Dr. Frank's Winery Donates Historic Book Collection to Cornell
Hammondsport, New York – January 15, 2008 – Dr. Frank's Winery helps to make the viticulture and winemaking collection at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station's Lee Library one of the best in the country. The Konstantin Frank family book donation consists of 132 titles (96 for Lee Library and 36 for various libraries on the Ithaca campus). The collection is composed of 19th and 20th century titles on a wide variety of topics including horticulture, plant science, viticulture, enology, chemistry, nature, history and literature with the largest single subject category being wine and grape related material. When Dr. Frank emigrated to the United States in 1951 from Europe, he sacrificed all other luggage and only brought his precious collection of books. The collection shows Dr. Frank to have been multilingual as these texts are in English, German, French and Russian.
Of particular interest in the collection were a number of wine appreciation titles signed by the authors to Dr. Frank. Also of special notice were French and Russian ampelographies and a multi volume history of horticulture in Russia. Researchers will no doubt be intrigued by the numerous handwritten notes which illustrate Dr. Frank's view on grape varieties and various vineyard practices.
The grape growing and wine making titles, which compose the largest portion of the donation, will contribute greatly to the Lee Library's already impressive holdings in those areas. The Lee Library's viticulture and enology collection, said to be the finest east of the Rocky Mountains, is comprised of over 2,700 books and over 40 current subscriptions to periodicals from around the world. Together with the larger Cornell Library system these holdings in enology and viticulture exceed 7,000 titles. The Lee Library (located in Geneva,NY) will also be setting up a display about Dr. Konstantin Frank containing ephemera found in the book collection. Some of the historical materials found were vintage photos, tickets and papers.
Located on Keuka Lake a few miles north of Hammondsport, Dr. Frank’s has long been associated with the New York wine revolution. Its founder, Dr. Konstantin Frank, helped pioneer the introduction of the European vitis vinifera grapevines in the eastern United States. For his contributions in the American wine industry he was inducted into the Wine Spectator’s “Hall of Fame”. Now in its third generation, Dr. Frank's continues as New York's most award-winning winery. For more information, please contact Frederick Frank at (800) 320-0735 or visit the website at http://www.drfrankswines.com.
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