Captain Fry Book Collection
If you have recently strolled through the stacks in the St. Bernard’s School library and have seen a curious collection of vintage books shelved elegantly amongst the others, you might have caught a glimpse of the Captain Fry book collection.
To name just a few of the titles…
American Red Cross First Aid, with illustrations, 1940
India’s Love Lyrics, 1942
Dragon Book of Verse, 1952
The Lighter Side of School Life, 1917
One Hundred Poems of Kabir, 1926
The Camp at Willow Clump Island, 1906
A Treasury of the World’s Great Letters, From Ancient Days to Our Own Time, 1940
Humphrey Fry (1897-1968) came to St. Bernard’s School in 1929 and taught English, history, Latin, and mathematics for thirty-four years. In 1914 he attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, served in the British Army in France, and eventually earned the rank of captain, hence his esteemed title here at school. In addition to being a much beloved teacher at St. Bernard’s, Fry was also an author himself and published a school-boy epic titled If the Cap Fits (1959) based on his experiences teaching at St. Bernard’s School (the book is available in the school library).
Old Boy Scott Kelly ’60 provided safe transport of this book collection to St. Bernard’s library, and we are grateful for this delightful donation. Receiving personal papers of faculty and staff is an extraordinary gift for any school archives. It provides an insight into the resources used and the influences at play at the time of a faculty member’s tenure. Feel free to visit the library and take a closer look.
A full list of the seventy-six titles from the Fry Library is held in the school archives.
