May the warmth of
generosity and kindness
fill your heart this holiday season
and throughout the new year
Thomas F. McNally
Dean of Libraries
USC Libraries’ holiday card features the magnificent “Snowy Owl,” plate 121, from
John James Audubon’s Birds of America (London, 1827-1838). The set was purchased on subscription for the South Carolina
College by special vote of the South Carolina legislature in 1831.
The Audubon double-elephant folio set is one of the many treasures held by the Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. The set was restored in 2015 – 2017 through the generous support of an anonymous donor.