Leonard L. Milberg, ’53
This world-class collection of Irish Theater was donated to Princeton by Leonard L. Milberg, a member of the Class of 1953, who is chairman of the board of Milberg Factors Inc. in New York City. It is the fourth major collection of books he has given to Princeton University.
In the spring of 1988, Milberg announced that he would fund a collection of modern American poetry in honor of Richard M. Ludwig, emeritus professor of American Literature. Today, that collection holds close to 4,000 first editions, broadsides, and ephemeral items. In July 1994, Milberg presented the Library with a collection of Irish poetry, again in honor of Professor Ludwig; currently, it has nearly 2,000 items. The Collection of Jewish American Writers, given in 2001 in honor of Harold T. Shapiro, includes almost 2,000 items, some documenting the earliest days of Jewish publishing in the United States.
In October 2002, the newest of Leonard Milberg’s collections, Irish Theater, was begun at the suggestion of Professor Samuel Hynes and with the encouragement of Paul Muldoon.
“This bounteous gift from Leonard Milberg,” writes Muldoon, “puts Princeton front and center-stage when it comes to American universities and their holdings in Irish theater material. Generations of scholars, both faculty and students, will be indebted to him.”