Maurice Firuski (26 June 1894 – 9 February 1978) was an American bookseller.

Life

Firuski was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and was a 1916

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

graduate. He was also a

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

veteran of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Firuski became a well-known man of letters. He was considered an authority on

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American people, American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his bes ...

, and was fond of wearing a white whale pin on his lapel. He was a distinguished book collector, having a personal collection that numbered somewhere between five and six thousand volumes. His close friends included several noted literary figures of the early twentieth century, such as Archibald MacLeish,

Stephen Vincent Benét Stephen Vincent Benét (; July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is best known for his book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, ''John Brown's Body'' (1928), for which he receive ...

Lewis Mumford Lewis Mumford (October 19, 1895 – January 26, 1990) was an American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a wr ...

, Hilary Masters, and

Georges Simenon Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (; 13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer. He published nearly 500 novels and numerous short works, and was the creator of the fictional detective Jules Maigret. Early life and education ...

. He is mentioned prominently in letters to and from various other noted authors and public figures as well, such as

George Santayana Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, known in English as George Santayana (; December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952), was a Spanish and US-American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. Born in Spain, Santayana was raised ...

Amy Lowell Amy Lawrence Lowell (February 9, 1874 – May 12, 1925) was an American poet of the imagist school, which promoted a return to classical values. She posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926. Life Amy Lowell was born on Febru ...

, Lesley Frost Ballantine, and

Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloq ...

. In his role as book collector and seller, he often advised people (famous or not) as to which editions of an author's work were the best or worst of their kind. In the early 1920s, he operated the Dunster House Bookshop in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. In 1927, Firuski moved to

Salisbury, Connecticut Salisbury () is a town situated in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The town is the northwesternmost in the state of Connecticut; the Massachusetts-New York-Connecticut tri-state marker is located at the northwest corner of the town ...

, where ran his own bookstore for almost 48 years, until his death at the age of 83. The store was called "The Housatonuc" and specialized in rare, hard-to-find, antiquarian books. He and his bookstore were prominently featured in an article entitled "A Page From An American Dream," by Eleanor Winslow, which appeared in ''The Courant Magazine'' on November 29, 1964. Firuski was also the co-editor (with his ex-wife, Elvia) of ''The Best Of Boulestin'', a collection of recipes by

Marcel Boulestin Xavier Marcel Boulestin (1878 – 20 September 1943) was a French chef, restaurateur, and the author of cookery books that popularised French cuisine in the English-speaking world. Born in Poitiers in France (Poitou region), Boulestin tried a ...

. Co-editor for the book was his ex-wife, Elvia. According to the ''Courant'' article, Elvia tested each recipe in her own kitchen, before deciding whether or not to include it in the book. He also taught history at the Salisbury School for eight years in the 1940s. He was a past president of the Scoville Memorial Library and of the Salisbury Association. Firuski was married five times.''The Lakeville Journal'',

Lakeville, Connecticut Lakeville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States, close to Dutchess County, New York. It is within the town of Salisbury, but has its own ZIP Code (06039). As of the 2010 census, the population of Lak ...

. February 9, 1978 Firuski died in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

References

Guide to the Archibald MacLeish collection of papers, 1923-1981.

The Santayana Edition

What Is Book Collecting?

Lowell, Amy, 1874-1925. Letters to various persons: Guide.

The Robert Frost Collection Finding Aid.

Lesley Frost Ballantine (1899-1983) Papers, 1905-1980.

The Harvard Crimson (article by Firuski, c. 1929.)

The Harvard Crimson (article by Firuski, c. 1919.)

Life

References

See also