Mohave County miner., 1895-03-16
The Library and Historioal Writings Of
Hubert Hows Bancroft.

To few has been given the oppor,un,t,
accorded to Mr.. Hubert II. Bancroft o.
bestowing upon his country at once tbs
fullest historical data and the com ple,es,
early history, and few would Rave availed
them selves Of IL a. he has done. Begin.
ming with nothing, by long and labor,ou,
years Of industry he accepted a fortune
good portion OF which he spent in the
advancement Of historical knowledse.
His business career was no less honor.
able than his literary career; never was
an honest debt allowed 10 70 unpaid,
never went faithful service unrewsrdsi.
To the accomplishment II this self.im.
posed task Of gathering and writing his.
tory, there were three requisites; money,
ability, and inclination, and once feeling
himself possessed Of these he went 10
work. He collected from every quarter
OF the globe books, manuscripts, maps.
all that he could find relating to western
North America, for this purpose going
forth himself and sending out agents
The lives and experiences OF hund red,
Who had helped to make history we're a,
his direction written our and placed in
his library, which finally contained s..
900 volumes.
With this immense mass OF early his.
torical data before him, the largest ever
gathered by single individual, or DOS.
sessed relative to his own history by
single commonwealth or nation, Mr..
Bancroft sat down to write. Well know.
ing that unxided one man could do little.
could hardly be expected to move this
mountain, he 30 systems atized his task
that others could work at il. To one
corps Of assistance he gave the entire
collection TO index, the work OF a dozen
men Tor dozen years; others got out
facts and incidents and arranged them
IN proper order for use For period OF
rs years the average number OF library
assistance employed was not les, than
twenty. The result was compact and
syme.ricAl series Of thirty nine historical
volumes such as won the highest com.
mendation Of the civilized world. The
foremost critics and literary men of
Europe and America have been lavish
with their admiration and praise.
The sub-titles OF Mr.. B ,ncroft's works
are as follows:
Native Races of the Pacific States, 81
vols History Of Central A nerica, 8 vol.
History Of Mexico, vols.; Texas and
North Mexican States, 2 vols Arizona
and New Mexico, l VOL; California, n
vols. F.; Nevada. Colorado and Wyoming,
l vol. Utah, VOL. Northwe Coast, 2l
vol. Oregon, 2 vol. Washington, Idaho,
and Montana. vol. British Columbia,
l VOL; Alaska, VOL. California Inter.
PocuIa, vol Popular Tribunals. 2 vols.
Essays and Miscellany. vol Literary
Industries, l vol.
Later was issnsd at Chicago, The Book
OF the Fair, in 1000 i'm perial folio pages,
illustrated by over 1000 beautiful en-
cravings. many Of them toll page in
size. This was the only complete pres
entation Of the Columbian Exposition. in
all its departments, which has appeared
In print. The labor and expense attend.
ing the publication OF this great work
was immense, involving nothing less
than the establishing Of publication
office in Chicago, with picture and en-.
craving plant. and hundreds Of employees,
artists and agents.
Notwithstanding the appro baton which
has crowned Mr.. Bancroft's efforts dur.
ing period OF nearly forty years, the
value OF his work to the world. and par.
to that portion Of 1t covered ~ !
his writings, will be appreciated more
and more as the centuries pass by.