The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-12-25

Re oPLE ARE ARE: INTERESTED {: i
City Has in It's Grasp Great In
\: sttitut;ii,on .. Bene dcial Is
3 sB55s5gsg the City. 54S

# The following article, prepared by Mr..
Edward Isl Evans, IN assistant State libra
2rian. styes many facts that will Be OF
moro than passing interest to the ETH
gems Of the state \ at lar se. N as well as
the people gof! r richmond. MI. Evans Says;
second offer OF Mr.. Carnegie to
present Richmond with hundred thou
;sand dollar public library has awakened
renewed interest on the subject and in
timely accord with The same It should be
satisfactlon to Il have d brief history OF
tie institution 81 the library with q few
words about Virginia libraries In partic-
,ilar. 3s{s5l ri ssl
"a library 10 our modern sense means
collection Of printed books and m anu.
scripts arran ged In q convenient or per-
haps hand some building with ali the para
phenalia or card Indexes, reference desks
and charge syater,, whicl, are found m In In
the progressive and up-to-da 0 libraries
OF to- day. mi
Tin our exalted estimation OF our adj.
vanced and e1aborate ivilizat Ion, we 8nre
apt to forget that ours is not a new sidea5
and that there were immense public libra
ries In existence more than four
thousand Il years 90. Layard. in tho
course OF his excavations at sNineveh In
1850, came upon some chamber IN the
southwest. palace, the floor Of which, as
we'll as the adjoining rooms, was COW a.
cred Is tie depth OF a foot with tablets
OF clay covered with cunieform charac-l
5ters, \ In many cases 80 small as to re- "A
3quire a n,ngnif ying glass. these tablets
varying IN Size from an inch to q toot
square. They formed the library Of the
great mo arch. Il Assurbanlpal. he great
est patron OF literature among the As
syrians, and consisted Of some ten thou
sand documents, which appear to have
been arranged, catal ogued and thrown W,
open to the general 4 use OF the public
gSttEgypt possessed a library 1000 3. q,
but as the use OF u papyrus did not be-
come commo n until about 1900 this earlier
library mus Il have been engraved II stone
we can well lima CINE that the Librarian
had some iffjcultyin serving his books.
|3"Athens boosted a splendid 81 library;
founded by Pisistrat us, 81 b. G sS5
;;ffss.ntA nd we are all we'll acquainted with
the two magnificent libraries found Mt
|3Alexnndria& BY Pt To- envy in 22S4 T. O.
whose collections aggregated some 7o0. 900
i MSS. books equal to that OF the Con-
1 gresslona1 Library a few years go.
''During the dark q ges Libraries. slii.
all other forms OF learning. were tostered
by the church and many OF the old books
i may be seen to -da s.. HIGH were made BY
the monks; the \ prep para ion Of one book
netlmes consuming whole life NE
4 time. - 81 N ss
THE modern librar ates from 1897
when sr Antonio PanFiz2a look sh ar q
/ spl endid 81 executive ability. wide awake
4 and pro greseve@in his I'D ca g. He i ta-
5l.logued the library, which no W conststs8o Of
4 several million volumes and so immense
4 is the ca logue that 1T fills 1000 Emanu-
script volumes, quite a library III Itself.
lin the preparation Of this catalogue he
formed ninety-nlne rules for ca taloguing
which are largely the foundation 5lof our
rules to-day. ls4i
Virginia the Pioneer,
s.But England, with her magnificent.
nystenl,S is forced to admit that America
lis far lin the lead as regards II bra les.
we q are all well acquainted Wit the
Immense growthfot libraries nSthe United
states, owing TO the wide publicity given
i to III by Mr.. Carnegie generous gifts
but few probably know that Virginia pos
sessad the first library, as we'll as the
i first college, In the country; that q SVdr-
4 gln.an,s library was the nucleus around
which has been built that " onderfll col
Election in the Library Of Congress: ana
i that Virginia now has, Within her limits
i lateral for the most valuable collection
i OF manuscripts In the United States with
exception possibly, Of Massa chulsetts.
ri, up s to within the last year. Viz
glnia has possessed poorer ] library facili-
A ties than any other Sta to o e. her size and
wealth IN the country Within the last
4 two years, however, there has been. q
most marked awakening. The X Leg sa-
4 3ture has passed laws " hose broadne Esl
A shave been surpa Escd by no othe - STATE
II or ira Inv
A THE d Virginia state II Library has re-
celycd a new inpetus. II Nearly q thou c'tl,