The Sid Lapidus ’59 Collection on Liberty and the American Revolution, given to Princeton University Library in 2021, documents the new conceptions of human liberty, political order, and scientific reasoning that emerged in the Anglo-American intellectual world between the 17th and 19th centuries. This exhibition celebrates the collecting achievements of Sid Lapidus, who has devoted many years to the acquisition of rare books that trace the emergence of Enlightenment ideas and their influence on politics, medicine, and society, creating a powerful tool for understanding the ideas that have shaped modern American society. 

As Lapidus recalls, ‘My first antiquarian book was purchased in 1959. In a bookseller’s dusty window, I noticed a small book, a 1792 edition of Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man. The principal theme of my collection was even embedded in the title of [this first purchase]’. His collection also encompasses works that trace the progress of scientific thought.

A dedicated philanthropist, Lapidus has donated his books to several libraries, including Princeton University Library; the American Antiquarian Society; the Wolf Law Library at the College of William and Mary; the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; the Center for Jewish History; the New-York Historical Society; and the New York University Health Sciences Library. His contributions have strengthened the existing collections at those libraries, helping create collections of research value, with works that often are in conversation with one another.