Their Wine Will Warm                           13

cent private collections. Its financial support, vital to its continued
good health, has come in individual donations ranging from sev¬
eral dollars to a truly princely gift of $1,500,000 from the late
Frederic Bancroft.

Frederic Bancroft, historian and friend of learning, was uncer¬
tain what he should do with the fortune left him by his brother,
Edgar A. Bancroft, lawyer-statesman. He did believe that his con¬
siderable estate should be used for educational purposes. He had
three logical choices, Knox, Amherst, and Columbia. He and his
brother, between them, had been closely connected with these
institutions. The decision to leave his estate to Columbia was a
sudden choice. He had enjoyed delightful associations there as
student and teacher and was a friend of Professors Allan Nevins
and Henry S. Commager. His brother had also spent rewarding
years at Columbia. Several months after making his decision, Mr.
Bancroft died—on the 22nd of February, 1945, in the eighty-fifth
year of his Ufe.

Mr. Bancroft's will instructed that his bequest, appraised at
slightly more than $1,500,000, should be known as the Edgar A.
and Frederic Bancroft Foundation. The purpose of the Founda¬
tion was (I) to enrich the resources of the Columbia University
Libraries in the subjects of American history in its broadest sense,
American diplomacy, and American international relations, (2)
to create a literary prize to be awarded annually (unless a suitable
work failed to appear) to the author of some book or books of
distinguished merit and distinction upon these subjects, and (3)
to set up an annual prize (for a period of five years) to be awarded
for articles and book reviews contributed to the Journal of Negro
History. Mr. Bancroft wisely avoided attaching inflexible condi¬
tions to his gift and entrusted to the University details of adminis¬
tration.

It is difficult, in brief compass, to bring to Ufe the author of this
truly generous bequest. And yet a word concerning the man to
whom the Columbia Libraries owe so much seems in order.

Edgar  and  Frederic Bancroft  were  the  most  devoted  of