Alfred Clark Chapin (1848-1936) graduated from Williams College in 1869 and from Harvard Law School in 1871. A successful lawyer, he was also active in politics and for many years was a trustee and benefactor of his alma mater.
xxxIn March 1915, while visiting the New York antiquarian bookseller James F. Drake, he was shown among other works a superb presentation copy of the Eliot Indian Bible (Cambridge, Mass., 1661, 1663), the first Bible printed in what would become the United States. It occurred to Mr. Chapin that a well-rounded collection of important books, in various fields and in original or early editions, could be of great value to the students of Williams College, who by intimate contact with works of historic and cultural importance might gain a richer appreciation of their world. This was a very remarkable idea: no one ever before had conceived such a plan in connection with an educational institution in the United States.
xxxWith the approval of the President and Trustees of the College, Mr. Chapin proceeded to create for Williams a special library broadly divided into incunabula (15th-century printed books), Americana, English and American literature, continental (European) literature including Greek and Roman classics, Bibles and liturgical works, illustrated books, and science, with a selection of early manuscripts, broadsides, and prints, and necessary reference books. In the course of eight years Mr. Chapin acquired some 9,000 volumes, as well as manuscripts and historical prints, which were kept in storage until suitable rooms could be built: these too he provided, on the second floor of Stetson Hall, then the new College Library building, designed by the distinguished Boston architects Cram and Ferguson.
xxxOn February 1, 1923 Mr. Chapin formally presented the library he had formed to the President and Trustees; his deed of gift may be read here. On February 2, 1923 the Board of Trustees accepted Mr. Chapin's gift with gratitude. The Chapin Library opened to the public on June 18, 1923. Before his death in 1936 Mr. Chapin added another 3,000 books to his original donation. Since then the Library has grown by gift and purchase to more than 50,000 volumes, together with some 100,000 other items: manuscripts, prints, maps, photographs, bookplates, ephemera, and memorabilia. Broadly stated, the purpose of the Chapin Library is to document civilization through rare books, manuscripts, and other original materials, in support of the liberal arts curriculum of Williams College. Its holdings do not circulate, but may be used in the Library's reading room. Summaries of its various collections and of its rules for use are available on this web site.
     Letters from Trustees and administrators praising Mr. Chapin's generosity and vision may be read here. Selected testimonials by Williams faculty from later years are presented here.

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