The John Masefield Centenary                      35

In honor of the Centenary, Dr. Lamont has presented the single
most impressive volume now in the Masefield Collection: copy
number one of the fitst limited edition of the poet's most cele¬
brated narrative poem, Reynard the Fax, inscribed by Masefield
for his wife and embellished by him throughout the \-oIume with
mote than one hundred watercolor and pen-and-ink drawings.
Dr. Lamont is also largely responsible for the Library's holdings
of Masefield manuscripts. His gifts in this area range from three
notebooks containing drafts of poems and essays to the group of
seventy-two letters written by Masefield to his wife, Constance,
in 1917 when the poet was with the British Army in northern
France. In addition. Dr. Lamont has presenred .Masefield's own
copy of The Poetical Works of John Keats containing his auto¬
graph notes and annotations on ninety pages.

During his stay in America in 1895 iMasefield lived for a short
time with James Alexander MacLachlan and his wife, iMary, in
Yonkers. Their daughter, Helen MacLachlan, knowing of Colum¬
bia's plan for a centenary exhibition, decided early last year to
place at Columbia her extensive Masefield collection of 528 letters
and 12 3 inscribed editions. iMiss MacLachlan's splendid gift, which
includes the series of 368 letters written by the poet to her and her
family over a seventy-year period, has provided for the exhibition
books, letters and photographs from virtually every period of
Masefield's distinguished career as poet and public figure.

The publication of the illustrated catalogue of this anniversary
exhibition was made possible by a gift from Dr. Lamont, who also
contributed to the book a memoir recounting his association with
Masefield, whom he fondly recalls as "a gracious, sparkling, en¬
nobling personality." On Thursday afternoon, February 2, ar a
reception in the Rotunda, the Friends and their guests opened the
exhibition, which will continue in Low through .March 3. It will
then be moved to the third floor exhibition area of Butler Library
where it will remain on view through the end of June.