Book Collection

The books in the Ancient World Gallery were collected by Talbot R. Selby, a former Classical Studies professor at the University of Richmond. Selby’s Classics career was inspired largely by the University of North Carolina’s Berthold Louis Ullman, a famed classicist who helped write the popular textbook Latin for Americans. 

Due to Selby’s service in World War II, the G.I. Bill helped fund his education. He received not only a Bachelor’s and a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, but a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Rome, where he attended the Sapienza University in 1952. In 1956, he returned to Rome, building a massive collection of rare books. In the 1970s, he was the Chairman of the Board at St. Stephen’s School in Rome, stepping in with colleague Bill Benton to keep it from closing. He was also a founding member of the Mediterranean Society of America, was on the Board of Directors of St. Christopher’s School in the 1960s, and taught at the University of Richmond for twenty-eight years before retiring. At the time of his death, Selby was working on a translation of a Filippo Villani volume (#86). 

In addition to being an excellent classicist, Selby was passionate about gardening, cooking, and bluegrass. He also owned a wine store in Midlothian, called Chez Edouard, in the late 70s and early 80s. As a professor, he was known for his intelligence and sense of humor. The books in the Gallery are only a small part of his collection: his children, Talbot H. Selby, Sarah Ely Kelly, Barbara S. Wells, Marjorie S. Jurek, and Elizabeth S. McCarthy, donated these to the University upon his death.

For a detailed catalog of books in the collection, see https://blog.richmond.edu/urancient/books-catalog/.

(Research by Ava Scott, '25)