Clifton “Kip” Fadiman was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1904.  A graduate of Columbia University in 1925, Mr. Fadiman went on to have a colorful, multifaceted career in literature, radio and television.  Renowned for his encyclopedic mind, Fadiman compiled many anthologies, wrote numerous essays, served on the editorial board of the Encyclopedia Britannica and performed as moderator on the popular ‘30’s and ‘40’s radio and television quiz show Information Please!

While writing articles on children’s literature for Holiday magazine, Fadiman was inspired to undertake a much larger project, an anthology of children’s literature, later entitled The World Treasury of Children’s Literature.  For this purpose, Fadiman acquired more that 2,000 books from 70 countries and in 22 languages. 

Upon completion of the work, Fadiman contacted Professor Margaret Hodges at the University of Pittsburgh to donate his collection to the Elizabeth Nesbitt Room.  Acquired in January of 1983, the collection serves as a valuable resource for scholars specializing in the field of historical children’s literature.  The Fadiman collection is preserved complete with many volumes containing Fadiman’s own hand written notes.

All of the titles in the Fadiman Collection have been cataloged and are listed in PittCat, the University of Pittsburgh's online catalog. Please contact us for assistance: information-sciences@library.pitt.edu