21 November 2005

Medieval scholar donates personal book collection to Longwood University’s Greenwood Library

Dr. Joan B. Williamson, a noted medieval scholar, has recently given to Longwood University’s Greenwood Library more than 1,800 books in medieval French literature and numerous other diverse fields.

The books include not only many editions of French texts and critical studies of French literature, but also illustrated tomes in art history of all periods, Japanese-related books, scientific texts and miscellaneous other items. The gift, which has been at the library since late July, is still being acquisitioned and catalogued by library personnel.

“Greenwood Library’s collections in the humanities will be considerably strengthened by this substantial gift,” said Dr. Raymond Cormier, visiting professor of French at Longwood, who was a Harvard classmate of Dr. Williamson.

Dr. Williamson, who lives in New York City, is a widely published scholar in medieval studies who taught at the University of California at Santa Barbara, then C.W. Post College in Long Island, N.Y. After the death this year of her husband, Sam Williamson, who had been a physics professor at New York University, Dr. Williamson decided, in consultation with Dr. Cormier, to have her personal library removed and donated to Longwood.

“This significant gift will definitely make Longwood’s holdings unique in south-central Virginia,” Dr. Cormier said. “With one stroke, the magnanimous Dr. Williamson has enriched our intellectual possibilities tremendously.”