Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1896-04-30

~
curious publica
lions. the intrinsic value OF which will !
be constantly increased by age. says an /
exchange
Unlike tho British museum and some .
foreign Libraries, the congressional is .
not rich in stock Of historic manu- ,
scripts whose associations make them /
priceless. Two reasons have combined !
to preclude the possibility of such col
lection. The first is that the compare
tive youth OF the nation has prevented /
their accumulation and delayed their .
being gathered in to a place of general /.
deposit. The second is that those yalu- /,
able written documents which do exist /,
are widely scattered and divided among |
a large number of ctlstodians.
AS an illustration, the original of the
declaration of Independence and Il sim
liar written document of patriotic
character. which could not be pur-
cased at any price, are kept in the state
department library. together with a lot
of mementoes. relics and souvenirs.
Other documents OF national interest
are found in all Of the executive depart
ments. in most of the state capitals ana
even in remote and theway
places. The last will and testament of
George Washington is to be seen in the
clerks office of the little old brick court
house at Fairfax. Va.
1t is almost q certainty that in the
course Of time not only all the books
Int al ,,&,
| ments of writing connected with ma
tional history will be collected and
form a valuable and interesting section
in the congressional library.
But when all things are taken into
consideration it will be found that the
congressional library has fair quota
OF rare and curious publications, both
OF foreign and home issue. A point has
always been made to purchase what
ever books may be of interest or util-
| ity while the operation of the copy
right law adds each year thousands OF
volumes of the miscellaneous assort-
ment
When tho reporter asked Mr.. \. r.
| SpOfford. the veteran librarian. who is
|
which he is the custodian. concerning
the age and value of the more rare vol
umes in the library, he said:
The library of congress. while not
notably rich in early printed books. has
many hundreds of volumes of great rar-
ity and value. OF books printed prior
to the year 1900. or what are known as
| Y,>o, o1>,,I, a i,Aa
in the infancy OF the art of printing,
there are some 400 volumes. represent
ing every year from 1467 to 1900 These
are all printed in black letter or Gothic
type. and are preponderately in the
Latin language. although some are in
Italian and French.
THE oldest book in the library is a
Constitution of st. Clement folio of
1857. on large. handmade paper. in
beautiful gothic type. and is remarka-
BILE for the elegance and uniformity OF
what printers would term the linking
In fact. the evenness OF the impression
on every leaf would do credit to the
best printing Office Of the nineteenth
century.
esting of early printed books in our
national library are the first editions
Of many notable English writer's. There
il an original Of the first Shakespeare
folios Of 1929 as well as original cop
les of the three succeeding editions O.
, the immortal bard in folio.
The first edition of Millions Para
I IF p,,r An NJ.
ancholy' and Of Walton's Complete
Angler a rare and curious book, ar.
also found.
Some very early black-letter trans
lations OF the Greek and Latin au
thcrs, as Ovid's 'Metamorphoses,
Pliny's Natural History Virgil, Ho
mer. Seneca's Morals, Cicero. Plu
tarch's Lives. Livy, etc, are to be fount
in the collection. The first editions o
most of the great English writer's of tn
. seventeenth and eighteenth centurie
D. have been gathered, while of author
who are honored with several reprinte
u editions. the last and the best edition
:, is also generally found.
!, IN early printed books relating (
America, both north and south" he con
tinued, the congressional library
particularly rich. Here may be see
;, John Smiths map of New England
: printed in 1916, which is actually a
, account of Virginia. and is the frs
:, history of that early colony, put fort
with map. Numerous tracts an
pamphlets relating to Virginia, publish
ed between 1909 and 1850, are ais
-, here.
e THE original of Hamor's Virgini
d history. Thomas History of Pennsylv;
l. mia. Denton's New York, Josselyn
% New England. Lawson's Carolina, lie,
g erers Virginia, with map, and Other
& too numerous to name in this collectio
st are among the precious nuggets of tn
ID government library.
Some of the most valuable and Ill
common of the Americana, in the vei
rare cases when put ND at auction fro