The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-07-19
UNCLE SANS LIBRARY.
THE NATIONS STOREHOUsE OF
BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.
Spoford's Marvellous Memory-He
Discusses the Character of the Crys-
tallized Mind Wealth in His Care
Valuable Books on the Shelves.
From the Pittsb1trg Dispqfch,

nary attractions for it has elements Of
usefulness denied to many of the places
sought out by the tourists who over
run Washington at all seasons of the year.
The library is sought not only for the Gu
rlous treasures within its walls, but for the
knowledge stored in its thousands of vol
! umes which students may turn to account
| In their researches. One of the most fire.
quent classes of visitors at the library is the
| little army of students and authors, who
seek here authorities which they can find
| nowhere else, or which are nowhere else so
easy of access.
| The library room il not of itself a pic
| turesque or very interesting place. The
I casual visitor strays into il from the rotunda
| OF the capitol and gaZes open mOuthed at
| the apparent disorder. Books and pajnph-
let's overflow the shelves, the tables and even
| the little hooks which were originally in
! tended for the accommodation of readers.
| They cover the floor. They are heaped up
IN the aIsles in apparently tho most dire
| confusion There seems to be no system
! and no order. To learn the key to this puz-
| zle would take months and years of studiOus
time; and yet Librarian Spolford and his
| assistants have as perfect control of the
| OOO,OUO books that overflow the narrow con
| fines OF tho library as though they were
distributed with mathematical precision
over the shelves of the new library build
ing about which the house Of representa-
| tlveS Is now squabblIng.
MARVELLOUS MEMORIES.
The memories Of these men are marvel
Gus, or they would be marvellous in any
| community but this where method becomes
so studied as TO cultivate the rotentiveIpow-
ers OF tho mind to an ABNORMAL degree
| Ask Mr.. SpofOrd or his assistant Mr..
| Hutchinson, not for IA single book. or for the
works of a single author, but for the best
works on any particular subject, and they
will be able to enumerate them at rate
| that would startle the smoOth-tOngupd book
canva ser. 1t is to Librarian SpofTord
that the members of both houses of congress
turn when they want ammunition for
| speeches. AS Mr.. Spolford said to me one
| day short time since: 81 am called up
daily to furnish brickbats for men of both
| parties to hurl at each other" And the
missiles are as pointed when they are in
| tended for democrat as when republican
Is to be the beneficiary in the fight.
| dropped III upon the librarian the other
morning and had chat with him about the
| great collection under his care. Mr.. Spot
ford is one Of those fortunate men who are
| able TO cover great deal OF space in a very
| little time, and 50 in spite of his manifold
| duties as librarian, he is never at loss for
| leisure moments Speaking of the use of
| Ni'' ilDlh W tilO BbllGl III pubic, He Sllli.
Owing to the liberaliJy of congress the
congressional library has always been freely
| open to all corners for use and reference
within its walls. It's use by the public has
| increased steadily from year to year, and is
| largely used Ivy authors, editors and students
of science and literature. The librarian is
| constantly i'll receipt of letters ask
ing whether or not the library CON
tains certain authorities, and al
| most invariably the answer is in
| the affirmative. Tho number of books
written or edited within these walls is very
large. The collection in my charge is ex-
| tremely rich, especially in books of iuris-
prudence, history, political science and
| economy and Americana, or books and
| periodicals relating 10 America from its
earliest discovery to the present time. There
| are very few books in existence Illustrative
| of our own country which are not in this
| collection. OF course the principal aces
sion to the library is by the copyright pro
cess, but we purchase a great many books,
principally at auction in Now York Bos-
| ton, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and i'll Eng
land France and Germany We look over
the catalogues of auction sales and when we
| lind desirable book that is not in our col
! lection, | send on a bid for it to an agent,
who buys the book for me if possible
VALUABLE BOOKS.
And what is the most valuable book in
the entire collection" asked.
II would net undertake to say. There
| are many whose value could not be de-
! termined except by placing them on sale at
| auction. Among the most valuable are
those of Baron Won Humboldt, who used
to say that he could not afford set of his
| own books. We lack only one or two of
his works, and these are the least important.
! Goulds Monograph on the Hunming
Bird, IN five volumes is another very
| valuable work. We have IA manuscript
| Bible of the thirteenth century in two large
folios, done by the monks on pure velum.
Then we have the only complete set in
America of the London Gazette from 1865
| TO date. This Is perhaps tho most valuable
thing IN our collection, speaking of boJh its
| peCunIary and intrinsic value. 1t was
bought forty-five years ago, when Edward
Everett was member OF the library com
| mittee. II was purchased from a second
hand bookseller in London on information
of one of the agents of the library From
the time OF its purchase we have kept the
! collection complete by substitution.
The library Is very large subscriber
| for publications.. The transactions of che
learned societies i'll all the languages of
Europe are here in extensive series. We
| take the chief literary, scientific, political
and technical reviews, magazines and jour
mails i'll English, French, German, Italian
| and scandinavian. OF course the larger
share of American publications we get by
copyright"
And for what class of literature do you
find the greatest demandN
Unlike the city libraries" said Mr.
! SpOtford, "where there is an insatiate
appetite for fiction, this place is most ro-
sorted to for solid information. The mass
/ of students who come hero are in pursuit
of material or intent upon gratifying do
sire for information. The library being Of
universal range, a student is sure t. find
there what lac wants. The most inceSsant
demand is for newspapers, magazines and
reviews of the pat ana present.
| Next for purposes Of reference come
books ON family geaealogy, heraldry
and the like. These are sought not
! for general reading, but entirely for refer
ence. The library is well equipped IN this
/ direction. We have an absolutely complete
SIT of English county histories and most OF
the books of Ike character that have been
published in Scotland and Ireland. or the
town and county histories uf the Cuitcl
States we have an approximately complete
set. 10 is the general testimony # libra
rams ! believe that one OF the largest
demands on their resources is for books OF
this character
HISTORIES IN DEMAND.
There Is large and constant demand
for historical reading ard for books OF
biography American ami foreign. Tho
demand for fiction possibly comes uoxt
/ Books on science and the fine arts are great