Stanley S. Slotkin was a successful Los Angeles businessman who owned the medical and party supply rental company Abbey Rents. He was also an avid collector of antique bibles and other rare books, amassing hundreds of thousands of books which he also regularly donated to various museums, universities, churches, and libraries across the United States. In the 1960s, Slotkin began to donate individual leaves from books to institutions rather than whole works, as he felt intact books were too often locked away where they could not be seen. He dismembered a number of books, and donated sets of pages to any institution that would agree to display them publically. He was also heavily interested in archaeology, cosmetic medicine, and recreational diving and contributed philanthropically to a number of causes throughout his life.