Two books completed the Don Quixote collection at Texas A&M, the only American university to hold the collection in its complete set.
They complete the four millionth volume for the A&M library system. The two books were pocket sized, their pages yellowing with age and rough on the edges, as if someone took a pair of shears and cut them.
The books were displayed along with other millionth volumes on the second floor of the Cushing Memorial Library and Archives.
The edition was gifted by Sara and John Lindsey, Class of 1944, who have been contributors to the library since the days he served with Gen. Rudder and Dr. Williams.
“It is a great day, they sure know what they are doing here, all the staff. So proud of them,” Lindsey said.
David Chapman, the Cushing Library director, said the most important part was the major growth of the University had been in the past quarter of the twentieth century.
“There are no great universities without great libraries. We are a continually growing research library,” Chapman said.
Senior psychology major Rebecca Fortson said she had been aware that Cushing was an archival library, but did not know the extent of collections.
“I did not know that we had prestige in terms of our collection until we received the four millionth edition,” said Fortson.
Other students said they thought the University had passed a major milestone by acquiring four million volumes.
“[Don Quixote] is a rare piece of literature. We read about all this and it is very cool that we have the first editions of it,” said Joey Whempner, a sophomore electrical engineering major.