November 2, 2009
AMHERST, Mass. –Richard Soffer, a member of Amherst College’s Class of 1954, will give a lecture titled “Collecting Ornithological Books - A Personal Odyssey,” at 4 p.m. Friday, November 6, in Cole Assembly Room of the college’s Converse Hall. The talk is sponsored by Friends of the Amherst College Library.
Soffer has formed a remarkable and extensive collection of books about birds, with particular attention to the various methods and techniques that have been used to reproduce illustrations. His books provide examples of every type of illustrative technique: hand painting, woodcut and wood engraving, etching and engraving, lithography and modern photomechanical methods. A large portion of his collection now resides at Amherst, and he will speak about the Soffer Ornithology Collection as well as the college’s magnificent set of Audubon’s The Birds of America.
Following the talk there will be a reception and exhibition featuring The Birds of America and books from Soffers’ collection in the Archives and Special Collections on Level A of the Frost Library.
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