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Concept
Laurence Claiborne Witten II
Summary
Laurence C. Witten II (Larry Witten, April 3, 1926 – April 18, 1995), was an American rare book dealer and collector of antiquities.
Laurence Witten was born into a wealthy Virginia family with interests in the tobacco and furniture manufacturing businesses, but was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of life insurance agent Laurence Claiborne Witten I (1886-1937) & Julia (née McLaren), He enlisted in the army in the Second World War, and after the war studied music at Williams College, graduating in 1948. He then went on to gain a Bachelor of Music degree (BMus) at Yale in 1951. He then opened Laurence Witten Rare Books close to Yale's Sterling Library in New Haven, Connecticut, taking advantage of the dollar's strength to buy large quantities of early books and manuscripts in Europe. He married Cora Williams, a Yale student from Georgia, in 1954, the year she gained her BMus, and the first of their three daughters was born in 1955.
In many cases, European dealers were unable to give him much information about the items Witten was buying, but he took pride in the historical research necessary to overcome these problems, as can be seen in the twenty catalogues he produced between the 1950s and the 1980s. This dedication was most evident in his acquisition and sale of the Vinland Map, and its associated manuscripts, between 1957 and 1959. Even after he had sold them to fellow Yale alumnus Paul Mellon, he was able to give a great deal of assistance to the international team (led by his friend and frequent customer, Yale librarian Thomas Marston) assigned the job of authenticating the Map, both answering their questions and volunteering suggestions over a period of years.
Witten and his wife were both keen collectors. Among their interests were early stringed musical instruments and associated items, sound recordings capturing 19th century singing styles, pre-Columbian American art, and antique automobiles. After acquiring the very large vocal recording collection of George T.
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