Leona Rostenberg, Who Uncovered Alcott Novels, Dies at 96
NY Times
Leona Rostenberg, a rare-book scholar and dealer who with her partner of 50 years, Madeleine B. Stern, discovered a series of racy novels written by Louisa May Alcott under a pseudonym, died on March 17 at her apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. She was 96.
Ms. Rostenberg died after having heart problems for two years, said Abbey Lustgarten, a filmmaker who became friends with the two women while making a documentary about them.
The discovery in 1942 of the works by Alcott, all written before she gained fame as the author of “Little Women,” brought a moment of detective-work thrill for Ms. Rostenberg and her partner and forever altered Alcott scholarship.
A past president of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America, Ms. Rostenberg wrote numerous books herself: scholarly works on printing history, and memoirs written with Ms. Stern that twinned their love of literary sleuthing with reminiscences of their life together.
Ms. Rostenberg’s relationship with Ms. Stern, whom she met in 1930 and with whom she lived for nearly 50 years, runs like a constant thread through her decades in the world of rare books.
Special Collections in College and University Libraries
The Minority Press & the English Crown: A Study in Repression, 1558-1625
Connections: Our Selves Our Books
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