The Portland daily press., 1877-06-06
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
Improvements and Chnnges-Some Rare
VOIumes-The Reference Department.

VOIumes-The Reference Department.
| Some marked Improvements have been made
in the Public Library of late New systems o.
| cataloguing and shelving have been introduced
the use OF the reference department is much
facilitated, and the number of volumes therein
mas been considerably enlarged. The system
OF shelving is that of the Boston library, the
racks being double-faced, and each compart
ment aud shelf numbered so that the finding
OF any volume is now easy and expeditions
All who have any interest in the institution
must rejoice that the old hsp-hazard way ha:
| been done away WITH which required the
| searcher to prowl among unnumbered shelves
| only to find, after many minutes, that the vol
ume was not 10 be found. Now he who wants
book can consult the finding lists, give num-
bers of case, compartment and shelf, to the
courteous assistants, and have the wanted vol
ume delivered to him at once. Twenty of the
| new style cases, containing, on the average, a
thousand volumes each, have been placed in the
main room.
The finding lists are included in a brown
paper pamphlet, published by W. S. Jones, and
Il OAOiCu iol o0iO az q ioW pAiSC, pampuiCi
which should be in the hands of every pa tron
of the library; for without the finding lists one
can only by long and wearisome search acquaint
himself with the. treasures of the library, OF
discover the many curious volumes on its
| shelves 1t is safe to assume that rot score
eft persons knew, before consulting the lists,
| that this book-house contains, among many
other notable books, the Atheng Or0nienSis of
Anthony Wood, London, 1721; or the Basic
edition of Isocrates, 1865; or the Roma VetUS az
| Recens, Rome, 1913; or the Parfait Negotidn,
of Jacques Savary, the edition of 1879; or the
six-volumed Biographical Britannica; or the
British State Trials; or Les Religions du Monde,
the Amsterdam imprint of Jean Schipper,
1866. The AHen@ OronienSis and Biographical
Britannica have been lately secured, at prices
far below their intrinsic worth. Another curl.
GUS work, which came into the library no one
knows how, is French manuscript copy of the
Peace of Ryswick in 1857.
Another very important department of the
library. which has just been made easily acces-
sible, by,,means of an excellent catalogue, pre-.
pared by the Assistant Librarian, Mr.. S. M.
Watson, is that containing the Willis manu-
scripts. Among these manuscripts are the
Jones papers; the Vaughan papers; the inscrip-
tions on stones and monuments in the Eastern
Cemetery, with accompanying notes; the docu-
ments relating to the Eastern land claims; pa
pers, dating from 1868, having reference to the
history of Falmouth; the Genealogical Notes;
the Willis correspondence; and the Statistical
and Historical Scraps" Ins addition to the
manuscripts, the Willis collection, which en-
braces about thousand volumes, is exception
ally rich in works on American history and
biography, containing many volumes now out
of print and very rare. 1t is Que of the most
extensive collections of its kind in the country,
and has been too long neglected by antiquarians
and other scholars. 1t is of especial interest to
students of Maine history.
Another feature of the library, which fails to
command the attention which is its due, is the
reference department. Though still weak, it
offers to both the student and the practical
man great advantages in the intelligent prose-
cution of their labors; advantages of which it
is to be regretted they do not oftener avail
Themselves. The attendants are always ready
to extend aid to the inquirer, and gladly con-
slider it their duty to make this great.collection
of books of value to the citizen in any grade of
society. Indeed, there is no trade or profession
which is neglected in the selection of books,
and the artist, the mechanic, or the chemist, or
others, will find in this storehouse of informa-
ton something which will be of material aid in
his peculiar work. That people should learn to
use the library, that each man should accus-
tom himself to resort to it for..those costly or
cumbersome mental tools which he cannot
afford to purchase or which he has not room to
house, is greatly to be desired. Thus the Pub
lie Library would become much more than
means of amusement or mental dissipation.
1t would become valuable aid to education,
convenient resort for all men who have knotty
questions TO solve or who desire to obtain in
formation regarding the theory or practice of
their callings. Any call for any particular
work upon any special industry or branch of
knowledge would be promptly honored (the
needed volume being at once secured if not in
STOREY and the Library would thus become, as
its projectors anticipated, Of inestimable value
to the city.
This reference department is not, as common
ly supposed, confined to works of general in
formation. 1t has of course its cyclopedias Its at
lases lit is rich in excellent maps) its gazeteers,
its dictionaries of theology science, literature,
of art, of biography, of mythology, of fiction, Of
the languages, but it has also special treaties on
particular trades and professions A few ex-
amples out of many: The architect or builder
can now find on the shelves full set of Cas-
sells technical manuals "a study of which is
sadly needed, as the Rockport and other disas-
ters testify relating 10 bricklaying, cabinet
making, stone masonry, joinery, carpentry,
metal plate working, etc., Rosengarten's Hand
book of Architectural Styles, Anderson's
Strength of Material, Bloxam's or Burns's
Building Construction, Bullock's American
Cottage Builder, Ferguson's History of Archi-
lecture, Gardeners Homes, and Worthen's Me
chanical Drawing; the decorator can find East
lakes Hints on Household Taste, CARROTS
House Decorations, Hays Interior Decorator,
Racinet's Polychromatic Ornament, Arrow
smiths Paper Hangers Companion, Masury's
Grainer's Handbook, Muspratt's Painter,
Glider & Varnishers Companion; the Garden.
er finds Schenk's well known textbook, McIn-
tosh's Horticultural, Elliotts Landscape Gard
ening, Mearn's Culture of the Vine, Bakers
Fruit Culture and Fuller's Florist; the photo.
grapher finds Humphreys Manuel and Tow
ler's Silver Sunbeam. These are but few of
hundred examples; for the man of any craft,
the steam engineer, the ship-builder, the mar.
BILE worker, the blacksmith, the tinman, the tel
egrapher, the locomotive engineer, the miner,
the millwright, the wood-carver, can be served
in the library with the manuals of his trade.
To some branches especial attention seems
to have been paid. The fine arts are repre-
sented by the best and most elaborate trsatises.
We see on the shelves Allonge's Charcoal
Drawing, Duplessis's Wonders of Engraving,
Kuglef's Handbook of Painting, Lessipg's
LAGOON, Merrifeld's Ancient Practice of
Painting, Renley's Water Colors, Flaxman's
Anatomical Studies, Winkleman's History of
Ancient Art, Ruskin's Works, Rocks Textile
Fabrics, Rollins Ancient and Modern Furni'
ture, Maskelps Queries, Jacquemart's Ceramic
Art, Fortnoum's Majolica. Blanes Ornament
in Dress, and many others.
From this scant mention something may be
judged of the advantages which the Library
offers to our people-advantage of which our
people should freely avail themselves. With
its increased facilities and bettered arrange