The Robert D. Fellman Dickens Collection
A Resource for Scholars
Through brilliant novels like David
Copperfield,
Little
Dorrit and Great Expectations, Charles Dickens defined the
Victorian era and helped shape our understanding of this important
period in British history. He is one of the most studied writers in
English, and among the most widely read of all authors. Thanks to the
generosity of an educator and collector in California, WPI is home to
a remarkably rich collection of Charles Dickens materials.
The Robert D. Fellman Dickens Collection, acquired by WPI in 1995,
has established the university as the premier source for Dickens
materials in Central Massachusetts. The late Robert Fellman chose WPI
as the site for his life's work as a collector for two reasons: he was
attracted by the innovative nature of the WPI Plan, the university's
project-based undergraduate program that prepares technologically
aware humanists and culturally sophisticated and flexible engineers
and scientists for satisfying careers and, more important, for the
continual explorations, adaptations, excitements and surprises of
life; and he was aware that Worcester, the second largest city in New
England, lacked a first-rate Dickens collection.
Housed in WPI's George C. Gordon Library, the collection contains a
wealth of materials of extraordinary value to scholars and students of
Dickens and the Victorian era. It is available during the hours of 8
a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, or by appointment. Through the
express wish of the donor, the collection is available to members of
Dickens Fellowship chapters worldwide.
About The Collection
The Robert D. Fellman Dickens Collection includes more than 150
volumes of Dickens' writings (including rare first editions of almost
all of his major works); more than 35 manuscripts and autograph
letters; 325 volumes in sets; 168 volumes of Dickens-related
periodicals; about 150 volumes of letters, biographies and
illustrations; and about 275 volumes of reference works, criticism and
commentary on the novel, Dickens' England, the Victorian period, and
related English authors. Also available to scholars are a variety of
art objects (including many examples of the best 19th century book
illustrations) and a valuable set of Dickens- related slides and
videotapes.
Dickens' handwriting is well represented in the collection. There
are eight original autograph Dickens letters--several of substantial
length and significance. Perhaps the most notable item in the
collection is the unique council attendance book for the Guild of
Literature and Art. This book records (by signature) those attending
meetings of the council between 1854 and 1896. It includes many
signatures of Charles Dickens, as well as the signatures of several
other Victorian luminaries.
About Robert D. Fellman
Robert Fellman and Charles Dickens became good friends when Fellman
was just 13. On a trip to the high school library in the small town of
Red Lake Falls, Minn., where Fellman was born, he decided to check out
a book with the curious title, The Posthumous Papers of the
Pickwick Club, one of Dickens' earliest works. Fellman was
attracted by the Victorian author's humor, his sense of character, and
his uncanny ability to draw a reader into his world.
Fellman quickly turned into an avid reader of Dickens' novels. His
love for Dickens' writing continued as he went on to study chemistry
at the University of Minnesota Institute of Technology, where he
earned a bachelor's degree in 1944. (He later received a master of
science in chemistry at the University of Southern California and did
additional graduate work in the discipline at the University of London
and Stanford University.)
In 1958 he joined the faculty of the newly founded Foothill College
in Los Altos Hills, Calif., where he served as chairman of the
Department of Physical Sciences and Mathematics and as an instructor
of chemistry and physical science. His interest in Dickens remained
that of a devoted fan until the early 1960s, when he received a set of
original early 20th century watercolor illustrations of Dickens
characters as a gift. The gift led to an interest in collecting
Dickens illustrations.
In time, this fascination led to a love of all things Dickensian,
and he began to amass a first-rate collection of books by and about
the author, as well as artifacts and memorabilia related to
Dickens. Over time, his Palo Alto, Calif., home was filled with the
products of his collecting.
He enjoyed sharing his collection through exhibits and a summer
course at Foothill College. On behalf of his students, he received a
charter from the London-based Dickens Fellowship for a Palo Alto
chapter of the society and served as its first president.
Fellman died in Palo Alto in 1996. His generous bequest to WPI
supports the maintenance and continuing growth of his collection.
Highlights of the Collection
- Eight autograph Dickens letters, and autograph letters from
John Forster, Augustus Egg, Octavian Blewitt, George
Cruikshank, Sir Robert Peel, Lord John Russell, Michael
Faraday, Jeremy Bentham, William Harrison Ainsworth, William
Godwin, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and others.
- The Council Attendance Book for the Guild of Literature and Art
from June 12, 1854, to Dec. 7, 1896, including the signatures
of Dickens (32 times), John Forster, Wilkie Collins, John
Tenniel, and others.
- Copies of Nicholas Nickleby, Dombey and Son,
David Copperfield, Bleak House, Little
Dorrit, Our Mutual Friend and The Mystery of
Edwin Drood in the original monthly parts.
- Bound first editions of Pickwick Papers, Oliver
Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity
Shop, Barnaby Rudge, Martin Chuzzlewit,
Dombey and Son, David Copperfield, Bleak
House, Little Dorrit and Our Mutual Friend,
as well as The Pic-Nic Papers, The Chimes, The
Cricket on the Hearth, American Notes, The Life
of Our Lord and Pictures From Italy.
- Bentley's Miscellany, volumes 1 to 5 (including the
first publication of Oliver Twist).
- A complete run of Master Humphrey's Clock (88 weekly
installments, including the first publication of The Old
Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge).
- A complete run of Household Words in 19 volumes (1850 to
1859, including the first publication of Hard Times.)
- All the Year Round, volumes 1 to 16 (1859 to 1867,
including the first publication of A Tale of Two Cities
and Great Expectations).
- Complete runs of The Dickensian (from 1905 to present)
and Dickens Quarterly, formerly Dickens Studies
Newsletter, (from 1970 to present).
- A sketch for Our Mutual Friend by Dickens' original
illustrator for that work, Marcus Stone.
Maintained by lib-webmaster@wpi.edu
Last modified: Jun 24, 2003, 15:18 EDT
