Guest Author:
Helene Julian is a post graduate
student at the University of Lincoln located in Lincolnshire, United Kingdom studying
conservation of cultural heritage. As the Fall 2018 intern, she cataloged and
evaluated the books in the schoolroom. She graduated in January 2019.
You can tell a lot about a person by the company they keep, but what
about their books? I think a person’s dreams, aspirations, goals and desires
can be understood by examining their book collection. Glessner House, the
former home of John and Frances Glessner and their two children, holds a vast
collection of books that were treasured by family members. There is one book
that caught my eye in the schoolroom. It is bound in red cloth and displays
gold lettering on the cover. The title of the book is Achilles and Hector: Iliad Stories Retold for Boys and Girls. The
book is in good condition showing evidence that the Glessners cared for it when
it was in their possession and ensuring that it could be read by their children
and future young readers.
Hector held his little son close
The Glessners were avid readers and were presented with numerous books
by authors and friends. Frances Glessner founded a Reading Class in 1894 composed
of Prairie Avenue residents as well as the wives of professors from the
University of Chicago. They would meet in the library of the Glessner home to
discuss literature and socialize. John and Frances Glessner were also well
received and active in scholarly circles in the city of Chicago including the
Chicago Literary Club and The Fortnightly. Authors wanted the family to read
their pieces of work and provided gift copies for their permanent collection.
The author, Agnes Cook Gale, gifted Achilles
and Hector to Frances Glessner. The gift
inscription reads, “To Mrs. Glessner with the sincere regards of Agnes Cook
Gale 20 November 1904”. Gale was the
wife of Henry G. Gale, who was appointed to the Department of Physics at the
University of Chicago in 1899 upon receipt of his doctorate there. He served the University in various
capacities until his retirement in 1940.
Agnes Cook Gale served as president of the Renaissance Society of the
University of Chicago and was a member of the Artists Equity Association and
the Chicago Society of Artists, being primarily known as an artist and sculptor. The illustrations in the book are by Helen
Maitland Armstrong, a talented illustrator regarded as one of the finest
American stained glass artists of the late 19th- and early 20th-centuries.
There came a sudden darkness over Achilles' eyes
Achilles and Hector is a book
of Greek mythology filled with stories of adventure, love, imagination and the perseverance
to complete impossible goals. The titular characters of the book, Achilles and
Hector, are both portrayed in Homer’s The
Iliad, an epic poem written in ancient Greece. It is a tale of war between
the Greeks and Trojans over a woman named Helen, the immortal “face that
launched a thousand ships.” The story is a work of fiction, but like any other
story the reader takes away something from the literature. In my case after
reading the Iliad in high school, I
took away the power of using reasoning to achieve an objective. Odysseus’s idea
to build a wooden Trojan horse and fill it with soldiers to sneak behind enemy
lines was a clever tactic that has always stayed with me.
At last came Helen
By observing the Glessners’ book collection, specifically in the schoolroom,
it is evident that the parents encouraged their children to read the classics
and tales of triumph. They wanted their children to be well rounded individuals
who not only gained knowledge through life experiences but through the pages of
a book. Among the other works of fiction in the schoolroom are The Two Penniless Princesses and Boat No. 2631: The Story of a Mississippi
River Adventure. Both involve the protagonist resolving a conflict or
defeating the antagonists with will power and perseverance.
Glessner schoolroom, c. 1888
The schoolroom contains numerous books beyond fiction, including a
great deal of non-fiction ranging from history to biography, and several from
the children’s studies of foreign languages. The children were educated by private tutors
at home, so it would make sense to see many books related to their studies. But
thankfully fiction can be seen throughout the shelves of the schoolroom as well.
I think reading fiction opens one’s mind to creativity, imagination and
empathy. Possibly, the Glessners would agree with me that fiction can
positively impact your life by giving you the confidence to attempt new things
and meet new people.
Maybe these are reasons why George decided to go into politics in New
Hampshire to have a positive impact on his community. Or this might explain why
Frances Glessner Lee had an active and open mind and became interested in crime
scene investigation with her creation of the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained
Deaths. You can truly tell about one’s life through the books they read. From
my review of working within the school room’s collection, the Glessners read
books on a wide variety of topics, both fiction and non-fiction, which
encouraged their children to dream and achieve their goals.
