The Goldfield news and weekly tribune. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1911-1947, 1915-06-26
CAMBRIDGE, Mass, June "a.

The Widener memorial library,
ranking third among the libraries of
this country in the number of vol
umes which it will accommodate, was
dedicated with simple exercises at
Harvard university today. The ad-
dres sof presentation al made by
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, and the
library was accepted on behalf of
the university by President A. Law
renee Lowell.
The monumental structure is the
gift of Mrs. Eleanor Elkins Widener
of Philadelphia, in memory of her
son, Harry Elkins Widener, a mem
Der of the Harvard class of 1907,
who lost his life il. the Titanic dis
aster. Specifically intended to
house the ARE collection of books
bequeathed to the university by Mr..
Widener, the building was planned
on a scale for the entire Harvard Ii
brary, with allowance for great en-
.largement in the number OF books.
The capacity Of 100000 volumes,
Will pIONlolOH " SAtOhoiOh w W.
$780, 900, is exceeded in this country
only by the New York public library
and the congressional library.
The building, standing within the
college yard near Massachusetts
avenue, is on the site of the old old
Gore hall, the former library build
ing, which was torn down. In style
and material it harmOnizes with the
colonial halls in it's immediate vicin-
ity. The exterior is of brick and
windows. Romanesque arches and
Corinthian columns. The outside
measurements are 200 by $50 feet.
feet. Within the hollow square OF
the structure is a courtyard, 100 by
10 feet. The principal entrance,
on the north side, is by 80 granite
tseps, through a portice formed by
IL limestone COrinthian columns.
The three high doors are of glass
and wrought iron.
The marble c%Olonnade at the en-
trance hall and a broad marble stair
case lead directly to the central sec
ton, where the Widener collection is
located. Within the vestibule are
two simple memorial tablets, and in
the entrance hall is a tablet placed
by the class of 1907.
The memorial section consists of
two rooms. On the south wall of the
inner room, which will house the
Widener collection, over a marble
fireplace, is the portrait of Mr..
Widener, by Terrier, the Paris artist.
The book cases in this roc have
plate glass shelves and bronze sash
es. The outer room includes the Of
flee of the special librarian of the
collection, George p. Winship, who
served for twenty years as librarian
of the John Carter Brown library at
Brown university.
On the first floor are the offices of
William C.. Lane, the college librar-
ian, and Prof. Archibald G. Coolidge,
director of the university library;
the treasure room," equipped with
metal book cases, and a room for the
library council. The stairway at
the sides leads to the reading room.
1872 feet long, with soft-toned glass
skylights; the card catalogue and de-
livery room and the periodical room.
The book stacks extend through
eight l~ow-studded stories, and space
has been reserved in the basement
for two more floors of stacks for
future needs. On the third floor are
rooms for special collections and de-
partmental Libraries, a photograph
room and a map room. Seventy
studies for professors and 800 read
ing stalls for research students are
placed close to the stacks
The Widener collection contains
about 1000 volumes. All of these
are rare books, gathered by Mr..
Widener through tireless search of
this country and Europe. Among
them are a Shakespeare First Folio,
a famous Caxton, the English bible
of 1850 and a first edition of Bur-
toms Anatomy" There are also