![]() He spoke about the Friends of the Library for the California Library Association and again in 1951 about his own collection. He was a member of the Library Commission of San Francisco for seven years and its president in 1944. Schmulowitz was an active library supporter even before he donated his humor books. Monuments of this same style are two hundred and fifty dollars. This monument was erected by her husband as a tribute to her memory and a specimen of his work. The text of one of the more subtle pieces of humor reads: Here lies Jane Smith, Wife of Thomas Smith, Marble Cutter. The first issue, published in a run of 250 by the Grabhorn Press, featured epitaphs. 1 The five volumes of Anecdota SCOWAH are historical studies on humor published as keepsakes for the Roxburghe Club members. In 1963 William Ramirez, then Principal Librarian of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, wrote that Schmulowitz edited and published five volumes of Anecdota SCOWAH, the American Journal of World Folklore, in addition to his legal writings and presentations. Schmulowitz published in legal journals, and was highly successful lawyer, but humor prevailed, even in the naming of his country home, "Smilin Thru," in Saratoga, California. Nevertheless, his most famous case was probably the successful defense of Roscoe ("Fatty") Arbuckle, the famous movie comedian, for the murder of a movie starlet. ![]() A practicing lawyer in San Francisco, Schmulowitz specialized in probate and corporate law. The Schmulowitz Collection contains many titles relating to Nat Schmulowitz's own profession, such as The Lawyer in History, Literature, and Humor. These two catalogs record several centuries of intriguing titles such as Anecdotes of the Learned Pig or Earthworms Through the Ages as well as tittles clearly related to the 1990s, such as A Skeptic's Political Dictionary and Handbook for the Disenchanted. The Catalog of the Schmulowitz Collection of Wit and Humor, published in 1962, listed 11,200 titles, and the 1977 Supplement One added 3,100 more. It's a wonderful, wonderful disease!" He bought books, pamphlets, and journals from dealers all over the world a comprehensive collection was his goal. Langpaap, retired head of cataloging, wrote in her reminiscences of Schmulowitz that she recalled him saying "It's a disease! My spare moments are completely filled with reading catalogues and sending orders. He also donated $500, a tidy sum then, to the library for the development of the collection, but his own fascination with the books kept him adding to it himself. Nat Schmulowitz (1889-1966), attorney and bibliophile, initiated this collection for the library on an appropriate date, 1 April 1947, by donating 93 books from his personal collection of literature on humor, wit, jest, anecdote, and the psychology of laughter, wit, and humor. SCOWAH bookplate A jester on a bookplate would suggest books of a merry disposition, and a jester is just what the San Francisco Public Library has provided for the 3.5 by 4.5-inch bookplate of the Schmulowitz Collection of Wit and Humor.
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