[Exterior images of the book]
Provinance
McAleenan gave this particular copy of The Explorer to “Most Revered Patrick J. Hayes, D.D., Archbishop of New York,” as it says in the book’s inscription. The term “most revered” is an indication that Hayes was given the work prior to being elevated to Cardinal of New York, which occurred the same year as its publication, 1924. Were Hayes Cardinal at the time, McAleenan, a devout Catholic, would have called him, “Your Eminence.” Assuming that Hayes kept the book for the remainder of his life it would have been in his possession until 1938 when upon his death, his humble estate was bequeathed to three New York Bishops (“Cardinal’s Estate”) and from there, I speculate, it found its way into an estate sell where James F. Drake, a notable Manhattan bookseller who bought for such great collectors as Henry E. Huntington and Alfred C. Chaplin, purchased. Drake sold the book to T. Marie Chilton (née Dunbar), a member of a wealthy New York family. Known for his integrity and generosity to booksellers and collectors alike (Dickinson 52-53), Chilton kept Drake as her primary bookseller even after she moved to Los Angeles in the mid 1930s. A lover of contemporary fiction, she bought the latest works, with Kipling being one of her favorites. (She owned at least twenty-one volumes of his work). In the 1960s, Chilton befriended Father Theodore Marshall, S.J., Loyola University’s (now LMU) head librarian. Over the course of their friendship, Chilton donated various books from her vast collection, which included nothing less than Shakespeare’s four folios, to the University. Upon her death in 1972, she bequeathed the remainder of them to LMU. At some point, among these exchanges, Chilton donated The Explorer.
“Cardinal’s Estate Left to 3 Bishops.” New York Times, 18 Oct. 1938.
I have only managed to find two other copies in the New York State Library’s Manuscripts and Special Collections department. According to the library, McAleenan gave the book to Frank P. Graves, Commissioner of the New York State Education Department—the inscription reads, “May our friendship be independent of time and matured”—and one is held at Harvard’s Houghton Library — the inscription reads… (McAleenan).