Our Growing Collections

KENNETH A. LOHF

Bonnell gift. In 1962 Miss Alice H. Bonnell (B.S., 1940) estab¬
lished a collection of the papers of the American theatre producer,
Ira A. Hards, and his wife, the actress Ina Hammer Hards. Miss
Bonnell has recently added to the collection nearly three hun¬
dred items comprising the following: four scrapbooks of reviews,
programs and clippings pertaining to productions at the Em¬
pire Theatre in New York and rhe A\'estchester Theatre in Mt.
Vernon, the latter built by Hards for his srock company; an ac¬
count book for the 1914-1915 season at the Westchester Theatre;
Hards's appointment books covering the period, 1900-1932; and
programs, contracts and papers relating to plays in which Mrs.
Hards performed, including J. M. Barrie's Quality Street, Clyde
Eirch's The Truth, G. B. Shaw's Arms and the Man and James
Lane Allen's The Choir Invisible.

Briggs gift. Mrs. Berta N. Briggs, widow of the late AA'illiam
Harlowe Briggs, who was editor of the trade book department of
Harper & Brothers, has presented a fine pen drawing by George
Du Maurier, entitled 'W Damper," which her husband had re¬
ceived as a gift from Hoyer .Millar, Du .Maurier's son-in-law and
literary executor, in appreciation of the manner in which Briggs
had handled the copyright for the dramatization of Peter Ibbetson
in 1930. The drawing, published in Punch in the September 2,
1876 issue, satirizes the aesthetic movement which at that time was
flourishing in i'ngland. Mrs. Briggs has made the gift of this splen¬
did and fascinating drawing in memory of her late husband.

Cerf Foundation gift. The Phyllis and Bennett Cerf Foundation,
through the thoughtful generosity of Mrs. Phyllis Cerf AA'agner,
has presented a selection of 161 titles from the library of the late

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