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February 26, 1957

Mr. Bernard H. Porter 6621 California Street San Francisco 21, California

Dear Mr. Porter: It is a pleasure to be able to acknowledge again a shipment from you destined for inclusion in the Maine Author Collection. Thank you for your interest and care in the matter.

Some of your questions can be answered, but perhaps to others there are no satisfactory answers. The Maine Author Collection was started more than twenty-five years ago by the State Librarian at that time, Dr. Henry E. Dunnack, who believed that there should be in the state a place where all the work of all Maine authors was permanently available. Building up the collection was gradual, necessarily. As we could afford it, we bought the works of deceased authors; we were able to interest contemporary writers in inscribing and presenting their books, with only a few exceptions.

Although the collection is as comprehensive as we can make it, it is nevertheless an informal one. The books are intended as a permanent exhibit, and are not subject to lending, but are always here in the library, where they may be studied at any time the library is open. Casual visitors are interested, sutdents working on some phase of Maine literature, and we are happy to have the books used in this way.

No count has been made of the number of authors represented. Your question raises an interesting point, and when we can find the time, we think we should like to know. An estimate is three or four hundred, and that is a conservative estimate.

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