Evening star., 1936-05-09


ing and hunting and game preserva-
tion. The Libraries in the bureaus and
offices Of the department, with the exc
ception Of the Weather Bureau. are
administered as branches Of the de-
partment library and in them are
shelved about one-third Of the library's
collections.
COME Of these Government libraries
- reflect vividly the character of the
departments which they serve. II you
go down to the long. squat building on
Potamac Park which houses the Navy
Department and walk along a series
of dusky, echolng corridors you will
reach the naval records and library
Office. And Immediately you will flnd
yourself in a naval atmosphere. Red
and green lamps shine at each side Of
the door, the familiar nautical signals
for port and starboard. Just inside
the doorway Is a 4-foot model Of a
Chinese junk. gift TO the commander
In chief Of the Asiatic Fleet. 1t rests
on a table on which was signed the
original draft of the Naval Disarma-
ment Conference of 1921. In the read
ing room are more ship models;
sword worn by naval captain In the
War Of 1912; bar of iron rolled from
the armor of the Merrimac.
The library contains $1,000 volumes,
and this does not include the Libraries
OF the various bureaus, nor those Of the
naval establishments in Washington,
such as the library of the Naval OBJ
servatory, which was established In
I841 and contains one Of the best, II
not the best, collection Of astronomical
literature in the Western Hemisphere.
In the rear of the naval library IS
the manuscript section, where are
stored. in shelf after shelf of volumes.
the old records of the Navy-ship'S
/ logs, muster rolls, letters and records
Of the Civil War, both Union and
Confederate, and correspondence be-
tween commanding officers and the
| Navy Department. Capt. Knox or
the assistant in charge can pull down
q volume and show the faded letter
from Commodore Perry TO the depart
ment announcing his victory over the
| British in the battle Of Lake Erie.
Here is a mine of source material of
| American history. and at the instance
OF President Roosevelt it is being pub
lished in book form to make it more
available to students and to those in
terested in naval affairs.
The library of the Smithsonian In
stitutton comprises 10 distinct libra
ries, in various parts Of Washington.
Chief among these are the Smith
sonian deposit in the Library Of Con-
gress. The others are: The once,
/ Langley aeronautical and technolog-
| ical libraries and the libraries OF the
Astrophysical Observatory, the Bureau
of American Ethnology, the Freer Gal
lery of Art, the National Gallery OF
Art and the National Geological Park.
These, taken together, comprise The
Smithsonian Library system, which
numbers over 500 900 volumes. PAM
phlets and charts. Its interests are
! largely scientific, but several Of the
/ libraries contain collections on widely
varying subjects, from the treatises on
animals and their care in the library
of the Zoo to the Egyptian papyri, the
biblical manuscripts of the fourth and
fifth centuries and the materials on
/ the life and work of the painter
Whistler, which are in the library OF
the Freer Gallery.
THE large group Of what might be
termed special libraries, attached
to learned societies and trade asSocla-
tions, or housing the accumulations OF
! individual collectors, displays the wild
| est conceivable range of material and
contains book treasures found nowhere
else on earth. One OF the newcomers
in this group, but an outstanding one,
| is the Folger Shakespeare Library.
| Housed in the beautiful building on
East Capitol street are 10000 volumes,
including 1,400 copies of Shakespeare
collected works, hundreds Of plays in
separate form, copies with marginal
notes said to have been made by Fran.
els Bacon and Ben Jonson, prompt
books, playbills. autograph collections
of famous Shakespearean players. 200
oil paintings, some by Sir Joshua Rey-
nolds. Romney, William Blake and
Turner; etchings, engravings, letters
one written by Queen Elizabeth--all.
in the words of Mr.. Folger's will, 'for
the promotion and diffusion of knowl-
edge in regard to the history and writ
ings of Shakespeare" The collection,
/ ;e I1xyf he trtfa
of Amhurst College, is a monument
not only to Shakespeare, but to the
business executive who was one Of the
greatest Of Shakespearean scholars.
A study of the directory of the Ii
braries of Washington, compiled by
Dorsey w. Hyde, now director Of Arch
| ival Service in the National Archives.
brings to the layman an astonishing
realization Of the number of these
institutions and the infinite variety of
their contents. OF them all, the most
familiary to the Washington reading
public is the Public Library Of the
District of Columbia, which, under
the long and able direction of George
F.. Bowerman, has been developed to
I'LL a unique place in the city's life.
At present 1t contains more than 500,-
900 volumes, and great numbers Of pic
lures and photographs, prints and
pamphlets; and through its central
library and its 10 branches and SUBJ
Notwithstanding the fine new
building recently opened in George
town-it ministers cash year to all
classes of Washington residents from
children learning TO read to the old
est citizens
A TOUR of the central library in
the company of Miss Clara w.
Herbert, the assistant librarian, re-
veals a remarkable range Of activity.
There are fascinating reading rooms
for children, large and small; collec-
tions Of books arranged by illustra-
tors rather than by authors; rooms Of
cases containing pictures and illustra-
tions from every possible source A
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