{"id":151763,"date":"2025-09-10T10:14:38","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T15:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=151763"},"modified":"2025-09-10T10:37:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T15:37:12","slug":"collector-shares-trove-of-eudora-welty-materials-with-um-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/collector-shares-trove-of-eudora-welty-materials-with-um-library\/","title":{"rendered":"Collector Shares Trove of Eudora Welty Materials With UM Library"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Alumnus Floyd Sulser leaves rare collection of books, photographs to archives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By Tina H. Hahn<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The late Floyd Sulser <\/strong>spent 40 years building a rare collection of work by Eudora Welty<\/strong>, an American short-story writer, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, photographer, and Mississippian. Now, scholars and fans can enjoy the works at the University of Mississippi<\/strong>‘s J.D. Williams Library<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ole Miss alumnus, retired attorney, and lumberman from Ridgeland<\/strong> gifted his Welty Collection, valued at $184,000, to the library’s\u00a0Department of Archives and Special Collections<\/strong><\/a>. The collection includes first editions and all 36 items listed in Noel Polk<\/strong>‘s Eudora Welty: A Bibliography of Her Work<\/em><\/strong>, plus other materials including her high school annual that the author signed for Sulser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was fun to have a literary hobby,” Sulser said before his death in November 2024. “I met Eudora a number of times \u2013 such a fine lady. People would leave her books on her front porch, and she would sign them and put them back on the porch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I absolutely enjoy the literary community. The problem is I’ve bought too many books!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last item added to the collection was the complete Eudora Welty: Twenty Photographs<\/em><\/strong>, which was published by Palaemon Press Limited in 1980. It is rare because people often pulled out single photos from the collection to sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was a big deal to me to fulfill my collection,” said Sulser, who purchased the Twenty Photographs<\/em> at Rare Square Books<\/strong> in Oxford<\/strong>. “I had been working on this collection for many years. Whenever I traveled out of town, the first place I would go is to a bookstore.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jennifer Ford<\/strong>, UM library professor and senior curator of manuscripts, is processing the Welty Collection so it can be more accessible for patrons. She and library officials are planning a future exhibition featuring the materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The literary value of such an extraordinary collection, built over time, is incalculable for scholars and Welty enthusiasts,” Ford said. “The Department of Archives and Special Collections is extremely grateful to Mr. Sulser, as well as to his family, for such an outstanding donation and for their ongoing support.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To further complement the Welty Collection gift, Sulser’s daughters \u2013 Lauren Sulser Benner<\/strong>, of Jackson, and Kristen Sulser Guinn<\/strong>, of Ridgeland \u2013 are collaborating with the\u00a0University Press of Mississippi<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for the Critical Perspectives on Eudora Welty<\/em><\/strong> series to honor their dad. The ongoing series celebrates and preserves the author’s legacy through scholarship and explores new issues in Welty studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth book in the series, To Absent Friends: Eudora Welty’s Correspondence with Frank Lyell<\/em><\/strong>, is set to be released in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Our dad felt it was important to recognize Ms. Welty’s contributions to Mississippi and the literary community,” Guinn said. “The University Press of Mississippi series strives for just that \u2013 to ensure and protect her legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“My sister and I wanted to honor our dad’s life and love for the written word with this book series. I hope our gift will inspire more gifts to the Special Collections at Ole Miss and to UPM.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n