Biographical Note
Ruthven Deane (1851-1934) was born in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts. As a teenager, he began collecting bird specimens on the banks of the Fresh Pond reservoir and Vassal Lane in nearby Cambridge. Among his friends were Daniel Chester French (1850-1931), who went on to become a sculptor and bookplate engraver, and the naturalist William Brewster (1851-1919). Deane also developed what became a lifelong interest in the people and events of history, perhaps through his father's library. His own father had earned a sufficient living as a businessman to retire early and focus his interests on building his private library. There is some evidence, from the correspondence on the verso of the mounted bookplates, that Ruthven Deane either inherited his father's bookplate collection, or at the very least, his passion for it.
Ruthven Deane elected not to attend university, but found employment with the Boston sugar importers, Dana Brothers, as a teenager. After the Boston Fire of 1872, he pivoted to the insurance business. In 1880, he followed his brother, Charles E. Deane (1846-1933), to Chicago, Illinois, where they ran the wholesale grocery business, Deane Brothers and Lincoln. Following in his father's footsteps, he retired in 1903 at the age of 52.
Deane's childhood interest in birding led him to become one of the founding members of the Nuttall Ornithological Club in Cambridge, as well as the Illinois Audubon Society, serving as its first president in 1897. Although not designated one of the founding members of the American Ornithologists' Union, he became an active member shortly after its initial meeting in 1883. He served on the Council of the Union from 1898 until his death. In addition to collecting taxidermy birds, Deane selectively collected books and papers relating to John James Audubon, and compiled a collection of portraits of naturalists and ornithologists. One of his ornithologist acquaintances with whom he also traded bookplates, Dr. Casey Wood (1856-1942), wrote of him, "When the time arrives for the publication of complete biographies of New World ornithologists, the fame of Ruthven Deane as a letter-writer ought to be regarded as a genuine contribution to those histories."
In 1910, having begun his collection of portraits of ornithologists, Deane began collecting bookplates owned by them. After he amassed a substantial collection of plates, representing notable owners, as well as definitive collections by specific artists, the Art Institute of Chicago invited him to create an exhibition in 1918. It will come as no surprise to anyone who views the voluminous correspondence pasted to the versos of many mounts, that Deane was famous for making and maintaining friendships, as well as his correspondence. The correspondence alone makes this a collection worth viewing, as it assists in dating plates, in understanding relationships between bookplate owners and collectors, and in understanding how collectors amassed large collections in the early 20th century. Some letters indicate that trading occurred. Deane was famous for not spending a lot of money on his collections, and notations on the versos of his bookplates, indicate when and from whom he received the particular plate. These inscriptions are noted in the finding aid, and show how collectors interacted. In addition, on many of the mounted plates, he noted biographical details of the owner. Believing himself to be a true amateur collector, he rarely purchased bookplates at auction. He prized the bookplate Sidney Lawton Smith designed for him, featuring his love of ornithology prominently. Along with Dr. Casey Wood, the initials DBF for angling expert Daniel Butler Fearing (1859-1918) and GCD for his brother George C. Deane (1854-1930) especially stand out.
When Deane died in 1934, he left behind his widow, Martha Towner Deane, and two sons, Charles Deane and H. Towner Deane. In addition to receiving the bookplate collection as a gift from Deane's widow, the Library received his photographs of ornithologists as a gift from Deane himself, just before his death.