From: LeonardSMa at aol.com <LeonardSMa>
Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 08:37:21 -0500

A virtual exhibition of the work of American picture-book artist E. Boyd Smith
(186543) has just gone up on the Brooklyn Public Library web site as a companion to the soon-to-open library exhibition "What Shall We Read to the Children: Treasures from t he Hunt Collection of Children's Literature."

Clara Hunt was founding supervisor of work with children at BPL, starting in 1903, and chair of the first Newbery Medal committee in 1922. During her nearly forty-year tenure at the library, she amassed a collection of 7,000 19th- and early 20th?ntury c hidren's books, a treasure trove of rare books and children's magazines that have only recently been taken out of storage. E. Boyd Smith was one of the first artists whose career Hunt championed. Years later, Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire presented her with the dummy for their Caldecott winning book, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, with a letter thanking Hunt for having been the first person in New York to encourage the couple to enter the field of children's-book illustration.

The exhibition "What Shall We Read to the Children," which takes its title from that of one of Hunt's own books, opens on November 30th and will be on view at the Grand Army Plaza main library through the end of January. The virtual exhibition can be view ed by going to the library web site: www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org and following the prompt to the exhibition home page.

Leonard Marcus (co-curator)

www.leonardmarcus.com
Received on Sun 21 Nov 2004 07:37:21 AM CST