The only collections purchased during the year (reserving
for mention under "Music" the Schatz collection of opera
librettos) were one of African linguistics (about 500 pieces),
formed by Mr. Wilberforce Eames, and one of early English
plays (about 2,000 pieces), which strengthen a department
still meager (for a research library) in original editions of
the early English dramatists. Among individual items of
importance were, however, sets of Liebig's and of Poggen-
dorf's Annalen; a set of the linguistic publications of Prince
Louis Lucien Bonaparte; a set (171 volumes) of the "Inven-
taire sommaire des Archives Départementales," issued by the
French Government; and the great edition (101 volumes)
of the sacred books of Tibet (The Kanjur) in the Dergé print,
secured through Mr. Rockhill, our minister to China (now
ambassador at St. Petersburg). Included also was a selected
collection (nearly 700 pieces) of Hungarian publications to
form a foundation in the general literature of Hungary, of
which the library had up to that time scarcely any examples.
The most momentous gift of printed material was from
the Chinese Government, a set of the great Chinese encyclo- c
pedia (The Tu Shu Tsi Cheng), comprising over 5,000
(Chinese) volumes. This was brought to Washington by
the special ambassador charged with the acknowledgments
of China to the United States for the remission of the
"Boxer indemnity." Its significance is indicated in a
letter on behalf of the Library, which I append:

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Washington, December 29, 1908

Mr. SECRETARY: It is with high gratification indeed
that we have received the communication from the
Acting Secretary informing us of the gift to the United
States by the Chinese Government, through His
Excellency T'ang Shao-Yi, its ambassador on Special
Mission, of a complete set in 5,041 volumes of the great
encyclopedia, the Tu Shu Tsi Cheng, and stating that

Gifts: CHINESE ENCYCLOPEDIA

it is destined for the Library, as an addition to its collection of Chinese literature.

This collection, already comprising over 10,000 volumes-due chiefly to the interest, learning, and generosity of Mr. W. W. Rockhill, now American minister at Peking is now one of the largest outside of China. The addition of the encyclopedia will make it one of the most notable.

As you are well aware, the term "encyclopedia” expresses very imperfectly the scope of this work. "Encyclopedias," so called, are profuse in the Occident, each attempting an epitome of knowledge and varying in dimensions from one to several score of volumes. But each such an encyclopedia represents but a particular private undertaking, the product of a small group of writers whose selection is conditioned by circumstances and who as a whole constitute but a fraction of the knowledge within the community. China alone— the Government itself of China-has attempted to embody in a single literary record the entire knowledge of an epoch. She has done this on two different occasions, in the early fifteenth century and again in the early eighteenth.

The first attempt (under the Ming dynasty), involving the concentration upon the task of over 2,000 of her foremost scholars, under an elaborate directorate, resulted in a compilation of over 22,000 volumes. But this, although copied for printing (by blocks), was never printed, and of two hand copies, made a century and a half later, only fragments survive.

The second attempt (in 1726), similar in its initiative, purpose, scope, and direction, was for posterity more fortunate in that its results were embodied in print. The edition printed (from movable copper types) seems, however, to have been a very small one. A copy, secured in 1877, forms a prized possession of the British Museum.

A copy for our own National Library has been for some time past one of our chief desires. As, however, the work is not in any way upon the market, and the

copies in the possession of the Chinese Government are
almost exhausted, we had feared that this desire could
not be satisfied.

That the generosity of the Chinese Government has
now satisfied it is a matter of hearty congratulation.
We beg that you will express to the ambassador our
sense of this, and (since the volumes have now been
delivered) our acknowledgment-in behalf not merely
of the institution, but of American scholars for the ad-
dition to our collections of this notable work-record of
unique learning, and of enduring interest to learning in
every land.

Very respectfully

HERBERT PUTNAM
Librarian of Congress

To the Honorable THE SECRETARY OF STATE

Washington

Among the gifts of individual material having special Gifts interest were over a hundred (printed) volumes from the library of George Bancroft, presented by Mrs. J. C. Bancroft Davis. These included an extra-illustrated copy of Doctor Bancroft's own history, and a unique copy of the plates illustrating the stained glass in St. John's Church, at Washington.a

A manuscript, also from Mrs. Davis, is, like other gifts of manuscripts (including notable ones from the Hon. Francis Burton Harrison, of New York, from Mrs. William Reed, of Baltimore, and from Mrs. Wm. H. Schaefer, of Boston), noted under "Manuscripts;" and Mrs. H. Carrington Bolton's gift of the large collection formed by Doctor Bolton of portraits of scientists is noted under "Prints." Mention belongs here, however, of the additional valued gift by Mrs. Bolton of the copy of Poggendorf's Biographisch-literarisches

a In making this gift Mrs. Davis writes: "I want all these books and Richard Doyle letter to be marked or known as a gift from Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Bancroft Davis, for it was my husband's wish that they should go to the Library of Congress, and I am only carrying out that wish in my lifetime instead of bequeathing them."

Transfers and exchanges

Handwörterbuch, which Doctor Bolton had extra-illustrated with over 800 portraits of the persons treated.

As the tables indicate, receipts from transfers have continued, notably from the State, Treasury, Post-Office, and Interior Departments. The opportunities of the Library for distribution are enhanced by the following provision of the appropriations act for 1909-10:

The Librarian of Congress may from time to time transfer to other governmental libraries within the District of Columbia, including the Public Library, books and material in the possession of the Library of Congress in his judgment no longer necessary to its uses, but in the judgment of the custodians of such other collections likely to be useful to them, and may dispose of or destroy such material as has become useless. The continuance of exchanges under the system heretofore pursued (of printed lists of "Offers" and "Wants") requires more service and a greater space for sorting and listing than we have recently had at our command. Lists of our "Wants" will of course continue; but itemized lists of "Offers" must for the present be more limited. Descriptive lists may take their place-indicating in a summary way material of a certain nature offered in bulk, and invitations may be extended to libraries of importance to send representatives to examine our collection of duplicates and make selection here. A fundamental difficulty is that of dealing fairly with the great number of remoter libraries individually. An arrangement should be possible by which we could deal directly with a few central institutions which would in turn attend to the distribution within the geographical areas to which they owe a particular duty. The institutions to which this task and privilege-logically belongs are the state libraries. We are not without hope that they may realize and undertake it.

DIVISION OF MANUSCRIPTS

(From the report of the Chief, Mr. Hunt) a

Accessions

The more important manuscripts accessions are described Mss: in detail in Appendix III of this report.

The collections have been enriched by several notable gifts during the past year, among which may be mentioned that of Mr. J. P. MacLean, of Franklin, Ohio, of a large number of papers illustrating the progress of the Shaker movement in Ohio, comprising letters from and to the community at Union Village, records of the village, biographical notebooks, music, prayers, and journals, the whole forming a valuable historical record of the rise of Shakerism in the Middle West; that of Hon. Francis Burton Harrison, a Representative in Congress from New York, catalogued as "The Burton Harrison Collection," being letters to his father, Burton N. Harrison, his grandfather, Jesse Burton Harrison, and his great-grandfather, Samuel Jordan Harrison, from Thomas Jefferson, Henry Clay, R. R. Gurley, N. P. Trist, Jefferson Davis and others, all, especially the Jefferson Davis letters, throwing important light upon historical events; that of Dr. Ellery C. Stowell of the original manuscript report, written by Louis Renault, on the subject of Contraband of War adopted in 1908-9 by the London International Naval Conference; that of Mrs. William Reed, of Baltimore, being the private diary (2 volumes) kept by Hon. William B. Reed during his mission to China in 1857-1859; and that of Dr. Stuyvesant Fish Morris of the certificates of election as President and Vice-President of the United States, of Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, in 1833, and the certificate of election, as President, of Martin Van Buren, in 1837.

The transfer of manuscripts heretofore in other government offices has given the Division several important acces

a Mr. Hunt's responsibility for the work began on January 1st, 1909. r