make weekly payments out of his school allowance for the book due to Henkel's working relationship with his Uncle Moses.
In June 1889, Rosenbach finished school at George Meade School and in the fall was enrolled at Central Manual Training School. His senior year, he served as editor-in-chief of the school's student newspaper, The Argus.
It was as a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania Rosenbach would make his first valuable purchase. He bought a first edition of Dr. Samuel Johnson's Prologue, which David Garrick recited at his first opening night as manager of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1747. It was the first book printed by Horace Walpole at the Strawberry Hill Press. Rosenbach bought it for $3.60 at Henkel's auction house and later received an offer of $5,000 for the book, which he refused.
At Penn, Rosenbach took part in the Bibliophiles Club. In 1898, he earned his bachelor's in science from the University of Pennsylvania. He then was appointed to the university's Harrison Fellowship in English. He earned his PhD from the school in 1901, his thesis was titled "The influence of Spanish literature in the Elizabethan and Stuart drama".