In addition to that very special book that Francesca bequeathed to
the ASI, her family has donated other material from her collection
to the iris community.
I just mailed a box of books from her collection to the AIS auction
(for benefit of the AIS). Included is the much less famous, but
still desirable, Handbook of Garden Irises, Dykes, 1924. For species
lovers that don't yet have them, the box also includes
The Iris, Brian Mathew, 1981
Iris, Fritz Kohlein, translation 1987
For these, you can only bid at the convention; if you want one but
aren't going, get a friend to bid for you!
Ken Walker
On 3/29/2012 10:54 AM, Dennis Kramb wrote:
Forgive me if I'm repeating information that was already
posted... however, I wanted to tell/remind everyone about
a very special item that is up for auction at the AIS
(American Iris Society) convention in April.
It's a 1913 edition of The Genus Iris: By William R. Dykes
which was bequeathed to the ASI (Aril Society
International) by Francesca Thoolen who passed away 1 year
ago this month. Francesca was an absolute jewel for the
ASI, providing tons of knowledge and material to be
published over the years. It's not surprising that she
would bequeath this jewel... this special book... to be
auctioned off, with the proceeds benefiting the ASI.
For full details please visit http://wiki.irises.org/bin/view/Main/InfoDykesIrisMonograph
If you can't attend the AIS convention, you can place bids
electronically from now until April 19th.
Who was Francesca?
Francesca was an iris lover and hybridizer. Personally, I
will always remember her fondness for the diminutive &
charming aril-pums (hybrids between aril irises and Iris
pumila). She was also a prolific contributor to the ASI
website, yearbooks, and checklists. For years she was
responsible for organizing and publishing the illustrated
checklists. As the ASI webmaster I worked with her
frequently. She contributed the bulk of the material in
the library: http://www.arilsociety.org/index.pl?Checklist
(Just take a look at the "Classic Works" records of
personal correspondences that she contributed!)
This is a rare opportunity to obtain a rare book, so
please take a look & consider placing a bid!
Thank you very much,
Dennis in Cincinnati
