Harry Falkenau - Bibliophile and Antiquarian
Bibliophile and antiquarian are but two words to describe Harry Falkenau (1864-1907) of Chicago. And he was quite accomplished at both, as well as oration, but his real passion was music. This 1903 postal card, however, introduced me to Harry the bookseller and his penchant for rare books as both collector and dealer. The postal card here served as a business communication, or receipt, to Iowa College Library in Grinnell, Iowa, acknowledging receipt of payment for an unnamed book. Falkenau gained some notoriety as a Cornell University student when he defended Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass against obscenity charges in 1882. A gifted orator, Falkenau was selected three years later to deliver a commencement speech at Cornell and Whitman surfaced again. His speech was titled, The Poetry of the Future as Foreshadowed in the Writings of Walt Whitman . He also composed music and played violin and pianoforte. He was a member of the Irving Literary Society (a regular ven...