GIFT: extraordinary historical, bibliographic, and autographic importance of the collections formed by Mr. Thacher, the bequest of which by Mrs. Thacher assures to the Library permanent ownership of rarities of which it had been merely the custodian, and of which (or their like) it could never have afforded the purchase from public funds. A similar observation applies to a gift-though of Gabriel Wells. but a single volume-received last spring from Mr. Gabriel Wells, of New York City, a fine copy of the Editio Princeps of the Iliad. It was one of the "Desiderata" in a list we had issued-for the attention of connoisseur-collectors of bibliographic monumenta which we could not hope to secure save through their generosity. And Mr. Wells is not merely a collector of such rarities, but a dealer in them. A dealer who gives thus gives, as it were, a pound of flesh. Another collector, Mr. Charles F. Heartman, also a dealer, with all the appreciations that such observation and experience imply, in his magazine, The American Collector [April, 1927], has editorially expressed views so magnanimous that I venture to append a quotation of them. YOUR LAST WILL * I hereby give and bequeath to the Library of Congress should be a paragraph in the last will and testament of any buyer, seller, or collector of autographs, prints, and books. One reads a great deal in the daily papers and popular magazines about the libraries formed by Henry E. Huntington, J. P. Morgan, William L. Clements, and others. While I greatly admire and appreciate the spirit that prompted these and other gentlemen to form collections and dedicate them for the benefit of the public, I think we do not talk enough about our National Library. The Library of Congress is to-day the third largest institution of its kind in the world. There are no reasons why this library should not be the first. A little concentration on this thought will accomplish a great deal. Hundreds of legacies are left every year to small libraries and thousands of large and small gifts are made every year to minor country institutions that just as well might not have been made. I have to be careful just how I express myself in this matter or Therethe wrath of hundreds of librarians will be upon my head. fore I will amplify generalities. Of course, early American imprints and money should be given to the American Antiquarian Society; the New Hampshire Historical Society should be the recipient of material relating to that State, and so on. But to my mind it is a crime to bury in the small public library of Dux Bux a valuable series of autograph letters or a fine collection of books. Some day some gullible librarian will sell the lot to an enterprising scout for a trifle of its value. Large collections have disappeared in this way, which should not make anybody feel particularly sorry for such happenings, as the collection, of course, always again appears in the open market, and in that way an opportunity is created to make the material useful. Fine collections are shut up in out-of-the-way places where they are never consulted. Some could only be consulted after exercising much trouble. And, as I said before, they diminish every year in size. Before anybody leaves an important collection to any institution, he should be very cautious and investigate the situation from every possible angle. Usability, care, and safety should receive careful consideration. After all, what is a collection good for if it is bottled up somewhere under the supervision of an incompetent librarian who, perhaps, never even catalogues a legacy properly? But whatever the personal attitude of any bookish inclined person may be, the Library of Congress should always be on top of any list of bequests. No matter how friendly one feels toward a certain institution and how sure one is of giving a collection to a certain library or society, the Library of Congress should also get something. The Library of Congress is the best managed library in the United States. (I hope I will be forgiven for this remark by some of my other efficient librarian friends.) This institution has very sincere and unselfish men on its staff. The shrewd Pennell understood this when he made his will. Ultimately the Library of Congress will become the greatest storehouse of rare, as well as reference books, of these United States. The Library needs, and invites, gifts of collections and money. It is willing to keep compact gatherings as separate units. The larger the accumulations of this library are the more useful the institution will be. Most certainly we should take the greatest pride in the growth of our National Library. In fact, nobody with a bookish taste should die without having done something for the Library of Congress. Persons who have made money out of books as buyers and sellers and the collectors and bibliophiles of this country, should consider it a supreme duty to leave something to our National Library-material or money-as the best means to perpetuate their memory. In the Atlantic Monthly for October, 1927, another very eminent bibliophile and merchant of rareties, Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach, suggests the propriety of organiz ENDOWMENTS: ing a society-"Friends of the Library of Congress whose object shall be the enrichment of our collections by gift and bequest. The additional endowments have been two: From Mr. William Evarts Benjamin of New York City, $75,000 for a "chair of American history.” From the Carnegie Corporation, $75,000 for a "chair of the fine arts." That is to say, gifts of the above sums (in the first case in securities, in the second case in cash) to the Library of Congress Trust Fund Board, as a fund, the income of which is to be payable to the chief of our division of manuscripts and the chief of our division of prints (fine arts), respectively, as an honorarium in addition to their salaries from the Government under the classification act.1 As The idea of such "chairs" had been suggested in the brochure issued in 1926, descriptive of the Trust Fund Board and the whole system of endowment; and they had in effect been initiated by Mrs. Frederic Coolidge's endowment for the division of music. In connection with the announcement of these later endowments a fuller explanation of them was given to the press, which is quoted below (as Appendix IV of this report). emphasized therein, the endowments are not a subsidy to the Government for the work of the Library-the ordinary administrative work-which it is the duty of the Government to provide for, but to enable the Library to secure for the three positions specialists competent to render to the public an additional service of a different species which the donor deems important for the general welfare in the field indicated-the interpretation of the collections, aid to the study of them and research in them, and promotion of a sound understanding and appreciation of the subject matter itself. The promptness of the action upon these two gifts exemplifies the efficiency of the procedure provided for under the trust fund act. The letters of gift, in their 1 In the case of the manuscripts the limit of the honorarium is $3,200 per annum, any surplus beyond that being applicable within the discretion of the librarian to material in American history or the service of it. |