Every other year, Harvard University awards the Philip Hofer Prize to the student with the best book or art collection. This year William Pannapacker, a doctoral student in the history of American civilization, took second place (worth $1,000) for his collection of some 3,000 books by 19th-century American authors. Pannapacker told the Harvard University Gazette that he will probably never read most of the volumes, but needed them anyway, to round out the collection. Indeed, his assortment includes six rare editions of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass and more than 100 biographies and commentaries on the poet-more than even a grad student could stomach. "Once you get so far into it, it's hard to get out," Pannapacker said. "After buying 100 volumes, it's hard not to buy those next few volumes."

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