Elihu Dwight Church (24 April 1836 – 30 August 1908, Westfield, Connecticut) was an American rare book collector and philanthropist. E. Dwight's Church's father was Austin Church, the co-founder of the company that eventually became

Church & Dwight Church & Dwight is an American consumer goods company focusing on personal care, household products, and specialty products. The company was founded in 1846 and is headquartered in Ewing, New Jersey. It is the parent company of well-known brands ...

, Inc., a company famous for manufacturing baking soda and other household products. E. Dwight Church and his brother eventually became the owner/managers of Church & Dwight. Upon his death at age seventy-two, E. Dwight Church was Church & Dwight's president. He was involved in several business enterprises, served in the American Civil War in the 7th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and belonged to several clubs in New York City. He was a graduate of the City College of New York. Church began collecting rare books in the late 1870s by purchasing works illustrated with

Thomas Bewick Thomas Bewick (c. 11 August 17538 November 1828) was an English wood-engraver and natural history author. Early in his career he took on all kinds of work such as engraving cutlery, making the wood blocks for advertisements, and illustrating ch ...

's wood cuts and then acquired many examples of books illustrated by

George Cruikshank George Cruikshank (27 September 1792 – 1 February 1878) was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reache ...

. In about 1886 Church began his collection of Americana. The catalogue of Church's collection was compiled in five volumes by George Watson Cole. Of the seventeen known editions of Columbus's first letter, Church obtained six. He purchased 19 early editions of works containing the letters of Amerigo Vespucci and several rare editions of the works of the early English voyagers. Although Church's collection is chiefly noteworthy for its Americana, there are also rare editions of Shakespeare's works, including George Daniel's copy of the "Sonnets". In 1911 Henry E. Huntington's representative George D. Smith acquired for Huntington the E. Dwight Church collection of books and manuscripts. Church was predeceased by his first wife. Upon his death, he was survived by his widow, three children from his second marriage, and four sons from his first marriage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Church, Elihu Dwight American book and manuscript collectors City College of New York alumni 1836 births 1908 deaths