E 13 LB23P4 BANCROFT LIBRAKf Bancroft Library THE BANCROFT LIBRARY. - ALL nations, during their slow march along the highway leading to civilization, from the earliest known period of mankind's gradual emergence out of the sluggish con ditions of savage and pastoral life into those of settled communities, have shown deep interest in recording past events. The pictograph and hieroglyphic still remain in evidence thereof. As soon as communi ties began to establish themselves in cities, no matter how small their primitive annals no matter in how crude a form they were recorded were guarded with scrupu lous care, and every effort was made to in sure their preservation. In these small be ginnings the evolution of libraries had its genesis. It is known that farther back than 2000 B. C., libraries existed in ancient Chaldea and Egypt, the most famous of those of the - land of the Nile being the " Library of Osy- mandyas," the existence of which in the palace temple near Thebes, popular!) known as the " Memnonium " is proven by the discovery of Champollion of sculptured in scriptions in one of the inner rooms. The inscriptions are: "Theoth, the inventor of letters, President of the Hall of Books," and "The Goddess Saf, his companion, Lady of Letters." These sculptured records are ascribed to the i4th century, B. C. Next in order of time follow the Assyrian and Babylonian libraries. In the ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, Layard and Botta discovered collections of bricks, tiles and cylinders of clay, inscribed in cuneiform characters, and the study of them has revealed the fact that, not only were the national records kept in this manner, but that to a large class of such tablets the 13 I' * V. 181)5.] A Mine of Musty Manuscripts. 273 term "Public Library in Clay" is appli cable. There is every reason to believe that this last mentioned collection was made about 650 B. C., by command of Sardana- palus V., for the purposes of public instruc tion. Passing from Persia into Greece, and only referring to the unreliable statement made that Pisistratus founded a library at Athens, 537-527 B. C., and opened it to the public, we find that, according to Strabo, Aristotle was the first to form a library in that country. After the philosopher's death his collection was conveyed to Scepsis, in Troas, where it fell into disorder, a portion of it being concealed in a cave in order to secure the works from the unscrupulous mode of collecting books practised by the kings of Pergamus. This is worthy of notice, as showing the eagerness with which books were sought for in those early days, and the high appreciation in which they were held We now come to the noble library of Alexandria, the literary glory of Egypt. Founded by Ptolemy Soter about 300 B.C., it was constantly enlarged by his successors down to the time of its unintentional destruction, 48 B. C., by the action of Julius Caesar, who, having espoused the cause of Cleopatra, found himself compelled to burn the ships in the harbor of Alexan dria. The methods sometimes adopted to obtain valuable additions to the Alexandrian library, were not more strictly honorable than those employed by the kings of Per gamus. It is narrated that Ptolemy Euer- getes, during a time of famine in Athens, granted permission to the Athenians to buy Egyptian wheat for the relief of the city, on the condition that the original writings of . Kschylus, Sophocles and Euripides should be sent to him, he remitting fifteen talents, about $14,000, as a guaranty for the safety of the works At Alexandria they were carefully copied, and the copies, not the originals, were returned to the Athenians, who, however, were allowed to keep the money. This narrative is interesting in as much as it bears testimony to the high value attached to original manuscripts. Contemporaneous with this first library of Alexandria, was the growth of a similar institution under the vigorous modes of pro cedure of the kings of Pergamus. Probably founded by Attalus I., 244 B. C., it was so enlarged by his successors as to become a rival of that of the Ptolemies, the loss of which it was destined to replace. For An thony, after his successful war in the East, sent it as a gift to Cleopatra. The collec tion was deposited in the library called the Serapium from its position in the temple of the Serapis which was outrageously destroyed at the instigation of the fanatic, Theophilus, archbishop of Alexandria, A.D. Few cities in the world have shown a greater devotion to learning than Alexan dria, and again she raised her head as the metropolis of culture. Another magnifi cent library was formtJ, doomed also to meet with destruction at the hands of fanaticism and barbaric iconoclasm. On the surrender of Alexandria to the victorious Mahommedans, Amrou would have be stowed the library on one Philoponus, but Caliph Omar's decision on the matter was that if the contents of the works agreed with the Koran the volumes were useless and need not be preserved; if they disagreed, the writings were pernicious and ought to be destroyed. For six months the furnaces of the four great baths of the city were fed by the precious volumes for fuel. After her subjection to Mussulman rule, the glory of Alexandria, as a center of learning, de parted. The prototypes of our modern biblio philes and bibliomaniacs came into exis tence in the latter days of the Roman republic. Theretofore Rome had been too 25 274 A Mine of Musty Manuscripts. [Mar.. occupied in conquest to give much atten tion to literature. After her victorious arms had brought her in contact with the more civilized world, she imbibed the love of literature, science and art. Then libra ries became a fashion, and no private house of any pretension was without its Biblio- theta, whether the owner were a Cicero or an unlettered upstart whose splendid book shelves were never referred to by him. So great was the mania that one or more copy ists, called Librarii (bookmen) were con stantly employed in each house transcrib ing works. Biblio poles became numer ous and employed great numbers of such copyists, who were educated citi zens of conquered countries, reduced to the condition of slavery. The vast accumulation of learning stored up in ancient Rome crum bled away beneath the withering effect of barbaric devasta tion, and we are in debted to the monas tic orders for the preservation of only a fractional part of it. With this brief historical account of the growth of ancient libraries, by way of call ing attention to the great importance attached by the ancients to the acquisition of accumulative knowledge, we proceed to describe the gradual growth of the largest collection of material ever made for the study of a single historical field -The Bancroft Library. The work of bringing together this great A DITCH PLACCAAT UK ORDEK.* collection has extended over a period of more than thirty-five years of an industrious life. In 1859 Mr. Bancroft began to gather together such books as he had at hand bear ing on California. The result was the fill ing of a few segregated shelves in his book store with about seventy or seventy-five volumes; small matter, indeed, but this initiatory step was the origin of his present library, which consists of 60,000 books, maps, manuscripts, etc., relating to North western America from Panama to Alaska. From that time Mr. Bancroft became an enthusi astic collector. Hubert Spencer says: "Very gen erally when a man begins to accumulate books he ceases to make any use of them." This may be true in the case of most bibliophiles, assuredly so of all bibliomaniacs, but the remark" is inap plicable to Mr. Ban croft as a collector. He had a purpose in view; not the gratifi cation of the morbid desire to possess rare books, which infects the mind of the unregenerate bibliomaniac. He was hardly the man to be satisfied with ob jectless effort of any kind; he loved books, and he saw here an opportunity to render his country an inestimable service in a line wholly neglected by others. Although he pursued with ardor the work of collecting, he never lost sight of his purpose. Vague and undefined as were at first his intentions of writing a work tor publication, the con- Thi* order wa lamed notice to the citisrnx of the Dutch We* Indie* Company Colony om the island oi Curacao by Jerrtniai vmn Gotten, Oirccteur. on the lit of January, 1713. White anti hare fed upon this parchment and irrtroyed much of its value. 1895.] A Mine of Musty Manuscripts. 275 FROM AN OLD COSMOGRAPHY. ception of a Pacific States history was never theless latent in his brain. Mr. Bancroft began to frequent second hand bookstores, to ransack the rubbish on sidewalk stands, and buy any old pamphlet or scrap of material bearing on his subject. Then he extended his field, and going East, drew upon New York, Boston and Philadel phia for contributions to his collection. In 1863 he visited London and Paris, and there his eyes began to be opened as to the magnitude of his undertaking. At that time he had about 1000 volumes. On this his first visit to Europe he could do little more than glance over the enormous stocks of second-hand books stored in the hun dreds of establishments he there found; but he determined at a latter date to search all Europe for the material he required. An opportunity presented itself in 1866. Mean time the library had increased in number of volumes which now amounted to 5,ooo, and then Mr. Bancroft recognized that he had only begun his collection. On his second visit to London, he spent three months in looking over the ground and organizing a thorough system of search, appointing agents, employing intelligent men, and adopting all suitable measures for the promotion of his enterprise. Then Paris was visited, bookstalls and antiquarian warehouses were carefully searched, and catalogues examined. Madrid was his next objective point, and there he met with dis appointment. As his collection increased, so did his original ideas on the subject ex pand. He found the history of the Pacific States so interwoven with that of Mexico that it was impossible for him to draw a line of separation, and his first purpose was developed into the aspiration to produce a history of all Northwestern America. Nat urally he expected to find in Madrid much good material relating to Mexico, but he secured comparatively little. In turn all the principal cities of Europe were visited, and everywhere Mr. Bancroft found something to his purpose, ranging from pamphlets at a franc a piece to rare books or manuscripts at three, five or eight hundred dollars each. On his return to California he was the possessor of over 10,000 vol umes, and thought that his task was done. At the close of 1868, however, he received from his agent in London, a cata logue of 7,000 books and manuscripts on Mexico to be sold at auction in January fol lowing, in Leipsic, a glance at which sufficed to inform Mr. Bancroft that new ground had been thrown open to him. He did not hesitate. His agent was instructed by telegram to attend the sale and make purchases at his discretion. By this promptitude to act some 3,000 of the rarest and most valuable works extant were added to the collection. It may be interesting to the reader to learn that the volumes thus secured formed a portion of the Bibleoteca Imperial de Mejico, which the unfortunate Maximilian founded during his brief rule in INTFRIOR. I FLOOR. BANCROFT LIBRARY. 27(5 A Mine of Afiisly Manu st [Mar.. F that country. Jose Marie Andrade, a Mexican collector of exceptional literary taste and judgment, had been accumulating, for forty years, rare books bearing on the history of Mexico, and when Maximilian began the formation of an imperial library, he turned to this enlightened collector, and enlisted his co-operation. An arrangement was made with Senor Andrade by which, in consideration of a certain sum of money to be paid for his books, his splendid collection should form the ba sis of the Imperial Library, and be come the property of the government. Unfortunately for the project, Maximilian's career was short. Im mediately after the emperor's death at Queretaro, Andrade, who had not been paid for the books, packed them in 200 cases, hurried them off on mule-back to Vera Cruz, and thence shipped them to Europe. In June of the same year another important addition to the collection was acquired at a sale in London, logues described this COftMOC.ItAI'HIA IMS * The cata- lot as consisting of " an extraordinary collection of books relat ing to Mexico and North and South Amer ica, from the first introduction of printing in the New World, A. D. 1544 to A. D. 1868." At the auction Mr. Bancroft's agent secured a number of works which filled up gaps in the collection. These Rare. purchases raised the number of volumes t<> 16,000. The /ealous collector now decided to be gin work as an author, and in 1874 he pub lished the first volume of his Nat ire Race*. His literary labors, however, did not inter fere with the continued accumulation of books. He had ap(x>inted agents in all the principal cities of Europe, besides London. who were instructed to purchase, when opportunity offered, such material as was lacking. These agents attended all notable sales which presented possibili ties of obtaining ad ditional matter for the library. The more important of those in Europe were held in Lon don, Paris, Lisbon, Leipsic, Berlin, Am sterdam and Brus sels. In America, sales in New York, Philadelphia, Bos ton, Cincinnati and Mexico kept furnish ing supplies. So far- reaching and com prehensive was Mr. Bancroft's system that neither book shop, store nor auc tion sale escaped his notice; and thus for years a steady stream of material was flow ing into his literary reservoir. Mention must be made of two more col lections, at least, from which very valuable additions were procured, namely, that of Mr. E. G. Squier, sold in New York in 1876, and that of Don Jos Fernando Ramivez, sold in London in 1880. / 18%.] A Mine of Musty Manuscripts. 277 ., .w ..-ua. >^^ >*tx>-y-jrT*rZ552 ROYAL CKDCLA *' Squier, a man of letters and a well-known author, availed himself of the opportunity which his position as United States Minister to Central America afforded him, and made a rich collection of manuscripts, maps, Central American newspapers, and political and historical pamphlets. A large part of the manuscripts was obtained from archives and depositors in Spain, but a considerable number of those relating to Central America were procured by himself in person while resident in the country. At the sale Mr. Bancroft bought whatever the collection contained that was not in his own library. Ramivez had been president of Maxi milian's first ministry. Highly educated, he was admitted to the bar early in life, and rose to eminence as State and federal judge. At one time head of the National Museum of Mexico, afterward minister of foreign affairs, an erudite scholar, and deeply inter ested in the history of his country, he was in every respect, as regarded culture, judg ment, and opportunities offered by a high public position, capable of making a most valuable collection. And this he did. It comprised rare books and manuscripts on the Mexican Indian languages and dialects, and on the civil and ecclesiastical history of Mexico; tomes containing laws and ordi nances relating to the Indies; unpublished manuscripts relating to the Jesuit missions; old sermons preached in Mexico, and a quantity of other matter. Many of these literary treasures were obtained from con vents, after the suppression of the monastic orders. On the retirement of the French from Mexico, Seftor Ramirez went to Europe, and took up his residence at Bonn, where he died in 1871. It is impossible, in a short magazine article to furnish the reader with the names of even the more prominent authors of the ****** ROYAL CKIK'LA.*- 'Bearing the wgnattire of laabella of Portugal-regent of Spain during her huband' *benc in Italy. was crowned Emperor dated is>9- .Bearing the rignature of Charles v-dnted i $41 where he A Mint of Musty Manuscripts. [Mar MAKNIK OK IflNUIMi MISSION ACCOfNTS.** works and manuscripts collected the list would be too long suffice it to say that the library, which at the present date contains 60,000 units of the material described, includes every thing to be wished for, from the original cedulas of Charles V.; of his queen, Is abella of Portugal; of Philip II., bearing their respective auto graphs, "Yo el Key" (I the King) and " Yo el Reyna" (I the Queen) down to a Mormon primer of 1868. Chronicles and histories; voya ges and explora tions; A/tec picto- KROM LA* CASAS BOOK.*-' graphs and ancient maps; cosmographies and atlases; quaint sermons and political pamphlets; papal bulls and letters of Columbus and the conquistadores Cortcz and Alvarado; news papers and periodicals; rare pictures, wood cuts and engravings little, indeed, bearing on the history of this part of the New JliTlO. " World in all branch es, ethnological, civ il, political, ecclesi astical and social, has Mr. Bancroft failed to find and secure. It would be sup posed that the con stant inflow to this vast accumulation would have satisfied any collector; and so it would any or dinary bibliophile; but Mr. Bancroft was working with no ordinary object, and his observant mind had, from the first, per ceived that before him lay a hitherto untrod den field for literary exploration. Califor- 'i h< /s. IH HI kT HOWE BA.\CMOKT. umes. This priceless material was pre sented to Mr. Bancroft by the General, who had collected them with the purpose of writing a history of California himself. Nor did he therein cease to give practical expres sion to his admiration for Mr. Bancroft's undertaking; for two years he worked en thusiastically for the cause, alternately dic tating history, and searching the country for fresh documentary and personal information. The additions thus made by him swelled the original number of his volumes to fifty. Second only in importance to General Val- lejo's history, is that contributed by Gover nor Alvarado, which constitutes five large volumes of manuscript written from dicta tion. While this work was being carried on among the old Californian families, other men were simultaneously engaged in exam ining county and municipal archives, from San Francisco to San Diego, and transcrib ing important matter. Moreover, all the Missions were visited, and their records, registers and account books, besides a mass of historical and statistical material written / Vine of .\fusty Manuscript^ NOVA TYI'IS TH \NSACTA NAVK.ATIO.* by the priests were inspected, and copies taken of everything that could contribute to the production of a complete history. It was during this period (in 1874) that Mr. Bancroft acquired the valuable collection of Judge Benjamin Hayes, formerly district judge of Los Angeles. From the time of his arrival, in 1849, Judge Hayes had been a diligent collector of documents relating to the history of Southern California, and which he had hoped to use himself. The collection embraces copies from mission and municipal archives, a great quantity of clip pings from books and early newspapers, all systematically arranged, and manuscript notes and accounts of his own travels 281 in various ,>arts of the southern coun try. Such is a brief sketch of the growth of the Bancroft Library. But the outside work done in collecting was as nothing compared with that performed inside Kvery single book, manuscript, newspaper and pamphlet was separately read and sep arately indexed as to to its contents. A selection of leading subject, about fifty in number, was made, such as architecture, art, bibliology, biography, botany, .duca- cation, ethnology, and so on, and a separ ate note taken, after a particular form, of every statement or fact bearing upon each subject and its subdivisions, with title of book and page, and its shelf number. These notes were sorted, subject by subject, and filed in alphabetical order in appropri ate receptacles, so that when information on any particular subject is required, be it mining or Indian childrens' playthings, all that is necessary is to go the labeled cases, take out a packet or a score of packets, and the searcher will have hundreds of ref erences or a small half-dozen, according to the importance of the matter he wants. Let the reader take into consideration the magnitude of such a work. To turn over every leaf, con it, and take notes. A regi ment of assistants was required; for the method was not conceived and put in prac tice until the library had assumed large proportions. There are hundreds of thous ands of these notes which will prove of in estimable value in future research. To the utility and uniqueness of this library, it is almost needless to refer. It is exceptional, and has no rival in the world, nor has it ever had a predecessor as regards design. It stands alone. Never in the his tory of libraries has any collection ever been It is a history of the diacwery of America written by a monk of the Convent of Suttenstock of Lower Austria, under the I.aiin nom de plume /'kti^tnui ilx>ver of toil.) This monk s writings narrate the adventures of the first missionary aent to the new world. ladre Buil or Buell. a Catalan Ik-nedii tiiu , who was sent in 1494 to preach to the Indiana. But) came in collision with Columbus, and on his . n turn spared no mtana to injure htm. Thin work was published in 1621 282 [Mar., made similar to it. It contains all the material that can ever be secured on the past history of a particular region occupying one-twelfth of the earth's surfac. Ho fur ther additions to it can be made except the productions of the writers of the day; and never again will an opportunity occur for a like enterprise elsewhere. There is no new continent to discover, and never will an other Columbus arise. No collection for a single historical study has been, or ever can be, made approaching it in dimensions, and the destruction of the library, or even the dispersion of its contents, would be irremediable, for it could never be repro duced. With regard to its priceless value to the Pacific States of our own country, it may be remarked that their individual his tories can be written with a comprehensive ness and fullness of detail that can attach to that of no other State in the Union, or of no other country in the world. Pos terity will proclaim this fact, and will not fail to appreciate, perhaps, more highly than is done at the present time, the value of the services rendered by Mr. Ban croft to American history and general know ledge. /. J. Pealfitld.