Our Growing Collections                           35

biana two important mementos of her late husband. One is his
official appointment as Professor of Latin, 1904, and the other
is an undated testimonial presented to him by a number of his
distinguished colleagues at Columbia.

Brewster gift. Once again we are indebted to Professor Dorothy
Brewster (Ph.D., 1913) for the gift of important and unique
materials. To be recorded here are three letters she received from
prominent authors—one from Somerset Maugham written from
Cap Ferrat, France, early in 1936; one from Sylvia Townsend
Warner, November 29, 1938; and one from Virginia Woolf,
January 15, 1935.

Buehler gift. Columbiana is grateful to Mr. Martin H. Buehler
of Philadelphia for the gift of the A.B. diploma of William B.
Walker,  1865.

Class of i()2^ gift. At its annual dinner on Alay 17, the Columbia
Class of 1923 presented to the Libraries an important 15th-
century work, the Strassburg, 1499, edition of Gesta Roma-
norum. This work, compiled around the beginning of the 14th
century, though styled "Deeds of the Romans," was drawn from
widely disparate sources including oriental folklore, European
fabliaux, and the lives of Christian saints, to all of which moral¬
istic discussions were appended. Originally intended to furnish
members of the clergy with material for their sermons, the tales
later were used by the authors of native English literature, and
plots for works by Chaucer, Gower, arid even Shakespeare can
be traced to Gesta Romanorum.

This is the third time the Class of 1923 has come forward with
rare and costly gifts for Special Collections, and we are deeply
grateful for the unique interest and generosity of the Class.

Crawford gift. .Mr. John W. Crawford, Jr., has presented a fine