LHRT (Library History Round Table)

Ruth Mortimer (1931- 1994) was an American rare books curator and librarian at Harvard University and Smith College.

Ruth Mortimer began her career with rare books while an undergraduate at Smith College, working as an assistant in the Rare Book Room until her graduation summa cum laude in 1953. She went on to obtain a master's degree in Library Science from Columbia University.

From 1957 to 1975 Mortimer worked at the Houghton Library at Harvard University, producing two remarkable catalogues of their sixteenth-century French and Italian books. French Sixteenth-Century Books, the first catalogue, was chosen by the American Institute of Graphic Arts as one of the Fifty Books of the Year for 1964.

In 1975 Mortimer returned to Smith College, where she served as curator of rare books until her death in January 1994. While curator, she was instrumental in obtaining the Sylvia Plath Collection and the Frances Hooper Collection of Virginia Woolf. 

Mortimer also taught a course in the art department on the history of books and printing, which utilized the Rare Book Room's holdings. 

Ruth Mortimer was fascinated with the publishing history of Frankenstein and collected subsequent editions, secondary material, videos, audiocassettes, and ephemera for fifteen years. These are available at Smith College.

From 1988 to 1992, Mortimer served as the president of the Bibliographical Society of America, the first woman to hold the position.

• 1966: Guggenheim Fellowship
• 1984-5: Rosenbach Fellow in Bibliography, University of Pennsylvania
• 1991: Columbia University School of Library Service Distinguished Alumni Award^[1]
• 1992: John M. Greene Award, Smith College. 

The  rare book collection at Smith College was named in Mortimer's honor in 1994. Sarah M. Prichard was Director of Smith College Library at this time.

The Mortimer Rare Book Room : in honor of Ruth Mortimer Lancaster '53 curator of rare books 1975-1994, dedication April 23, 1994, Smith College. (see attachment).

Smith College, Harold McGrath, Ruth Mortimer, James Sacré, and Press of the Sea Turtle. 1994. The Mortimer Rare Book Room: In Honor of Ruth Mortimer Lancaster '53 Curator of Rare Books 1975-1994, Dedication April 23, 1994, Smith College. 

Sources:

Mortimer, Ruth, and Michèle Valerie Cloonan. 1997. Books Illustrated: Presentations from the Symposium Celebrating the Work of Ruth Mortimer Held at Smith College, April 12-13, 1996. Northampton, Mass.: Smith College.

Tanselle, G. Thomas (1994). "In Memoriam Ruth Mortimer, 1931–1994". The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America. 88 (3): 269–278.

Memorial Resolution for RUTH MORTIMER. American Library Association. RBMS Newsletter -Ruth Mortimer Memorial Resolution April 1994.

Mortimer, Ruth. 1994. Women in the Renaissance III : Studies in Honor of Ruth Mortimer. Amherst, Mass.: Dept. of English, University of Massachusetts.

Mortimer, Ruth. "St. Catherine of Siena and the Printed Book," The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 86 (March 1992): 11-22.

Harvard University, and Ruth Mortimer. 1974. Harvard College Library Department of Printing and Graphic Arts Catalogue of Books and Manuscripts. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Ruth Mortimer Frankenstein collection. Smith College.

Ruth Mortimer - Wikipedia