Henry Probasco

Henry Probasco (born in Newtown, Connecticut on 4 July 1820; died 25 October 1902) was an American hardware magnate noted for the Tyler Davidson Fountain, Probasco Fountain and the Henry Probasco House.[1] He had an interest in art and was selected as a "centennial commissioner" from Ohio.[2]

Henry Probasco in 1902

Probasco made his fortune as a hardware merchant, selling his business in 1866. He then traveled to Europe and commissioned the Royal Bavarian Foundry in Munich to create the 45-foot-high bronze fountain named for his business partner and brother-in-law, Tyler Davison. He also attended the Universal Exposition of 1867 in Paris where he made an unprecedented bid of 150,000 francs for Meissonier's Friedland.[3]

Probasco’s rare book collection was purchased by the Newberry Library. The collection, “some 2,500 volumes purchased for $52,924, included incunabula, Shakespeare folios, Grolier bindings, rare Bibles (among them the King James, first edition), ten early editions of Homer, nine of Dante, and eight of Horace, to mention only a few special works,” was the basis of what would become the library’s major rare book collection.[4]

References
  1. Cincinnati Magazine of May 1985, pgs 70-71
  2. The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant by Ulysses Simpson Grant, pg 184
  3. King, Ross (2006). The Judgement of Paris. New York: Walker & Company. p. 204.
  4. 1921-1992., Towner, Lawrence W. (Lawrence William) (1993). Past imperfect : essays on history, libraries, and the humanities. Karrow, Robert W., Young, Alfred F., 1925-2012. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226810429. OCLC 26719487.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)


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