Queen Victoria's sketchbook and original letters from Prince Albert and the future Edward VII are featured in a new exhibit at the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections in the University of Rochester's Rush Rhees Library. Also included are Victorian edition bindings, books illustrated with original photographs, and manuscripts by Thackeray and British Poet Laureate Robert Southey.
All are from a collection assembled by Robert F. Metzdorf, who was awarded in 1939 the University's first Ph.D. in English. Metzdorf taught English literature at Rochester and held several posts at the University's library before moving on to key library positions at Harvard and Yale. He later became vice president for literary properties at Parke-Bernet Auction Galleries. He produced many scholarly publications, and was a trustee of the University from 1967 until his death in 1975.
The title of the exhibition, "Only the Best Would Do," are Metzdorf's words referring to a fine collection elsewhere. They also apply to his own way of life: His perseverance, taste, intelligence, and wit are evident in the collections he formed and gave to his alma mater.