WVU Libraries

Two curators from the WVU Libraries’ West Virginia & Regional History Collection will travel to the Huntington Museum of Art on Sept. 20 to speak about art and rare books.

John Cuthbert, WVRHC Curator, and Harold M. Forbes, Rare Books Collection Curator, will speak as part of an exhibit titled “American Masterpieces from the Daywood Collection,” which focuses on the contributions of Arthur and Ruth Dayton.

“The Daytons were likely the most significant collectors of fine art and rare books in the history of our state. They were also generous philanthropists,” Cuthbert said. “Their legacy lives on in the collections of the WVU Libraries and the Huntington Museum of Art as well as in the Daywood Foundation, which Mrs. Dayton founded to provide support for higher education and other worthwhile endeavors.”

Arthur Dayton’s book collection serves as the foundation for the WVU Libraries’ Rare Books Collection, which is the finest in the state. The couple donated their art collection to the Huntington Museum. Cuthbert will talk about the Daytons, their heritage and legacy while Forbes will focus on the rare book collection.

Arthur Dayton, born in Philippi in 1887, received his associate’s and law degree from WVU and went on to earn a master’s of arts from Yale University. He practiced law briefly in his hometown before moving to Charleston.

Over the years, the booklover amassed a collection containing several rare treasures, including multiple first-editions by Mark Twain and other American authors, first editions of John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Paradise Regain’d, Shakespeare’s four Folio editions, and the Nuremberg Chronicle, which, printed in 1492, chronicled the world’s history up to that point.

The lecture begins at 2 p.m. and is open to the public. A reception will follow.