18                                  Kemieth A. Lohf

exhibition of treasures from the collections, mounted for the
dedication of the new Library and given permanent record in a
published catalogue, showed the range of the rarities from a third
century B.C. Mesopotamian cylinder seal to the 1956 manuscript
for Allen Ginsberg's Howl. The premiere smaller exhibits fea¬
tured highlights from the George D. AY'oods papers, the Albert
Ulniann collection of illustrated books, imprints of tlie nineteenth
century publisher of children's books McLoughlin Brothers, the
Arthur Rackham collection of original drawings and sketch¬
books, and the David Eugene Smith collection of rare mathe¬
matical instruments.

An impressive room nvo stories high at the west end of the
Library, the Donors Room, commemorates those individuals over
the past two hundred years whose gifts have been responsible for
the magnificent research resources that form the Rare Book and
Manuscript Library. Friends of the Libraries, the Council, bene¬
factors and guests will meet frequently in this room against a
background of oil portraits drawn from the art collections—Lady
Mary Wortley Montagu, Alexander Pope, Sir Walter Scott, the
First Earl of Oxford, Samuel Butler, Edwin Forrest, and Charles
Dickens, among them—and rare editions selected from the num¬
erous memorial collections shelved in the glass-enclosed book¬
cases on the south and north walls. A Sheraton breakfront and a
table and chairs in the Queen Anne style, donated by Mary Hyde,
are the centerpieces of the Room.

Linking the new reading rooms, reference center, exhibition
room, and Donors Room is the skylight running the entire 230
foot interior length of the Library. This unusual and striking
architectural feature allows natural light to illuminate the second
floor hallway and offices and to filter down to the public areas
on the lower floor. An additional unifying feature of the design,
and perhaps the most distinctive of all for a rare book library, are
the tempered glass walls at the entrance area, surrounding both
reading rooms on three sides, and at the fronts of the offices on