2                                     Carl M.White

members were added, the first meeting being held in April, 1950.
The decision to launch a Friends organization followed in the
autumn. At Christmas, Mr. and Mrs. Donald F. Hyde and Henry
Rogers Benjamin gave $1500 to get started. The wheels turn
slowly in a university sometimes, but within six months (our
darkest period) the proposal to launch the new organization
had been approved and a public call to membership was issued.

That was May i, 1951. By September 30, 1953, the Friends
contributed $16,158.98 and, as this goes to press, turned over to
the Libraries book collections having an estimated value of
$88,675.50.

This is a splendid record for the first two years. Miss Benjamin
looks past this record to the moral support which the Friends
are mobilizing. This in the end is, of course, the greatest gift of
all.

Carl M. White
 

T
 

Perspective

'^ IlME gives perspective to events as a view of the whole
from a distance gives perspective to physical objects.
The committee of three blind men had difficulty identi¬
fying the elephant. Each was close to a part of the scene but could
not compare notes to determine that the tree, the wall and the
snake were really after all an elephant.

In the pages which follow iMary Benjamin pictures the Co¬
lumbia Libraries as awakening to a new sense of responsibility
in the acquisition, care and appreciation of fine books and manu¬
scripts. The "awakening" implies that things were not always
so—and indeed Columbia is not alone either among libraries or
dealers in falling short of desirable attitudes and practices. Her
thought-provoking article views the scene from the vantage
point of an experienced dealer, a Columbia graduate, and a Friend
of the Columbia Libraries. Our editor would have us give the