It will be observed that the first four of the above headings relate to
gifts of real estate, which should also include gifts for fixtures of
any kind, such as plants for lighting, heating, and ventilation; mural
decorations, such as frescoes; furniture, so constructed as to be an
essential part of the building; landscape gardening, etc. The remaining
headings include books, endowment funds for various purposes (excepting
building funds and the other objects just mentioned), and gifts of money
for administration, current expenses, etc., etc.
Then, too, information should be given as to whether a gift has been
offered, accepted, or received.
It seems desirable that information relating to such old and moribund
libraries as have been absorbed or merged with newer and more vigorous
institutions should somewhere find a record. As such transfers are
usually made as gifts, there seems to be no more suitable place for such
a record than in the annual report of Gifts and Bequests. It is to be
hoped that, in the future, the tables of statistics issued from time to
time by the state library commissions, the U. S. Bureau of Education,
and others will contain a record of the final disposition of such
libraries.
In the report of Gifts and Bequests made by Mr. Stockwell, a year ago,
covering a period of two years, there were given 458 separate gifts,
amounting to over $10,500,000, and distributed among 36 states and the
District of Columbia. This report, covering 13 months, includes 482
separate gifts, amounting to $19,786,465.16, and is distributed as
follows: 468 in 39 of the United States, 10 in the British provinces,
and three in Scotland. To that princely philanthropist, Mr. Andrew
Carnegie, we are indebted, during the past year, for gifts reaching the
enormous aggregate of $13,704,700, over $12,500,000 of which was given
for the erection of library buildings. In every case the gift, except
where otherwise specified, was made upon the condition that the city or
town receiving it should furnish a site for the building and appropriate
yearly for the maintenance of the library a sum equivalent to 10 per
cent. of the gift.
The most notable gifts of the year are due to the ever-increasingly
generous hand of Mr. Carnegie. That to the city of New York of
$5,200,000, for the erection of 65, or more, branch libraries, is
probably the largest library gift ever made at one time to a single
city. His gift of $1,000,000 to the city of St. Louis for library
buildings and an equal sum, placed in trust as an endowment fund, for
the Carnegie libraries at Braddock, Duquesne, and Homestead, Pa., occupy
the second and third positions, by reason of their amounts. His recent
gifts of $750,000 each to the cities of Detroit and San Francisco,
though announced since July 1, have been included in this report. Mr.
Carnegie's gifts during the year number 121; 112 in the United States,
six in Canada, and three in Scotland. One hundred and seven of these
gifts in the United States were for library buildings. Of the remaining
five, amounting to $1,028,000, one of $25,000 will probably be used for
a building.
The transfer of the John Carter Brown Library to Brown University by the
trustees of the estate of the late John Nicholas Brown, recently
announced, is one of the most important library events of the year. This
library contains, if not the finest, at least one of the finest
collections of early Americana in this country, and possesses many books
not to be found in any other library on this side of the Atlantic. Its
collector, after whom it is named, was a competitor with Lenox, Brinley,
and other early collectors of Americana for many a choice nugget which
Henry Stevens and other European dealers had secured for their American
patrons. The library is estimated to be worth at least $1,000,000, and
the gift carries with it two legacies, one of $150,000 for a library
building, and another of $500,000 as an endowment fund for its increase
and maintenance.
The gift of four public-spirited citizens of St. Louis, who have jointly
contributed $400,000 to lift an incumbrance on the block to be used for
the new Carnegie library in that city, is a noble example of public
spirit, and one of which the friends of that city may justly feel proud.
The collection of Oriental literature of Yale University has been
enriched by the gift of 842 Arabic manuscripts, many of which are
extremely rare. The collection covers the whole range of Arabic history
and literature, dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries.
This collection, formed by Count Landberg, was purchased by Mr. Morris
K. Jesup, of New York, at a cost of $20,000, and was presented by him to
the university library. This library has also received, as a bequest,
the private library of the late Prof. Othniel C. Marsh, consisting of
about 5000 volumes and 10,000 pamphlets, dealing mainly with
palæontological subjects.
The New York Public Library--Astor, Lenox, and Tilden
foundations--through the generosity of Mr. Charles Stewart Smith, has
come into possession of a large and valuable collection of Japanese
engravings and chromo-xylographs, formed by Captain Brinkley, of the
_Japanese Mail_.
I regret that I do not have the pleasure to record any addition, during
the year, to the Publication Fund of the American Library Association.
The Publishing Board is much hampered by lack of funds from carrying on
its important work. If some philanthropically inclined person would
present a fund, say $100,000, upon condition that all publications
issued from its income should bear the name of the fund, it would not
only be of inestimable benefit to the cause of libraries, but would also
be a most enduring monument to its donor.
An examination of the following list will disclose other gifts worthy
of special mention if space permitted. The main list has been arranged
alphabetically by states, as being the most convenient for reference. A
tabulated summary, arranged by the geographical sections of the country,
will show how widely scattered have been the benefactions of the year,
extending from Alabama in the south to Montreal in the north, and from
Bangor in the east to "where rolls the Oregon" in the far west.