ADOPT- A-B OOK
Curators Laura Wasowicz, Lauren Hewes, and David Whitesell organizing the display of collection materials, and friends of AAS.
Adopt-a-Book FUNDING
FOR
ACQUISITIONS & AN ENJOYABLE E VENING
The fourth annual Adopt-a-Book evening was held in Antiquarian Hall on March 29, 2011. Donations made through the adoption process, which can occur at the event or through the online Adopt-a-Book catalog, provide direct funding for acquisitions. Donors are recognized in the catalog, where they can also make this gift in honor of or in memory of a loved one. The names of donors and honorees are added to online catalog entries and are noted on a special bookplate affixed to each item. This year Adopt-a-Book brought in over $20,000 and, to date, over 80 percent of the items offered in the 2011 catalog have been adopted. Catalogs for 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 are posted on the AAS website.
The Child’s Museum: Containing a Description of One Hundred and Eight Interesting Subjects. New York: Samuel Wood & Sons, ca. 1829-1835. This rare early nineteenth-century picture book links numbered metal engravings of common (and not so common) objects and scenes to short paragraphs with corresponding numbers explaining the images. In this case, the images include readily recognizable pictures of a chair and a child at play, as well as ruins, an image that would have been less familiar to children of the New World. Ruth E. Adomeit Book Fund.
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Those who attended the event in 2011 had an opportunity to view more than 150 items from small pamphlets and books to large lithographic prints, a range representing the breadth of AAS collections. Each year at the Adopt-a-Book event, a fellow is invited to speak briefly about his or her research project and collection materials that are particular helpful. Curators also talk about what they are acquiring and why. Lisa Wilson, a professor of American history at the University of Connecticut and current NEH-AAS long-term fellow, spoke on her research project on step-families entitled “Cinderella’s Family.” The next Adopt-a-Book evening is scheduled for April 3, 2012.