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|  | Home > About Us > News > Press Releases > press releases 1999 > Frary Gift Enriches Holdings in 20th Century Literature at Milton S. Eisenhower Library August 24, 1999 Frary Gift Enriches Holdings in 20th Century Literature at A Johns Hopkins alumnus, Richard Frary, '69, of New York City, has given Special Collections in the Eisenhower Library extensive collections of works by John Dos Passos and Rockwell Kent, and as well as publications by Dylan Thomas, William Faulkner and John Barth. Rockwell Kent was exceptionally versatile, but best known as a painter and illustrator. The collection includes reproductions of his paintings, a catalogue raisonne of his prints, and book illustrations he created for writers as different as Shakespeare, the '20s humorist George Chappell, and Kent himself. A serious author of non-fiction, Kent based his work on his personal experience, particularly travel, and proofs of the pictures for one of his books, N by E, an account of a voyage to Greenland in 1929, are among the highlights of the collection. Other surprising inclusions are two volumes of woodcut bookplates for various clients, among them Hopkins professor of English Raymond Dexter Havens; a sheet of 1939 Christmas Seals Kent designed; and a 1938 advertising brochure for a paint company, which he wrote and illustrated. John Dos Passos was famous as a novelist, and the collection of his works includes Manhattan Transfer and USA, but also drama, poetry, history and controversial works from every stage of his career. Dos Passos' political sympathies moved gradually from left to right, and a 1927 pamphlet he wrote in support of Sacco and Vanzetti is here with a 1959 book by the conservative William F. Buckley, Jr. for which Dos Passos wrote an introduction. His earliest play was Airways, Inc. in 1928, and it is here in its first edition, together with the publisher's contract, signed by the author. A number of the Dos Passos books are signed. One has two of his letters, laid in, to literary Baltimoreans: Betty Adler, who was Mencken's bibliographer; and C.P. Ives, former editorial writer for the Baltimore Sun. Dos Passos, a long-time Baltimore resident, often used the George Peabody Library and wrote much of USA there. The Kent and Dos Passos collections are firsts for the Eisenhower Library. The Thomas, Barth and Faulkner books reinforce existing holdings. Thanks to Mr. Frary, the Library has a greatly enriched presence in 20th century literature. The Sheridan Libraries encompass the Milton S. Eisenhower Library and its collections at the Hutzler Reading Room, Garrett Library and the George Peabody Library. ### Johns Hopkins University news releases can be found on the World Wide Web at Headlines@Hopkins | |||||||||||||
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