A gift from Professor William C. Carter has propelled the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Mervyn H. Sterne Library onto the list of top destinations for Proust scholars, the Birmingham News reports. "Last week, Carter donated a treasure trove of rare books, photos and memorabilia related to Proust, plus an extensive collection of items Carter amassed during a friendship and correspondence with Mississippi-born historian and novelist Shelby Foote, who was a great admirer of Proust."
The gift means that UAB now has "what is believed to be the third-largest collection of Proust-related items in the world, behind France's Bibliotheque Nationale and a collection at the University of Illinois, home of pioneering Proust scholar Philip Kolb."
