Otto Ege
Otto F. Ege | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1888 |
| Died | 1951 |
| Occupation(s) | Educator, lecturer, bookseller |
| Years active | Early 20th century |
| Known for | Dismantling medieval manuscripts and creating "Otto Ege Portfolios" |
Otto F. Ege (1888–1951) was an educator, lecturer, bookseller, and a prominent figure known for dismantling books. His career included extensive service at the Cleveland Institute of Art, where he held roles such as Chair of the Teacher Training Department, instructor in Lettering, Layout, and Typography, and also served as Dean. Additionally, he delivered lectures on the History of the Book at the School of Library Science at Case Western Reserve University.
Ege became widely recognized for his practice of breaking apart manuscripts. Throughout much of the early 20th century, he disassembled approximately 50 illuminated medieval manuscripts and assembled 40 distinct compilation sets referred to as the "Otto Ege Portfolios." These sets were marketed and distributed internationally, resulting in considerable financial gain. Ege defended his approach by emphasizing that distributing individual original manuscript leaves allowed broader access and educational interaction with these cultural artifacts.
In recent times, Professor Peter Stoicheff from the University of Saskatchewan has taken initiative to identify existing Ege Portfolios and bring their owners together to create an "Ege Medieval Manuscript Database," which supports efforts toward digitally reconstructing the original manuscripts.
The personal holdings of Ege, which included 50 intact manuscript volumes, were purchased in 2015 by the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University Library.
See also
External links
- Otto F. Ege: Fifty Original Leaves from Medieval Manuscripts Digital Collection hosted by Stony Brook University Libraries, which holds No. 19 among the 40 unique portfolios created by Ege.
- Book of Hours (Use of Paris) – Reconstructed Quire/Book A partial reconstruction of a Book of Hours dismantled by Otto Ege in the 1940s, listed as no. 30 in his "Fifty Original Leaves of Medieval Manuscripts" portfolios; cataloged in 2017 by Simmons School of Library and Information Science students.
- Otto F. Ege Collection Curated by Denison University to document the portfolio collections of Ege’s manuscript leaves.
- David Bindle, 50 Medieval Manuscript Leaves A complete digital book featuring images from the Otto Ege Collection at the University of Saskatchewan Library.