Donors, Faculty baffled by move to break up rare book collection:
Sale May Prove Costly for Gordon College
Sale May Prove Costly for Gordon College
The family of Edward Payson Vining donated the 7,000-volume collection to Gordon College in 1922 with the condition that it remain intact and with the college.
The collection includes a Ximenes Greek Bible, a first-edition Martin Luther German Bible and "Up-Biblum God," a 1663 Bible translated by the Puritan missionary John Eliot into Algonquin.
.Vining's great-granddaughter, 76-year-old Sandra Webber, told The Boston Globe she was "shocked" when she was told of the sale by a reporter
The sale also has disappointed donor Dale E. Fowler, who told the Globe he was considering withdrawing a $60 million bequest. He blamed college president D. Michael Lindsay, who spearheaded the auction.
Faculty members say they were left out of the decision-making process. "The Vining collection is an example of the larger issue of a breakdown between the faculty and the administration"