Alternative Assets
Silver Special Collections
Corrected typescript drafts of Henry
Miller’s 1971 article on Picasso
for Life Magazine. All photos
by Sally McCay.
Burlington native Bruce Lisman ’69 is, among many other things, a book lover and book collector. For decades he has pursued the gems and rarities of American literature through sales catalogs, showrooms, and auction houses. But every truly great collector knows when the time comes to start making the fruits of their passion available to a broader audience. And, luckily, Bruce is a truly great collector.
A longtime generous supporter of UVM who served on the Board of Trustees from 1996 to 2004, Bruce began to think that the UVM Libraries would make a good home for part of his collection. Then, in the fall of 2018, he attended a reception marking the opening of the University’s Jack ’64 & Shirley Silver Special Collections Library. Seeing the marvelous new space in Billings Library, talking with some of the program’s benefactors, and reconnecting with the library’s staff made him realize that the time was right. Within three months, Bruce and his wife Kyla Sternlieb ’06 had made one of the most generous donations in the library’s history: over 170 rare twentieth-century first editions (many signed by their authors) and a selection of related manuscript material. Director of Special Collections Jeffrey Marshall calls it “one of the finest collections of modern firsts I have ever seen.”
Notes by Jack Kerouac related to his novel Maggie Cassidy (1953).
“I believe that it's important for UVM to have diverse collections that are of great intellectual value. Each component might not interest everyone, but taken together they help attract students, faculty, and community members to the University. They ignite students' curiosity and inspire people—and the outcomes of that can be truly transformative.”
Bruce Lisman '69
“I believe that it's important for UVM to have diverse collections that are of great intellectual value. Each component might not interest everyone, but taken together they help attract students, faculty, and community members to the University. They ignite students' curiosity and inspire people—and the outcomes of that can be truly transformative.”
Bruce Lisman '69
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs (A.C. McClurg, 1914); Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller (1949), inscribed by Miller and signed by the original Broadway cast. Howl and Other Poems and Kaddish and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg. All photos by Sally McCay.
Donating Alternative Assets
Do you have collections, real estate, or other non-monetary assets that you would consider donating to the University of Vermont? Please email impact@uvm.edu or call
1-888-458-8691 to start a conversation.