New-York tribune., 1889-12-22
AT THE BIG LIBRARY.
THE PEOPLE WHO CONSULT THE BOOKS.
HELP IN THE ALcovEs FOR EVERYBODY FROM
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES TO THE MECHANIC
Almost everybody in ew-York knows OF the As'or
Library; nearly everybody knows wnero u y. v"
,,b,t nroporon of the people know the library itse
ITO the minds of many, perhaps of majority, IL Is
.op,c4bipr like the great pyramd-a wonderful thing
In its vay marvellous thing In It's bu'ions up su
interesting thing those whose tastes incline tna
way but OF little or no real practical use 10 anyoouy
That tho library is apart from the tumultnons Ire
and strife Of the city, 10 should be- may be granted
spart from IT, though in the midst OF It, There couid
xearcely be greater contrast than that between the
air of quiet stldiousness and reposc within the Diid
anR in tho reading room, and among the aicoves ana
the rushing hurrylng surging maestrom of business
shat whiris all around and not far off,
Yet The sense of refinement, wltb the elements OF
scence art and that produce H. begins In tue
street. It's very name is one dear to every American
studeut of history, and then. IL is not called street
~t all the very word street sounds nolsy-so does
sayenusD-in New-Yorll But culture aud benevolent
hnblc spirit are the marks OF Lafayette risoe
Near to 1t on the side IS busy part OF Broso"'
an the other Is the Bowery there has been talk of an
underground railway below it let 1t be placed there
and line OF balloons above ii, if anything is 10 oe
gained by It: Lafayette Place will remain as IL ~ =.
Tho city has already sent its long. cuttc-sh arms i
beyond IL and around it, but they cannot harih IT.
AL one end Of 1t Is the great home ior Pooi on"
neglected boys, conceived, founded ana oulit oS ,o
rood old priest who only little while ago was Odi7U
10 the reward that he had so richly earncd' al ,"o
pther end is the Mercantile Library with Cooper oon
inst aro,nd the corner and between arc pupilshihs
bouses printing establishments. the Episcopal do
r.san House and the crownng gOiy OF all, the great
Nstor Library.
THE PEOPLE WHO USE THE BOOKS
Now who are the people that appreciate this store
house Of learning who and therefore IN the encS
sente own its treasures , Anybody can. w cours''
but who are they that do? There are many of them
and they are of many sorts and conditions out 'nerc
Is 10 larger class perhaps that that Of Inventors ana
nth,rs Interested in machinery and mechanical ap
xbances generally They come TO study patent IT.
oors These reports not the Pub DOCS tn"V
Aha new Congressman sends freq OF postage as rc"
vft 10 his favorlte county constituent. VINO Keeps
tren on his paror table and shows them 10 Visno's
for six months and then stores them In the WOOL
sbad an incumbrance TO ali future generations. They
ara bools containing specifications and drawings OF
patented inventions. and il they were ho' ol INC
bahest value 10 Inventors and manufacturers II is not
lksly that they would spend days In studying them'
He, their clerks at for hours over them ana have
Sbe designs copied especially is not likely that
LAWYERS engaged i'm patent cases would come out Of
tbcir WAY 10 examine them with such business likc
rav and attention. Then, cannot the lovers oi
science of art and OF literature escape even here from
she commonplace atmosphere of shops ana mills
Asyuredy they cannot and they w0uld Det'ef ho'
hry let the world Of books rather be proud that
sbe world Of trade is forced to come and ask It's hep
AS for tho lawyers. they do not visit the library IN
great numbers for the ordinary purposes OF their pro
fessIon for there are other excellent law libraries IN
town. There are medical and theoiogicii libraries
100 and physicians and clergymen can ind most oi
the books fhat they need elsewhere. so the men vi
these three professions leave this collection Tor te
most part to those who are pursuing more special
branches of research.
THE ARTS OF PEACE AND WAR
.mons these the applications of science to industry
and the arts lain the attentive study of many. De
signers of furniture. carpets wallpaper, decorations
ETC., builders. students of engineering, all may seek
necessary help these alcoyes. and in some hne and
costly work European cathedral an architect may
GAIN from description from plate, the suggestion
chat he most needs for tho present work in hand. In
the life of today if there is any one agent or appliance
that IS more powerful more useful and at the same
time more terrible and more deadly than anotner II Is
the electric spark. The time was when simple men
called tho lightning and the thunder the bolts OF JoVe'
Now men those same bolts for their own
purposes and make Indispensable servants OF
them, but, all things considered, they are
q. uttle more dangerous than they were
Shen nobody but Jove tried to hurl them. Muoh ye
remains 10 be done before electricity becomes all
that 10 should be or all that it must be- What can
The library do? Something, ii would seem IN the
general opinion Of those who know electricity ior II
ts here that not a few of them 10 know ia better
Students and practical electricians study the bo"ks
nh.t bear on the application of this mighty power
for rood and evil TO the great and growing needs
,t the time One of these applications, that might
not occur TO the quiet and lsw-abding citizen al
once Is TO the art OF war But IL Is happy
thought for II the slippery fluid can only be mace
as deadly in war and tho battlefield as 1t is IN
peace and in the streets of the city, it must, indeed
Pint i'm
longer established methods and principles OF warfare
fhe library has much 10 offer. and military engineers
sre frequent visitors Instructors from West Point
have come sometimes. too though they nave ihel
own collection of books, which usually serve them
FULLY In this branch the library ewes much TO
General Abbott who suggested the purchase of books
and pointed many good things in the nii'aly
Journals OF France and England.
HOW THE BOOKS MAKE MORE BOOKS.
The library has the power like tree TO reproduce
Its own kind TO help TO do So 1t does this by
bslping il. the making Of books. Authors,
rompilers and revisers spend days III
Reading. studying! copying and colstlng, ana
publishers send men and Keep them employed day
after day in securing correct texts and facsmiies OF
plates maps or portraits. II was here tnat Mrs
Helen Hunt Jackson found most of the material for
one of her books. and many popular authors might
be named who have done the thing, and 1t IS not
writers OF books alone but writer's Of magazine and
seview articles. who here for the raw stun with
which they work. large publishing house
bsd its compers at wors for long time IN preparing
a work on painters and painting, aud 1t Is now keep
ing them busy with on music. Another house
Is preparing medical work, for which the library is
rallied into service.
Among the most valuable books in the whole col
Section three folio editions OF shakespeare, and
these In themselves enough to attract many Wis
stors and workers. They were used in revising the
texts for Richard Grant Whites edition Of the plays
and the Shakespeare Society has an edition now in
preparation There four of these folios. and IL
IL the third that IS missing The dates Of the three
1923. years after shakespearcs death 1G32
and 1850 The last Is the first that places Perices.
Prince OF Tyre among the works of Shakespeare,