, 1879-02-01
BIRMINGHAM LIBRARY.

BIRMINGHAM LIBRARY.
Literary Treasures Destroyed ty F;re-Tto
1trst SlAkspcnre tnitcrt1un In ttr }yorit'-
Alsn uns Of tile Finest G'nrvarte. Collcr.
tIons.
xnnhhh Timer. I'm. II,
The burning Of The Birmingham Library on
Saturday has hpread a general feeling ri ctuos,1
through the tDun, an,l people Of ali grades nu-
ut nr 10 regard t!,c loss Ut .e pslcclees literary
treasures, more particularly VI the reference
AMI Shakespeare Libraries, as In some sense per.
sunni bereavement. rhc.c libraries we're town
property, IN great part founded anil wholly SUD.
In,rtal by the tnuney ii thu rate. payers, Alrl
thrir dcstrucliont therefore, tu,uts hume Il,
every, anc. That thy ,were well apprc-
fact that frnm tic Reference Library aarnc III.
tsaucs of books last year wcsr nvcr :'yI0;hD,
or nrarfy ons volume per head nf ilt.
pon9ss1on q tue borouglI' .4'rlit t" this nun.
brnry, tlc t0tRl circulation ot boo1s, exclusive
of tiin8o issued from the htanctp libraries, con.
s!tlrrabiy exssctle. 6)o, ,0G0 per annum. fuei,nl.
Ing ao,ne 3ooo patsGt 1 specifications. Of great
encc f.ibrary contained over E0.VU volumes, In
cf'ld!nV the famous Hhak+trare Memorial L.
trarY, which numbered NEARLY 7,N> volumes,
the Stnunt0n Harwfcf.hirc collection, and il.,.
Ccrvat1tes Library. Tie general putton Of ttp.
lscfercnco Library 1as bcrlt enmp!lcsl with grrat
care under tff direction vi Sr. Safnut IImnlt.1s.
md cu1nrrffcd The best works. Eucl!ah a,ul for
efEH, obaatnab9c in nearly every department OF
human knowledge. Including tlir6fDrr. history.
biography. VOYAGES, anu rrtords III icarnrd nj.
cicttcs. AnuDx the collections lost were lnany
rare local works relating to the early iplustrinl
history, archaeology, nHt public institutions Vi
the tuivn, utt autuc ietters u Dr, Jon,sou 1'hc
ctaupton WnrHickshire collection, pt1rci,ascd
eutnn three years aro, partly by xpcrjai s,,b.
scrIpt!on mil partly BY tic Committee, was
onu Ut the tnnst eo1Dn,eio u,M vulusblc co1lcr.
cause lie larger portion consisted OF ancient
manuscripts, cunrayiuus portrnjts. ytcws. wnter-
cotors, ant, drawings ii which no u;hrr cory i.
known, md representing many Old pjaccs now
al,lc Of tic treasures las i,cs Enyc,l, ,ir Bo,,
OF 81. Auue nj knowl4H giving M, hi.toYv ri
tI,at ancient foundation to ti,r dissolution ar
tie naucs oi generations oi louofs, Thu
wch was to scciro every Eno,,n csll.io,, tS Of The
aout tcu1 Or tier uuihur yo,nt,rseI @ % iu; J t'ii
tions Of shak,pcarcs complete work. in En-
French, IS IN Herman, 3 10 Dani.h, IN Italian. ~
4 in Polish, . In kusatan, mil | cach In Dntch'
Spanish, Bwcllsll, and Bohemian. bcst,,cs scn.
urntc plays tu iess-iuowu Iaoruapcs. Tho
William jraggc contained tnr f1ult. T.; tWcnty. n y
lion Of ncarly ali tic known ciitions mn, trnns-
iutio.,s Of tle Bpnusll a,ltlor, Of thcso yari"u,
iItrrary trcasl1rcs oniy nt,out yIj vnrn,s ls rc
been sayr,l. md Df ilicsc onjy ilrrn rtunr % ~
thc Stu,1ion roIrctiul,. n|tI,,t S1 II, lie HhnI
snrarc Library. n,ui tc cunInirr IL, thc rcnorol
reference ltbrary. III the lcutinr iibrarva In
least vaIuabIc pnrt ut tllr COLLECTION. cousfs,inr
inoro than llatf. ur. say 1D0N yo1un,.:s. hnyr
hcrn snycI. II Ia nrobablr. ihat a tx. h,ric5
treasures t1,oy vet b. brought tu ltrht whrn thr
tirbria baa tuct3 NOR. tburo,,chjr sftri inn I,
IN irnrcIl ltns inv Will t,. in yrrv rntirn M,
m,.tJatc,l state, Is tic ruins hsyc bren ,Isturrd
viii water. md tbn irc IL stiii s,nn,1n-i"E T..
nlares Marble stain" of hc 1,rtn;r TonsGrt ~
Nv FoI,,v. md In. ecntntor'. nrrnaf ,nntcIe -;
fi,l.m{t, and nurise. w|,.r sir,i in th., innd.
f,,tr library. INV. cotne thr,,trh III. cr" orea,
,uuf, '"1 "s'' o'"e4'
hta ncct,uc or tbc 1,hr.rv t,,rrr,t,,so ,,s.
cv"n1,,,r II ,r"s .esorn - tnt:o .o,irn -.
st nt,re "a re.,nsfr,,'t t,c hsnr e so,.,ro
tic ii1,rfcs m a.. ct,,nnictc sraic ns ,s.aI,n
The Insurance. Il wa statrd' rotil n cnsfrcix
cf,rrr IT, at,a",.s - 1no h,is "' 81. s'rg5 t5
81, IN, ~ ,.a1I, H., ,,". Nv ~ ~.