The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1878-02-28
Library Of the State Department at
Washington.

The library is the gem of the bureau.
Architecturally, the room is the pride
of the building. The work is of iron,
without any appearance of heaviness.
The airy grace Of the balconied interior
is heightened by the pure white and
delicate pearl-colored decorations,
touched here and there with gilt 1t is
illuminated by a square dome, through
which the softened sunlight falls upon
the tiers of literary treasures. This
library was founded by Jefferson in
1889, and many of the earlier purchased
works bear his impress and autograph.
1t was in September of that year that
the Secretary of State was empowered
by Congress to procure the laws of the
several States. Now one tier OF the
three ro0my galleries is devoted exclu-
sively to the collection of the laws of
the States, and is very complete. The
library contains the best and the larg-
est collection of books relating to inter-
national affairs that can possibly be OBJ
tanned, including the great work of
Dumont on international law, the first
ever published on the subject, and made
up from the most ancient sources, and
from all the knewn Governments in the
world; and the works of the great
writers of all ages, down to the latest
publication of to-day. We might men
ton, as illustrative of the scope of this
alcove, the magnificent folio statutes of
the realm of Great Britain; 'Hansard's
Parliamentary Debates" in some 800
volumes; the State papers not only of
Great Britain, but of other foreign
countries; the Mirror Of Parliament"
in twenty great volumes, upon which
Charles Dickens was employed; series
of forty or more folios devoted to Rus
sian law; and Thomas Rymer's great
work, which contains the treaties,
leagues, manifestoes, capitulations, cor
respondence and other public docu-
ments of England and the various coun-
tries of the world. The department of
history is equally full. Our National
book collectors have done themselves
credit by the manner in which they
have culled jewels from all parts of the
earth. Histories of all Nations and in
all languages grace the shelves. One
curiosity is universal history from the
creation, called the Nuremberg Chron-
icles," printed in 1893. The cuts display
singular artistic talent; they were exc
cuted by the master of Albert Durer,
and before his time. The artist was
so enamored of his own pictures that
he often used the same one again
and again, as in the case of fine
representation of Jupiter, which he
afterward repeated for St. Paul. A
later acquisition is an g Abridged Uni
versal History" produced in Japan. 1t
contains historical sketches of all the
Nations of the world, with portraits of
distinguished public characters, which
are quickly recognized in spite of
Japanese popularity of execution
Charles H., Napoleon, Lincoln, Victor
Emmanuel, Christopher Columbus, the
Emperor of Russia, Washington, etc.,
etc. 1t is neatly printed in Japanese
characters, and intended for the use of
their normal schools. In the alcove
devoted to biography, memoirs of all
the notable Frenchmen of every age in
dicate somewhat of the length Of the
catalogue. Martha j. Lamb, IN Har-
per's Maqazi'se for March.