ANNUAL LETTER TO HAKLUYT SOCIETY MEMBERS IN THE USA, 2010
17 December 2010
Dear Friends,
I am happy to convey some good news. Since I last wrote to you, the Delmas Foundation has supported the publication of Arctic Journals of William Scoresby the Younger (1789-1857), Volume III, which you have already received, as well as Russian California by James Gibson, due to be released in the near future. The two-volume presentation of Gibson’s collection of documents on the Russian presence on the Pacific coast of North America in the mid- to late nineteenth century promises to be fascinating. I have invited James to launch the publication with a celebratory lecture and reception in the John Carter Brown Library’s beautiful Reading Room on the Brown University campus in Providence, RI. I will be sure to let you know once a date has been selected. It would be a wonderful opportunity for all AFHS supporters to gather and reconnect.
In the early spring of 2011, John Bockstoce has agreed to speak on a topic of interest to all of us at the Explorer’s Club. There will be an accompanying dinner to which you will, of course, also be invited. Look for a more formal invitation early in the new year!
New AFHS Board member and former JCB Fellow Steve Mentz recently curated a very successful, exhibition, “Lost at Sea: The Ocean in the English Imagination”, at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC. Steve is currently organizing a conference called “The Hungry Ocean, Literature of the Sea,” that will be held in Providence at the JCB Library, April 22 and 23, 2011. A schedule and more details will be available and forwarded to you shortly. I hope you will be able to join us for what will hopefully be the first in a series of maritime conferences that Steve expects will be held on a biennial basis.
As the calendar year draws to an end, I also hope you will consider supporting all of these worthy endeavors. A return envelope is enclosed for any contribution you might want to make to the American Friends of the Hakluyt Society. All funds support the work of the Hakluyt Society UK and the scholarship it makes available. Your donation is entirely tax deductable. I offer my gratitude to you for your contribution and I know that the Hakluyt Society is likewise, very thankful.
I am looking forward to seeing you at one of the above-mentioned events in 2011. Be sure to check out the Hakluyt Society website for frequent updates on all activities.
Best regards,
Ted Widmer
President
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