ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 6 0 2 / C&RL News Acquisitions The Library of Michigan (LM) Foundation has received a $305,000 gift from Lansing’s Talbert an d Leota Abrams G r Foundation to fund acquisi­ tions that will increase the size and breadth of LM’s genea­ logical materials collection. The new grant brings total gifts by the Abrams Founda­ Acqu tion to LM since 1987 to more than $500,000. According to state librarian James Fry, the gift should move the national ranking o f LM’s collection from its present num ber 10 “to one of the top five of all American libraries.” The N e w York Public Library's Oriental Division received a gift of $1.3 million from Japa­ nese publisher Kodansha, Ltd. to expand and increase access to the collections. One of the foremost resources for Asian, Indian, and Middle Eastern studies, the Oriental Division houses nearly 300,000 books, journals, and other ma­ terials. Kodansha’s gift will enable the division to continue collecting and preserving a broad spectrum of materials, and to improve public access to its resources by renovating its read­ ing room. The Smithsonian Institution Libraries (SIL) received $37,500 from the James Smithson So­ ciety for a one-year pilot program to establish a post-graduate residency for minorities in li­ brary and information science. The residency will improve SIL's effectiveness in responding to culturally diverse programs, to increase the num ber of minorities on its staff, and to en­ hance the career potential of minority mem­ bers of the library profession. The School of Inform ation and Library Science at the U n iv ersity o f N o rth C arolin a at Chapel Hill has been awarded a total of $169,600 by the Department of Education under the Li­ brary Career Training Program (Title ITB). These funds will provide fellowships for two master’s degree students and ten doctoral students en­ tering the school in the fall of 1992. Y o rk University Libraries, O ntario, have received a grant of $22,235 from the Ontario a an is Council of Archives for a n ts Humidity Control Replace­ m ent Program. The grant w as aw a rd e d u n d e r the Conservation Plan for Ca­ d nadian Archival Records- Cost Shared Cooperative As­ itions sistance Programme and will support acquisition and instal­ lation of new air supply units. The Libraries of the Uni­ versity of Washington (UW) and the U n iv e r sity o f Or­ e g o n (U O ) h a v e b e e n aw arded grants of $135,000 and $65,000 re­ spectively from the Henry Luce Foundation to support further library development in the field of Southeast Asian Studies. The Southeast Asian Studies Programs at the two universities, to­ gether with the program at the University of British Columbia, make up the Northwest Re­ gional Consortium for Southeast Asian Studies. At UO the funds will be used to support acqui­ sitions activities and to strengthen vernacular cataloging capabilities. The UW will use the money primarily for cataloging activities. In addition, the Foundation has made avail­ able another $80,000 to the tw o programs: $30,000 for each institution for research assis­ tantships, and $20,000 to be jointly allocated as small grants to support predissertation re­ search and travel. A gift of 2 5 6 early botanical works with an estimated value of over $1 million has been donated to the F o lg er S h a k esp ea re Library, Washington, D.C., by collector Mary P. Massey. Given during the Folger’s 60th anniversary dia­ mond jubilee year, the books make up the larg­ est and most valuable collection of rare books ever given to the library. The collection of early herbals dates from the 15th to the 19th centu­ ries and represents many European countries. It is particularly strong in the earliest printed botanical works, including a copy of the first printed herbal De virtutibus herbarum (Naples, 1477). Other gems include the Hortus sanitatis O ctober 1 9 9 2 / 6 0 3 (Strassburg, 1497), o n e o f the m ost com pre­ hensive 15th-century w orks o n natural history. M ore than 4 0 original w orks of a rt by the late illustrator Charles Addams (1912-1988) have b ee n acquired by the N e w Y o rk P u b lic Library. Many of the items have ap p eared in the New Yorker and date from the 1930s to just before Addams’s death. The drawings are the gift o f the Lady Colyton, the artist’s former wife, an d Marilyn Addams, his w idow . The Lady Colyton’s gift is accom panied by an endow ­ ment to support the conservation, preservation, and exhibition o f the works. The papers of Saxe Commins, an editor at Boni & Liverwright, Random House, and Mod­ ern Library w ho died in 1958, have b ee n ac­ quired by the D epartm ent o f Rare Books and Special Collections at P r in c e t o n U n iv e r s ity Li­ braries. His p apers contain 224 letters from Eugene and Carlotta O ’Neill, Sherwood Ander­ son, W. H. Auden, Sinclair Lewis, Jo h n O ’Hara, W. Somerset Maugham, and others. Also in­ cluded are galleys of M ourning Becomes Electra and other O ’Neill plays; an annotated typescript o f A uden’s p oem “A Lullaby”; an d G ertrude Stein’s corrected manuscript of In Savoy. An exhibition of editorial cartoons first dis­ played in 1991, “Cartoonists Celebrate the First Amendm ent,” has b ee n donated to the perm a­ nent collection o f the O h io S tate U n iv e r s ity Cartoon, Graphic, and Photographic Arts Library. Eighty-three w orks by cartoonists from across the country make up the collection w hich toured the United States for 18 months. A collection of eight ancestral portraits has b e e n given to th e R e d w o o d L ib r a r y a n d A th en aeu m , Newport, Rhode Island, by de­ scen d an ts o f C ountess László Széchényi, a daughter o f Cornelius Vanderbilt (1843-1899). Originating 270 years ago in 18th-century New­ port, the paintings w ere executed betw een 1722 an d 1809 by major American painters— includ­ ing Robert Feke and W ashington Allston—as well as lesser-known Colonial artists. Subjects o f the paintings include New port businessm en Henry Collins an d Ebenezer Flagg, and Rhode Island Governor Richard Ward. The papers of author James A. Michener were recently acquired by the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the U n iv e r s ity o f T ex a s at A ustin. The collection contains notes an d drafts for m any o f Michener’s w orks in­ cluding The World Is M y H om e and The Eagle a n d the Raven. The archive also contains clip­ pings, correspondence, and other materials. A 57-volume collection of the works of Roman author Boethius (ca. 480-524 A.D.), in­ cluding two 15th-century manuscripts, eight in- cunables, and 30 16th-century editions has been donated to W a s h in g to n U n iv e r sity , St. Louis. The earliest printed text is the 1476 Koberger printing o f the Consolation o f Philosophy. Also included is the first illustrated edition of the Consolation (Strassburg, 1501). The collection is the gift of Philip M. Arnold o f Oklahoma, w ho has b een donating his Semeiology Col­ lection to WU for nearly 20 years. WU also received a collection o f illustrated books concentrating on the age o f Thomas Rowlandson and George Cruikshank from Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Grossman of St. Louis. Included in the 200-book collection are many early edi­ tions o f books with hand-colored illustrations by these artists, their contemporaries, and their em ulators. Also in c lu d ed are a n u m b e r of m onographs about these artists. Of particular interest are volumes in the Doctor Syntax series and an unusually nice set o f The English D ance o f Death (London, 1815-16). ■ (W a s h in g to n H o tlin e c o n t .f r o m p a g e 5 9 7 ) fessional bodies is required to determ ine re­ search priorities and critical needs in library education. II-C, Im p ro v in g A ccess to R esearch Library R e so u r c e s. The title, changed from “Strength­ ening Research Library Resources,” indicates the new em phasis o n grants to m ake research li­ brary “information resources” available, not just “holdings.” HEA II-D, S t r e n g t h e n in g L ibrary a n d In ­ fo r m a tio n S c ie n c e P rogram s a n d Libraries in H isto r ic a lly B la ck C o lle g e s a n d U n iv e r sitie s a n d O th er M in ority-S ervin g In stitu tio n s. The title describes this new part, retained by con­ ferees from the House bill and responsive to a WHCLIS recommendation. HEA VI A S e c tio n 6 0 7 . Grants for acquiring foreign periodicals are ex p an d ed to include other types o f research materials; the authori­ zation is increased from $1 million to $5 mil­ lion, an d grants are to be o f sufficient size to make an impact. ■