jelliffe was probably the first notable, self-identified american book collector in neuroscience, psychiatry, and psychoanalysis. he amassed an enormous library of books, journals, and offprints (well over ten tons in weight), which must surely have been the largest and most important collection in private hands in north america in the early 20th century. jelliffe's savings were wiped out by the stock market crash in 1929, so he was forced to continue working into his late seventies. in 1942 he sold the bulk of his book and journal collection to the institute of living in hartford, connecticut, though he still retained thousands of books, which nolan d. c. lewis inherited after jelliffe's death.