The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1902-05-29
The Government Autograph Collection.

Among the important works of reclama-
ton and preservation carried on in a re-
mote corner of the Library of Congress
in Washington, usually inaccessible to the
visitor at the gorgeous edfice, is that in
the manuscript division, to which was re-
ferred great mass of valuable documents
when the library moved into its present
building from its cramped and Over-crowd-
ed quarters in the Capitol. At that time
the manuscripts were rapidly going to de-
cay in widowed cellers. Now they are
being conscientiously preserved by ex-
perts, intelligenty classified, and cOnyen-
iently indexed.
The manuscripts cover wide range Of
subjects, as one may naturally suppose.
There are some $4,000 documents of great
err or less volume and Importance in the
collection. The more valuable of these,
by reason of their nature or age, are in
serted in specially prepared pasteboard
leaves capable of being bound into
volumes. They are being indexed in a
copious way, which gives not only the
name of author and subject, but. in the
case of longer documents, something of
their contents, and even, in the more in
tereSting instances, extracts from the text.
One of the most interesting of these calen-
dars is that relating to Washington manu-
scripts. and still another is that which is
descriptive of the John Paul Jones papers,
which have been gathered into ~ volumes.
Naturally, the historical manuscripts re-
late mostly to the Colonial and Revolution
airy periods in the country, notably in the
collection being 30 volumes containing the
proceedings of the commission formed for
inquring into the losses, services, and
claims of American loyalists during the
Revolution. These ancient records came
into the possession of the Smithsonian In
stitution some years ago in n roundabout
way, having originally fallen into the
hands of n British officer at Bermuda. An
other interesting Colonial documentary
relic is the record of the Virginia Com
pany, covering the years from 1919 to
1924.
AS might be supposed. there is a wealth
Of manuscript relating to New England
history. These papers We're bought by
the Government from Peter Force, who
was once the Mayor of Washington. and
who left valuable collection, to which he
had given much time in gathering and no
time at all in classification.
The Washington papers are those to
which the greatest interest attaches. They
embrace all sorts of documents written
by and to the first President, and include
interesting reports received from the Sc
cret-service agents of the Revolution, and
many letters written by Rochambeau, not
only to Washington, but to his own Off
GERS and the French Minister of War.
The SchOolcraft papers embrace large
number of documents left by that early
writer and ethnolOgist. who was once the
Secretary of Governor Lewis Cass. School
crafts literary remains are Of a copper
plate neatness, which was only possible
and necessary in the days before the type
writer. He had what has since become a
valuable habit of preserving all the letters
he received, with the result that his estate
was able to contribute much of perma-
nent value in the way of autographs
record.
Then there are letter-books os Prcsi-
dent Monroe kept while he was our Min
lister at London, the letters and papers of
Governor Lewis Cass. the papers of Gen.
John Sullivan, the letter-bo0ks of Gen.
Nathaniel Greene and the papers of Col.
Ephraim Blaine, the Commissioner Cen
eral of the Revolutionary army, and a col
lection of bills. accounts. and inventories
gathered in New England by Mr. Halo
well-Philllps, embracing the Colonial
period il; that section.
1t is tie hope of those in charge Of tie
manuscript division of the library that all
the valuable manuscripts in the various
Departments in Washington and elsewhere
in the country will eventually find their
way to the Library of Congress, where
there is the means of preserving them and
where they should finally rest, because
they are there best able to take care of
them and to render them accessible to
those most interested in such Il collection.