Jellinek and the CAS Library

The Center of Alcohol Studies Library and Archives was the world’s first and largest collection dedicated exclusively to alcohol studies. As a result of the work at the Publications Division, which published the Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol (QJSA), books, and pamphlets, and produced the abstracts to the Classified Abstract Archive of the Alcohol Literature, a library collection started to evolve at Yale from incoming books, journals (many of them in exchange for QJSA from all over the world over time), articles, government documents, reports, conference proceedings, and lay literature.

The proper library, initiated by Mark Keller and supported by Selden Bacon still at Yale, was established only after the Center moved the Rutgers in 1962. Although Jellinek had left Yale before the move, his presence is palpable in the collection through his intellectual contributions as well as a few rare books he owned, adorned with his bookplate.

With resources collected, preserved, organized, and digitized over the decades by librarians and library staff at Rutgers, this online exhibit is another tribute to E. M. Jellinek, following the physical display shown above and the Special Issue of the Information Services Newsletter, which was dedicated to Jellinek on the 125th anniversary of his birth.

E. M. Jellinek in the 1960s

Foundations of an alcohol library

One of the fathers of alcohol studies as a discipline, Jellinek was also instrumental in laying the foundations of the CAS Library. In 1939, Jellinek started his work on collecting, abstracting, and indexing literature on alcohol. It was sponsored by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation to Norman Jolliffe at NYU, who hired Jellinek to spearhead the project. The first results were published under the title Effects of Alcohol on the Individual: Review of the Literature of 1939 in the inaugural issue of the Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol (QJSA) in 1940, a publication founded by Howard W. Haggard, M. D., director of Yale University’s Laboratory of Applied Physiology.

Jellinek’s appeal to librarians and information specialists may be best represented by the Classified Abstract Archive of the Alcohol Literature (CAAAL), an organizational system he designed to classify alcohol literature available at the time. Reviewing the literature scattered across disciplines and journals in 1939, Jellinek immediately noticed the need for a robust structure to classify and catalog them. The CAAAL Manual that he co-authored with Mark Keller and Vera Efron, both of the Information Division of the Center, was published in QJSA first. After his death, Jellinek’s name was kept as author on the second, significantly updated edition published in 1965.

In addition to Jellinek’s brilliant scholarly articles and reflections on some Classics of the alcohol literature, also notable are the Lay Supplements among his publications, a series that started a trend of explaining scholarly literature in lay terms.

A researcher who read the scholarly literature in multiple languages, Jellinek was described as “the Renaissance Man who brought alcohol studies out of the Dark Ages” by Dr. Thomas Babor, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs (2015-2023), recipient of the Jellinek Memorial Award in 2005. The CAS Library and Archives will continue to preserve his memory and legacy.

Reviewing alcohol literature

Jellinek’s 72-page article, co-authored with Norman Joliffe, was the first to review the alcohol literature in the inaugural issue of QJSA as a result of the Carnegie-funded study. The reviewed content became the first items in the future Alcohol Library.

Organizing alcohol literature

The collected literature was organized in the Classified Abstract Archive of the Alcohol Literature. Published after Jellinek’s death, the updated CAAAL Manual relies heavily on Jellinek’s classification, which set the standard for organizing alcohol literature.

Sharing alcohol literature

Jellinek Corner

In 2013, a "Jellinek Corner" was set up at the entrance of the Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies Library to commemorate the 50^thanniversary of the death of E.M. Jellinek (1890-1963).

The exhibit featured an autographed copy of the original Jellinek doodle, a bust of Jellinek awarded to Mark Keller by the Jellinek Memorial Foundation called the "Bunky", a cartoon portrait of Jellinek sketched by bibliographer Vera Efron, Jellinek’s bookplate, and several other unique and items of Jellinek memorabilia and publications, also known as "Bunkyana". To set the tone, Mark Keller’s typewriter was situated in front of the display with a replica McBee card from the CAAAL punch cards.

The Jellinek Corner continued to grow as library staff delved into the Jellinek research in preparation for the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs and the 125th anniversary of Jellinek’s birth.

Jellinek Corner

Left panel

Jellinek Corner in 2015

The Jellinek exhibit welcoming visitors at the Circulation Desk of the Center of Alcohol Studies Library in 2015, featuring the famous “Bunky’s Doodle” (donated by George Strachan to the Summer School and preserved by Gail Milgram), the “Bunky,” awarded to Mark Keller (wearing a birthday anniversary hat), a conference poster celebrating Jellinek’s contributions, and some of Jellinek’s publications.

Right panel

CAS librarians researching Jellinek

Jellinek’s contributions to the field intrigued library staff, along with his mysterious past. First, librarian Penny Page published an article in Addiction in 1997, followed by several entries in encyclopedias and handbooks.

Page, P. B. (1997). E. M. Jellinek and the evolution of alcohol studies: a critical essay. Addiction (Abingdon, England), 92(12), 1619–1637.

Later in the 2010s, Judit Hajnal Ward and a group of graduate assistants followed Jellinek’s past through archival research within the CAS Library and beyond. Newly unearthed documents and artifacts, some in languages other than English (including Hungarian), led to revisiting Jellinek’s life and contributions and creating a more accurate timeline of his journey, which was shared in scholarly articles and conference presentations.

Bejarano, W. (2014). Mystery and speculations: An introduction to E. M. Jellinek’s redemption. Substance Abuse Library and Information Studies: Proceedings of the 36th Annual SALIS Conference, (May 1, 2014), pp.33-41.
Ward, J. H. (2014). E. M. Jellinek: The Hungarian Connection. Substance Abuse Library and Information Studies: Proceedings of the 36th Annual SALIS Conference, (May 1, 2014), pp. 42-54.
Bariahtaris, C. (2014). The family of E. M. Jellinek: Documenting a history. Substance Abuse Library and Information Studies: Proceedings of the 36th Annual SALIS Conference, (May 1, 2014), pp. 55-61.
Goldstein, S. (2014). The "Banana Book" by E. M. Jellinek. Substance Abuse Library and Information Studies: Proceedings of the 36th Annual SALIS Conference,(May 1, 2014), pp. 62-66.
Thomas, K. (2014). E. M. Jellinek: The Worcester Hospital years (1930-1939). Substance Abuse Library and Information Studies: Proceedings of the 36th Annual SALIS Conference,(May 1, 2014), pp. 67-72.
Stewart, M. (2014). Mark Keller and E. M. Jellinek. Substance Abuse Library and Information Studies: Proceedings of the 36th Annual SALIS Conference, (May 1, 2014), pp. 73-77.

To commemorate the 125th anniversary of Jellinek’s birth, the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs also published from the research results, including Jellinek’s updated, comprehensive bibliography.

Babor, T. F., & Ward, J. H. (2016). E. M. Jellinek at 125: The past as prologue? Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 77, 369–370.
Ward, J. H., & Bejarano, W. (2016). A tribute to Bunky at 125: A comprehensive bibliography of E. M. Jellinek’s publications. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 77, 371–374.
Ward, J. H., Bejarano, W., Babor, T. F., & Allred, N. (2016). Re-introducing Bunky at 125: E. M. Jellinek’s life and contributions to alcohol studies. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 77, 375–383.

Jellinek Morton

Discovered in the Budapest Archive, Hungary in 2015, this image portrays E. M. Jellinek as a young man (pre-1920). The photo was published in a Hungarian magazine called Tolnai Világlapja in 1930. The caption shows his last name first, according to Hungarian naming conventions.

Jellinek’s contributions to alcohol studies over time visualized for a slide show

Highlighting Jellinek’s major contributions to alcohol studies and science in general, this slide presents the long-lasting effects of his work through scholarly and popular resources.

The Center of Alcohol Studies Library

This photo was taken of the Circulation Desk area at the entrance of the Center of Alcohol Studies Library in 2015. It shows the Jellinek Corner, two posters for the 75th anniversary of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, and the Jellinek poster presented at the Summer School of Alcohol Studies in 2015, along with the first edition of the Big Book that Jellinek used to write the CAAAL card.