Courtesy Donald Sultner-Welles, Lutheran Church in America
Trexler Library’s Special Collections and the Martin Art Gallery present a new exhibit celebrating art and rare books from the collection of Florence Foerderer Tonner (1882-1971). A Philadelphia collector and philanthropist, Florence Tonner at her death bequeathed her Delaware River estate, Glen Foerd, and its contents to the Lutheran Church in America. Over time, the maintenance costs of the estate became too great for the Church to sustain, and the house reverted back to the custodianship of the local community. Today it is run by the Glen Foerd Conservation Corporation, and is the only one of the grand old Delaware River summer mansions to be restored and open to the public as a museum.
Because of Muhlenberg College’s close relationship with the LCA, much of Florence’s print and rare books collections were donated to the College, where they have served as invaluable educational resources for the Muhlenberg community. From first editions of Hemingway and Steinbeck, important landmarks books on art collecting, and children’s books, to an important hand-colored copy of William Blake’s Night Thoughts, Florence’s print and book collections have provided a wide-ranging selection of interdisciplinary treasures. This exhibit, which takes place in the Rare Books Exhibit Room on Level B of Trexler Library, also contains several oil paintings that came with the bequest, by artists including Theodore Rosseau, Louis Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun, and others.
The exhibit, which runs until April 15, 2017, is free and open to the public from 11am-7pm daily; closed for College holidays. For more information, contact Susan Falciani at Trexler Library(sfalciani@muhlenberg.edu)Â or Paul Nicholson at the Martin Art Gallery (paulnicholson@muhlenberg.edu).
Save
Save
