UNITED STATES Society of Medalists 1967 In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World by Donald Miller 68.3mm x 72mm bronze medal 194 gramsSOM-76  992 Minted

Obverse: depicts bird, fish, butterfly, snake and mountain goat

Reverse: tree in the forefront with mountains and a setting sun, IN WILDNERNESS IS THE PRESERVATION OF THE WORLD / THOREAU

Edge: MEDALLIC ART CO. NY BRONZE / DONALD MILLER, S.C. NOV 1967©

The Society of Medalists unquestionably represents the United States' longest running and most successful art medal society. Co-founded in 1929 by Clyde Curlee Trees, the new owner of Medallic Art Company, and medal enthusiast and philanthropist George Dupont Pratt, the Society saw itself as the successor to the Circle of Friends of the Medallion and modeled itself on recently established peer groups in France (Société des Amis de la Médaille Française) and in the Netherlands (Verenigung voor Penningkunst). Advances in minting technology had enabled the inexpensive production of high quality bronze medals. This allowed the newly founded Society to pursue its mission of promoting high quality yet affordable medallic art to a broad public.

Donald Richard Miller (1925–1989) Erie, Pennsylvania - Following his service in World War II, Miller studied at the Dayton (Ohio) Art Institute (1947-52), the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn (1955-57); the Art Students League in New York (1958-61); and privately with Ulysses A. Ricci (1956-60). He was a specialist in animal sculpture and his works include the Thoreau Medal for the Society of Medallists; two reliefs for the Cincinnati Zoo; another for the Philadelphia Zoo; and gargoyles for Washington Cathedral. He was a member of the faculty of the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, from 1972 until his death, and was a frequent contributor to and served on the editorial board of Sculpture Review, the publication of the National Sculpture Society. He was a vice president of the Society of Animal Artists for which he designed a medal.