HYLAND
Thomas Jefferson's bookcases are simple, functional,
indeed, even Bauhaus. I have often contemplated them,
quite aside from their contents. They are carpenter-like,
as plain, concise and straightforward as the American
Declaration of Independence and Constitution. They, like
the Constitution, hold huge ideas in small spaces, easily
accessible and understood.
What would Jefferson, at once erudite and practical, have
made of our latter-day book culture? The question has
intrigued me for many years, beginning when I compiled my
own list of favorite books, as an article for an entire issue
of Shelter magazine (now Interiors) which I guest-edited.
In amassing my own library over decades, I often ponder
the multiple libraries of Thomas Jefferson. What books,
what small tomes full of large ideas, would Jefferson find
appealing in the near-200 years since his death? Since
the founding of HYLAND, I have been seeking a curator to
compile such a list.
Nancy Bass Wyden is just such a curator. Nancy possesses
an eighty-seven year family lineage of curating books, literally
three generations: her grandfather Benjamin Bass, her father
Fred Bass and now herself, all proprietors, nay custodians,
of America's ultimate private library, the incomparable and
legendary Strand Bookstore, now comprising 2.5 million
books.
This author first visited the Strand in the 1960s. But a
memorable curatorial experience with Nancy occurred
