A Cycle of Giving

We reported in the Newsletter in August, 1994, on the gift of approximately 1,000 volumes in the fields of literature and English Catholic history made by Maurice Adelman, Jr. (L'58). Rich in works by such writers as Willa Cather, Ronald Knox, and author/illustrator Clare Leighton, Maurice's library also greatly strengthened our holdings in the history of Roman Catholicism in England, particularly in the period when Catholics were either persecuted for their faith or barely tolerated.

Long before he gave us his books, Adelman had established a library endowment fund in the name of Blessed Margaret Pole, the mother of Cardinal Reginald Pole who refused to follow Henry VIII in his establishment of the Church of England and became a Papal diplomat on the continent. Several times a year one could expect letters or phone calls from Maurice pointing our attention to items which "might appeal to Blessed Meg," items which we would generally add to the collections in due course if Blessed Meg's purse was sufficiently full. In recent years Maurice's continued donations to the endowment ensured that her purse could sustain our buying on a somewhat grander scale, and the calls and letters became more frequent. When he visited Georgetown for the meetings of the Library Advisory Council there were almost always new acquisitions for him to see.

After his retirement from full-time legal practice Maurice took the step of establishing a charitable remainder trust to benefit Blessed Meg and the library. Using highly appreciated stock to fund the trust permitted its sale without exposing either Maurice or the trust to capital gains taxes, and the proceeds, invested in a more diversified portfolio, provided dependable income during the remainder of Maurice's life, and he supplemented his gifts to the Blessed Margaret Pole endowment fund with additions to the trust.

We noted briefly in the most recent issue of the Newsletter that Maurice had specified a bequest to the library in his will. That bequest has now been received, and Blessed Margaret Pole's purse has profited from it, as well as from the proceeds of the charitable remainder trust. One of the last significant acquisitions Maurice lived to see is illustrated here, the first printing of Bishop Challoner's revision of the New Testament in English, published discreetly in Dublin (though the place is not named) in 1749, the progenitor of the standard English editions for more than two centuries, the first copy we had seen on the market in nearly 30 years. Blessed Meg was very pleased.

For more information about a gift to Lauinger Library that can provide lifetime income, please contact Jeff Comfort or Mary Todd Hardeman in the Office of Planned Giving at (800) 347-8067 or (202) 687-3697; or call Marji Bayers, Director of Development for the library, at (202) 687-5666. You incur no obligation by inquiring, and all inquiries are handled in confidence.