Collecting Delaware Books
Evald Rink, 99, formerly of Wilmington, an archivist and historical librarian with a specialty in 18th- and 19th-century printing and technology, died Friday, Aug. 14, of congestive heart failure at the home of his daughter in Kensington, Md. Born near Kadrina, Estonia, he and his wife, Hildegard, came to the United States in 1949, after the Soviet annexation of Estonia. For a while, they lived in a camp for displaced persons in Germany. Seabrook Farms in New Jersey sponsored their move to the United States. Though the two had college degrees, they worked in a Seabrook plant before moving to Trenton. They lived in Wilmington for 45 years, ending in 2001. Mr. Rink and his wife worked as historical librarians for the Longwood Library in Kennett Square. The work they did was chronicled in an oral history he gave to the Library of Congress in 2014.
Rink's book Printing in Delaware, 1761-1800 is an essential guide. Rink's checklist has 566 entries and is well indexed.