Activities of the Friends

Fall Meeting. The gift of the papers of the literary agency Harold
iMatson Company, Inc. was celebrated at the fall dinner meeting
held in the Rotunda of Low Memorial Library on Thursday eve¬
ning, November 4. Mr. Don Congdon, Vice President of Harold
Matson Company, spoke about the agency, its authors and its ar¬
chives. The evening's major speaker was Mr. William Manchester,
who talked on "The Writer as Spectator." Mr. Gordon N. Ray
presided.

Winter Meeting. An exhibition marking the two hundredth an¬
niversary of the birth of \A'ashington Irving will open on Thurs¬
day afternoon, February 3, 1983, with a reception in Low Library.
On view will be first editions, manuscripts, portraits and memora¬
bilia of the author who received honorary degrees from the Uni¬
versity in 1821 and 1829.

Bancroft Dinner. The Bancroft Awards dinner will be held on
Thursday evening, April 7, 1983.

Finances. For the twelve month period which ended on June 30,
1982, the general purpose contributions totaled 529,115. Gifts
from individual Friends designated for the Rare Book and Manu¬
script Library building fund totaled $157,700. Books and manu¬
scripts donated or bequeathed by members had an appraised value
of $148,506. The total of all gifts and contributions since the es¬
tablishment of the association in 1951 now stands at $4,135,851.
The Council also approved a transfer of 110,000, the second in¬
stallment of a pledge of $25,000, to the Rare Book and Manuscript
Library building fund.
 

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