Activities of the Friends

Finances. An increase of 14.25% in general purpo.sc contributions
brought the total for the twelve month period ended on June 30,
1986, to $35,051. Special purpose gifts, designated for individual
book and manuscript purchases and for the completion of the
furnishings for the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, totaled
$66,538 for the same period. Gifts in kind totaled $514,481, an afl
time high for the second consecutive year. The total of all gifts and
contributions since the establishment ofthe association in 1951
now stands at $6,328,755.

New Council Members. Mr. R. Dyke Benjamin, Mrs. Margaret L.
Kempner, and Mrs. Pauline Ames Plimpton have been elected to
serve on the Council ofthe Friends.

Fall reception. The exhibition "Michel Butor: Text and Graphics"
will be opened by a reception on Thursday afternoon, December
4. On view will be numerous limited editions of Butor's prose
and poetry illustrated by such contemporary artists as Pierre
Alechinsky, Baltazar, Alexander Calder, Alex Cassel, Bernard
Dufour, Jacques Herold, Pierre Leloup, Gregory Masurovsky,
Ania Staritsky, Victor Vasarely, and Andre Villiers, among others.

Future meetings. The winter exhibition, "Designs for Living: The
Decorative Arts of Rockwell Kent," will open with a members'
preview on Thursday, March 5, 1987, in the Rare Book and
Manuscript Library; and the annual Bancroft Awards Dinner will
be held in the Rotunda of Low Memorial Library on Thursday
evening, April 2, 1987.
 

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