Ellen Shaffer; Authority on Robert Louis Stevenson, Beatrix Potter

Ellen Shaffer, 89, rare books expert and internationally known authority on Robert Louis Stevenson. A native of Leadville, Colo., who was educated at the University of Colorado and UCLA, Miss Shaffer taught briefly and then began her career in rare books at Los Angeles’ Dawson’s Book Shop. During her quarter-century at the shop, she established herself as an expert, assisting collectors and speaking and writing widely about specific volumes. One of her most popular publications was her 1950 “The Nuremberg Chronicle: A Monograph” about the development of the 15th-Century volume “The Book of Chronicles.” Miss Shaffer left Los Angeles in 1954 to serve as rare books librarian of the Free Library of Philadelphia. In 1970, she became the first curator of the Silverado Museum, which is devoted to the life and works of Stevenson, in St. Helena, Calif. Consulted on Stevenson by researchers from several nations, Miss Shaffer remained in that post until her retirement in 1992. She was also regarded as an expert on the life and work of the English writer Beatrix Potter. Last year, Miss Shaffer completed an oral history, “Self-Portrait of a Bookwoman,” for UC’s Bancroft Library. On Jan. 30 in St. Helena, Calif.