Description
A millionaire carpet manufacturer, noted philanthropist, and avid yachtsman, Alexander Smith Cochran, Yale Class of 1896, gathered a superb collection of original editions of plays and related works from the reign of Queen Elizabeth. In 1911, with the help of William Lyon Phelps, Cochran launched Yale's Elizabethan Club as a place to house his collection and offer a congenial environment for social and intellectual interaction between Yale undergraduates, graduates, and faculty concerned with literature and the arts. Cochran's creation "changed the tone and atmosphere of modern Yale" until the colleges arrived.
Drawing on extensive sources, Walter Goffart surveys Cochran's life and many occupations, notably his founding of the "Lizzie." He also takes a close look at Cochran's intriguing wife of two years, Ganna Walska-the aspiring opera singer celebrated for developing the Lotusland gardens in Montecito, California.
Distributed for the Elizabethan Club, Yale University
About the Author
Walter Goffart is professor emeritus of history at the University of Toronto and a senior research scholar in the Department of History at Yale University.
Book Information
ISBN 9780300255485
Author Walter Goffart
Format Hardback
Page Count 248
Imprint Yale University Press
Publisher Yale University Press