Middletown transcript., 1871-01-21
TnE LuBRtp, 0F CoxGREss.

Everybody visits the Library Of Con
grcss who visit. the Capitol and admires
the three grnul ball, the main one fac
ing west, fanlel by another hall Of equal
length on either side The entire portion
Of the Western projection ia the centre Of
the original capitol is embraced in the
Library i'rorp The central door Of the
main hall ia. 'nrn porticu is approach
ed, whore i ilt,scrrs always bciakG them
selves to gaze upon the finest panorama Of
the city offered from any point. Seeing
the ,iew. alil casting second hasty glance
around the library, il is usually consider.
rd that nothing more Of interest remains
to be enjoyed. aud visitors - elsewhere
But thi, portion af the capitol docs not
merit So pcrcmriory dismissal Ia the
first place thi, Library is remarkable a.
tie 3nly one in the world intp which na
wooden shelving and no cuubustiblc ma
tcria has been introduced 1t is ahso.
lniely lrcproof In the nest place. as
l.ibrary of reference for modern works il
compare. tuyorably with leading European
libraries. though il cannot compete with
ihrm IN literature of the miidia ages or
.arr I'D manuscripts of muye ancient date.
Il has IT, treasure yiriu IL spacious
shelves, among is 200 uul volumes The
rnt.a uf shelving is astonishing being
geatlr tive mile. IN It's entire extent this
includes the measurement, It the shelving
il, ihe Law Library in another portion of
q! the building
Among the treasured volumes most
h. ,.hiy valued Is the "Codcx Sinri,icns.
being a printed cory of an original Greek
manuscript of the New Testament, aud
edited by Tisohtndpri learned Hebrew
.eaelnr Il trrmany hy whom the manu-
sesili was discovered III a convent Of Mt
Saeai. aud printed aud presented by the
Russian gcrcrnmeni Ia our OWN and other
The text Of this is fac
,imlr Il that of the manuscript, aud the
version j. pronounced hy scholar. to be at
lras, rs old as that of the Vatican, and
more complies. II was discovered ouy
in isaI Among the Illustrated work.
nrr tie i've folio volumes af !" Gould's
Monograph Of the Trochilide or family
of hummng birds in which liie-s size pic
mtt. nf the birds are given in chrono
and hy mrans Of secret
method which has been patented gloss i
given 10 the pictures and ralancc to the
brilliant colurng If those birf.s having ap-
rafentlg jcwclea erests. which imparis
glitter n of gems 10 the fra'her., proluc-
"a Is ~ other style Of culprcd print The
flora umong which these birds build their
nests is also very wonderfully reproduced
The Brazilian government has mad prcpar-
ed aud presented 10 our government
grand folio ynnme, entitled
= l1c,cuurli,z brazilian urnitholory. =
which wa, published in gorgeous style in
london TIE test of this work is French
The iinling is .he finest red morocco.
skillfnll; iuIail aith map Of the country.
aud with representations in green morocco
and gold lcnf Of the palm trees of Brazil
The y-lcaycs are of white watercd silk
The plates are fine specimens of tinted
In files Of newspapers the library is rich
The files Of the prominent New York
dalies are regularly kept, and complete
files are preserved Of many of them from
the date Of their publication Tho Lon
don Times is filed from lio6, but it as
sumel no Importance for six years or SO
\ complete file pf the Lon
don Gu:,nc is also KEEP, from l695 up 10
date. and Of the British Royal haicncier
from lTT2 TO date. The Almanac de
Gotha is also preserved from l7T6, ten
years from the date OF its first publication.
up TO the present time. The files of all
newspapers now or heretofore published in
Washington are complete.
II is customary for the principal news
papers each to send copies Of its daily cdi
ton to the library Of Congress free.
Strange to say among the larger cities, the
journals Of Chicago aud St. Louis do not
observe this rule From the South, since
the war, the Mobile Gala. Rcgister is the
only paper forwarded to the library.