The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-19
The Ne1o Manuscript Collections of the National Library

back on each side from central aisle
The cases are in stacks three. stories
high. The whole is in a skeleton of Steel
The rooms are fire proof, and the manu-
scripts are stored away in great volumes
as big as the biggest family bible, each
having it's own place in this steel con-
struction. There are thousands of these
volumes, each containing hundreds of
pages and each page holding letter or
paper many of which are worth their
weight in gold. The papers are classi-
fled according to the President or period
TO which they relate. Many of them are
in collections, such as the Washington
documents, the Madison documents and
the John Sherman papers, but all are
chronologically arranged, and every let
ter and paper has been so prepared and
pasted that it can be easily got at to be
photographed or copied
When you remember that, as I have
said, the collection already numbers sew
eral millions of letters and papers, one
can appreciate the vast work that is
going on. At present a force of three men
and three women are engaged in mount
ing the documents. The papers as brought
by the library are often in deplorable
condition, but they are taken and treated
so that they will last forever Each
manuscript has its own treatment ac-
cording to it's needs the work being an
Improvement on that originated by Father
Ehrly of the Vatican library, who until
the work began here was the past master
in the art of preserving and renovating
old manuscripts. One method used to
keep the tattered and torn and crum-
bling worm-eaten papers together is by
smoothing them out and covering them
with fine silk gauze known as crepe
line, This stuff is so delicate that 1t can
hardly be detected when it covers the
writing, but 1t holds the papers for all
time to come.
But let me continue the story of this
collection by giving you talk that Z
had with Mr.. Gaillard Hunt, who has
been chief of the division of manuscripts
Of the library for the past five years.
Mr. Hunt has long been we'll known as
an historical writer. He has for years
been an authority upon all manuscripts
and facts relating to American history.
He is the author of the well known BIZ
oeraphes of James Madison and John c..
Calhoun; and he was the editor of the
great edition of the writings of Madison
in eight volumes, of the First Forty
Years of Washington Society" and of a
large part of the journals of the Con-
tinental Congress. He knows as mucn,
If not more. than any other man in the
United States about manuscripts, and es-
tory. He had a long experience connected
with the manuscripts of the state de-
partment before he came here, and his
work is known in all the great libraries
of the world.
In response to my question Mr.. Hunt
said:
THE manuscript division began when
the library came into this building,
which was approximately ten years ago.
1t has been increasing in size very rapidly
within the past five years, and 1t has
now taken its place among the first
three manuscript collections of the world.
The credit of this Is due first to the power
Of organization of Mr.. Putnam, secondly
to the work of Worthington C, Ford,
who was the first chief of this division,
and thirdly to my persistncy in follow
ing up the policy laid down by Mr. Ford.
Mr.. Ford is the greatest authority on
manuscripts in this country. He is now
employed in the library at Boston, and
have taken his place.
What manuscripts had you in the the
library at the start?"
Very few. When Mr.. Ford took hold
there were several collections OF docu-
ments that had been acquired in one
way or another in the course of its long
history. The origin Of some of them is
not known. Others had been bought OF
given. These few however. were valua-
BILE. They contained, for example, the
papers of Rochambeau, which the gov
ernment had bought from his family, and
the Jamestown court book. which came
with the Jefferson library which was
bought by Congress during the latter
part Of Jeffersons life And then there
were the private papers of John Pau
Jones and others, which were Of great
value.
THE Jamestown court book gives the
proceedings of the court at jamestown
from AID. 1922 to 1926. 1t is the oldes
English American document in existence
This book was In bad condition when il
arrived here. 1t had been lying in eel
lar and had got wet through and through