from "Minerva," 1893-94: Florence National Central Library,
422,183 printed books, 398,845 pamphlets and 17,386
manuscripts; Rome, National Central Library of Victor
Emmanuel, 241,978 books, 130,728 pamphlets, 4,676 manuscripts;
Naples University Library, 181,072 printed books, 43,453
pamphlets, and 109 manuscripts; Bologna University Library,
251,700 books, 43,633 pamphlets and 5,000 manuscripts; Pavia
University Library, 136,000 books, 80,000 pamphlets and 1,100
manuscripts; Turin National Library, 196,279 printed books and
4,119 manuscripts; Venice, National Library of St. Mark,
401,652 printed and bound books, 80,450 pamphlets, and 12,016
manuscripts; Pisa University Library, 108,188 books, 22,960
pamphlets and 274 manuscripts; Genoa University Library,
106,693 books, 46,231 pamphlets, and 1,586 manuscripts;
Modena, the Este Library, 123,300 volumes, and 5,000
manuscripts; Padua University Library, 135,837 volumes, 2,326
manuscripts, and 63,849 pamphlets, etc.; Palermo National
Library, 177,892 volumes and pamphlets, and 1,527 manuscripts;
Palermo Communal Library, 209,000 books, 16,000 pamphlets,
etc., 3,000 manuscripts; Parma Palatine Library, 250,000
books, 20,313 pamphlets, etc., 4,769 manuscripts; Siena
Communal Library 67,966 volumes, 26,968 pamphlets, 4,890
manuscripts.
LIBRARIES:
Austria-Hungary.
The principal libraries in the Empire are reported to contain
as follows: Vienna University Library, 416,608 volumes, 373
incunabula, 498 manuscripts; Vienna Imperial and Royal Court
Library, 500,000 volumes, 6,461 incunabula, and 20,000
manuscripts; Budapest University Library, 200,000 volumes,
1,000 manuscripts; Hungarian National Museum, 400,000 volumes
and 63,000 manuscripts, mostly Hungarian; Czernowitz
University Library, 64,586 volumes and over 30,000 pamphlets,
etc.; Graz University 131,397 volumes of books and 1,708
manuscripts; Innspruck University Library, 135,000 printed
books, including 1,653 incunabula, and 1,046 manuscripts;
Cracow University Library, 283,858 volumes and 5,150
manuscripts; Lemberg University Library, 120,900 volumes;
Prague University Library, 211,131 volumes, 3,848 manuscripts.
_Minerva, 1893-94._
LIBRARIES:
Switzerland.
The principal libraries of Switzerland are the following:
Basle Public Library, 170,000 volumes of printed books and
about 5,000 manuscripts; Berne City Library, 80,000 volumes
and a valuable manuscript collection; Berne University
Library, 35,000 volumes; St. Gall "Stiftsbibliothek," about
40,000 volumes, including l,584 incunabula, and 1,730
manuscripts; Lucerne Cantonal Library, 80,000 volumes; Zurich
City Library, 130,000 volumes.
_Minerva, 1893-94._
LIBRARIES:
Holland.
The following statistics of libraries in Holland are given in
the German handbook, _"Minerva," 1893-94: Leyden University
Library_, 190,000 volumes of printed books and 5,400
manuscripts, of which latter 2,400 are oriental; Utrecht
University Library, 200,000 volumes, besides pamphlets;
Groningen University Library, 70,000 volumes.
LIBRARIES:
Belgium.
Brussels Royal Library, 375,000 volumes, and 27,000
manuscripts; Ghent, Library of the City and University of
Gand, 300,000 volumes.
LIBRARIES:
Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
The principal libraries of the Scandinavian kingdoms contain
as follows: Christiania University Library, 312,000 volumes;
Gothenburg City Library, about 60,000 volumes; Copenhagen
University Library 300,000 books and 5,000 manuscripts; Lund
University Library, 150,000 volumes; Stockholm Royal Library,
300,000 printed books and 11,000 manuscripts; Upsala
University Library, 275,000 volumes and 11,000 manuscripts.
_Minerva, 1893-94._
LIBRARIES:
Spain.
The principal libraries in Spain are the following: Barcelona
Provincial and University Library, 54,000 volumes; Madrid
University Library, 200,761 volumes and 3,000 manuscripts;
Madrid National Library, 450,000 volumes and 10,000
manuscripts; Salamanca University Library, 72,000 volumes and
870 manuscripts; Seville University Library, 62,000 volumes;
Valencia University Library, 45,000 volumes; Valladolid
University Library, 32,000 volumes.
_Minerva, 1893-94._
LIBRARIES:
Russia.
"The most notable [Russian] libraries are those founded by the
government. Of these, two deserve special attention: the
library of the Academy of Sciences and the Imperial Public
Library in St. Petersburg. Books taken by the Russian armies
from the Baltic provinces at the beginning of the eighteenth
century formed the foundation of the first. The Imperial
Library was the result of the Russian capture of Warsaw. Count
Joseph Zalussky, bishop of Kiev, spent forty-three years
collecting a rich library of 300,000 volumes and 10,000
manuscripts, devoting all his wealth to the purchase of books.
His brother Andrew further enriched the library with volumes
taken from the museum of the Polish king, John III. In 1747
Joseph Zalussky opened the library to the public, and in 1761
bequeathed it to a college of Jesuits in Warsaw. Six years
later (1767) Zalussky was arrested and his library removed to
St. Petersburg. The transfer took place in bad weather and
over poor roads, so that many books were injured and many lost
in transit. When the library reached St. Petersburg it
numbered 262,640 volumes and 24,500 estampes. Many had been
stolen during the journey, and years later there were to be
found in Poland books bearing the signature of Zalussky.
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To the Imperial Library Alexander I. added, in 1805, the
Dubrovsky collection. … Dubrovsky gathered his collection
during a twenty-five years' residence in Paris, Rome, Madrid,
and other large cities of Europe. He acquired many during the
French revolution. … The Imperial Library possesses many
palimpsests, Greek manuscripts of the second century, …
besides Slavonian, Latin, French, and Oriental manuscripts.
… The library is constantly growing, about 25,000 volumes
being added every year. In income, size, and number of readers
it vastly surpasses all private libraries in Russia, the
largest of which does not exceed 25,000 volumes. In later
years the village schools began to open libraries for limited
circles of readers. Small libraries were successfully
maintained in cities and the demand for good reading steadily
increased among the people."
_A. V. Babine,
Libraries in Russia,
(Library Journal, March, 1893)._
The principal libraries of Russia reported in the German
yearbook "Minerva" 1893-94 are the following: Charkow
University Library, 123,000 volumes; Dorpat University
Library, 170,000 volumes, and 104,700 dissertationen;
Helsingfors University Library 170,000 volumes; Kasan
University Library, 100,000 volumes; Kiev University Library,
118,000 volumes; Moscow University Library, 217,000 volumes;
Odessa University Library, 102,000 volumes; St. Petersburg
University Library, 215,700 volumes; St. Petersburg Imperial
Public Library, 1,050,000 volumes, 28,000 manuscripts.
LIBRARIES:
England: The King's Library and the British Museum.
"No monarch of England is known to have been an extensive
collector of books (in the modern acceptation of the term)
except George III., or, if the name of Charles I. should be
added, it must be in a secondary rank, and with some
uncertainty, because we have not the same evidence of his
collection of books as we have of his pictures, in the
catalogue which exists of them. A royal library had, indeed,
been established in the reign of Henry VII.; it was increased,
as noticed by Walpole, by many presents from abroad, made to
our monarchs after the restoration of learning and the
invention of printing; and naturally received accessions in
every subsequent reign, if it were only from the various
presents by which authors desired to show their respect or to
solicit patronage, as well as from the custom of making new
year's gifts, which were often books. There were also added to
it the entire libraries of Lord Lumley (including those of
Henry, Earl of Arundel, and Archbishop Cranmer), of the
celebrated Casaubon, of Sir John Morris, and the Oriental MSS.
of Sir Thomas Roe. Whilst this collection remained at St.
James's Palace, the number of books amassed in each reign
could have been easily distinguished, as they were classed and
arranged under the names of the respective sovereigns. In 1759
King George II. transferred the whole, by letters patent, to
the then newly-formed establishment of the British Museum; the
arrangement under reigns was some time after departed from,
and the several royal collections interspersed with the other
books obtained from Sir Hans Sloane, Major Edwards, and
various other sources. … George III., on his accession to
the crown, thus found the apartments which had formerly
contained the library of the Kings of England vacated by their
ancient tenants. … Sir F. A. Barnard states that 'to create
an establishment so necessary and important, and to attach it
to the royal residence, was one of the earliest objects which
engaged his majesty's attention at the commencement of his
reign;' and he adds that the library of Joseph Smith, Esq.,
the British Consul at Venice, which was purchased in 1762,
'became the foundation of the present Royal Library.' Consul
Smith's collection was already well known, from a catalogue
which had been printed at Venice in 1755, to be eminently rich
in the earliest editions of the classics, and in Italian
literature.' Its purchase was effected for about £10,000, and
it was brought direct to some apartments at the Queen's Palace
commonly called Buckingham House. Here the subsequent
collections were amassed; and here, after they had outgrown
the rooms at first appropriated to them, the King erected two
large additional libraries, one of which was a handsome
octagon. Latterly the books occupied no less than seven
apartments. … Early in the year 1823, it was made known to
the public that King George IV. had presented the Royal
Library to the British nation. … Shortly after, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer stated in the House of Commons
that it was his majesty's wish that the library should be
placed in the British Museum, but in a separate apartment from
the Museum Library."
_Gentleman's Magazine, 1834,
pages 16-22._
"In the chief countries of the Continent of Europe … great
national Museums have, commonly, had their origin in the
liberality and wise foresight either of some sovereign or
other, or of some powerful minister whose mind was large
enough to combine with the cares of State a care for Learning.
In Britain, our chief public collection of literature and of
science originated simply in the public spirit of private
persons. The British Museum was founded precisely at that
period of our history when the distinctively national, or
governmental, care for the interests of literature and of
science was at its lowest, or almost its lowest, point. As
regards the monarchs, it would be hard to fix on any, since
the dawn of the Revival of Learning, who evinced less concern
for the progress and diffusion of learning than did the first
and second princes of the House of Hanover. As regards
Parliament, the tardy and languid acceptance of the boon
proffered, posthumously, by Sir Hans Sloane, constitutes just
the one exceptional act of encouragement that serves to give
saliency to the utter indifference which formed the ordinary
rule. Long before Sloane's time … there had been zealous and
repeated efforts to arouse the attention of the Government as
well to the political importance as to the educational value
of public museums. Many thinkers had already perceived that
such collections were a positive increase of public wealth and
of national greatness, as well as a powerful instrument of
popular education. It had been shewn, over and over again,
that for lack of public care precious monuments and treasures
of learning had been lost; sometimes by their removal to
far-off countries; sometimes by their utter destruction. Until
the appeal made to Parliament by the Executors of Sir Hans
Sloane, in the middle of the eighteenth century, all those
efforts had uniformly failed. But Sir Hans Sloane cannot claim
to be regarded, individually or very specially, as the Founder
of the British Museum. His last Will, indeed, gave an opportunity
for the foundation.
{2015}
Strictly speaking, he was not even the Founder of his own
Collection, as it stood in his lifetime. The Founder of the
Sloane Museum was William Courten, the last of a line of
wealthy Flemish refugees, whose history, in their adopted
country, is a series of romantic adventures. Parliament had
previously accepted the gift of the Cottonian Library, at the
hands of Sir John Cotton, third in descent from its Founder,
and its acceptance of that gift had been followed by almost
unbroken neglect, although the gift was a noble one. Sir John,
when conversing, on one occasion, with Thomas Carte, told the
historian that he had been offered £60,000 of English money,
together with a carte blanche for some honorary mark of royal
favour, on the part of Lewis XIV., for the Library which he
afterwards settled upon the British nation. It has been
estimated that Sloane expended (from first to last) upon his
various collections about £50,000; so that even from the
mercantile point of view, the Cotton family may be said to
have been larger voluntary contributors towards our eventual
National Museum than was Sir Hans Sloane himself. That point
of view, however, would be a very false, because very narrow,
one. Whether estimated by mere money value, or by a truer
standard, the third, in order of time, of the
Foundation-Collections,—that of the 'Harleian
Manuscripts,'—was a much less important acquisition for the
Nation than was the Museum of Sloane, or the Library of
Cotton; but its literary value, as all students of our history
and literature know, is, nevertheless, considerable. Its first
Collector, Robert Harley, the Minister of Queen Anne and the
first of the Harleian Earls of Oxford, is fairly entitled to
rank, after Cotton, Courten, and Sloane, among the virtual or
eventual co-founders of the British Museum. Chronologically,
then, Sir Robert Cotton, William Courten, Hans Sloane, and
Robert Harley, rank first as Founders; so long as we estimate
their relative position in accordance with the successive
steps by which the British Museum was eventually organized.
But there is another synchronism by which greater accuracy is
attainable. Although four years had elapsed between the
passing—in 1753—of 'An Act for the purchase of the Museum or
Collection of Sir Hans Sloane, and of the Harleian Collection
of Manuscripts, and for providing one general repository for
the better reception and more convenient use of the said
Collections, and of the Cottonian Library and of the additions
thereto,' and the gift—in 1757—to the Trustees of those
already united Collections by King George II. of the Old Royal
Library of the Kings his predecessors, yet that royal
collection itself had been (in a restricted sense of the
words) a Public and National possession soon after the days of
the first real and central Founder of the present Museum, Sir
Robert Cotton. But, despite its title, that Royal Library,
also, was—in the main—the creation of subjects, not of
Sovereigns or Governments. Its virtual founder Was Henry,
prince of Wales [son of James I.]. It was acquired, out of his
privy purse, as a subject, not as a Prince. He, therefore, has
a title to be placed among the individual Collectors whose
united efforts resulted—after long intervals of time—in the
creation, eventually, of a public institution second to none,
of its kind, in the world."
_E. Edwards,
Founders of the British Museum,
book 1, chapter 1._
"Montague House was purchased by the Trustees in 1754 for a
general repository, and the collections were removed to it.
… On the 15th of January, 1750, the British Museum was
opened for the inspection and use of the public. At first the
Museum was divided into three departments, viz., Printed
Books, Manuscripts, and Natural History; at the head of each
of them was placed an officer designated as 'Under Librarian.'
The increase of the collections soon rendered it necessary to
provide additional accommodation for them, Montague House
proving insufficient. The present by George III. of Egyptian
Antiquities, and the purchase of the Hamilton and Townley
Antiquities, made it moreover imperative to create an
additional department—that of Antiquities and Art—to which
were united the Prints and Drawings, as well as the Medals and
Coins, previously attached to the library of Printed Books and
Manuscripts. The acquisition of the Elgin Marbles in 1816 made
the Department of Antiquities of the highest importance, and
increased room being indispensable for the exhibition of those
marbles, a temporary shelter was prepared for them. This was
the last addition to Montague House. When, in 1823, the
library collected by George III. was presented to the nation
by George IV. it became necessary to erect a building fit to
receive this valuable and extensive collection. It was then
decided to have an entirely new edifice to contain the whole
of the Museum collection, including the recently-acquired
library. Sir R. Smirke was accordingly directed by the
Trustees to prepare plans. The eastern side of the present
structure was completed in 1828, and the Royal Library was
then placed in it. The northern, southern, and western sides
of the building were subsequently added, and in 1845 the whole
of Montague House and its additions had disappeared; while the
increasing collections had rendered it necessary to make
various additions to the original design of Sir R. Smirke,
some of them even before it had been carried out."
_J. W. Jones,
British Museum: a Guide,
pages ii-iii._
"The necessity of a general enlargement of the library led to
the suggestion of many plans—some impracticable—some too
expensive—and all involving a delay which would have been
fatal to the efficiency of the Institution. … Fortunately
… after much vigorous discussion, a plan which had been
suggested by the … Principal Librarian [Mr. Panizzi] for
building in the vacant quadrangle, was adopted and carried out
under his own immediate and watchful superintendence. … The
quadrangle within which the new library is built is 313 feet
in length by 235 wide, comprising an area of 73,555 square
feet. Of this space the building covers 47,472 feet, being 258
feet long by 184 feet in width, thus leaving an interval of
from 27 to 30 feet all round. By this arrangement, the light
and ventilation of the surrounding buildings is not interfered
with, and the risk of fire from the outer buildings is guarded
against. The Reading Boom is circular. The dome is 140 feet in
diameter, and its height 106 feet. The diameter of the lantern
is 40 feet. Light is further obtained from twenty
circular-headed windows, 27 feet high by 12 feet wide,
inserted at equal intervals round the dome at a height of 35
feet from the ground.
{2016}
In its diameter the dome of the Reading Room exceeds all
others, with the exception of the Pantheon of Rome, which is
about 2 feet wider. That of St. Peter's at Rome, and of Santa
Maria in Florence are each only 139 feet; that of the tomb of
Mahomet at Bejapore, 135; of St. Paul's, 112; of St. Sophia,
at Constantinople, 107; and of the church of Darmstadt, 105.
The new Reading Room contains 1,250,000 cubic feet of space,
and the surrounding libraries 750,000. These libraries are 24
feet in height, with the exception of that part which runs
round the outside of the Reading Room, which is 32 feet high;
the spring of the dome being 24 feet from the floor of the
Reading Room, and the ground excavated 8 feet below this
level. The whole building is constructed principally of iron.
… The Reading Room contains ample and comfortable
accommodation for 302 readers. There are thirty-five tables:
eight are 34 feet long, and accommodate sixteen readers, eight
on each side; nine are 30 feet long, and accommodate fourteen
readers, seven on each side; two are 30 feet long, and
accommodate eight readers each, viz., seven on one side and
one on the other—these two tables are set apart for the
exclusive use of ladies; sixteen other tables are 6 feet long,
and accommodate two readers each—these are fitted up with
rising desks of a large size for those readers who may have
occasion to consult works beyond the usual dimensions. Each
person has allotted to him, at the long tables, a space of 4
feet 3 inches in length by 2 feet 1 inch in depth. He is
screened from the opposite occupant by a longitudinal
division, which is fitted with a hinged desk graduated on
sloping racks, and a folding shelf for spare books. In the
space between the two, which is recessed, an inkstand is
fixed, having suitable penholders. … The framework of each
table is of iron, forming air-distributing channels, which are
contrived so that the air may be delivered at the top of the
longitudinal screen division, above the level of the heads of
the readers, or, if desired, only at each end pedestal of the
tables, all the outlets being under the control of valves. A
tubular foot-rail also passes from end to end of each table,
which may have a current of warm water through it at pleasure,
and be used as a foot-warmer if required. The pedestals of the
tables form tubes communicating with the air-chamber below,
which is 6 feet high, and occupies the whole area of the
Reading Room: it is fitted with hot-water pipes arranged in
radiating lines. The supply of fresh air is obtained from a
shaft 60 feet high. … The shelves within the Reading Room
contain about 60,000 volumes: the new building altogether will
accommodate about 1,500,000 volumes."
_List of the Books of Reference in the Reading Room of the
British Museum; preface._
The number of volumes of printed books in the British Museum
in 1893 is reported to have been 1,600,000, the number of
manuscripts 50,000 and the maps and charts 200,000.
_Minerva, 1893-94._
A purchase from the Duke of Bedford, of adjoining land, to the
extent of five and a half acres, for the enlargement of the
Museum, was announced by the London Times, March 18, 1894.
With this addition, the area of ground occupied by the Museum
will be fourteen acres.
LIBRARIES:
England: The Bodleian Library.
"Its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley, was a worthy of Devon, who
had been actively employed by Queen Elizabeth as a
diplomatist, and had returned tired of court life to the
University, where long before he had been Fellow of Merton
College. He found the ancient library of the University
(which, after growing slowly with many vicissitudes from small
beginnings, had suddenly been enriched in 1439-46 by a gift of
264 valuable MSS. from Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester) utterly
destroyed by Edward VI.'s Commissioners, and the room built
for its reception (still called 'Duke Humphrey's library')
swept clear even of the readers' desks. His determination to
refound the library of the University was actively carried
out, and on November 8, 1602, the new institution was formally
opened with about 2,000 printed and manuscript volumes. Two
striking advantages were possessed by the Bodleian almost from
the first. Sir Thomas Bodley employed his great influence at
court and with friends to induce them to give help to his
scheme, and accordingly we find not only donations of money
and books from personal friends, but 240 MSS. contributed by
the Deans and Chapters of Exeter and Windsor. Moreover, in
1610, he arranged with the Stationers' Company that they
should present his foundation with a copy of every printed
book published by a member of the Company; and from that time
to this the right to every book published in the kingdom has
been continuously enjoyed."
_F. Madan,
Books in Manuscript,
page 84._
In 1891 the Bodleian Library was said to contain 400,000
printed books and 30,000 manuscripts. Under the copyright act
of Great Britain, the British Museum, the Bodleian Library,
Oxford, the Cambridge University Library, the Advocates
Library, Edinburgh, and the Trinity College Library, Dublin,
are each entitled to a copy of every work published in the
United Kingdom.
LIBRARIES:
England: Rise and Growth of Free Town-Libraries.
In the "Encyclopædia Britannica" (9th edition) we read, in the
article "Libraries," that "the fine old library instituted by
Humphrey Chetham in Manchester, in 1653, and which is still
'housed in the old collegiate buildings where Raleigh was once
entertained by Dr. Dee, might be said to be the first free
library' in England. Two centuries, however, before worthy
Chetham had erected his free fountain of knowledge for thirsty
souls, a grave fraternity known as the Guild of Kalendars had
established a free library, for all comers, in connection with
a church yet standing in one of the thoroughfares of Old
Bristol. … John Leland (temp. Henry VIII.) speaks of the
Kalendars as an established body about the year 1170: and when
in 1216 Henry III. held a Parliament in Bristol, the deeds of
the guild were inspected, and ratified on account of the
antiquity and high character of the fraternity ('propter
antiquitates et bonitates in eâ Gilda repertas'), and Gualo,
the Papal Legate, commended the Kalendars to the care of
William de Blois, Bishop of Worcester, within whose diocese
Bristol then lay. It was the office of the Kalendars to record
local events and such general affairs as were thought worthy
of commemoration, whence their name. They consisted of clergy
and laity, even women being admitted to their Order. …
{2017}
It was ordered by Wolstan, Bishop of Worcester, who in
visitation of this part of his diocese, July 10, 1340,
examined the ancient rules of the College, that a prior in
priest's orders should be chosen by the majority of the
chaplains and lay brethren, without the solemnity of
confirmation, consecration or benediction of superiors, and
eight chaplains who were not bound by monastic rules, were to
be joined with him to celebrate for departed brethren and
benefactors every day. By an ordinance of John Carpenter,
Bishop of Worcester, A. D. 1464, the Prior was to reside in
the college, and take charge of a certain library newly
erected at the Bishop's expense, so that every festival day
from seven to eleven in the forenoon admission should be
freely allowed to all desirous of consulting the Prior, to
read a public lecture every week in the library, and elucidate
obscure places of Scripture as well as he could to those
desirous of his teachings. … Lest, through negligence or
accident, the books should be lost, it was ordered that three
catalogues of them should be kept; one to remain with the Dean
of Augustinian Canons, whose 14th-century church is now
Bristol Cathedral, another with the Mayor for the time being,
and the third with the Prior himself. Unfortunately, they are
all three lost. … This interesting library was destroyed by
fire in 1466 through the carelessness of a drunken
'point-maker,' two adjoining houses against the steeple of the
church being at the same time burnt down."
_J. Taylor,
The First English Free Library and its Founders
(Murray's Magazine, November, 1891)._
"Free town-libraries are essentially a modern institution, and
yet can boast of a greater antiquity than is generally
supposed, for we find a town-library at Auvergne in 1540, and
one at a still earlier date at Aix. Either the munificence of
individuals or the action of corporate authorities has given
very many of the continental towns freely accessible
libraries, some of them of considerable extent. In England the
history of town-libraries is much briefer. There is reason to
believe that London at an early date was possessed of a common
library; and Bristol, Norwich, and Leicester, had each
town-libraries, but the corporations proved but careless
guardians of their trust, and in each case allowed it to be
diverted from the free use of the citizens for the benefit of
a subscription library. At Bristol, in 1613, Mr. Robert
Redwood 'gave his lodge to be converted into a library or
place to put books in for the furtherance of learning.' Some
few years after, Tobie Matthew, Archbishop of York, left some
valuable books in various departments of literature for free
access 'to the merchants and shopkeepers.' … The paucity of
our public libraries, twenty years ago, excited the attention
of Mr. Edward Edwards, to whose labours in this field the
country owes so much. Having collected a large amount of
statistics as to the comparative number of these institutions
in different States, he communicated the result of his
researches to the Statistical Society, in a paper which was
read on the 20th of March, 1848, and was printed in this
'Journal' in the August following. The paper revealed some
unpleasant facts, and showed that, in respect of the provision
of public libraries, Great Britain occupied a very unworthy
position. In the United Kingdom (including Malta) Mr. Edwards
could only discover 29 libraries having more than 10,000
volumes, whilst France could boast 107, Austria 41,
Switzerland 13. The number of volumes to every hundred of the
population of cities containing libraries, was in Great
Britain 43, France 125, Brunswick 2,353. Of the 29 British
libraries enumerated by Mr. Edwards, some had only doubtful
claims to be considered as public, and only one of them was
absolutely free to all comers, without influence or formality.
That one was the public library at Manchester, founded by
Humphrey Chetham in 1665. The paper read before this Society
twenty-two years ago was destined to be productive of great
and speedy results. From the reading of it sprang the present
system of free town-libraries. The seed was then sown, and it
is now fructifying in the libraries which are springing up on
every hand. The paper attracted the attention of the late
William Ewart, Esq., M. P., and ultimately led to the
appointment of a parliamentary committee on the subject of
public libraries. The report of this committee paved the way
for the Public Libraries Act of 1850."
_W. E. A. Axon,
Statistical Notes on the Free Town-Libraries of Great
Britain and the Continent
(Journal of the Statistical Society,
September 1870, volume 33)._
The progress of free public libraries in England under the Act
of 1850 was not, for a long time, very rapid. "In the 36 years
from 1850 onward—that is, down to 1886—133 places had
availed themselves of the benefits of the act. That was not a
very large number, not amounting quite, upon the average, to
four in each of those 36 years. … Now, see the change which
has taken place. We have only four years, from 1887 to 1890,
and in those four years no less than 70 places have taken
advantage of the act, so that instead of an average of less
than four places in the year, we have an average of more than
17 places."
_W. E. Gladstone,
Address at the Opening of the Free Public Library of St.
Martin's-in-the-Fields._
"The Clerkenwell Library Commissioners draw attention to the
enormous strides London has made within the last five years in
the matter of public libraries. In 1886 four parishes had
adopted the Acts; by December, 1891, 29 parishes had adopted
them, and there are already 30 libraries and branches opened
throughout the County of London, possessing over 250,000
volumes, and issuing over 3,000,000 volumes per annum."
_The Library Journal,
February, 1892._
Under a new law, which came into force in 1893, "any local
authority (i. e., town council or district board), save in the
County of London, may establish and maintain public libraries
without reference to the wishes of the rate payers."
_The Library Journal,
October, 1893 (volume 18, page 442)._
LIBRARIES:
United States of America:
Franklin and the first Subscription Library.
When Franklin's club, at Philadelphia, the Junto, was first
formed, "its meetings were held (as the custom of clubs was in
that clubbing age) in a tavern; and in a tavern of such humble
pretensions as to be called by Franklin an ale-house. But the
leathern-aproned philosophers soon removed to a room of their
own, lent them by one of their members, Robert Grace. It often
happened that a member would bring a book or two to the Junto,
for the purpose of illustrating the subject of debate, and
this led Franklin to propose that all the members should keep
their books in the Junto room, as well for reference while
debating as for the use of members during the week. The
suggestion being approved, one end of their little apartment
was soon filled with books; and there they remained for the
common benefit a year.
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But some books having been injured, their owners became
dissatisfied, and the books were all taken home. Books were
then scarce, high-priced, and of great bulk. Folios were still
common, and a book of less magnitude than quarto was deemed
insignificant. … Few books of much importance were published
at less than two guineas. Such prices as four guineas, five
guineas, and six guineas were not uncommon. Deprived of the
advantage of the Junto collection, Franklin conceived the idea
of a subscription library. Early in 1731 he drew up a plan,
the substance of which was, that each subscriber should
contribute two pounds sterling for the first purchase of
books, and ten shillings a year for the increase of the
library. As few of the inhabitants of Philadelphia had money
to spare, and still fewer cared for reading, he found very
great difficulty in procuring a sufficient number of
subscribers. He says: 'I put myself as much as I could out of
sight, and stated it as a scheme of a number of friends, who
had requested me to go about and propose it to such as they
thought lovers of reading. In this way my affairs went on more
smoothly, and I ever after practiced it on such occasions, and
from my frequent successes can heartily recommend it.' Yet it
was not until November, 1731, at least five months after the
project was started, that fifty names were obtained; and not
till March, 1732, that the money was collected. After
consulting James Logan, 'the best judge of books in these
parts,' the first list of books was made out, a draft upon
London of forty-five pounds was purchased, and both were
placed in the hands of one of the directors who was going to
England. Peter Collinson undertook the purchase, and added to
it presents of Newton's 'Principia,' and 'Gardener's
Dictionary.' All the business of the library Mr. Collinson
continued to transact for thirty years, and always swelled the
annual parcel of books by gifts of valuable works. In those
days getting a parcel from London was a tedious affair indeed.
All the summer of 1732 the subscribers were waiting for the
coming of the books, as for an event of the greatest interest.
… In October the books arrived, and were placed, at first,
in the room of the Junto. A librarian was appointed, and the
library was opened once a week for giving out the books. The
second year Franklin himself served as librarian. For many
years the secretary to the directors was Joseph Breintnal, by
whose zeal and diligence the interests of the library were
greatly promoted. Franklin printed a catalogue soon after the
arrival of the books, for which, and for other printing, he
was exempted from paying his annual ten shillings for two
years. The success of this library, thus begun by a few
mechanics and clerks, was great in every sense of the word.
Valuable donations of books, money and curiosities were
frequently made to it. The number of subscribers slowly, but
steadily, increased. Libraries of similar character sprung up
all over the country, and many were started even in
Philadelphia. Kalm, who was in Philadelphia in 1748, says that
then the parent library had given rise to 'many little
libraries,' on the same plan as itself. He also says that
non-subscribers were then allowed to take books out of the
library, by leaving a pledge for the value of the book, and
paying for a folio eight pence a week, for a quarto six pence,
and for all others four pence. 'The subscribers,' he says,
'were so kind to me as to order the librarian, during my stay
here, to lend me every book I should want, without requiring
any payment of me.' In 1764, the shares had risen in value to
nearly twenty pounds, and the collection was considered to be
worth seventeen hundred pounds. In 1785, the number of volumes
was 5,487; in 1807, 14,457; in 1861, 70,000. The institution
is one of the few in America that has held on its way,
unchanged in any essential principle, for a century and a
quarter, always on the increase, always faithfully
administered, always doing well its appointed work. There is
every reason to believe that it will do so for centuries to
come. The prosperity of the Philadelphia Library was owing to
the original excellence of the plan, the good sense embodied
in the rules, the care with which its affairs were conducted,
and the vigilance of Franklin and his friends in turning to
account passing events. Thomas Penn, for example, visited
Philadelphia a year or two after the library was founded; when
the directors of the library waited upon him with a dutiful
address, and received, in return, a gift of books and
apparatus. It were difficult to over-estimate the value to the
colonies of the libraries that grew out of Franklin's
original' conception. They were among the chief means of
educating the colonies up to Independence. 'Reading became
fashionable,' says Franklin; 'and our people having no public
amusements to divert their attention from study, became better
acquainted with books, and in a few years were observed, by
strangers, to be better instructed and more intelligent than
people of the same rank generally are in other countries.' …
What the Philadelphia Library did for Franklin himself, the
libraries, doubtless, did for many others. It made him a daily
student for twenty years. He set apart an hour or two every
day for study, and thus acquired the substance of all the most
valuable knowledge then possessed by mankind. Whether Franklin
was the originator of subscription libraries, and of the idea
of permitting books to be taken to the homes of subscribers, I
cannot positively assert. But I can discover no trace of
either of those two fruitful conceptions before his time."
_J. Parton,
Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin,
pages 200-203._
"The books were at first kept in the house of Robert Grace,
whom Franklin characterizes as 'a young gentleman of some
fortune, generous, lively, and witty, a lover of punning and
of his friends.' Afterward they were allotted a room in the
State-House; and, in 1742, a charter was obtained from the
Proprietaries. In 1790, having in the interval absorbed
several other associations and sustained a removal to
Carpenter's Hall, where its apartment had been used as a
hospital for wounded American soldiers, the Library was at
last housed in a building especially erected for it at Fifth
and Chestnut streets, where it remained until within the last
few years. It brought only about eight thousand volumes into
its new quarters, for it had languished somewhat during the
Revolution and the war of words which attended our political
birth. But it had received no injury. … Two years after
removal to its quarters on Fifth street, the Library received
the most valuable gift of books it has as yet had. James
Logan, friend and adviser of Penn, … had gathered a most
important collection of books.
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Mr. Logan was translator of Cicero's 'Cato Major,' the first
classic published in America, besides being versed in natural
science. His library comprised, as he tells us, 'over one
hundred volumes of authors, all in Greek, with mostly their
versions; all the Roman classics without exception; all the
Greek mathematicians. … Besides there are many of the most
valuable Latin authors, and a great number of modern
mathematicians.' These, at first bequeathed as a public
library to the city, became a branch of the Philadelphia
Library under certain conditions, one of which was that,
barring contingencies, one of the donor's descendants should
always hold the office of trustee. And to-day his direct
descendant fills the position, and is perhaps the only example
in this country of an hereditary office-holder. … In 1869
died Dr. James Rush, son of Benjamin Rush, and himself well
known as the author of a work on the human voice, and as
husband of a lady who almost succeeded in naturalizing the
salon in this country. By his will about one million dollars
were devoted to the erection and maintenance of an isolated
and fire-proof library-building, which was to be named the
Ridgway Library, in memory of his wife. This building was
offered to the Philadelphia Company, and the bequest was
accepted. That institution had by this time accumulated about
one hundred thousand volumes. … A building of the Doric
order was erected, which with its grounds covers an entire
square or block, and is calculated to contain four hundred
thousand volumes, or three times as many as the Library at
present has, and to this building the more valuable books of
the Library were removed in 1878; the fiction and more modern
works being placed in another designed in imitation of the old
edifice, and nearer the center of the city."
_B. Samuel,
The Father of American Libraries
(Century Magazine, May, 1883)._
In 1893, the library of the Philadelphia Library Company
contained 171,069 volumes.
LIBRARIES:
The First Library in New York.
The New York Society Library is the oldest institution of the
kind in the city of New York. "In 1729, the Reverend Dr.
Millington, Rector of Newington, England, by his will,
bequeathed his library to the Society for the Propagation of
the Gospel in Foreign Parts. By this society the library of
Dr. Millington was presented to the corporation of the city,
for the use of the clergy and gentlemen of New-York and the
neighbouring provinces. … 'In 1754 [as related in Smith's
History of New York] a set of gentlemen undertook to carry
about a subscription towards raising a public library, and in
a few days collected near 600 pounds, which were laid out in
purchasing about 700 volumes of new, well-chosen books. Every
subscriber, upon payment of five pounds principal, and the
annual sum of ten shillings, is entitled to the use of these
books,—his right, by the articles, is assignable, and for
non-compliance with them may be forfeited. The care of this
library is committed to twelve trustees, annually elected by
the subscribers, on the last Tuesday of April, who are
restricted from making any rules repugnant to the fundamental
subscription. This is the beginning of a library which, in
process of time, will probably become vastly rich and
voluminous, and it would be very proper for the company to
have a Charter for its security and encouragement.' The
library of the corporation above alluded to, appearing to have
been mismanaged, and at length entirely disused, the trustees
of the New-York Society Library offered to take charge of it,
and to deposit their own collection with it, in the City-Hall.
This proposal having been acceded to by the corporation, the
Institution thenceforward received the appellation of 'The
City Library,' a name by which it was commonly known for a
long time. A good foundation having been thus obtained, the
library prospered and increased. … In 1772, a charter was
granted to it by the colonial government. The war of the
revolution, however, which soon after occurred, interfered
with these pleasing prospects; the city fell into the
possession of the enemy; the effect on all our public
institutions was more or less disastrous, and to the library
nearly fatal. An interval of no less than fourteen years, (of
which it possesses no record whatever,) here occurs in the
history of the society. At length it appears from the minutes,
that 'the accidents of the late war having nearly destroyed
the former library, no meeting of the proprietors for the
choice of trustees was held from the last Tuesday in April,
1774, until Saturday, the 21st December, 1788, when a meeting
was summoned.' In 1789, the original charter, with all its
privileges, was revived by the legislature of this state; the
surviving members resumed the payment of their annual dues, an
accession of new subscribers was obtained, and the society,
undeterred by the loss of its books, commenced almost a new
collection."
_Catalogue of the New York Society Library:
Historical Notice._
LIBRARIES:
Redwood Library.
While Bishop Berkeley was residing, in 1729, on his farm near
Newport, Rhode Island, "he took an active share in forming a
philosophical society in Newport. … Among the members were
Colonel Updike, Judge Scott (a granduncle of Sir Walter
Scott), Nathaniel Kay, Henry Collins, Nathan Townsend, the
Reverend James Honeyman, and the Reverend Jeremiah Condy. …
The Society seems to have been very successful. One of its
objects was to collect books. It originated, in 1747, the
Redwood Library."
_A. C. Fraser,
Life and Letters of George Berkeley
(volume 4 of Works), page 169._
The library thus founded took its name from Abraham Redwood,
who gave £500 to it in 1747. Other subscriptions were obtained
in Newport to the amount of £5,000, colonial currency, and a
building for the library erected in 1750.
_United States of America: Free Public Libraries._
"Mr. Ewart, in his Report of the Select Committee on Public
Libraries, 1849, says: 'Our younger brethren, the people of
the United States, have already anticipated us in the
formation of libraries entirely open to the public.' No free
public library, however, was then in operation, in the United
States, yet one had been authorized by legislative action. The
movements in the same direction in England and the United
States seem to have gone on independently of each other; and
in the public debates and private correspondence relating to
the subject there seems to have been no borrowing of ideas, or
scarcely an allusion, other than the one quoted, to what was
being done elsewhere. In October, 1847, Josiah Quincy, Jr.,
Mayor of Boston, suggested to the City Council that a petition
be sent to the State legislature asking for authority to lay a
tax by which the city of Boston could establish a library free
to all its citizens. The Massachusetts legislature, in March,
1848, passed such an act, and in 1851 made the act apply to
all the cities and towns in the State.
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In 1849 donations of books were made to the Boston Public
Library. Late in the same year Mr. Edward Everett made to it
the donation of his very complete collection of United States
documents, and Mayor Bigelow a gift of $1,000. In May, 1852,
the first Board of Trustees, with Mr. Everett as president,
was organized, and Mr. Joshua Bates, of London, made his first
donation of $50,000 for the use of the library. It was
fortunate that the public-library system started where it did
and under the supervision of the eminent men who constituted
the first board of trustees of the Boston Public Library. Mr.
George Ticknor was the person who mapped out the sagacious
policy of that library—a policy which has never been
improved, and which has been adopted by all the public
libraries in this country, and, in its main features, by the
free libraries of England. For fifteen years or more Mr.
Ticknor gave the subject his personal attention. He went to
the library every day, as regularly as any of the employes,
and devoted several hours to the minutest details of its
administration. Before he had any official relations with it,
he gave profound consideration to, and settled in his own
mind, the leading principles on which the library should be
conducted. … Started as the public-library system was on
such principles, and under the guidance of these eminent men,
libraries sprang up rapidly in Massachusetts, and similar
legislation was adopted in other States. The first legislation
in Massachusetts was timid. The initiative law of 1848 allowed
the city of Boston to spend only $5,000 a year on its Public
Library, which has since expended $125,000 a year. The State
soon abolished all limitation to the amount which might be
raised for library purposes. New Hampshire, in 1849,
anticipated Massachusetts, by two years, in the adoption of a
general library law. Maine followed in 1854; Vermont in 1865;
Ohio in 1867; Colorado, Illinois, and Wisconsin in 1872;
Indiana and Iowa in 1873; Texas in 1874; Connecticut and Rhode
Island in 1875; Michigan and Nebraska in 1877; California in
1878; Missouri and New Jersey in 1885; Kansas in 1886. … The
public library law of Illinois, adopted in 1872, and since
enacted by other Western States, is more elaborate and
complete than the library laws of any of the New England
States. … The law of Wisconsin is similar to that of
Illinois. … New Jersey has a public-library law patterned
after that of Illinois."
_W. F. Poole,
President's Address at the annual meeting of
the American Library Association, 1887._
The State of New York adopted a library law in 1892, under
which the creation of free libraries has been promisingly
begun. A law having like effect was adopted in New Hampshire
in 1891.
LIBRARIES:
United States of America:
Library Statistics of 1891.
"As to the early statistics of libraries in this country but
little can be found. Prof. Jewett, in his 'Notices of Public
Libraries,' published by the Smithsonian Institution in 1850,
gave a summary of public libraries, amounting to 694 and
containing at that time 2,201,632 volumes. In the census of
1850 an attempt was made to give the number of libraries and
the number of volumes they contained, exclusive of school and
Sunday school libraries. This number was 1,560; the number of
volumes, 2,447,086. In 1856 Mr. Edward Edwards in his summary
of libraries gave a much smaller number of libraries, being
only 341, but the number of volumes was nearly the same, being
2,371,887, and was also based upon the census of 1850. Mr.
William J. Rhees, in his 'Manual of Public Libraries,' which
was printed in 1859, gave a list of 2,902 libraries, but of
all this number only 1,312 had any report whatever of the
number of volumes they contained. From these meager statistics
it is seen that the reports do not vary very much, giving
about the same number of libraries and number of volumes in
them, taking account of the changes that would occur from the
different classifications as to what was excepted or omitted
as a library. The annual reports of the Bureau from 1870 to
1874 contained limited statistics of only a few hundred
libraries, and little more is shown than the fact that there
were about 2,000 public libraries of all kinds in the United
States. About five years of labor was expended in collecting
material for the special report of the Bureau upon public
libraries, which was printed in 1876, and this gave a list of
3,649 libraries of over 300 volumes, and the total number of
volumes was 12,276,964, this being about the first fairly
complete collection of library statistics. In the report of
the Bureau for 1884-85, after considerable correspondence and
using the former work as a basis, another list of public
libraries was published, amounting to 5,388 libraries of over
300 volumes, an increase of 1,869 libraries in ten years, or
almost 54 per cent. The number of volumes contained in these
libraries at that time was 20,622,076, or an increase of about
66 per cent, and showing that the percentage of increase in
the number of volumes was even greater than that of the number
of libraries. An estimate of the proportion of smaller
libraries under 500 volumes in that list indicates that these
smaller libraries included only about 20 per cent of the
books, so that this list could be said to fairly show the
extent of the libraries at that time. In the report for
1886-87, detailed statistics of the various classes of
libraries were given, except those of colleges and schools,
which were included in the statistics of those institutions.
From the uncertainty of the data and the imperfect records
given of the very small libraries, it was deemed best to
restrict the statistics to collections of books that might be
fairly called representative, and as those having less than
1,000 volumes made but a proportionally small percentage of
the whole number of books the basis of 1,000 volumes or over
was taken. This list includes the statistics only of libraries
of this size and amounted to 1,777 libraries, containing
14,012,370 volumes, and were arranged in separate lists by
classes as far as it could be done. … The number of
libraries and of volumes in each of the seven special classes
in the report made in 1887 was as follows: Free public lending
libraries, 434; volumes, 3,721,191; free public reference
libraries, 153; volumes, 3,075,099; free public school
libraries, 93; volumes, 177,560; free corporate lending
libraries, 241; volumes 1,727,870; libraries of clubs,
associations, etc., 341; volumes, 2,460,334; subscription
corporate libraries, 452; volumes, 2,644,929; and circulating
libraries proper, 751; volumes, 215,487. The statistics [now]
given … are for the year 1891, and include only libraries of
1,000 volumes and over, thus differing from the complete report
of 1885. …
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There were, in 1891, 3,804 libraries. Of these, 3 contain over
500,000 volumes; 1 between 300,000 and 500,000; 26 between
100,000 and 300,000; 68 between 50,000 and 100,000; 128
between 25,000 and 50,000; 383 between 10,000 and 25,000; 565
between 5,000 and 10,000; and 2,360 between 1,000 and 5,000.
… The North Atlantic Division contains 1,913 libraries, or
50.3 per cent of the whole number; the South Atlantic, 339, or
8.88 per cent; the South Central, 256, or 6.73 per cent; the
North Central, 1,098, or 28.87 per cent, and the Western, 198,
or 5.22 per cent. Of the distribution of volumes in the
libraries, the North Atlantic Division has 16,605,286 or 53.34
per cent; the South Atlantic, 4,276,894, or 13.71 per cent;
the South Central 1,345,708, or 4.03 per cent; the North
Central, 7,320,045, or 23.32 per cent; and the Western,
1,593,974, or 5.34 per cent. … From [1885 to 1891] the
increase in the United States in the number of libraries was
from 2,987 to 3,804, an increase of 817, or 27.35 per cent; in
the North Atlantic, from 1,543 to 1,913, an increase of 370,
or 24 per cent; in the South Atlantic, from 289 to 338, an
increase of 49, or 17 per cent; in the South Central, from 201
to 256, an increase of 55, or 27.5 per cent; in the North
Central, from 813 to 1,099, an increase of 286, or 35.18 per
cent; and in the Western, from 141 to 198, an increase of 57,
or 40.43 per cent. These figures show that, comparatively, the
largest increase in the number of libraries was in the Western
Division, and of the number of volumes the greatest increase
was in the North Central Division. The percentage of increase
in the whole country was 66.3 for six years, or an average of
over 11 per cent each year, which at this rate would double
the number of volumes and libraries every nine years. … In
the United States in 1885 there was one library to each 18,822
of the population, while in 1891 there was one to every
16,462, or a decrease of population to a library of 2,360, or
12.5 percent; in the North Atlantic Division the decrease was
from 10,246 to 9,096, 1,150, or 11.2 per cent; in the South
Atlantic, from 28,740 to 26,206, 2,534, or 8.08 per cent; in
the South Central, from 48,974 to 42,863, 6,111, or 12.5 per
cent; in the North Central, from 24,807 to 20,348, 4,459, or
18 per cent; and in the Western, from 15,557 to 15,290, 277 or
1.8 per cent. The distribution of libraries in the North
Atlantic Division shows the smallest average population to a
library and the least change in the number, except the Western
Division, where the increase of population from immigration
has been greater than the increase in the number of libraries.
But, generally, the establishment and growth in the size of
libraries have been very large in nearly every section. …
This shows that in 1885 there were in the United States in the
libraries of the size mentioned 34 books to every 100 of the
population, while in 1891 this number was 50, or an increase
of 16 books, or 47 per cent. In the North Atlantic Division
the increase was from 66 to 95, an increase of 29 books, or 34
per cent; in the South Atlantic, from 34 to 48, an increase of
14, or 41 per cent; in the South Central, from 9 to 12, an
increase of 3, or 33.33 per cent; in the North Central, from
20 to 33, an increase of 13, or 65 per cent; and in the
Western, from 43 to 53, an increase of 10, or 23 per cent.
These figures show that, comparatively, the largest increase
of books to population has been in the great Northwest, over
11 per cent each year. In the whole country there has been an
average increase of 7.8 per cent per annum; that is, the
increase of the number of books in the libraries of the
country has been 7.8 per cent greater than the increase of the
population during the past six years."
_W. Flint,
Statistics of Public Libraries
(United States Bureau of Education,
Circ. of Information Number 7, 1893)._
LIBRARIES:
United States of America:
Massachusetts Free Libraries.
"In 1839 the Hon. Horace Mann, then Secretary of the Board of
Education, stated as the result of a careful effort to obtain
authentic information relative to the libraries in the State,
that there were from ten to fifteen town libraries, containing
in the aggregate from three to four thousand volumes, to which
all the citizens of the town had the right of access; that the
aggregate number of volumes in the public libraries, of all
kinds, in the State was about 300,000; and that but little
more than 100,000 persons, or one-seventh of the population of
the State, had any right of access to them. A little over a
half century has passed. There are now 175 towns and cities
having free public libraries under municipal control, and 248
of the 351 towns and cities contain libraries in which the
people have rights or free privileges. There are about
2,500,000 volumes in these libraries, available for the use of
2,104,224 of the 2,238,943 inhabitants which the State
contains according to the census of 1890. The gifts of
individuals in money, not including gifts of books, for
libraries and library buildings, exceed five and a half
million dollars. There are still 103 towns in the State, with
an aggregate population of 134,719, which do not have the
benefit of the free use of a public library. These are almost
without exception small towns, with a slender valuation, and
67 of them show a decline in population in the past five
years. The State has taken the initiative in aiding the
formation of free public libraries in such towns."
_First Report of the Free Public Library
Commission of Massachusetts, 1891, pref._
The second report of the Commissioners, 1892, showed an
addition of 36 to the towns which have established free public
libraries.
LIBRARIES:
United States of America:
The American Library Association.
A distinctly new era in the history of American libraries—and
in the history, it may be said, of libraries throughout the
English-speaking world,—was opened, in 1876, by the meeting
of a conference of librarians at Philadelphia, during the
Centennial Exhibition of the summer of that year. The first
fruit of the conference was the organization of a permanent
American Library Association, which has held annual meetings
since, bringing large numbers of the librarians of the country
together every year, making common property of their
experience, their knowledge, their ideas,—animating them with
a common spirit, and enlisting them in important undertakings
of cooperative work. Almost simultaneously with the
Philadelphia meeting, but earlier, there was issued the first
number of a "Library Journal," called into being by the
sagacious energy of the same small band of pioneers who
planned and brought about the conference. The Library Journal
became the organ of the American Library Association, and each
was stimulated and sustained by the other: Their combined
influence has acted powerfully upon those engaged in the work
of American libraries, to elevate their aims, to increase
their efficiency, and to make their avocation a recognized
profession, exacting well-defined qualifications.
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The general result among the libraries of the country has been
an increase of public usefulness beyond measure. To this
renaissance in the library world many persons contributed; but
its leading spirits were Melvil Dewey, latterly Director of
the New York State Library; Justin Winsor, Librarian of
Harvard University, formerly of the Boston Public Library; the
late William F. Poole, LL.D., Librarian of the Newberry
Library and formerly of the Chicago Public Library; Charles A.
Cutter, lately Librarian of the Boston Athenæum; the late
Frederick Leypoldt, first publisher of the "Library Journal,"
and his successor, R. R. Bowker. The new library spirit was
happily defined by James Russell Lowell, in his address
delivered at the opening of a free public library in Chelsea,
Massachusetts, and published in the volume of his works
entitled "Democracy and other Addresses"; "Formerly," he said,
"the duty of a librarian was considered too much that of a
watch-dog, to keep people as much as possible away from the
books, and to hand these over to his successor as little worn
by use as he could. Librarians now, it is pleasant to see,
have a different notion of their trust, and are in the habit
of preparing, for the direction of the inexperienced, lists of
such books as they think best worth reading. Cataloguing has
also, thanks in great measure to American librarians, become a
science, and catalogues, ceasing to be labyrinths without a
clew, are furnished with finger-posts at every turn. Subject
catalogues again save the beginner a vast deal of time and
trouble by supplying him for nothing with one at least of the
results of thorough scholarship, the knowing where to look for
what he wants. I do not mean by this that there is or can be
any short cut to learning, but that there may be, and is, such
a short cut to information that will make learning more easily
accessible."
The organization of the American Library Association led to
the formation, in 1877, of the Library Association of the
United Kingdom, which was incident to the meeting of an
international conference of Librarians held in London.
LIBRARIES:
United States of America:
Principal Libraries.
The following are the libraries in the United States which
exceeded 100,000 volumes in 1891, as reported in the
"Statistics of Public Libraries" published by the Bureau of
Education. The name of each library is preceded by the date of
its foundation:
1638. Harvard University Library,
292,000 volumes; 278,097 pamphlets.
1701. Yale College Library, New Haven,
185,000 volumes; 100,000 pamphlets.
1731. Philadelphia Library Company,
165,487 volumes; 30,000 pamphlets.
1749. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,
100,000 volumes; 100,000 pamphlets.
1754. Columbia College Library, New York,
135,000 volumes.
1789. Library of the House of Representatives, Washington,
125,000 volumes.
1800. Library of Congress, Washington,
659,843 volumes; 210,000 pamphlets.
1807. Boston Athenæum,
173,831 volumes; 70,000 pamphlets.
1818. New York State Library, Albany,
157,114 volumes.
1820. New York Mercantile Library, New York,
239,793 volumes.
1821. Philadelphia Mercantile Library,
166,000 volumes; 10,000 pamphlets.
1826. Maryland State Library, Annapolis,
100,000 volumes.
1849. Astor Library, New York,
238,946 volumes; 12,000 pamphlets.
1852. Boston Public Library,
556,283 volumes.
1857. Brooklyn Library,
113,251 volumes; 21,500 pamphlets.
1857. Peabody Institute, Baltimore,
110,000 volumes; 13,500 pamphlets.
1865. Library of the Surgeon-General's Office, Washington,
104,300 volumes; 161,700 pamphlets.
1865. Detroit Public Library,
108,720 volumes.
1867. Cincinnati Public Library,
156,673 volumes; 18,326 pamphlets.
1868. Cornell University Library, Ithaca, New York,
111,007 volumes; 25,000 pamphlets.
1872. Chicago Public Library,
175,874 volumes; 25,293 pamphlets.
1882. Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore,
106,663 volumes; 1,500 pamphlets.
1890. University of Chicago Library,
280,000 volumes.
1891. Sutro Library, San Francisco,
200,000 volumes.
LIBRARIES:
United States of America:
Library Gifts.
A remarkable number of the free public libraries of the United
States are the creations of private wealth, munificently
employed for the common good. The greater institutions which
have this origin are the Astor Library in New York, founded by
John Jacob Astor and enriched by his descendants; the Lenox
Library in New York, founded by James Lenox; the Peabody
Institute, in Baltimore, founded by George Peabody; the Enoch
Pratt Free Library, in Baltimore, founded by the gentleman
whose name it bears; the Newberry Library, in Chicago, founded
by the will of Walter L. Newberry, who died in 1868; the Sutro
Library in San Francisco, founded by Adolph Sutro, and the
Carnegie Libraries founded at Pittsburg, Alleghany City and
Braddock by Andrew Carnegie. By the will of John Crerar, who
died in 1889, trustees for Chicago are in possession of an
estate estimated at $2,500,000 or $3,000,000, for the
endowment of a library which will soon exist. The intention of
the late Samuel J. Tilden, former Governor of the State of New
York, to apply the greater part of his immense estate to the
endowment of a free library in the City of New York, has been
partially defeated by contesting heirs; but the just feeling
of one among the heirs has restored $2,000,000 to the purpose
for which $5,000,000 was appropriated in Mr. Tilden's intent.
Steps preparatory to the creation of the library are in
progress. The lesser libraries, and institutions including
libraries of considerable importance, which owe their origin
to the public spirit and generosity of individual men of
wealth, are quite too numerous in the country to be catalogued
in this place. In addition to such, the bequests and gifts
which have enriched the endowment of libraries otherwise
founded are beyond computation.
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LIBRARIES:
United States of America:
Government Departmental Libraries at Washington.
A remarkable creation of special libraries connected with the
departments and bureaus of the national Government, has
occurred within a few years past. The more important among
them are the following:
Department of Agriculture,
20,000 volumes and 15,000 pamphlets;
Department of Justice, 21,500 volumes;
Department of State, 50,000 volumes;
Department of the Interior, 11,500;
Navy Department, 24,518;
Post Office Department, 10,000;
Patent Office Scientific Library,
50,000 volumes and 10,000 pamphlets;
Signal Office, 10,540 volumes;
Surgeon General's Office,
104,300 volumes and 161,700 pamphlets (reputed to be the best
collection of medical literature, as it is certainly the best
catalogued medical library, in the world);
Treasury Department, 21,000 volumes;
Bureau of Education,
45,000 volumes and 120,000 pamphlets;
Coast and Geodetic Survey,
12,000 volumes and 4,000 pamphlets;
Geological Survey,
30,414 volumes, and 42,917 pamphlets;
Naval Observatory,
13,000 volumes and 3,000 pamphlets;
United States Senate, 72,592 volumes;
United States House of Representatives,
125,000 (both of these being distinct from the great Library
of Congress, which contained, in 1891, 659,843 volumes);
War Department, 30,000 volumes.
LIBRARIES:
Canada.
"In 1779 a number of the officers stationed at Quebec, and of
the leading merchants, undertook the formation of a
subscription library. The Governor, General Haldimand, took an
active part in the work, and ordered on behalf of the
subscribers £500 worth of books from London. The selection was
entrusted to Richard Cumberland, the dramatist: and an
interesting letter from the Governor addressed to him,
describing the literary wants of the town and the class of
books to be sent, is now in the Public Archives. A room for
their reception was granted in the Bishop's Palace; and as
late as 1806, we learn from Lambert's Travels that it was the
only library [?] in Canada. Removed several times, it slowly
increased, until in 1882 it numbered 4,000 volumes. The list
of subscribers having become very much reduced, it was leased
to the Quebec Literary Association in 1843. In 1854 a portion
of it was burnt with the Parliament Buildings, where it was
then quartered; and finally in 1866 the entire library,
consisting of 6,990 volumes, were sold, subject to conditions,
to the Literary and Historical Society for a nominal sum of
$500. … Naturally on the organization of each of the
provinces, libraries were established in connection with the
Parliaments. We have therefore the following:
Nova Scotia, Halifax, 25,319;
New Brunswick, Fredericton, 10,850;
Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, 4,000;
Quebec, Quebec, 17,400;
Ontario, Toronto, 40,000;
Manitoba, Winnipeg, 10,000;
Northwest Territory, Regina, 1,480;
British Columbia, Victoria, 1,200;
Dominion of Canada, Ottawa, 120,000.
Total volumes in Parliamentary libraries, 230,249.
By far the most important of our Canadian libraries is the
Dominion Library of Parliament at Ottawa. Almost corresponding
with the Congressional Library at Washington in its sources of
income and work, it has grown rapidly during the past ten
years, and now numbers 120,000 volumes. Originally established
on the union of the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada in
1841, it was successively removed with the seat of government
from Kingston to Montreal, to Quebec, to Toronto, again to
Quebec, and finally to Ottawa. … The 38 colleges in Canada
are provided with libraries containing 429,470 volumes, or an
average of 11,302. The senior of these, Laval College, Quebec,
is famous as being, after Harvard, the oldest on the
continent, being founded by Bishop Laval in 1663. … In 1848
the late Dr. Ryerson, Superintendent of Education from
1844-1876, drafted a school bill which contained provisions
for school and township libraries, and succeeded in awakening
a deep interest in the subject. … In 1854 Parliament passed
the requisite act and granted him the necessary funds to carry
out his views in the matter. The regulations of the department
authorized each county council to establish four classes of
libraries—
1. An ordinary common school library in each schoolhouse for
the use of the children and rate-payers.
2. A general public lending library available to all the
ratepayers in the municipality.
3. A professional library of books on teaching, school
organization, language, and kindred subjects, available for
teachers only.
4. A library in any public institution under the control of
the municipality, for the use of the inmates, or in any county
jail, for the use of the prisoners. …
The proposal to establish the second class was however
premature; and accordingly, finding that mechanics institutes
were being developed throughout the towns and villages, the
Educational Department wisely aided the movement by giving a
small grant proportionate to the amount contributed by the
members and reaching a maximum of $200, afterwards increased
to $400 annually. In 1869 these had grown to number 26; in
1880, 74; and in 1886, 125. The number of volumes possessed by
these 125 is 206,146, or an average of 1,650. … In the
cities, however, the mechanics institute, with its limited
number of subscribers, has been found unequal to the task
assigned it, and accordingly, in 1882, the Free Libraries Act
was passed, based upon similar enactments in Britain and the
United States. … By the Free Libraries Act, the maximum of
taxation is fixed at ½ a mill on the annual assessment. …
None of the other provinces have followed Ontario in this
matter."
_J. Bain,
Brief Review of the Libraries of Canada
(Thousand Islands Conference of Librarians, 1887)._
"The total number of public libraries in Canada of all kinds
containing 1,000 or more volumes is 202, and of this number
the Province of Ontario alone has 152, or over three-fourths
of all, while Quebec has 27 or over one-half of the remaining
fourth, the other provinces having from 2 to 6 libraries each.
The total number of volumes and pamphlets in all the libraries
reported is 1,478,910, of which the Province of Ontario has
863,332 volumes, or almost 60 per cent, while the Province of
Quebec has 490,354, or over 33 percent; Nova Scotia, 48,250
volumes, or 3½ per cent; New Brunswick, 34,894 volumes, a
little over 2.3 per cent; Manitoba, 31,025 volumes, or 2.1 per
cent; British Columbia, 10,225 volumes, or not quite 0.7 per
cent; and Prince Edward Island, 5,200 volumes, or over 0.3 per
cent of the total number."
_V. Flint,
Statistics [1891] of Public Libraries
in the United States and Canada
(United States Bureau of Education, Circular
of Information No.7, 1893)._
LIBRARIES:
Mexico.
The National Library of Mexico contains 155,000 books, besides
manuscripts and pamphlets.
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LIBRARIES:
China.
The Imperial Library.
"It would be surprising if a people like the Chinese, who have
the literary instinct so strongly developed, had not at an
early date found the necessity of those great collections of
books which are the means for carrying on the great work of
civilization. China had her first great bibliothecal
catastrophe two centuries before the Christian era, when the
famous edict for the burning of the books was promulgated.
Literature and despotism have never been on very good terms,
and the despot of Tsin, finding a power at work which was
unfavorable to his pretensions, determined to have all books
destroyed except those relating to agriculture, divination and
the history of his own house. His hatred to books included the
makers of them, and the literati have not failed to make his
name execrated for his double murders of men and books. When
the brief dynasty of Tsin passed, the Princes of Han showed
more appreciation of culture, and in 190 B. C. the atrocious
edict was repealed, and the greatest efforts made to recover
such literary treasures as had escaped the destroyer. Some
classics are said to have been rewritten from the dictation of
scholars who had committed them to memory. Some robbers broke
open the tomb of Seang, King of Wei, who died B. C. 295, and
found in it bamboo tablets containing more than 100,000 peen
[bamboo slips]. These included a copy of the Classic of
Changes and the Annals of the Bamboo Books, which indeed take
their title from this circumstance. This treasure trove was
placed in the Imperial Library. So the Shoo-king is said to
have been found in a wall where it had been hidden by a
descendant of Confucius, on the proclamation of the edict
against books. Towards the close of the first century a
library had been formed by Lew Heang and his son Lew Hin. …
Succeeding dynasties imitated more or less this policy, and
under the later Han dynasty great efforts were made to restore
the library. … In the troubles at the close of the second
century the palace at Lo-Yang was burned, and the greater part
of the books destroyed. … Another Imperial collection at
Lo-Yang, amounting to 29,945 books, was destroyed A. D. 311.
In A. D. 431, Seäy Ling-Yuen, the keeper of the archives, made
a catalogue of 4,582 books in his custody. Another catalogue
was compiled in 473, and recorded 5,704 books. Buddhism and
Taouism now began to contribute largely to the national
literature. Amongst the other consequences of the overthrow of
the Tse dynasty at the end of the fifth century was the
destruction of the royal library of 18,010 books. Early in the
next century a collection of 33,106 books, not including the
Buddhist literature, was made chiefly, it is said, by the
exertions of Jin Fang, the official curator. The Emperor
Yuen-te removed his library, then amounting to 70,000 books,
to King Chow, and the building was burnt down when he was
threatened by the troops of Chow. The library of the later Wei
dynasty was dispersed in the insurrection of 531, and the
efforts made to restore it were not altogether successful. The
later Chow collected a library of 10,000 books, and, on the
overthrow of the Tse dynasty, this was increased by a mass of
5,000 mss. obtained from the fallen dynasty. When towards the
close of the sixth century the Suy became masters of the
empire they began to accumulate books. … The Tang dynasty
are specially remarkable for their patronage of literature.
Early in the eighth century the catalogue extended to 53,915
books, and a collection of recent authors included 28,469
books. Printing began to supersede manuscript in the tenth
century, plentiful editions of the classics appeared and
voluminous compilations. Whilst the Sung were great patrons of
literature, the Leaou were at least lukewarm, and issued an
edict prohibiting the printing of books by private persons.
The Kin had books translated into their own tongue, for the
benefit of the then Mongolian subjects. A similar policy was
pursued by the Yuen dynasty, under whom dramatic literature
and fiction began to flourish. In the year 1406, the printed
books in the Imperial Library are said to have amounted to
300,000 printed books and twice the number of mss. … The
great Imperial Library was founded by K'in Lung in the last
century. In response to an imperial edict, many of the
literati and book-lovers placed rare editions at the service
of the government, to be copied. The Imperial Library has many
of its books, therefore, in mss. Chinese printing, however, is
only an imperfect copy of the caligraphy of good scribes. Four
copies were made of each work. One was destined for the Wan
Yuen Repository at Peking; a second for the Wan-tsung
Repository at Kang-ning, the capital of Kiang-su province; a
third for the Wan-hwui Repository at Yang-chou-fu, and the
fourth for the Wan-lan Repository at Hong-Chou, the capital of
Cheh-Kiang. A catalogue was published from which it appears
that the library contained from ten to twelve thousand
distinct works, occupying 168,000 volumes. The catalogue is in
effect an annotated list of Chinese literature, and includes
the works which were still wanting to the library and deemed
essential to its completion. Dr. D. J. McGowan, who visited
the Hong-Chou collection, says that it was really intended for
a public library, and that those who applied for permission to
the local authorities, not only were allowed access, but were
afforded facilities for obtaining food and lodging, 'but from
some cause or other the library is rarely or never consulted.'
Besides the Imperial, there are Provincial, Departmental and
District Libraries. Thus, the examination hall of every town
will contain the standard classical and historical books. At
Canton and other cities there are extensive collections, but
their use is restricted to the mandarins. There are
collections of books and sometimes printing presses in
connection with the Buddhist monasteries."
_W. E. A. Axon,
Notes on Chinese Libraries
(Library Journal, January and February, 1880)._
For an account of the ancient library of Chinese classics in
stone,
See EDUCATION, ANCIENT: CHINA.
{2025}
LIBRARIES:
Japan.
"The Tokyo Library is national in its character, as the
Congressional Library of the United States, the British Museum
of Great Britain, etc. It is maintained by the State, and by
the copyright Act it is to receive a copy of every book,
pamphlet, etc., published in the empire. The Tokyo Library was
established in 1872 by the Department of Education with about
70,000 volumes. In 1873 it was amalgamated with the library
belonging to the Exhibition Bureau and two years later it was
placed under the control of the Home Department, while a new
library with the title of Tokyo Library was started by the
Education Department at the same time with about 28,000
volumes newly collected. Thus the Tokyo Library began its
career on a quite slender basis; but in 1876, the books
increased to 68,953, and in 1877 to 71,853. Since that time,
both the numbers of books and visitors have steadily
increased, so much so that in 1884 the former reached 102,350
and latter 115,986, averaging 359 persons per one day. The
library was then open free to all classes; but the presence of
too many readers of the commonest text-books and light
literature was found to have caused much hindrance to the
serious students. … This disadvantage was somewhat remedied
by introducing the fee system, which, of course, placed much
restriction to the visitors of the library. … It is very
clear from the character of the library that it is a reference
library and not a circulating library. But as there are not
any other large and well-equipped libraries in Tokyo, a system
of 'lending out' is added, something like that of Königliche
Bibliothek zu Berlin, with a subscription of 5 yen (about $5)
per annum. … The Tokyo Library now contains 97,550 Japanese
and Chinese books and 25,559 European books, besides about
100,000 of duplicates, popular books, etc., which are not
used. The average number of books used is 337,262 a year. …
The Library of the Imperial University, which is also under my
charge, comprises all the books belonging to the Imperial
University of Japan. These books are solely for the use of the
instructors, students, and pupils, no admittance being granted
to the general public. The library contains 77,991 European
books and 101,217 Japanese and Chinese books. As to other
smaller libraries of Japan, there are eight public and ten
private libraries in different parts of the empire. The books
contained in them are 66,912 Japanese and Chinese books and
4,731 European books with 43,911 visitors! Besides these, in
most of towns of respectable size, there are generally two or
three small private circulating libraries, which contain books
chiefly consisting of light literature and historical works
popularly treated."
_I. Tanaka,
Tokyo Library
(San Francisco Conference of Librarians, 1891)._
LIBRARIES:
India.
The first free library in a native state of India was opened
in 1892, with 10,000 volumes, 7,000 being in English. It was
founded by the brother of the Maharajah.
_Library Journal,
volume 17, page 395._
----------LIBRARIES: End----------
LIBURNIANS, The.
See KORKYRA.