BOSTON, MA.- Historic New England awards its 2012 Prize for Collecting Works on Paper to M. Stephen Miller and DeWolfe & Wood, Antiquarian Book Dealers.

Miller spent more than thirty years assembling a comprehensive collection of Shaker ephemera documenting Shaker industries and craft. Selections from his collection of more than sixteen thousand items have been included in numerous books on Shaker material culture and history and have been shared with researchers and the general public through publication, exhibitions, and loans. His publications on Shaker ephemera include A Century of Shaker Ephemera (1988), Handled with Care (2006), From Shaker Lands and Shaker Hands: A Survey of the Industries (2007), and Inspired Innovations (2010). These books amply illustrate, describe, and contextualize his collections. The entire collection is being transferred to Hamilton College over a ten-year period, where it will be accessible for viewing on its digital collections website.

Specializing in Shaker material and Maine and New England history and literature, Scott DeWolfe and Frank Wood have assisted many institutions and collectors in assembling major collections since 1993 and have done much to promote and preserve a broad range of historic America on paper. DeWolfe & Wood use their expertise to locate significant historical materials and place them with appropriate owners, including Historic New England, the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, and Hamilton College, as well as with many private collectors.

This is the third annual Prize for Collecting Works on Paper, which was established by Historic New England to be awarded to a collector or dealer who has assembled or helped save a significant collection of historical material related to New England or the broader world that might otherwise have been left unrecognized or lost. The award recognizes collections of works on paper that reveal patterns of human thought and activity, ranging from books, manuscripts, photographs, prints, and drawings to all kinds of ephemera, such as trade cards, scrapbooks, or theater programs.