BERENSON COLLECTION

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

You reported my conversations with Mr. Pope very fairly. However, far too much emphasis was placed on the problems involved in Mr. Berenson's rumored bequest of his library and collections to Harvard.

Few things would do more for the study of the Fine Arts, and indeed of the humanities generally, than a superbly equipped institute near Florence where Americans could come to know at leisure and at first hand a civilization that was in so many respects the cradle of our own. Few things could contribute more to deepen our understanding of European achievements and problems. Americans would be working in close and daily collaboration with scholars from all over the world studying a culture which is one of the greatest achievements of western man. If Mr. Berenson were to leave I Tatti to Harvard, it would present the University with an extraordinary opportunity and represent a challenge to American education that Harvard should be proud to face. John Coolidge '35   Director of Fogg Museum