ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries O c to b e r 1 9 9 7 / 6 5 5 The reading room o f the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries at the Art Institute o f Chicago tu red fine tailoring, b right colors, a n d elab o rate decorations, w ere w o rn b y scores o f H ollyw ood cow boys, p o p u la r c o u n try singers, a n d w ell- k n o w n celebrities. In c lu d e d in th e collection are cu sto m er clothing files dating from 1955 to 1970, b o o t p attern s, p h o to g ra p h s, c o rre sp o n ­ den ce, a n d financial records. The first installment of a multiyear gift of com ic b o o k s, g rap h ic novels, a n d o th e r m ate­ rials related to com ic art in p o p u la r culture has b e e n a cq u ired b y th e B row n U niversity Library. T h e c o lle c tio n w a s a m a s s e d b y M ichael J. Ciaraldi, a n in d e p e n d e n t c o m p u te r co n su ltan t an d com ic art enthusiast. T h e en tire collection is estim ated to co n tain 60,000 items. In clu d ed are ex ten siv e ru n s o f m ajor “s u p e r h e ro ” co m ­ ics; nearly 300 g rap h ic novels, including an e d i­ tion o f A nne Rice’s The V am pire Lestat-, th e first issue o f A ctio n C om ics (June 1938), in w hich the character o f S u p erm an w as in tro d u ced ; a n d com pilations o f n e w sp a p e r strips su ch as P rince V a lia n t an d Terry a n d th e Pirates. A manuscript by W illiam Styron of his m ost recen t b o o k , A T idew ater M orning: Three Tales fr o m Youth, has b e e n d o n ated to D uke University’s Special Collections Library by th e E d. n o t e : S e n d y o u r new s to: G rants & A c q u i­ sitions, C&RL N ew s, 5 0 E. H u ro n St., Chicago, IL 60611; e-m ail: tmorris@ ala.org author. In addition to the m anuscript, Styron d o nated m ore th an 5,000 pieces o f co rresp o n d en ce, including letters from fans, agents, edi­ to r s , p u b l i s h e r s , fa m ily m em bers, a n d fellow liter­ a ry fig u re s, a m o n g th e m J o h n U p d i k e , K u r t V o n n e g u t, J o s e p h H eller, L illian H e ilm a n , A r th u r M iller, a n d E u d o ra Welty. D ates o f th e letters ran g e f r o m t h e 1 9 4 0 s to th e p resen t. Also in clu d ed are au d io - a n d v id e o ta p e d in­ te rv ie w s w ith S tyron, as w ell as aw ard s a n d p h o to ­ graphs. A Samuel Beckett manuscript notebook dating from the early 1950s has b een acquired by the Ohio State University Libraries’ Division o f Rare Books and Manuscripts. The notebook contains Beckett’s manuscript draft for Fin de Partie, differ­ ing markedly from the published text; a complete early draft o f From a n A b a n d o n ed Work, an early draft o f an untitled short story in French; an aborted attempt by Beckett to translate his Molloy from French into English; and a brief unpublished fragment from E n A tt e n d a n t Godot. T h e n o te b o o k w ill b e a d d e d to th e libraries’ B eckett m an u scrip t col­ lection, o n e o f th e w o rld ’s m ajor repositories o f original B eckett m aterials. ■ Advertiser index A cadem ic Press 624 A m eritech Libraiy Services C over 2 A m igos 639 Archival P roducts 6 l6 B lackw ell’s 632 C hoice 653 C ongressional Q uarterly 640 Ebsco C over 3 E bsco.doc 647 G ale R esearch 623 Library Corp. 631 R eadm ore 648 Sociological A bstracts 636 W ant P ublishing 613 VTLS C over 4 mailto:tmorris@ala.org