New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-03-31
" So OF .sti

u .tor.cl. S5.cy. ;lr Astor. the Bosom N.h"-
l'enm tra 't~ Hostoo rHDr i3ralr. n''r liter
lar, poetry, iac Harris cIlr-t!on al Brown Iniv"~-
cary I.t!pI, ~ American history 30" l"I'N h"iIe
~ he Astor Library .s Il totally different a.
mo.ps~re /. J.. 10 rl,.r ~ the boob finclcr or
the maup-rrp' hunter l. b. man'Srd Tor The
-'uicn' wac is content to rr' his facts from
''Wh,a You Judge ine Ae.or." saw. e.. n \.
Il",rc' i'1. ne nI,a,l"" ,n , r ,r in re
our obl,ci Ne furnish a r"f"rcn," library ana
nave ma e no aicmpi to hay" cithri " mnse.In
circulating department 81 current literature.
In IN. hu"s followed the Nstor Library - ieuark-
ahl, strong / suppose II u wer" to l." burned IN"
collection could not be- duplicated IN 20" Years.
When our second catalogue was publisher; every
r.urorean librarian mary"ilet a. the books Dr.
oorswrll had been ahl" 10 get here
Or samuel Cogswei was the hrs librarian. and
was friend Of tho original John Jacob Astor.
About 1851 he went abroad, having carefully con
nothing lie had 40 fully determined On the books
that were be In the library that he put some in
aficrwnrpI ana a fcv titles may stl be- In 1t whch
ov.n now have no books which answer - their
or metaphysics. beyond the recognized Standard
boots Iiut In natural science. physics and mathe-
subject there finer collection in the country.
Dr. Cogswe was fortunate enough to purchase
cause OF the Revolution ot 1875 and about that
dime q number Of mathematcians died; He Sc
hooIs on SPANISH American history arc cxcep.
manmscr ipts on the subject Will form
ali The papers OF the Sanitary Commission are
on file and though the Pension Office at Wash.
ington has copied them, pensioners are still sent
here look up claims.
has the tinted States STATE papers compicte since
the XXth Congress and the earlier records In
Th,c Ii@rdwcke English state papers and diplo-
matte correspondence was purchased some years
I,rltsh Museum. English Parliamentary reports
occupy several alcoves. Valuable material bearing
worth Dixon pamphlets, which number about 1000.
Some efforts are being made toward the preservation
Of contemporary records by gathering newspapers.
campaign documents and other papers OF similar
character. which, though now OF no signIfcancc in
and value for the historian. Facilities
tn, work are no, adeg1Hte and it Is to be hoped
tcrlal for the future students Of our own time
cvehs in he OF printed iS%r eas
be bought. Egyptolosists say that excepting the
brary in their line. beginning with 1850 fui col
is only equalled q, the Patent ONCE French pa
tents have also been collected to considerable
is still kept up. In physics: chemistry. political
economy and sociology. everything OF value printed
In English and American literature al standard
works are ITO TO be found but ,'tte OF current publ
When an author dies and his books are published
in COLLECTED form, the Asor Library purchases
writer's. such as Mr. nowcs or MI Nj G.. Crawford:
OF such an author. This restriction is due to the
general plan OF the library place for reference.
not for long reading. Tho books bought
rather under protest to meet the popular demand
This system has prevented the accumula ton OF
cphemeral books. which must he thinncd out OF
most libraries to keep them from being numbered
up. That is the fate Of circulating library.
Nevertheless. II is n fate that institution which
aspires to supply the literary wants OF New-York
must be prepared to meet. Supplying that demand
may perhaps be the TIlden par, in the united work
At any rate, the splendid collections OF the
Aston and Lenox libraries. there is the chance
to build both reference and circulating depart
ments that shall have rivals on this continent