The Inventory of the late Lawrence Feinberg

Deborah Chaleff and Jacqueline Feinberg introduce the Early Printed Books & Manuscripts from the Inventory of the late Lawrence Feinberg sale on May 11, 2010 at Swann:
“Lawrence Feinberg was originally on the path to becoming a chemical engineer, but changed direction and followed his passion for papyrology. Mastering Greek, Latin, Egyptian, and various Semitic languages, he received his Master’s Degree from Columbia University in 1967.

He was hired by Columbia in 1968 to sort and preserve more than 1,000 papyri and vellum fragments that the university had acquired from Egyptian dealers. During this project, he discovered one of the oldest written fragments of Homer’s Odyssey, dating to the third century B.C.

Lawrence became a specialist in ancient manuscripts and established a business in rare books and manuscripts out of his home.

He was a collector in many other fields and enjoyed the process of putting together great collections. He dove into the world of numismatics and collected old and rare coins. He took an interest in and collected early American furniture, prints, paintings, and decorative antiquities. Lawrence appreciated the beauty of these items and the history that they hold, believing that knowledge of history was of the utmost importance.