Thanks to the generosity of Professor Jonathan Steinberg, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Modern European History and former Chair of the Department of History at the University of Pennsylvania and formerly also at Cambridge University, Franklin University Switzerland now hosts a new collection of 2300 books about Switzerland and Swiss studies at the disposal of the Franklin community and the general public.
Prof Jonathan Steinberg completes the collection he donated with a copy of ‘Why Switzerland?’, his latest book.
The new book collection, previously hosted at the University of Pennsylvania, includes periodicals, journal articles and books focusing on Switzerland and its history, politics, and culture. The generous donation was officially acknowledged at a ceremony held on Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016 in the Kaletsch Conference Room in presence of Professor Jonathan Steinberg and a group of experts on Swiss studies, Franklin faculty and students, and other external guests.
In acknowledging the gift, FUS President Greg Warden said: “Universities are repositories of knowledge, and Franklin is honored to have been offered the opportunity to house a comprehensive compendium of publications on Switzerland and Swiss studies as part of its library. The collection generously donated by Professor Steinberg represents a great step forward for research at Franklin, and will be extremely valuable not only to the Franklin community but also to the general public.”
FUS Emeritus Professor of History Floyd Parsons saluted the important gift as follows: “As stated by Ivor Armstrong Richards in his 1924 book The Principles of Literary Criticism, ‘a book is a machine to think with’. That Professor Steinberg’s library of ‘machines to think with’ is now here for the use of Franklin students, who are from and who study ‘all quarters of the earth’, is a fitting tribute to his life and work, and an honor to all of us associated with Franklin now and in the future”.
On his part, Professor Steinberg said: “Giving up your library is like sending your infant child to school – you turn around, and it’s not there anymore. But I am very happy that my Swiss collection is going to Franklin, as I know it will be in good hands. I hope you will read and enjoy these books.”
At the ceremony, Professor Steinberg also applied the very first book plate on the collection, on a copy of the recently published third edition of Why Switzerland?, his classic account of the country’s unique political and economic system.
The evening continued with Professor Steinberg’s special lecture on Ticino and the Mystery of Swiss Identity in the FUS Nielsen Auditorium, attended by well over 200 people, and following the lecture, Professor Steinberg kindly made himself available to sign copies of the new book.
