Evans, Charles (1850-1935) | Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Charles Evans was an American librarian and bibliographer. Evans was born on November 13, 1850, in Boston, MA, to Mary Ewing and Charles Peter Evans, a mariner. Following the deaths of his parents, Evans was sent to the Boston Farm and Trades School in 1859, where he became acquainted with Dr. Samuel Eliot, a trustee of the school and the Boston Athenaeum. In 1866, Evans began as an assistant at the Athenaeum, where he trained in librarianship and bibliography.

Evans’ first librarian position was with the Indianapolis Public Library, where he worked from 1872-1879. During this time, Evans attended the first meeting of the American Library Association (1876) and served as the organization’s treasurer (1877-1878). In 1881, Evans moved to Fort Worth, TX, where he became associated with the Fort Worth Daily Democrat and met his wife, Lena Young (1862-1933), with whom he shared four children.

Evans returned to the library field in 1885, after which he worked at various institutions: Enoch Pratt Free Library (1885-1886), Omaha Public Library (1887-1888), Indianapolis Public Library (head, 1889-1892), Newberry Library (1892), Virginia Library of the McCormick Theological Seminary of Chicago (1895-1896), and the Chicago Historical Society (1896-1901), where he also served as secretary. He was known to have a “rigid and nonconciliatory temperament” which led to his dismissal from several professional roles.

In 1903, Evans began his first volume on American bibliography, an endeavor he would pursue until his death in 1935. Twelve volumes were published while Evans was alive, covering the years 1639 through part of 1799, and a thirteenth volume, completing 1799 and 1800, was finished by Dr. Clifford K. Shipton and published by the American Antiquarian Society in 1955.

In his lifetime, Evans was recognized for his contributions to librarianship and American bibliography, being granted honorary memberships in the American Library Association (1926) and Library Association of Great Britain, and an honorary LL.D. from Brown University in 1934.

Rapple, Brendan. "Evans, Charles (1850-1935), librarian and bibliographer." In American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 1999. https://doi.org/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.2000327.

Brigham, Clarence Saunders. "Charles Evans." In The Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society. American Antiquarian Society, April 1935. https://www.americanantiquarian.org/node/11080.

Stark, Lewis M. Review of The American Bibliography of Charles Evans—A Chronological Dictionary of All Books Pamphlets and Periodical Publications—Printed in the United States of America from the Genesis of Printing in 1639 Down to and Including the Year 1800 with Bibliographical and Biographical Notes. Volume 13* 1799-1800, by Clifford K. Shipton. Bibliotheca Americana 62, no. 3 (1968): 351-359. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24299762.