A good early reprint was accordingly secured. It is in good condition, carefully annotated in red ink, and bound in 12 volumes.

The following miscellaneous works also were purchased: Li shu & Yo shu, comprises two works by Ch'ên hsiang tung, and Ch'ên yang, the one on rites and the other on music. The latter, an interesting addition to the few works on Chinese music already in the Library. The two works are bound in 36 volumes.

Wênhsien tung kao, a well-known treatise of encyclopedic scope on the Chinese Government by a famous Yüan dynasty scholar. It was secured in a good Ming edition, though already in the Library of Congress in a Ch'ing reprint. The importance of this work, which has often been translated or abstracted by European scholars, is believed to justify the cost of getting a serviceable Ming edition. The copy secured for the Library is bound in 60 volumes.

Pei tung shu chao by Yu shih nan, is a well printed Ming edition of a T'ang encyclopedia. It was printed in 1600, in 160 books bound in 24 volumes.

Pa chi shih tsu tung pu, is a rare and interesting biographical work on Manchus belonging to the Eight banners. It gives short biographies of many famous Manchu officials. It was published in 1735 in 80 books and the copy secured is an original edition in good condition, bound in 24 volumes.

A large number of smaller and less costly works, including a number on art and archæology, have been purchased and other large or costly works are still being examined with a view to purchase if they prove to be desirable.

DIVISION OF MANUSCRIPTS

(From the report of the Acting Chief, Mr. Fitzpatrick) Readjustments and changes, because of the war, have deprived the division, for the time being, of the services of its chief, Mr. Gaillard Hunt. Since July, 1917, he has been

acting as special adviser to the Department of State in citizenship matters; but the division still retains the benefit of his ever ready and excellent judgment and advice.

As this division is the only bureau of the Federal Government whose exclusive function is the preservation of historical manuscript material for the benefit of American history, the annual announcements of its accessions naturally form an important part of its yearly record. The full list of accessions during the past fiscal year will be found in the appendix, but among the material there listed are acquisitions that deserve special mention.

The first of these is the collection of personal papers of Jefferson papers Thomas Jefferson, about 300 autograph signed letters, dating from 1774 to 1826-the majority of which are to Thomas Mann Randolph-several bound volumes, and miscellaneous papers.

When the main collection of Jefferson papers was purchased by the Government, in 1848, the personal correspondence was segregated and returned to the family, by agreement, the Government retaining only the official material. This practice was followed also in the purchase of the Madison and Monroe papers, and, to an extent, in the Washington papers. The group of Jefferson manuscripts now acquired is an important part of the returned personal material. Besides the letters to Thomas Mann Randolph, which are written with the freedom of intimacy that characterizes Jefferson's personal correspondence, there is his manuscript list of the library gathered after the sale of his first collection of books to the Government in 1815; two commonplace books with notes on religion, bits of Latin, Greek and English verse, and other memoranda; his diary or cash memoranda, 1779-1782, which is kept in an interleaved Virginia Almanac for 1779; and a copy of the 1801 edition of the Manual of parliamentary practice for the use of the Senate of the United States, which contains

Jeremiah S. Black papers

numerous manuscript marginalia by Jefferson. There is also a mass of loose memoranda made by Jefferson, on various scientific subjects, ranging from the length of his step in walking to the properties of limestone.

With these papers are various letters of Thomas Mann Randolph, James Madison, James Monroe, Lafayette, Thomas Sumter, Winfield Scott, W. C. Rives, Martin Van Buren, Nicholas P. Trist, and a few letters from the Jefferson children.

In addition to the above, the Library received three Jefferson memorandum books of household and legal matters, 1768-1770, a much appreciated gift from Colonel Jefferson R. Kean, of Washington, D. C.

Next in importance are to be noted the papers of Jeremiah S. Black, dating from 1836 to 1889. The collection is now in process of arrangement, so that a complete analysis of its historical value can not yet be given. The examination has progressed sufficiently to warrant the statement that it is a collection rich in national and state political history. The Kansas troubles and John Brown's Harper's Ferry raid, the Johnson impeachment, Credit Mobilier, the trial of Jefferson Davis, Black's efforts in behalf of C. C. Clay, and Jacob Thompson's letters from his exile in Europe, are examples of the subjects dealt with in the correspondence. An important group is Buchanan's letters relative to the closing days of his administration, and among these is Buchanan's draft of defense of his actions as to Forts Sumter and Moultrie; Black's historical notes on the last four months of Buchanan's administration and account of his own resignation and the Cabinet meeting on Anderson's removal to Sumter. A group of early letters (1857-58) from Edwin M. Stanton to Judge Black deserves notice. There are a large number of drafts of Black's speeches, legal arguments and articles, and a considerable portion of the collection is made up of the correspondence of Chauncey Black, important parts of which are the series of letters

respecting Ward H. Lamon's Life of Lincoln, originally written by Black, and claimed by him as having been published with unauthorized changes. Black's draft of the last chapter of the Life is in the collection. There are a large number of letters from Speaker Samuel J. Randall to Chauncey Black, dealing with important phases of Pennsylvania politics. A considerable portion of the collection naturally relates to legal matters, and among the writers should be mentioned the names of Thomas F. Bayard, G. Dawson Coleman, Montgomery Blair, Jacob Thompson, J. A. Campbell, Joseph Holt, Jesse D. Bright, William B. Reed, James Gadsden, Reverdy Johnson, Charles O'Conor, Winfield S. Hancock, J. C. Frémont and Mrs. Frémont, Caleb Cushing, William Henry Trescot, Benjamin Harris Brewster, William Pinckney Whyte, David D. Field, James Buchanan, Adolph Sutro, Isaac Toucey, J. T. Mason, E. M. Stanton, James A. Garfield, and John W. Forney. Among the correspondents of Chauncey Black are Charles A. Dana, William H. Herndon, Ward H. Lamon, James R. Osgood & Co., Samuel J. Randall, Don Piatt, J. M. Cooper, Wayne MacVeagh, and Daniel Sickles.

Akin to the Black papers, in both a legal and geographical sense, are the two collections of papers of Maryland lawyers that were purchased during the year: Reyerdy Johnson and William Wirt.

son papers

The Reverdy Johnson documents seem to be the only Reverdy Johnsurviving papers of that eminent jurist. They date from 1826 to 1876, and, though relatively few in number (about 200 pieces), and lacking in continuity of affairs, they nevertheless are of historical importance. The major portion of them deal with the social side of Johnson's residence in England, while United States Minister to that country, but scattered through these are diplomatic letters of more than ordinary interest. Several letters of Gladstone, relative to the failure of Johnson's negotiations, and the subsequent treaty that vindicated his judgment and labors at every

William papers

Wirt

point, are remarkable examples of unrestrained frankness, and display in high relief those qualities upon which rest Gladstone's claim to greatness. Autographically considered, the collection is highly interesting.

There are a number of documents that relate to the interesting controversy over General B. F. Butler's actions in New Orleans in 1863, and Johnson's work in that city as a special agent of the Government. Among the individual letters of more than usual interest are one or two from Lord Bulwer, and General Robert E. Lee's letter, after the war, respecting the Arlington estate. The names of the more important writers are R. J. Breckinridge, W. C. Bryant, Martin Van Buren, David D. Porter, Hiram Ketcham, Wade Hampton, Stephen A Douglas, Varina Davis, William H. Seward, and William T. Sherman. Among the English correspondents should be mentioned Gladstone, Lord Stanley, Lord Bulwer, the Earl of Derby, Disraeli, Lord Clarendon, Charles Reade, the Duchess of Leeds, Shaftesbury, Sir E. Tennent, and the Duke of Argyll.

The Wirt papers date from 1805 to 1840, and are, almost entirely, the personal and intimate correspondence between Wirt and his wife and daughters. As a record of a close-knit and devoted family, it can hardly be excelled, for the strong ties of affection uniting every member of the group are plainly evident. There is considerable business and some legal correspondence, but little of political history, and that is to be found in the general comments of Wirt's own letters. The importance of the collection lies in its biographical strength, the draft of Wirt's Reminiscences, and the almost complete manuscript of his Life and Sketches of Patrick Henry. The Reminiscences, which is really an autobiography for his children, was begun in 1825 and covers only an early portion of Wirt's life. It was used to some extent by Pendleton in his life of Wirt. The Life and Sketches of Patrick Henry is partly in Wirt's autograph, but nearly every