The gift, from Robert D. Fellman of Palo Alto, Calif., has been valued at more than $160,000, earning Fellman membership in WPI's Presidential Founders. It establishes WPI as the premier source for Dickens material in Central Massachusetts, according to Joel J. Brattin, associate professor of English and secretary and treasurer of the Dickens Society of America. "The collection contains valuable first editions, unique manuscripts, original and rare illustrations, and fascinating secondary sources from the 19th and 20th centuries-all of extraordinary value to scholars and students of Dickens," Brattin says.
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. "He's a novelist who, when you read, is sitting on your shoulder. You can't get rid of him," he once told a newspaper reporter.
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 was an instructor of chemistry and physical science until his recent retirement. His interest in Dickens remained that of a devoted fan until the early 1960's, when he took a sabbatical year in London.
While Fellman was in England, a friend in the London theater gave him a set of original early 20th century watercolor illustrations of Dickens characters. The gift made him curious about the many illustrators who have interpreted Dickens' large cast of colorful characters over the years. He began reading everything he could find on the subject, and as his knowledge grew he became interested 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. "You get a little knowledge, and with the help of serendipity, start looking for other things," he says. "One day you wake up and discover you're a collector."
Having caught the collecting bug, Fellman began looking for ways to expand his holdings. After returning from England, he placed an ad in a local paper looking for other collectors of Dickens memorabilia. He was contacted by a woman who owned a set of leaded-paned bookcases. When he went to see them, he decided that the charming house where they were located was just the spot for his growing collection. He bought the house a few days later.
Over time, Fellman's Palo Alto home became filled with the products of his collecting, with every room a gallery for illustrations, posters, letters, Royal Doulton figurines of Dickens characters-even a framed check signed by the author. He reserved the most significant and attractive items for the knotty pine-paneled room he called the "Victorian Room."
In 1973 Fellman decided to share his collection-and his knowledge-with the local community. He organized an exhibit, "Dickens and His Illustrators," at Foothill College and included many of the rare books and artworks he owned. The following year he organized a summer course at Foothill College titled "Charles Dickens: The Man and His Work," which he taught for many years. The popular course included two filed trips to visit large collections of Dickens-related material: one at Stanford University, and one in Fellman's home. In fact, he says, many of the items in his collection were the result of his desire to have exciting things for "show and tell" with his students.
On behalf of the students in the first offering of his summer course, Fellman applied for and received a charter from the London-based Dickens Fellowship for a Palo Alto chapter of the society. Fellman was the chapter's first president and has, for many years, edited its newsletter. He is currently "honorable secretary." In his instructions to WPI concerning the gift of his Dickens collection to the university, he stipulated that it be available to all members of the fellowship's chapters, which now span the globe.
Why did Fellman choose WPI to receive his collection? He says he was aware that Worcester, the second largest city in New England, lacked a first rate Dickens collection. He was also attracted by the innovative nature of the WPI Plan, which prepares technologically aware humanists and culturally sophisticated and flexible engineers for satisfying careers and, more important, for the continual explorations, adaptations, excitements and surprises of life. He had also become aware of the scholarship of Professor Brattin, who earned his Ph.D. at Stanford University.
The Fellman Collection is already playing an important role in teaching and project work at WPI. Brattin used a bound volume containing the first serial installments of Great Expectations in a seminar he taught last winter and has employed the collection in his own research. This spring David A. Boulanger '96 was able to consult a rare work on Dickens' Pickwick Papers as part of his research for a Sufficiency project exploring the illustrations that accompanied the original serial installments of the novel.
Over the years, Fellman has often been asked what it is about Charles Dickens that has kept him exploring the author's life. He told a reporter some years back, "It was said very nicely by George Orwell: 'The genius of Dickens lies in his unnecessary details.' Being a chemist, I like bits and pieces of information." Thanks to Fellman's devotion, endless curiosity, and great generosity, a remarkable collection of "bits and pieces" relating to the life and times of one of the world's greatest writers is now available for "show and tell" in the Greater Worcester area, where it will enrich students and scholars for generations to come.
Give feedback: newspeak@wpi.wpi.edu