Clarence Leroy Holte (1909-1993) was an African American bibliophile, collecting books related to Africa and the African diaspora. The Clarence L. Holte audio collection consists of two audio recordings of interviews with Holte in which he talks about his career as a bibliophile and his collection of books.
Clarence Leroy Holte (1909-1993) was an African American bibliophile, collecting books related to Africa and the African diaspora. Holte assembled a collection of approximately 8,000 volumes covering the history and culture of Africans and people of African descent in the Americas and Europe. He collected both rare books and contemporary publications, the earliest published in 1690 as well as titles published through the 1970s, including many first editions. This collection was sold to Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria in 1977 following its exhibition at the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) in Nigeria.
In 1972, after Holte retired from his position in advertising, he managed the Nubian Press, the book publishing company that he founded. Its first publication was The Nubian Baby Book, designed to acquaint Black children with their African American and African heritage.
The Clarence L. Holte audio collection consists of two audio recordings of interviews with Holte in which he talks about his career as a bibliophile and his collection of books. They are arranged chronologically. Since the collection's original formats are audio cassettes, one of the items contains two parts, one for each side of the cassette.
Donated by Bolerium Books, 2003.
Collection inventoried by Nathan Evans. Collection processed and described by Ornella U. Baganizi, archivist; and Shola Lynch, curator. Finding aid published in 2024.
See the Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division for the Clarence L. Holte papers, 1947-2003, Sc MG 718.
See the Photographs and Prints Division for the Clarence L. Holte photograph collection [graphic], Sc Photo Clarence L. Holte Collection; and Clarence L. Holte portrait collection [graphic], Sc Photo Holte, Clarence L.
Our baby's first seven years, Sc G15-50 and Sc 649-H.