Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-03
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edition of book exhibited before a
court handling certain litigations. These
suits may revolve around alleged pla-
giarism, co-authorship or illegal appro-
priation.
Among many requests for information
by correspondence, one finds people
wishing enlightment on the first edition
OF BrOwning'S Pauline; on the first
appearance of Poe's Gold Bug" facts
concerning service rendered by Baron
de Viomenil in the war for American
independence; from the significance of
an elephants head on the binding of a
1864 edition of Satyr's Menippee de la
vertu du Catholicon d'Espagne to a
record of North Cardinals warriors in
the Battle of the Monocacy.
directories is useful to people trying to
find lost relatives or establish addresses
of debtors. The genealogiSt. historian
and biographer make frequent use of
them, too. Distant correspondents often
ask for information contained in these
directories.
Substantial collections of trade jour-
mails, by far the most complete in the
country, supply material for inventors,
lawyers, statesmen, historians and iiti-
giants. The interest is not restricted to
the text; often, patentees spend hours
examining advertisements therein.
Aside from readers with practical
ends, there is the pure philosopher, the
metaphySician or theoretical chemist.
They exercise no control in choice of
material. Whittier the workings of
fecund mine leads, there the meta
soul with illogical logic, and the next
will find him figuring in cold-blooded
mathematics the strain of tides on the
earth'S crust.
Serious investigators call forth special
material and apply for unique accom-
modations. The library now assigns
about 125 study rooms and tables to
men and women who can prove the i'm
portance of their work. All these places
have been filed and now applications
are being answered from a waiting list.
OF a recent group on which statistics
were assembled. 48 investigators repre-
sented Is foreign countries; 213 came
from IS States; 100 were faculty men,
bers of American universities, and ID
represented learned societies.
While supplying needs of this army of
special Investigators, the library makes
no effort to compete with specialized
collections 1t declines to compete
with the medical library assembled by
Army surgeons-general; or to supplant
the Army Air Corps library, or nautical
publications assembled by the Navy.
And now that Washington will become
the Capital of ShakeSpeareana, it will
refer specialized requests on the bard
to the Folger Library.
X X y +
IT E. LAWRENCE, the man who made
Arabia a modern wonderland,
makes strange request of the library.
He has deposited the first edition Of
his book printed in America with the
stipulation that 1t not be shown pub
licly, until a limited time elapSes.
When this request first became known.
notion prevailed among litterati and
| newspaper men that this was the IA
nous 30O,000-word edition of Revolt
| in the Desert
According to the librarian of Con-
gress, the secret edition differs very
| slightly from that which may be bought
at thousands of book stalls, save that
| 1t may differ In its predatory matter
| and few other details. While no legal
ties prescribe that the librarian must
withhold this edition from public view,
| the request Is nevertheless honored.
In his letter, Lawrence indicated that
the British Museum had already ex-
! tended the courtesy to him.
| So far as is known, the 800 000-word
edition never came to this country; and
grave doubt exists whether 1t ever was
, published. One story has 1t that the
original manuscript was stolen from
Lawrence at q railway station. And
the short, popular version is what
Lawrence wrote Immediately thereafter.
| OF the edition deposited in the
Library Of Congress, only enough copies
have been printed to warrant issue Of
copyright.
y \ X n
THE year 1947 will mark a climax to
the career of a rail splitter, one Abe
Lincoln, who became President of the
United States. For in that year the
Librarian of Congress will have author
ization to clip seals from five or more
strong boxes that are expected to add
last strokes to full-length portrait Of
the Emancipator. More than 10000