Two Ege Leaves in Frames
with
Two Ege Labels

in the Collection of Birgitt G. Lopez

(Ege MS 14, MS 20, and MS 9 + 54)

Mildred Budny

Collection of Birgitt G. Lopez, Framed Leaf from ‘Otto Ege Manuscript 20’, Front-Facing Page (“Recto”).

[Posted on 10 May 2022, with an update]

Acquired separately in Dallas, Texas, over the course of some five years and through the Dallas Public Library, two vellum leaves from manuscripts dispersed through Otto F. Ege (1888–1951) now belong to a single collection, that of Birgitt G. Lopez. The two leaves, differing in size, script, layout, and type of book, come from two different manuscripts from Ege’s collection.  With each leaf travelled a printed Label composed and printed by Ege to accompany the dispersed specimens of the particular manuscript.

Each leaf has been reframed.  Its identifying Label is retained and taped to the back of the frame.  Recently, after a visit to Dallas Public Library to examine its relative from one of those Ege manuscripts, Mr. Lopez contacted me, at the suggestion of the Librarian, and generously offered to share information about both Ege leaves in the collection with our and others’ study of Ege materials.

The Links of Transmission from Otto Ege

When reporting the existence of the leaves to me, Ernesto Lopez recollects that the first leaf was purchased at an auction benefiting the Dallas Public Library.  The second was a gift some five years later from Lillian Moore Bradshaw (1915–2010), long-time Director of the Dallas Public Library (1962–1984).

Mr. Lopez reports:

I purchased the first one in an auction benefiting the Dallas Public Library 1998 and the second one was a gift in 2003 from Lillian Bradshaw, the long-time Dallas Public Library Director.  Ms. Bradshaw told me at the time that she purchased the items directly from Mr. Ege; I have the letter laying out the provenance in Ms. Bradshaw’s hand.  . . . .  She told me [that] she was working in the Dallas Public Library’s Director’s office when Mr. Ege came to make a sales call. . . . I served eight years on the Dallas Municipal Library Board where I got to know Mrs. Bradshaw.

Also:

Several months ago, I went to the Rare Books collection at Dallas Public Library to do some research on the two leaves that I own.  The Rare Books Librarian gave me your email address so that my two leaves can be added to the body of work your group is doing on the Otto Ege manuscripts.

I framed both of the leaves leaving the explanatory text from Otto Ege on the back of the framed works.
The first leaf is similar to the leaf in the Dallas Public Library collection. It is roughly 15″ by 10″.

With permission, we publish images and report some preliminary research results, which can aid in allowing the leaves to become more widely known in their own right.

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