THE 
 
 REDWOOD LIBRARY 
 
 AND 
 
 ATHENAEUM 
 
 
 
 K v. 
 
 NEWPORT, R. I. 
 
 A SHORT SKETCH 
 
 4 
 
 PRIVATELY PRINTED 
 1917
 
 A Short Sketch 
 
 i 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Redwood Library 
 
 OF 
 
 NEWPORT 
 RHODE ISLAND 
 
 THE MERCURY PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 191T
 
 HISTORY 
 
 The Redwood Library was incorporated 
 in the year 1747. The Articles of Incorpo- 
 ration by the GOVERNOR AND COMPANY OF 
 THE ENGLISH COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND AND 
 PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS declare "Whereas 
 Abraham Redwood Esq. hath generously 
 engaged to bestow five hundred pounds 
 sterling, to be laid out in a collection of 
 useful books, suitable for a public library 
 proposed to be erected in Newport .... 
 the said Governor and Company do give 
 and grant that the said Abraham Redwood, 
 James Honyman, and others be, and are 
 hereby constituted, a body politic incorpo- 
 rate, by the name of the Company of the 
 Redwood Library. 5 ' 
 
 This generous act upon the part of Mr.
 
 Redwood came as the result of conversa- 
 tions held at the meetings of an association 
 "for promoting virtue and knowledge", 
 formed in 1730 at the suggestion, it is 
 believed, of Bishop Berkeley, and contin- 
 uing to hold weekly meetings under the 
 name of the Philosophical Society until its 
 life was merged into that of the Redwood 
 Library. 
 
 The members of this Philosophical So- 
 ciety included the leading men of the 
 colony, governors, judges, men of political, 
 social and professional importance. To 
 their broad vision the need of a public 
 library became apparent, and they set 
 about the task of forming such an insti- 
 tution. 
 
 If the first gift of five hundred pounds 
 by Mr. Redwood gave the impetus which 
 started the Library, the second gift, by
 
 Henry Collins, of land on which to erect 
 the building, was no less important, and 
 within one month of the receipt of the 
 charter, the committee was appointed to 
 collect funds for the building. The beau- 
 tiful structure at the Bellevue Avenue end 
 of the present series of buildings was the 
 result. 
 
 In these days of light and frivolous 
 reading, it is interesting to recall the seri- 
 ousness with which the first governors of 
 the Library entered upon the work, as 
 evidenced by the books which were pur- 
 chased with the five hundred pounds 
 presented by Mr. Redwood. These con- 
 tained over thirteen hundred volumes, of 
 which about three hundred were theolog- 
 ical, and the rest either historical, classical 
 or scientific. One looks in vain through 
 the list for anything in the nature of fiction.
 
 8 
 
 Occasionally a book of fables is discovered, 
 a few volumes of poems, and a number of 
 dictionaries and books of reference. 
 
 What modern readers would have done 
 with such a collection may be imagined 
 from the statement that of the seventeen 
 thousand volumes taken from the Library 
 last year, over ten thousand were works of 
 fiction. It is certain that the readers of 
 those days were comparatively few, that life 
 was serious and earnest, and that the 
 Library met the want of the time. 
 
 It may be safely affirmed that from the 
 very first this Library has exerted upon the 
 people of Newport an influence toward 
 better literature and higher thinking, for 
 the figures of circulation of today show a 
 more serious purpose in the readers of our 
 books than can be found in most of the 
 libraries throughout the country.
 
 An important event in the history of the 
 Library was the coming to Newport in 1755 
 of Ezra Stiles, drawn to accept the call to 
 the Second Congregational Church, as he 
 says, largely by* 'an agreeable town and 
 the Redwood Library." Within a year of 
 his settlement, he became the librarian, a 
 position much of a sinecure, which he 
 accepted in order that he might have always 
 the key of the building, and be able to pass 
 as many hours in the perusal of its books 
 as he desired. Almost always, he informs 
 us, was he entirely alone among its treas- 
 ures. 
 
 His importance to the Library is proved 
 by the fact that through his efforts many 
 valuable books were obtained as gifts from 
 Europe, as well as from this country, and 
 he left it in a very flourishing condition and 
 carefully arranged.
 
 10 
 
 December 8, 1776, the British Army 
 landed at Long Wharf, and took possession 
 of the city. A large number, about three- 
 quarters of its inhabitants, including Rev. 
 Ezra Stiles, fled from the town. The 
 British officers proceeded to make of the 
 Redwood Library a club room, and were 
 so reckless in their treatment of its contents 
 that when, after an occupation of three 
 years, they withdrew their forces from the 
 city, there remained about one-half the 
 number of books which the Library con- 
 tained at their arrival. 
 
 Whether a later king of England was 
 prompted to repair this injury done by his 
 countrymen, or whether the promptings 
 were simply those of a generous spirit, 
 certain it is that King William, in 1835, 
 made to the Library a generous donation 
 of books, amounting to eighty-four volumes,
 
 11 
 
 of which seventy-two are large folios. Not 
 all the books being printed at the time of 
 his death, the gift was completed by Queen 
 Victoria. 
 
 After the Revolution till the beginning of 
 the XIX century, as in the town itself, so 
 in the Library, everything was in con- 
 fusion, people were discouraged, and few 
 efforts made at restoration. 
 
 At this time an interesting event in the 
 history of the Library occurred, when on 
 September 11, 1780, the General Assembly 
 of the State came to Newport, after an 
 absence of four years, and finding the State 
 House much dilapidated, having been used 
 as an hospital by the British, they convened 
 in the Redwood Library building, which 
 during that session became the capitol of 
 the state. 
 
 The condition of the Library during
 
 12 
 
 these sad years is well illustrated by the 
 following advertisement which appeared in 
 the Newport Herald on the 9th of Sep- 
 tember, 1790 : 
 
 "The key of the Library being missing, 
 supposed to be lent by the former librarian, 
 the person who has it in his possession is 
 earnestly requested to deliver it to Mr. 
 Stephen Ayrault, one of the directors." 
 
 Another advertisement, printed in the 
 Newport Mercury the 27th of September, 
 1801, is the first sign of an attempt to 
 restore the Library to usefulness. 
 
 " The long neglect of this institution by 
 the proprietors may possibly have furnished 
 an excuse for neglecting to return the 
 books, so that a large portion of them have 
 in one way or another got upon the shelves 
 of individuals in different quarters of the 
 town."
 
 13 
 
 The spirit which prompted this adver- 
 tisement in the paper also caused a new 
 movement in the Library itself ; affairs 
 were re-organized, new members taken in, 
 a catalogue of the books made, and grad- 
 ually the interest in the institution became 
 widespread. 
 
 From that time until the present, with 
 varying degrees of energy, the directors 
 have advanced the work of the Library. 
 All the prominent residents of Newport, as 
 well as members of the summer colony, 
 have from time to time taken an interest in 
 the prosperity of the institution, and it has 
 gradually, though not steadily, increased, 
 until today it occupies a prominent position 
 among the proprietory libraries of the 
 country.
 
 THE BUILDINGS 
 
 Not the least interesting part of the Red- 
 wood Library is the history of its buildings. 
 
 The original portion, erected in 1750, 
 included the much admired front room. 
 This was designed by Peter Harrison, one 
 of the few trained architects who came to 
 the colonies in the XVIII century. The 
 building is an imitation of a Roman temple 
 of the Doric order, the pediment of the 
 front supported by four columns of graceful 
 form. The result is one of the finest 
 examples in the country of the classical 
 style of architecture. The details of the 
 woodwork are exceedingly interesting, 
 while at the rear of the room, as he erected 
 it, was a window of three parts, gracefully 
 arched, and enriched with columns of the
 
 15 
 
 Roman Ionic character, which is now to be 
 seen on the north end of the second building 
 or reading room. 
 
 This first building for over a century 
 served the purposes of the Library, but in 
 1858 it was found necessary to add to it that 
 which is now used as the reading room. 
 The architect of this addition was George 
 Snell of Boston, who sought to carry out the 
 idea suggested in the first building. 
 
 In 1875 the Library was further increased 
 by the erection of the large addition now 
 used for a delivery room, which was de- 
 signed by Mr. George G. Mason of New- 
 port. 
 
 All these buildings were erected by pop- 
 ular subscription. 
 
 In 1913, through a legacy of Mrs. Gar- 
 diner Blanchard Perry, the directors were
 
 16 
 
 enabled to erect the fourth building, a fire- 
 proof stackroom. 
 
 In each of these additions, an effort has 
 been made to harmonize the architecture 
 with the original building of Peter Har- 
 rison, but naturally none has equalled that 
 in proportion and decoration.
 
 THE NAME 
 
 Until the year 1833 the organization was 
 known as " The Company of the Redwood 
 Library," though the directors had not 
 confined the work of the institution simply 
 to that of a library. There had been gath- 
 ered a considerable number of works of 
 art, so that the materials for quite a respect- 
 able museum had accumulated, and in that 
 year, at the meeting of the Company, it 
 was unanimously voted " that the President 
 and Directors be directed to make appli- 
 cation in behalf of the Company to the 
 General Assembly at the October session 
 for an act authorizing a change in the 
 corporate name of the institution." This 
 change was at that time accordingly made, 
 and ever since the association has been
 
 18 
 
 known as " The Company of the Redwood 
 Library and Athenaeum." 
 
 This name implies the enlarged scope of 
 the purposes of the institution, in accord- 
 ance with which there has been continually 
 increasing attention paid to the development 
 of the artistic and historical features always 
 appropriately associated with the Library. 
 Those who visit its rooms today can not 
 fail to appreciate the elevating and inspiring 
 influence exerted by its remarkable collec- 
 tion of paintings and statuary. 
 
 Portraits by Stuart, Sully, Sir Thomas 
 Lawrence, Charles B. King and others, 
 representing almost all the notable men and 
 women in Newport's history, as well as the 
 leading figures in our national life, from 
 Washington down ; and many poets and 
 writers. Visitors also are interested in the 
 remarkable collection of marble statues of
 
 19 
 
 Michel Angelo, Raphael, Demosthenes, 
 Socrates, Voltaire, Milton, and many 
 modern men of eminence.
 
 PRESENT CONDITION AND 
 PROSPECTS 
 
 The condition of the Library is in many 
 ways most encouraging. There are at 
 present over sixty-three thousand books 
 upon the shelves, and a large number of 
 pamphlets, maps, manuscripts and photo- 
 graphs. These are increasing rapidly, 
 there being considerable funds for the pur- 
 chase of books, which are being liberally 
 and we believe wisely expended. And 
 should we be so fortunate as to secure 
 a considerable endowment to meet the 
 running expenses, there is no reason why 
 the future of this institution, growing 
 rapidly as it is year by year, should not 
 vastly exceed the past in the extent and the 
 quality of the influence which it exerts upon
 
 21 
 
 the community, permanent and transient. 
 To this end the directors are desirous of 
 exerting every effort, and trust that their 
 ambition may be appreciated and aided by 
 all the share holders.
 
 FORMER PRESIDENTS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REDWOOD LIBRARY AND ATHEN^UM 
 
 ABRAHAM REDWOOD from 1747 to 1788 
 
 HENRY MARCH ANT " 1791 " 1797 
 
 WILLIAM VERNON " 1797 " 1801 
 
 JOHN HOURS " 1801 " 18U9 
 
 JONATHAN EASTON " 1809 " 1813 
 
 ROBERT STEVENS " 1813 " 1830 
 
 DAVID KING " 1830 " 1836 
 
 AUDLEY CLARKE " 1836 " 1844 
 
 GEORGE G. KING " 1844 " 1846 
 
 WILLIAM HUNTER " 1846 " 1849 
 
 DAVID KING " 1849 " 1859 
 
 GEORGE G. KING " 1859 " 1870 
 
 WILLIAM COZZENS " 1870 " 1872 
 
 HENRY LEDYARD " 1872 " 1874 
 
 EDWARD KING " 1874 " 1875 
 
 FRANCIS BRINLEY " 1875 " 1882 
 
 JAMES E. MAURAN " 1882 " 1883 
 
 HENRY E. TURNER " 1883 " 1886 
 
 LEROY KING " 1886 " 1895 
 
 HENRY G. MARQUAND " 1895 " 1902 
 
 ARTHUR B. EMMONS " 1902 " 1909 
 
 DANIEL B. FEARING " 1909 " 1913 
 
 J. FRED PIERSON " 1913 " 1916
 
 PRESENT OFFICERS 
 
 OF THE INSTITUTION 
 
 President 
 
 RODERICK TERRY 
 
 Vice-President 
 
 J. FRED PIERSON 
 
 Directors 
 
 DARIUS BAKER THOMAS P. PECKHAM 
 
 MRS. HAROLD BROWN WILLIAM P. SHEFFIELD 
 
 WILLIAM P. BUFFUM WILLIAM S. SHERMAN 
 
 FRENCH E. CHADWICK HORATIO R. STORER 
 
 DANIEL B. FEARING ELIZABETH H. SWINBURNE 
 MRS. CHARLES C. GARDNER HAMILTON B. TOMPKINS 
 
 HENRY BARTON JACOBS JAMES LAURENS VAN ALEN 
 
 ARTHUR CURTISS JAMES JOSEPH H. WILLARD 
 
 Secretary 
 
 ALFRED G. LANGLEY 
 
 Treasurer 
 
 EDWARD A. SHERMAN 
 
 Librarian 
 
 GEORGE L. HINCKLEY 
 
 Assistants 
 
 ADA E. GOSLING KATHERINE C. FRIEND 
 
 Cataloguer 
 
 SADIE ST. CLAIR
 
 z 
 
 133 
 
 O 
 
 f 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 Santa Barbara 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW. 
 
 Series 9482