Charles Evans

Charles Evans (November 13, 1850 – February 8, 1935) was an American librarian and bibliographer.

Evans was named one of American Libraries 100 most important library and information science leaders of the 20th century. Evans is most well known as the bibliographer and compiler of the first 12 volumes of his book, American Bibliography: A Chronological Dictionary of All Books, Pamphlets, and Periodical Publications Printed in the United States of America from the Genesis of Printing in 1639 Down to and Including the Year 1830, with Bibliographical and Biographical Notes. He was also a founder of the American Library Association along with Melvil Dewey.

Biography

Early life The son of Irish immigrants Charles Peter and Mary Ewing Evans, Evans was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 13, 1850. Evans' parents both died before he was ten years old, at which point Evans and eventually his older brother, Thomas John, were sent to live and study at the Boston Asylum and Farm School for Indigent Boys on Thompson Island. In this donation, he is quoted as saying that because of the Boston Asylum and Farm School, he came to value and live by "obedience, fidelity, individual character and industry. Possessed of these, there is nothing which may not be obtained in life". In 1914, Evans was invited back to address students and guests at the school's 100th anniversary celebration.

Early stages of Evans' career Evans studied under Samuel Eliot—a trustee of the Boston Athenaeum—at the Boston Asylum and Farm School, and made such an impression on him that by the time Evans turned 16, on June 12, 1866, Eliot had hired him as assistant librarian at the Boston Athenaeum. It was here that Evans met William Frederick Poole, the librarian who would make the biggest impact on Evans' life when it came to his knowledge and appreciation for the organization and classification in libraries. Years later into his career, Evans would recommend Poole join the American Library Association. 1884-1887 Organizer and Assistant Librarian at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, MD In 1901, Evans was dismissed from his post as librarian at the McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago due to his quarreling over which classification to use – the committee wished to use Charles Cutter's system (which organized books by subject), while Evans demanded that they use the classification system he was both used to and fond of. Around the same time, Evans compiled his Charter, Constitution, By-laws, Roll of Membership, MDCCCLVI-MDCCCCI: List of Officers and Members, MDCCCCI (Chicago, 1901, printed for the Society) with several glaring factual errors, but when he refused to republish it correctly, they fired him. Originally, Evans stored his notecards in corset boxes with the dates contained within written on the illustration's waistline. The first volume was published by Evans himself and covered the span of 1639-1740.

Volume From To Year Dedicatee(s) Fulltext 1 1639 (1) 1729 (3244) 1903 Addison C. Harris, John Hampden Holliday, George Tousey Porter, et al. Internet ArchiveHathiTrust 2 1730 (3245) 1750 (6623) 1904 The President, Trustees, Proprietors, and Library officials of the Boston Athenæum Internet Archive 3 1751 (6624) 1764 (9890) 1905 William Frederick Poole Internet Archive 4 1765 (9891) 1773 (13091) 1907 Samuel Eliot Internet Archive 5 1774 (13092) 1778 (16176) 1909 Thomas Prince, Isaiah Thomas, Benjamin Franklin, John Carter Brown, George Brinley, James Lenox Internet Archive 6 1779 (16177) 1785 (19448) 1910 Samuel Foster Haven, James Hammond Trumbull, John Russell Bartlett, Henry Stevens, Joseph Sabin, Oswald Seidensticker, Charles Hammett, Charles Swift Riche Hildeburn Internet Archive 7 1786 (19449) 1789 (22297) 1912 President, Vice Presidents, Councillors, Officers, and Members of the American Antiquarian Society Internet Archive 8 1790 (22298) 1792 (25074) 1914 Committee of the Management of John Carter Brown Library at Brown University Internet Archive 9 Charles Saunders Brigham HathiTrust 10 Lena Young (Evans' wife) HathiTrust 11 1796 1797 John Quincey HathiTrust 12 Calvin Coolidge HathiTrust 13 1799 1800 HathiTrust 14 Index HathiTrust

The entire Evans Collection was eventually photographed and put onto microfilm, and is available at many research libraries. A paywalled fully searchable digital edition titled Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1980 is for sale from Readex, as part of its Archive of Americana.

Other writings Evans was also actively involved in both Library Journal and Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, and he was known to write for them from time to time, as well.

Marriage and children Evans married Lena Young, who supported and encouraged his work efforts, on April 8, 1883.

Gertrude, born 1884 Eliot Howland, born 1886 Charles Sumner, born 1888, who became a well-known golfer later in life. Chick Evans Constance Evans, born 1889

Death

Charles and Lena remained married until her death on October 5, 1933. Charles Evans died of a stroke on February 8, 1935, and was buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in Skokie, Illinois.

Honors, awards and memberships 1910 Elected to American Antiquarian Society 1926 Elected to Colonial Society of Massachusetts 1933 American Library Association Honorary Membership. 1934 Brown University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Letters