Evening star., 1911-08-31
PATIENCE IN COLLECTING
Treasures of the John Carter Brown
Library.
RARE BOOKS AND LETTERS
Results of Lahors Of Four Genera
tions of Family-Memorial
Erected by Gen. Hawkins.
BY WILLIAM r. CURTIS.

Chicago Record Herald.
PROVIDENCE. August IS. 1911.
Providence is rich in libraries
and educational institutions and is
growing in Importance as center
of learning and historical research.
which is gratifying to find in a commu-
nifty OF such wealth and industrial activ-
ity. Several OF the largest fortunes in
the world have been made and still re-
main in Providence. There are more
than twenty-five families in the city
whose riches are estimated above So
10000 each. and three or four are be-
lieved 10 exceed $40. .OOO, 900. All of this
money was not gained from the factories
that encompass the city. The Brown
estate. for example. which is perhaps the
largest has enjoyed enormous profits
from wise investments in western lands.
At one time the Brown family of Provi-
dence owned half the corn belt of Illi-
nois and they still have large tracts in
Champaign, Piatt and Macon counties.
Their holdings in Iowa are still larger.
They have thousands of acres in Adair,
Adams. Cass. Crawford, Dickinson.
Guthrie, Lyon, Pottawatomie and Sioux
counties. and several millions of mort
cages on Iowa and Illinois farms are
held by these and other Rhode Island
investors.
The founder of the Brown estate and
all of his successors have been men of
literary appreciation and eager collectors
of books, autographs and historical man
uscripts, and they came naturally by this
trait. John Carter was the second printer
I'm Providence; Nicholas Brown, the first
of that name. born in 1929 was great
great-grandson of the Rev. Chad Brown,
the friend and colaborer of Roger VII.
liams He was one OF the founders Of
Brown University and began the col
lection which ranks first in all the world
in books relating to America. Me made
the first purchase by auction for the Ii
brary that bears his name.
Founded College Library.
a graduate of Brown University of the
class of 1Ts6. and his benefaction caused
that institution to be called in his honor.
He inherited his fathers love for rare
books and founded the present college
Athenaeum. He collected rare Bibles.
prayer books and old sermons, and pur-
chased some of the most valuable ex-
amples now i'm the John Carter Brown
Library. He printed and distributed at
his own expense the sermons of Jonathan
Edwards and Philip Doddridge's "Prac-
tical Discourses on Regeneration" and
"Christs Invitation to Thirsty Souls.
Nicholas Brown III. born in 1892, bought
20 many books that he could not pay
for them. and sold part of his collec-
tion to his younger brother for $4,000
This younger brother. John Carter
Brown, born in 1877 and graduated from
Brown University in 1916. after pass
less nights" bought his brothers library
and then started out as a collector of
rare imprints and first editions. speci-
mems of the work of famous printers and
a. l..
10 books printed in the fifteenth and six
teenth centuries and those relating to
America that were printed before the
year 1890. After speaking of his hesita-
tion in purchasing his brothers colec-
tion. he once said: After / had made up
my mind to go on with the acquisition of
books on American history l should not
think that ] ever lost book which
wanted"
Mr.. Brown employed Henry Stevens Of
Vermont. who had settled in London as a
bookseller. to search for rarities. and
during their lives the two men worked
with the same zeal and energy.
Letter Written by Columbus.
In those days collectors were few and
prices were very low compared with what
they are at present. Mr.. Brown pur-
chased copy of the Latin edition of the
letter of Christopher Columbus describing
his voyage for f16 los. 1t would sell to-
day for $4,000 more. There is no in
vestment so profitable as rare books
The John Carter Brown library un-
douotedlY contains a larger number of
books, maps and folios concerning the
discovery, early explorations and settle
ment of America than NAV be found any-
where else. During the last year George
Parker Ninships who was Mr.. Browns
adviser and had been in charge of the Ii
brary for many years. obtained two ex-
QrnnlpS that rank tho ir,,n
tant of such publications In his report
to the trustees of the library he says
One Il c0temporary printed COPY
OF the Bull Of Demarcation issued by
the Pope Alexander VI. early in Nav.
ik.; and the other, so far as our pres
ent knowledge goes, is the first thing
printed in South America The letter
OF Columbus announcing his discovery of
lands in the western Atlantic is the
foundation stone of an American library
While the printed copies Of this letter
were making known to the Roman world
the details OF the voyage. the diplomats
az the pontifcal court were considering
what might be the future results Of this
extension Of the boundaries of COM
mercial and religious activities. The out
come OF their conferences was a papal
bub establishing a line hundred leagues
west OF the Azores or Cape Verde Islands
as a line of separation between the ef-
forts of Spain and of Portugal to dis
cover colonial empire. AS a result
and the Philippines Spanish.
\ printed copy of the bull, which the
best informed student of the period the
late Henry Harrisse. in book devoted
TO this single subject, calls the starting
point of the diplomatic history of Ameri-
ca. was offered TO Mr. Brown by Henry
Stevens shortly before 1854 The price
was considered unrea sonable by Mr.
Brown. and later by James Lenox so
stevens sold the document at auction
Dilfsent efforts during the past twenty
i've years have failed to discover its
present whereabouts The COPY now in
the library was given to Mr. Winship
who spent a portion of last winter tray-
cling In Mexico. by Paul Wilkinson of
appreciation Of the position the library
holds along collections of books in the
Mexican Languages, in which he is more
especially interested.
Peruvian and Mexican Books.
The first book known to bibliogra-
piers. printed on the earliest American
press established outside the City of
good fortune We secured last autumn
volume of some thirty Spanish tracts
which two, at least, of our rivals did not
consider worth buying. Among these
tracts was one dealing with the question
of the reformation OF the calendar and
dated a month earlier than the hitherto
accepted first Peruvian book This ac-
quisition. with copy OF the first u5.S4)
edition of Xerez's account of the Con-
quest of Peru, and another purchase now
in immediate prospect, will relieve the
library of any anxiety to it's position
among collections of early Peruvian
books