V
 

Our Growing Collections

ROLAND BAUGHMAN

URING the past three months, as all members of the
Friends know, one of the principal efforts of the
Libraries has been toward acquiring the John Jay Papers
—perhaps the most important group of manuscripts representing
the formative period in the history of our country that Columbia
will ever have the opportunity to obtain. As matters now stand,
about one third of the amount needed for the purchase of these
papers has been given or subscribed by individuals who have felt
that they could support the project in a tangible way. In addition,
money from various endowed funds of the Libraries has been
allocated to the purpose, when this could be done with propriety.
As a result the Trustees of the University have authorized us to
proceed with firm negotiations for the papers, and this is being
done.

This interim report to the Friends of the Columbia Libraries
'is being made to inform our benefactors of the status of the pro¬
ject, and to emphasize the fact that, although we are more than
half-way to our goal, we still are in need of substantial assistance.
Anyone who would like to contribute to the project should, as
soon as convenient, communicate with Roland Baughman, Head
of Special Collections, Columbia University Libraries, New York
27 (telephone University 5-4000, extension 371).

Berton gift. Peter Berton (Ph.D. 1956) has given the East Asiatic
Library 121 Japanese exhibit and auction catalogues which he col¬
lected on his numerous trips to Japan as a Ford Foundation
grantee. The catalogues, handsomely prepared and heavily illus¬
trated with colored as well as black-and-white plates, provide
information about private collections which cannot elsewhere be
found in published form.

50