The Washington herald., 1912-12-05
LIBRARIAN MAKES
ANNUAL REPORT
More Than 10000 Additions Made
to Collection During
the Year.
SOME RECENT AcoEssIoNs

The report OF the Librarian Of Congress
for the last fiscal year has just been
submitted to Congress.
In the first place, as to the mere bulk
Of the collections: With aecessons, dur
ing the past year. in printed books and
pamphlets alone of over 10000 volumes,
the total collection of these has now
passed the two-milIlon mark. Including
the manuscripts. maps, music. and
prints. the collection as a whole has
passed the three-miIlion mark The av-
erage increase in books and pamphlets
during the past twelve years has been
5000 volumes, and the total for that Pc
Rod over 100000 volumes; a growth ex-
ceeding that OF tine entire preceding CEN
fury.
OF the 10000 volumes added during the
past year, some 81 900 were the result OF
copyright gift transfer, or exchange,
thus coming to the library substantially
without cost, save of service. The obli-
CATION to this material alone would EVIL
IDENTIFY Justify a considerable establish
ment.
\ In mere dimension, the library has
thus come to be one OF the great col
lections Of the world. The report indi-
Gates moreover, that 1t is not TO ignore
any department of literature. even those
remote from ordinary AFFAIRS, II Of inter-
est to the scholar and investigator: for
II notes as a most welcome accession OF
the year, an important collection of Ju-
daica, given by Mr.. Jacob II. Schiff. COM
prising some 1000 volumes, and covering
a period of nearly three and a half mil
{nniums from the beginning of Jewish
national life to the present day.
Some of the Gifts.
The gifts of manuscripts were, as
usual, many and of signal interest.
Among them were the Matthew Fontaine
Maury papers, containing much material
illustrative of the development Of scien-
tlfic knowledge in the United States: of
the diplomatic and naval history of the
civil war, of the attempts to establish
c coIOny of Americans in Mexico after
the war, with autograph letters of great
interest from the Grand Duke Constan-
tine OF Russia, Humboldt Macmillan.
Carlotta, and Pope Plus TX. For this
valuable collection the library is indebt-
ed to Mrs Mary Maury Werth. the
daughter OF the late Matthew Fontaine
Maury, and other of his descendants.
Other important gifts of manuscripts
include some Van Buren, papers. from DIR.
Stuyvesant Fish Morris. and Mrs. Smith
Van Buren,; n notable collection of MeNi-
can inquisition papers. from David Fer
gusson. Esq: Edwin NJ. Stanton papers.
from Lewis II. Stanton. Esq: the Louise
Chandler Moulton collection of autograph
letters from celebrated English writing
ioets and novel!stS. including three from
Robert Browning one from George Eliot.
one from Tennyson. several from Whit |
tier, Walt Whitman, and Horace Greeley,
q number from George Meredith, oliver
Wendell Holmes, Stedman. and others.
Another gift of autographs interest
was that OF the manuscript of Thomas I
Hardy's a Group of Noble Danes" re- |
ccived through Mr.. Sydney c. CockereIl. |
of Cambridge. England, at the hands of |
Mr.. Luther s. Livingston, or New York. |
The fine gift by ]. Pierpont Morgan of
set Of photographic documents of the !
signers OF the Declaration of Indepen- !
dence was received since the close of
the fiscal year, but has been described
in the papers.
The most important purchases Of man |
uscripts were of the papers of Yturbide, |
Emperor OF Mexico, ls22-23. and of the |
papers of James Henry Hammond, of |
South Carolina, a Representative in Con- |
gress in 1885, Governor of the State, |
lSi2-H. and Senator, 1880.
Japnnese Literature.
The library has for some time been in |
possession of a good foundation in the !
literature of Japan and a very consid- /
cradle collection of the literature of
China. but until recently it has remained !
without attempt al classification or ade- |
quate cataloguing. This year the library |
has been so fortunate as to obtain the |
services OF DR.. Hing Kwai Fung. who |
has made a provisional scheme of CLASH |
ficatiOn and made an exact and scien- |
tific catalogue of more than 1000 vol |
umes (Chinese), embracing the subjects |
of agriculture. botany. horticulture, and
materia medica.
The report includes. as usual. a state
ment Of the operations Of the copyright |
office. which shows the registrations dur
ing the year to have been 10000, the
articles deposited 90. O0o,' and the fees
received $4,000. The latter, added to |
the receipts from sales OF the printed |
cards $50 being covered directly into
the Treasury, offset by no less than
s15S,O0O the appropriations made for the |
maintenance of the institution. |
The librarian renews his recommends
ton for a division for the blind, so en-
larged and diversified as to be worthy
of the Federal government and a ma
tiOnal library.