Guild, Reuben Aldridge (1822-1899)
Role: Librarian of BrownDates: 1848-1893
Portrait Location: Library Annex
Artist: Arnold, John Nelson (1834-1909)
Portrait Date: 1901
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 29 x 24 1/2 in. (73.66 x 62.23 cm.)
Framed Dimensions: 42 x 37 in. (106.68 x 93.98 cm.)
Brown Portrait Number: 79
Brown Historical Property Number: 1392
Reuben Aldridge Guild received his Bachelor's and Master of Arts degrees from Brown in 1847. He immediately began working as assistant librarian and was promoted to librarian a year later. A devoted alumnus, Guild served Brown for over fifty years, becoming during this time the university historian as well as librarian. Guild played an active role in the early formative years of library organization in America, being a founding member of the American Library Association in 1876. He authored a number of books on library science and on the history of Brown University.
Artist John N. Arnold painted the portraits of many prominent Rhode Islanders. His likeness of Guild was copied from a photograph in 1901 and given to Brown that year by friends of the subject.