The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1905-08-08


which the corporation was established, |
and the librarian of Yale universally |
was made ex-OficlO a member of the |
corporation. The purposes for which |
the corporation was created are to es- !
tablish and maintain a publiclibrary |
and reading room. and and in its direc-
ton a lecture room and gymnasium and
rooms for purposes Of science and art
in the town of Bran5OTd.
The corporation in authorized to re-
ceive funds by will, for the purpose OF
endowment, and the managers of the
association are compelled to invest all
funds in accordance with the laws of
the state of Connecticut controlling in
vestments by savings banks. All the
estate of the corporation is declared to
be forever free from taxation. Upon
the death or resignation of any of the
six persons named as incorporatOFs, the
remaining members of the corporation
have power to fill the vacancy, but the
person elected to the vacancy must be
resident of the town of Branford,
AS soon as the charter had been OBJ
tanned. Mr.. Blackstone decided to
adopt the plans for a handsome mar
BILE building which had been prepared
by Mr.. Beeman. The contracts for the
construction ere soon ade, and the
work was begun during the year 1888
1t required nearly three years to finish
it, and the building was dedicated and
formally opened to the bubble on June
II, 1896. It stands in a fine location in
the center of the town, surrounded by
ample grounds. The exterior of the
| building is of white Tennessee marble,
and the interior is finished in pink and
gray marble from the same state. The
architecture is, in the main, Grecian,
trance, where bronze doors of great
beauty of design open upon vestibule
which discloses a noble rotunda sur
/ mounted by a beautiful dome. The
precise cost Of the building is not
known, but it exceeded, including the
land, much over three hundred thou
| sand dollars.
The dome has bse1 most artistically
| decorated by o. D. Grover, of Chicago
with eight mural designs illustrating
the history of bookmaking from the
earliest times to the present day. The
| designs are as follows: /, Gathering
4 the Papyrus; 2, Records of the Pha-
raohs; 8, Stories from the Mad; 4, Me-
diaeval Illumination; 5, Venetian Cop
perplate Printing; 6, First Proof, Gut
| enberg Bible; Z, The Franklin Presh;
| s, A Bookbindery, 1895. Framed in the
heavy gold decoration which adorns
| the dome, the soft and tender coloring
of these appropriate illustrations inn
presses the ebeholder like the, stained
| glass and dim religious light within
cathedral walls; and the whole, COM
4 pares not unfavorably with the larger
/ dome Of the congressional library
On the left of the rotunda is a spa
cious Librarians office, with stacks and
cases for the books. On, the right is a
fine reading room wei furnished, with
i tables covered with important snewspa-
| pers, magazines and periodicals.
| Over the fireplace is a 5life-size portrait
of James Blackstone, in whose memo
| ry the library was given to the town,
Beyond the main entrance hallway
leads to an elegant lecture room capa-
bic Of seating over three hundred per-
1 "A Sldll NSiJ wy LASlll @IlAC
| hall, and in the second story are art
rooms which are provided with some
| fine pictures, the TRUSTEES room, and
| rooms for other purposes, ~at
On June II, 1896, the edifice was for
mally dedicated. The Hon. Edward F,
Jones, the president of the board of
Il trustees, made an opening address;
prayer was offered by the then presi-
dent of Yale university, Timothy
Dwight. 1t gave me great pleasure to
obtain the charter for the association at
the request of Mr.. Blackstone, and
then read a monograph on the Black
stone family at the dedication. This
was followed by a dedicatory address
by President Arthur T. 5Hadley. When
the library was opened five thousand
books were placed there by Mr. Black
stone. Mr. Blackstone then endowed
the library with two hundred thousand
dollars invested in first-class railroad
stocks, producing an income Of over
twelve thousand dollars: Upon the de-
cease OF Mr.. Blackstone in 1900, it was
found that by his will he had added TO
the endowment one hundred thousand
| QOlldrS InOEe. LuSfelOEe, luG library
\ nov. has an endowment fund of three
aaltndred thousand dollars, we'll inves-
ted, and producing an income Of over
seventeen thousand dollars, which is
ample to enable the trustees to supply
the library from time to time with all
the new books magazines and periodt-
Gals needed to- increase the volumes OF
reference, andtlay up surplus for fu-
ture use.
The trustees provide during the win
ter season lectures and other entertain
ments. They employ first class libra
rians assistants The 3present librarian
is Henry M. Whitney, a very capable
person for such "a place,
1t is generally stated by those who
have seen the library that there are
only two library buildings in the courl
try which surpass the Blackstone III
brary in beautyof finish, and those are
the Congressional library at Washing.
ton and the Boston library. When the
Tilden library is Hconpleted, of course
it will be larger and finer building.
The library is kept open from $3.50 a
m. to p. m. in summer, and 10 p. m
in winter. Every evening the reading