Evening star., 1940-04-28

REPRESENTATIVE COLLINS.
Congress is the largest single library
in the world. and certainly the most
modern, but we must remember
that we have only one national
library, whereas Great Britain, Ger
many, Italy, and Russia have sew
eral, and each one of them possesses
many more rare books and old
manuscripts than does the Library
of Congress. A land as extensive
and as rich as the United States
should not be satisfied with one
national library. Three years ago
! introduced bill to establish at
a cost of not over $50,000,O00 five
regional libraries, branches of the
Library Of Congress, to be located at
appropriate points of the country
At approximately one-half of the
cost of modern battleship we could
possess a national library system far
more commensurate with the needs
and the wealth of the United States
than single library of only 5000, 900
volumes.
A Fair Standard.
Would it not be fairer to judge our
Nations cultural treasures by what
we have not rather than by what
we possess? How does it happen
that our Library of Congress excels
in Russian and Chinese literature,
but does not excel in French, Ger
man, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Finnish,
Turkish, Arabic, Indie, and all of
the other great occidental and
oriental literatures?
1t is a satisfaction to know that
our Library possesses the most VOL
luminous collection of music. but
what I should like to know is where
do we stand in the other esthetics?
II We do not have surprising COL
lections in these and other fields of
the humanities, in the social sciences
and in pure science, we deserve not
the tribute of the Master Builder
We'll done, good and faithful SER
want" for we have hidden our tai
ents in napkin.
When I recall the many oppor-
tunities which this rich Nation has
had to acquire distinguished and
rare collections, both abroad as well
as in this country, I often marvel
at the myopic vision of some of our
statesmen and librarians.
We may we'll be proud of the pos
session of the original Declaration
of Independence and the Constitu-
ton, but our pride is somewhat
dampened when we recall that the
original autographed manuscript of
the Farewell Address of Washington
was offered to the Congress before
1T was purchased by James Lenox
for $4,000.
Missed Washington Library.
The surviving volumes of the
library Of Jefferson are viewed with
pride by every member who visits
the rare-book room of the Library
of Congress, but what can one say
OF q Library Committee which failed
to purchase the private library Of
Washington, comprising 5000 VOL
umes, which in order to prevent its
being sold in Europe was purchased
by private subscription at a price of
$3,250 from Henry Stevens and pre-
sented to the Boston Atheneum?
In 1886, when the Library of Con-
gress comprised approximately 25,-
600 volumes, it had the opportunity
to purchase the library of the lately
deceased Count de Boutourlin, of
Florence, Italy. This grand collec-
ton, which would have doubled the
size and quintupled the value of the
Library of Congress-, could have been
purchased at a cost of from $50 900
to $4,000. Sad to relate, resolu-
ton offered by the chairman of the
Library Committee, Mr.. Preston, to
purchase this valuable library was
tabled upon the motion of Henry
Clay. the same statesman who had
urged the purchase of the manu-
script OF Washington's Farewell Ad-
dress.
A similar fate befell the offer OF
the Durazzo library in 1842, which
comprised 10,50O volumes of folio
and quarto, having been in process
OF collection for several hundred
years by the illustrious old Durazzo
family of Genoa. This collection
which was extensive in history, law
jurisprudence, diplomacy, and the
classics, was offered for $50 900, less
than the cost of the binding. 1t was
objected by the Joint Committee or
the Library that the collection die
not contain the investigations Of
scholars of the modern school OF
historical and literary criticism.
One Of Greatest Losses.
One of the greatest losses resulted
through the failure of Congress tc
purchase the library of George Ban
croft, which consisted of 14,6Oe
volumes of printed books, 48C
volumes Of manuscripts, and 4,64e
pamphlets.
The foregoing notable examples
are not uncommon in the history ot
the Library of Congress. Many
similar collections of American and
European ownership could have
been purchased within the past
quarter of a century at relatively
moderate cost, and some of them