Author Description

Excerpt from The Bookman Is a Hummingbird: Book Collecting in the Middle West and the House of Walter M. Hill Mrs. Lawrence Montgomery) and, in time, in the remarkable scholarly careers and the devotion of two granddaughters. These, his family, always were uppermost in his thoughts; even though for years far away they protected him against being lonesome, as a host of friends indeed kept him cheerful. But no man, especially when he builds up a use ful business and a reputation for personal and professional integrity, can be considered separate from his group. We therefore must review the background against which Walter Hill built his house in Chicago, and the needs and demands that he was called upon to fill. Private book collecting naturally began and developed in Chicago and the Middle West much as it did elsewhere, in an effort of some thoughtful individuals to enlighten themselves and preserve past and contemporary evidence sustaining records of fact and memory. Long before the fire of 1871 a considerable mass of books, papers, and other relics were assembled at the instance of the Chi cago Historical Society, and even after the great fire had destroyed this harvest, a second gleaning, not negligible, was possible The preserving forces of those days the men of action and of foresight who took a hand in public affairs earned much still unrecorded praise. Four of ourgovernors are authors of very creditable histories of this state, and many of our judges, our editors, our bankers, and even our businessmen, proved themselves most efficient protectors of records, papers, letters, and other documents, which time and again became essential for the purpose of crit ical historical studies. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct th