Activities of the Friends

Fall Meeting. The fall dinner meeting, held in Low Memorial
Library on Thursday evening, November 3, featured a talk by
Professor Frank Kermode, "On the Selection of Books." Mr. Gor¬
don N. Ray presided.

Winter Meeting. On Thursday afternoon, February 2, 1984, the
Friends will host a reception in the Rotunda of Low Memorial
Library to open the exhibition, "Russians and the West." Drawn
largely from the holdings of the Bakhmeteff Archive of Russian
and East European History and Culture, and marking the com¬
pletion of the project funded by the National Endowment for the
Humanities, the exhibition will feature manuscripts, autograph
letters, historical documents, photographs, posters and artworks
which relate primarily to the emigre movements during the first
lialf of the twentieth century.

Baiicroft Dinner. The Bancroft dinner will be held on Thursday
evening, March 29, 1984.

Finances. General purpose contributions totaled $30,561 for the
twelve month period which ended on June 30, 1983, an increase
of nearly five percent over the previous year. Special purpose
gifts, including contributions designated for the Rare Book and
Manuscript Library building fund, totaled $103,888. Books and
manuscripts donated or bequeathed by members had an appraised
value of ,1187,719, a figure also significantly higher than the one
for the previous year. The total of all gifts and contributions
since the establishment of the association in 1951 now stands at
$4,458,019. The Council also approved a transfer of $10,000 to
the Rare Book and Manuscript Library building fund, the third
installment of the pledge made by the Friends to this project.
 

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