Thanks to a collaboration between the Hoose Library of Philosophy and USC Digital Library, you can now trace the beginnings of USC’s oldest library through a digital copy of Wallace Nethery’s magisterial study, Dr. Flewelling & The Hoose Library: Life and Letters of a Man and an Institution (1976).
The book offers a compelling portrait of life at a young university, which was expanding rapidly along with the dramatic growth of Los Angeles during the early twentieth century. The study of philosophy was a special area of focus for USC, and Nethery’s book reveals the origins of enduring symbols from that exceptional effort—notably Hoose Library and its significant collection of illuminated manuscripts, incunabula, and rare books.
A former head of Hoose Library who contributed 20 years of service to USC, Nethery explores the remarkable career and achievements of Ralph Tyler Flewelling, the inaugural director of USC’s School of Philosophy who guided its development for nearly thirty years from 1916 to 1945.
Flewelling led the School of Philosophy through the construction of the Seeley W. Mudd Hall of Philosophy and James Harmon Hoose Library of Philosophy in 1929. Nethery’s book documents Flewelling’s relationships with USC president George Bovard and other university leaders; the Mudd family and prominent donors who supported philosophy at USC; and distinguished USC philosophy faculty like Herbert Wildon Carr, F.C.S. Schiller, and Heinrich Gomperz.
Flewelling’s grit and resourcefulness are evident in his fundraising; recruiting of faculty from universities in London, Oxford, Vienna, and further afield; and assembling Hoose Library’s remarkable collection of rare books and incunabula from its humble beginnings in 1916.
To build Hoose’s collections, Flewelling embarked on ambitious book-buying expeditions across Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. Among his most notable acquisitions were a 1477 incunabulum of Walter Burley’s De vita et moribus philosophorum (at the time, the only known copy in the U.S.), an early fifteenth-century incunabulum of Albertus Magnus’ Summa naturalium, and fourteenth-century manuscripts by William of Ockham.
Along with USC’s heroic efforts to assemble a world-class philosophy library in two decades, Nethery also recounts Flewelling’s visits and correspondence with 20th century European philosophers such as Henri Bergson and Edmund Husserl and offers a unique view of the turbulent 1930s in the U.S. and Europe. In particular, Nethery’s account traces how USC and Los Angeles were impacted by the Great Depression and developments in Europe.
Among the most compelling episodes from Dr. Flewelling & The Hoose Library are Flewelling’s efforts to bring Austrian philosopher Heinrich Gomperz to USC in 1936 from increasingly unsafe conditions in Vienna. Along with ensuring Gomperz’s safety, Flewelling helped to secure his personal library of 18,000 rare books, which Nethery notes was considered “the finest collection of European philosophy then in private hands.”
Like other Jewish citizens of Austria and Germany, Gomperz’s personal property was subject to seizure and theft by the Nazi government. By transferring the legal ownership of the library to USC in 1938, Gomperz helped to safeguard the portion that remained in Vienna. After the U.S. entered World War II in 1941, Gomperz’s former secretary hid the collection from the Nazis in the basement of a bombed-out building in Vienna.
This larger-than-life story is vividly recounted by the opening lines of a 1948 Los Angeles Times article: “Coveted by Hitler, hunted by the Gestapo, hidden by a Viennese girl, and dug out of a bombed building by the U.S. Army, the world-famous Gomperz collection of philosophy books came to rest yesterday in the University of Southern California.”
Dr. Melissa Miller, head of Hoose Library, said about Flewelling’s efforts on behalf of Gomperz: “Ralph Tyler Flewelling’s legacy is defined by his commitment to justice, his deep compassion, and ethical leadership, particularly in helping scholars escape Nazi persecution, leaving a lasting impact on both the cultural heritage of USC and the broader field of higher education.”
Miller is currently researching Flewelling’s close ties with Gomperz and his wife Ada, a well-known design architect. Flewelling sponsored them for their U.S. naturalization applications after he helped them to escape Nazi persecution in Vienna. Miller is intrigued by the role of the Gomperz collection in advancing philosophy research and teaching at USC and the humanitarian roots of the discipline at our university, as exemplified by Flewelling.
Miller and Christina Snider from Hoose Library worked with the USC Digital Library to complete the archival-quality digitization of Dr. Flewelling & The Hoose Library at USC’s imaging lab.
USC students were closely involved in many aspects of the project and transcribed the contents of the volume so the digital copy is searchable by keyword and the names of key figures like George Bovard, Ada and Heinrich Gomperz, and F.C.S. Schiller.
Dr. Flewelling & The Hoose Library also reproduces a number of visually striking bookplates from the libraries of Flewelling, Hoose, and other collections featured in Nethery’s account. You can view the original bookplates in the gallery below and explore the newly available digital copy of Dr. Flewelling & The Hoose Library in the USC Digital Library.
