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REMARKS 
 
 PUBLIC LIBRARIES 
 
 FROM "THE NOBTH AMERICAN REVIEW" FOR JULY, 1850. 
 
 FOE PEIVATE DISTRIBUTION ONLY. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE : 
 PRINTED BY BOLLES AND HOUGHTON. 
 
 MDCCCL. 
 
'. ..' 
 
 ' 
 
 " But is there to be no end to this purchase of books ? Oh yes ; and let us see 
 when it is. When there have been redeemed from time all the valuable intellectual 
 bequests of former ages ; when there has been garnered up all that preceding 
 generations had amassed as a sacred and imperishable inheritance, there will then, 
 'remain no duty but to collect what the age produces. And when literary ambition 
 shall cease to be excited ; when genius is no longer bestowed by the munificence 
 of Heaven; when industry no longer collects new facts respecting man and 
 nature ; when the forming hand ceases to reproduce ; when the streams of human 
 intellect no longer flow ; when the springs of intelligence and thought are all 
 dried up ; when the regions of science and of mind sleep in universal lethargy, 
 then will it be time to give over buying books." 
 
PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 IT has been suggested, that the views presented in 
 the following " Remarks " are liable to be misappre- 
 hended; that they may leave on the mind of the 
 reader the impression, that the deficiencies of this 
 country in respect to large Libraries are therein exag- 
 gerated ; or, at any rate, that it was unnecessary thus 
 to expose them. 
 
 Let any one, however, investigate the actual pres- 
 ent state of our larger Libraries, and he will soon be 
 satisfied that the deficiencies are even greater, much 
 greater, than they are here represented to be. Un- 
 doubtedly the fuller returns which are in a short 
 time to be published respecting the statistics of 
 Libraries in the United States, will show a much 
 larger aggregate number of volumes in the country 
 than has heretofore been given. Still the numerous 
 small Libraries whose united contents go to make up 
 this aggregate, are, in most cases, composed of nearly 
 the same books ; so that all that has been said of the 
 difficulty of thoroughly pursuing any scientific or lit- 
 erary research will remain true. 
 
 The second part of the objection may be removed 
 
4 
 
 by considering that the article was written in full 
 faith that, to have these deficiencies supplied, it was 
 only necessary to point them out 
 
 The allusion to the cost of the buildings of the 
 Girard College, the Boston Athenaeum, and the Libra- 
 ry of Harvard College, is more likely to be misunder- 
 stood. Perhaps they ought not to have been placed 
 in the same category. For the first named, a col- 
 lege for poor orphans no satisfactory explanation or 
 apology can be offered. With respect to Gore Hall 
 and to the Athenaeum, the case is quite different. It 
 was believed, and with much reason, that if splendid 
 receptacles for literary treasures were provided, pri- 
 vate munificence would ere long fill them with the 
 needed books. It is earnestly hoped that this may 
 yet be so. Here are caskets fit to contain the richest 
 gems; shrines, in which should be deposited the 
 choicest relics of ancient and modern literature and 
 science. May the time soon come, when the cost- 
 liness and beauty of these edifices will not exhibit 
 so strong a contrast with the poverty of their con- 
 tents. 
 
 G. L. 
 
 DANA HILL, CAMBRIDGE, 
 July, 1850. 
 
PUBLIC LIBHAKIES. 
 
 1. Report from the select Committee on Public Libraries ; 
 together with the Proceedings of the Committee, Minutes 
 of Evidence, and Appendix. Ordered by the House of 
 Commons to be printed, 23 July, 1849. London. 
 Folio, pp. xx. and 317. 
 
 2. Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into 
 the Constitution and Government of the British Museum ; 
 with Minutes of Evidence. Presented to both Houses of 
 Parliament, by Command of Her Majesty. London : 
 Printed by William Clowes and Sons. 1850. Folio, 
 pp. xliv. and 823. 
 
 3. Annual Report of the Trustees of the Astor Library of 
 the City of New York. Made to the Legislature, Janu- 
 ary 29, 1850. Albany : Weed, Parsons, and Co., Pub- 
 lic Printers. 1850. [Assembly Document, No. 43, pp. 
 30.] 
 
 4. Reports, etc., of the Smithsonian Institution, exhibiting 
 its Plans, Operations, and Financial Condition up to 
 January 1, 1849. From the third annual Report of the 
 Board of Regents. Presented to Congress, February 1 9th, 
 1849. Washington: Thomas Ritchie, Printer. 1849. 
 8vo. pp. 72. 
 
 ALLUDING to our attainments in literature and science in 
 comparison with those of other nations of our age, Mr. Justice 
 Story, in an address before the Phi Beta Kappa Society at 
 Cambridge, a few years since, made the following remarks : 
 " We have no reason to blush for what we have been or what 
 we are. But we shall have much to blush for, if, when the 
 highest attainments of the human intellect are within our 
 reach, we surrender ourselves to an obstinate indifference or 
 
6 
 
 shallow mediocrity ; if, in our literary career, we are content 
 to rank behind the meanest principality of Europe. Let us 
 not waste our time in seeking for apologies for our ignorance 
 where it exists, or in framing excuses to conceal it. Let our 
 short reply to all such suggestions be, like the answer of a noble 
 youth on another occasion, that we know the fact, and are 
 every day getting the better of it." 
 
 The orator then ventures to mention one of our greatest 
 national deficiences, and says, "There is not, perhaps, a 
 single library in America, sufficiently copious to have enabled 
 Gibbon to have verified the authorities for his immortal His- 
 tory of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." * 
 
 Notwithstanding his prefatory remarks, and the qualifying 
 terms in which he stated this fact, it was received with sur- 
 prise, and some doubt, by a large portion of his audience. 
 Nearly all his hearers thought it a bold statement to be made 
 so near to the vast bibliographical treasures of Harvard College. 
 It was even hinted that the orator had probably been seeking 
 in vain for some ancient black-letter law book from the press 
 of Richard Pynson, and had drawn his general conclusions 
 from his particular disappointment. But had the distin- 
 guished jurist been as learned in bibliothecal as in legal 
 lore, had he and his audience been as thoroughly familiar 
 with the actual condition and wants of our public libraries, as 
 they were, in general, impressed with the importance of stren- 
 uous efforts on the part of men of literature and science, to 
 raise our relative rank with other nations in these respects, he 
 could have presented a much stronger case without danger of 
 exciting surprise or doubt. It would not have been necessary 
 to have cited so distinguished an author as Gibbon, nor so 
 elaborate and learned a work as his matchless history. Our 
 own neighborhood would furnish many instances, where re- 
 search has been abandoned in despair on account of the mea- 
 greness of materials for pursuing the necessary investigations. 
 We do not hesitate to say, that not one, nor all the libraries 
 in this *country combined, would furnish sufficient materials 
 
 * Fisher Ames had, many years before, made a similar statement ; and we 
 have it from a high source, that John Quincy Adams attempted to supply the 
 deficiency, by importing at his own expense every work to which Gibbon refers in 
 his History. In the collection of books left by Mr. Adams, and now at the family 
 mansion in Quincy, there are probably more of these authorities than in any 
 other library in the country. 
 
for writing a complete history of that little book of three or 
 four score diminutive pages, which has had such a mighty 
 influence in moulding the character and creed of former 
 generations, "The New England Primer."* 
 
 With respect to Gibbon, it might have been said with equal 
 truth, that probably not all the libraries in Great Britain, and 
 perhaps no single library in the world, was sufficiently copious 
 to have supplied him with the authorities for his work. Ac- 
 cording to his own published statement, he was obliged to 
 collect and purchase for his own use the extensive and valu- 
 able works which form the basis of his history. So, in our 
 own country, such writers as Irving, Sparks, Prescott, and 
 Bancroft have been obliged to visit Europe to collect mate- 
 rials for their histories, or at a great expense to import the 
 works which ought to have been freely furnished to them 
 from our public libraries. It was only by visiting Spain, and 
 collecting, at his own cost, one of the best libraries of Spanish 
 literature anywhere to be found, that Mr. Ticknor was 
 enabled to avail himself of the materials necessary for writing 
 his invaluable work. If either of the above-named distin- 
 guished authors had been less favored in their means, the 
 world would not have enjoyed the results of their studies. Is 
 it strange, then, that our country has not produced a larger 
 number of eminent and thorough scholars? The pursuits of 
 literature are, at present, too expensive for any but fortune's 
 favorites to engage in them with success. 
 
 * This assertion must not be regarded by the reader as a random or reckless 
 one, intended more for effect than for expressing an ascertained fact ; for such is 
 not the case. Not many months since, a series of articles on the History of the 
 New England Primer appeared in the " Cambridge Chronicle." The writer gave 
 some account of the authors of the various pieces in that little book, and of the 
 persons named therein. In speaking of John Rogers, the story of whose martyr- 
 dom (with an affecting picture to match) occupies so prominent a place in the 
 Primer, it was stated that he had exhibited, in the case of Joan Bocher, an equally 
 persecuting spirit with that of his papistical executioners. The origin of this accu- 
 sation was traced back to Fox, who was a contemporary of Rogers. The account in 
 " The Cambridge Chronicle" was given from "Crosby's History of the Baptists." 
 The writer of that work copies from Peirce, who, in his History of the Dissenters, 
 says that he had it from the first Latin edition of " Fox's Book of Martyrs," and 
 that it was suppressed in the following editions, out of regard to the memory of 
 Rogers. Some of the numerous persons in this country bearing the name of Ro- 
 gers, and claiming to be lineal descendants of him of Primer memory, were un- 
 willing to receive at second-hand ^statement which, if true, leaves a deep stain on 
 the character of their ancestor. Diligent inquiry was made for the original work ; 
 but no copy of the first edition of Fox's Book of Martyrs could be found in any 
 library in the country. Several cases of a similar kind occurred when investigating 
 the history of the Primer ; and other important matters connected with that little 
 book and its authors were left in doubt, on account of the impossibility of obtaining 
 the requisite works to verify or correct them. 
 
8 
 
 It would be difficult to name a subject of equal importance 
 that has heretofore received so little attention, or a want 
 equally pressing, which has been so inadequately supplied, as 
 that of large and well selected public libraries. We would 
 not be understood as intimating that there has been a designed 
 neglect or unwillingness to furnish the means for the highest 
 intellectual culture, and for the most thorough literary and 
 scientific investigations. On the contrary, we have the fullest 
 faith that it is only necessary to have the deficiencies in these 
 respects made known, in order that they may be soon supplied. 
 Indeed, the paramount importance of large, well furnished 
 libraries, easily accessible to students and others, has never 
 been denied. The reason why we have to lament their pre- 
 sent great deficiencies is the mistaken notion as to what may 
 properly be said to constitute a satisfactory collection. 
 
 We suppose that the opinion pretty extensively prevails, 
 that as far as this country and Europe are concerned, the pre- 
 sent condition of these institutions may be regarded with un- 
 alloyed satisfaction. We often hear the libraries of Harvard, 
 Yale, and Brown universities, with those in the cities of Bos- 
 ton, New York, and Philadelphia, alluded to in terms which 
 show very evidently, that, in the estimation of the public, there 
 is no cause for complaint on account of their present condition. 
 According to the common belief, these large collections con- 
 tain nearly every work worth preserving in the various depart- 
 ments of literature and science. If a scholar desires thoroughly 
 to investigate any subject, he has only to resort thither to find 
 all that has ever been published by his predecessors in the 
 same departments, and all that is necessary to aid him in his 
 pursuits. Certainly, these large collections from 30,000 
 to 60,000 volumes must contain all that any scholar can 
 ever need. But if, perchance, a case should arise in which 
 a rare work is needed for reference, and is not to be found in 
 the country, a visit to the British Museum, where there are 
 nearly half a million of volumes, or to the national library at 
 Paris, with twice that number, will supply all deficiencies. 
 
 A single fact, selected from a multitude of a similar charac- 
 ter which have come to our knowledge, will be sufficient to 
 show the error of such a conclusion. Within a few months, 
 an English writer has published the following statement in 
 the London Athenaeum : "In the progress of a late histori- 
 
cal inquiry, I covered a sheet of paper with notes and ques- 
 tions, that could be solved only by reference to contemporary 
 tracts and pamphlets. On visiting the Museum, it was found 
 that not jive per cent, of what I wanted were contained in that 
 great national collection." Now, it must be acknowledged, 
 that the Library of the British Museum contains one of the 
 most complete collections of historical works to be found in 
 any country ; and it is known to be particularly rich in books 
 and pamphlets relative to the history of Great Britain. Yet 
 the writer whom we have quoted finds cause to regret its great 
 incompleteness in that department. We presume a similar, 
 perhaps a greater, deficiency would be found in nearly every 
 other department. Nor is this the fault of those to whom the 
 duty of purchasing the books is intrusted. Considering the 
 multiplicity and variety of objects that claim their attention, 
 and the inadequate means afforded to them, it is wonderful 
 that so much has been accomplished in supplying the wants 
 of different classes of readers and scholars. 
 
 The popular error that only the best books and on the most 
 important subjects are worth preserving, has done much to 
 retard the establishment and growth of large libraries in this 
 country. When a person, unaccustomed to the use or sight 
 of many books, enters for the first time a large library, he is 
 very likely to utter an exclamation of astonishment at the 
 vastness the unnecessary extent of the collection, and to 
 make the wondering inquiry whether anybody is expected to 
 read all the volumes ; as if all books that are worth preserv- 
 ing are therefore to be read through ! It has been well said, 
 that a National Library should contain all those works which 
 are too costly, too voluminous, or of too little value in the 
 common estimation, to be found elsewhere, down even to the 
 smallest tracts. An old almanac or a forgotten pamphlet has 
 sometimes enabled the historian to verify or correct some im- 
 portant point which would otherwise have remained in dispute. 
 
 The publication of the various documents whose titles are 
 given above affords the best evidence, that at length the sub- 
 ject is likely to be treated in a manner more nearly commensu- 
 rate with its importance. We therefore notice their appearance 
 with great pleasure. Our purpose in presenting the subject 
 tOLOur readers at this time is not so much to offer remarks and 
 suggestions of our own, as to lay before them some facts con- 
 
10 
 
 cerning the libraries of Europe and America, derived princi- 
 pally from the two reports which stand first on our list. 
 
 Almost immediately on the publication of these reports, a 
 sharp controversy, which is not likely soon to be closed, was 
 commenced in England concerning some of the matters therein 
 discussed. We have no desire to take part in that contro- 
 versy ; nor is it our intention to enter upon a critical review of 
 the reports. Although prepared for the specific purpose indi- 
 cated by the titles, they contain much valuable information of 
 equal value to us in this country. Of this we gratefully avail 
 ourselves. Probably there has never before been brought 
 together so great a mass of original matter on the subject of 
 libraries. Almost every particular connected with the estab- 
 lishment and proper management of such institutions was 
 considered by the committees, and the results of their investi- 
 gations are given at length in the reports and in the copious 
 minutes of evidence that accompany them. Many of the 
 statements which are here published, on the highest authority, 
 were received, on their publication in England, with surprise 
 and distrust. The reason of this is obvious. No thorough, 
 systematic investigation, at all adequate to the importance of 
 the subject, had ever before been made. The people of 
 Great Britain were not prepared to be told that, in the matter 
 of public libraries, they ranked lower than any other country 
 in Europe. But we think it would create still greater sur- 
 prise, in this country, if a correct comparative view of our 
 condition were published by the side of that of the European 
 states. It would be found that we present to the world the 
 singular anomaly of a nation, second to none in respect to 
 the general intelligence of the whole people and the means of 
 a common education a nation unequalled as readers and 
 book-buyers, and yet, in the matter of libraries to which an 
 author may resort thoroughly to investigate any subject on 
 which he may be about to write, ranking far below most of 
 the countries of Europe. We have no cause to lament, but 
 on the contrary, occasion greatly to rejoice, at our comparative 
 condition, on the whole, when placed beside that of the most 
 favored of the countries to which we have alluded. The 
 advantages for the almost universal diffusion of useful know- 
 ledge among us, we should, by no means, be willing to ex- 
 change for the means of affording to a privileged few the 
 
11 
 
 opportunities of the highest culture, and the most thorough 
 historical or literary research. But we are subjected to no 
 such alternative. Our people are and will be readers. They 
 are generally prepared to make a good use of books of a 
 higher order than those offered to them in so cheap and 
 attractive a form by our enterprising publishers. Now, either 
 their energies will be wasted in a desultory, unprofitable course 
 of reading, by which they will gain only a superficial know- 
 ledge of almost every conceivable subject, or they must be 
 furnished with the means, which they are so well prepared to 
 use to advantage, of going to the bottom of whatever subject 
 interests them, and, having exhausted the wisdom of past gene- 
 rations, of adding to the stock of general knowledge from the 
 results of their own thoughts and experience. 
 
 The select committee appointed in March, 1849, by the 
 British House of Commons to report on the best means of 
 " extending the establishment of Libraries freely open to the 
 public, especially in large towns, in Great Britain and Ire- 
 land," consisted of fifteen members, namely : Mr. Ewart, 
 Viscount Ebrington, Mr. D'lsraeli, Sir Harry Verney, Mr. 
 Charteris, Mr. Bunbury, Mr. George Alexander Hamilton, 
 Mr. Brotherton, Mr. Milnes, The Lord Advocate, Sir John 
 Walsh, Mr. Thicknesse, Mr. Mackinnon, Mr. Kershaw, and 
 Mr. Wyld. The committee appear to have entered upon 
 their labors with zeal, and to have performed their duty with 
 thoroughness and fidelity. They held numerous sessions, and 
 examined a large number of witnesses. The particulars of 
 these examinations are printed in full. The report of the 
 committee occupies only twelve pages, whilst the minutes of 
 evidence, tables, &LC., fill over three hundred. The committee 
 appear to have felt, that it was only necessary to lay before 
 Parliament and the public the facts concerning the present 
 condition and wants of the public libraries, in order to ensure 
 the supply of all deficiencies. 
 
 After presenting a brief view of the libraries in the various 
 countries of Europe, with a more particular account of the 
 present condition of those in Great Britain, showing that the 
 English are far behind their continental neighbors in this re- 
 spect, the Committee say : 
 
 " Whatever may be our disappointment at the rarity of Public 
 Libraries in the United Kingdom, we feel satisfaction in stating, 
 
12 
 
 that the uniform current of the evidence tends to prove the 
 increased qualifications of the people to appreciate and enjoy 
 such institutions. Testimony showing a great improvement in 
 national habits and manners is abundantly given jn the evidence 
 taken by the Committee. That they would be further improved 
 by the establishment of Public Libraries, it needs not even the 
 high authority and ample evidence of the witnesses who appeared 
 before the Committee to demonstrate." p. vii. 
 
 Frequent and favorable allusions are made in the report 
 and the minutes of evidence to the numerous popular libra- 
 ries in this country for district schools, factories, &c. These, 
 we are aware, are of the greatest value. But these alone 
 are not sufficient. The establishment of even a hundred 
 thousand small, village, or district-school libraries, would not 
 supersede the necessity of a certain number of large and com- 
 prehensive ones. These little collections are much alike, 
 each containing nearly the same books as every other. The 
 Committee of Parliament appear to understand this. 
 
 " It is evident that there should be, in all countries, libraries of 
 two sorts : libraries of deposit and research ; and libraries devot- 
 ed to the general reading and circulation of books. Libraries of 
 deposit should contain, if possible, almost every book that ever 
 has existed. This point is justly dwelt upon by many witnesses, 
 and especially by that learned person and experienced biblio phi- 
 list, M. Libri. The most insignificant tract, the most trifling 
 essay, a sermon, a newspaper, or a song, may afford an illustra- 
 tion of manners or opinions elucidatory of the past, and throw a 
 faithful, though feeble light, on the pathway of the future histo- 
 rian. In such libraries nothing should be rejected. Not but that 
 libraries of deposit and of general reading may (as in the case of 
 the British Museum) be combined. But though such combina- 
 tion is possible, and may be desirable, the distinction which we 
 have drawn should never be forgotten." p. ix. 
 
 The value of printed catalogues was fully considered by 
 the committee, and they have expressed a decided opinion 
 respecting their importance. As we shall have occasion to 
 recur to this subject when we come to consider the' report of 
 the commissioners on the Museum, we defer our remarks till 
 that time, and pass at once to a notice of some of the prin- 
 cipal witnesses on whose testimony the conclusions of the 
 committee are founded. 
 
 The first, and apparently, in the estimation of the commit- 
 
13 
 
 tee, the most important witness, was Edward Edwards, 
 Esq., an assistant in the department of printed books in the 
 British Museum. The minutes of his evidence alone cover 
 between sixty and seventy of the closely printed folio pages 
 accompanying the report. Besides this, he has furnished 
 various statistical tables, occupying fifty pages, and a series 
 of twelve maps. In one of the maps it is his purpose to 
 exhibit, by various shades, the relative provision of books in 
 public libraries in the principal states of Europe, as compared 
 with their respective populations ; and in the others, the local 
 situation of the public libraries in some of the principal cities. 
 The evidence of Mr. Edwards has been severely commented 
 upon in the London newspapers and elsewhere, and some 
 inaccuracies in his tables, of greater or less magnitude, have 
 been pointed out. We might, perhaps, by a particular exam- 
 ination of every word and figure, add something to the list 
 of errata. But we think that those persons who are most 
 familiar with the difficulty of obtaining exact statistical infor- 
 mation will not wonder that an error should here and there be 
 found. We have looked over the evidence and the tables 
 with considerable care, and think them, on the whole, highly 
 creditable to the author. It is evident, however, from the 
 general tenor of his testimony, that Mr. Edwards presses 
 rather too strongly the point respecting the condition of Eng- 
 land compared with that of the countries on the continent, as 
 to the number and accessibility of their public libraries. His 
 enthusiasm on the subject, arising probably from a laudable 
 desire to have his own country take a higher rank in respect 
 to libraries than she now holds, has led him, we think, to 
 overlook or undervalue some of the advantages which she 
 already possesses. But his facts and figures are, in the main, to 
 be relied upon ; and we shall make use of them as sufficiently 
 accurate to give our readers a general view of the present bibli- 
 othecal condition of the principal countries of Europe. In jus- 
 tice to Mr. Edwards, we copy what he says of the difficulty of 
 obtaining such statistical information, and of the value to be 
 attached to it. 
 
 Ques. " Have you turned your attention to a comparison of 
 the number and extent of the libraries accessible to the public in 
 the principal states of Europe ? " 
 
 Ans. " I have turned my attention to that subject, and have 
 2 
 
14 
 
 formed several lists of such libraries, as far as I have been able 
 to acquire information respecting them." 
 
 Ques. " In what respects do you think a statistical comparison 
 of this kind is of value ?" 
 
 Ans. " Of course, in order to an accurate comparison of the 
 value of different libraries, you ought to know something of the 
 character of the books contained in them respectively ; but I think 
 that even a mere comparison of the numbers has some relative 
 value, especially if taken in connection with their growth, so that 
 you can compare what a library was, in point of extent, at one 
 period, with what it has become at a later period." 
 
 Ques. " Have you found it easy to acquire accurate data for 
 such a comparison ? " 
 
 Ans. (< It is a matter of very considerable difficulty indeed ; 
 there are few subjects upon which looser and vaguer statements 
 are to be found, even in statistical works of great repute, than 
 upon that matter. In fact, the difficulty is still greater with respect 
 to English libraries than with respect to foreign ; very little 
 attention has been bestowed upon the statistics of libraries, either 
 home or foreign, in this country. I think there are but two ways 
 in which any thing like accurate information can be obtained ; 
 namely, either by practical familiarity with the libraries them- 
 selves, which it has not been in my power to attain to any great 
 degree, or by correspondence, which latter I have carried on to a 
 considerable extent. It is upon that I base most of the results at 
 which I have arrived." 
 
 Ques. " What is the result of your comparison between the 
 libraries of the continent and those which exist in this country ?" 
 
 Ans. " That nearly every European state is in a far higher 
 position, both as to the number and extent of libraries accessible 
 to the public, and, generally, as respects the accessibility of such 
 libraries as do exist. There are some exceptions, but speaking 
 generally, in both these respects, almost every European state is 
 in a far higher position than this country." p. 2. 
 
 On Mr. Edwards's map of Europe, we find the smaller Ger- 
 man states to be represented with the lightest lines, indicating 
 the highest rank, and Great Britain with the darkest or lowest. 
 He states the provision of books in libraries publicly accessi- 
 ble, as compared with the population, to be as follows: In 
 Saxony, for every 100 inhabitants, there are 417 books ; in 
 Denmark, 412; in Bavaria, 339; in Tuscany, 261; in 
 Prussia, 200; in Austria, 167; in France, 129; in Belgium, 
 95 ; whilst in Great Britain, there are only 53 to every 100 
 inhabitants. 
 
15 
 
 In the following tables, the libraries containing less than 
 10,000 volumes each (of which there are, in France alone, at 
 least seventy or eighty,) are not taken into the account. 
 
 France has 107 Public 
 
 Libraries containing 4,000,000 vols. 
 Belgium has 14 do. 538,000 " 
 Prussia " 44 do. 2,400,000 " 
 Austria 48 do. 2,400,000 
 
 Saxony has 6 cont'g 554,000 vols. 
 Bavaria " 17 do. 1,267,000 " 
 Denmark " 5 do. 645,000 " 
 
 Tuscany " 9 do. 41l',000 " 
 G.Britain" 33 do. 1,771,493 " 
 
 Taking the capital cities we find the following results : 
 
 Paris has 9 Public 
 
 Libraries containing 1,474,000 vols. 
 Brussels has 2 do. 143,500 " 
 
 Berlin " 2 do. 530,000 
 
 Vienna " 3 do. 453,000 " 
 Milan " 2 do. 230,000 " 
 
 Dresden has 4 cont'g 340,500 " 
 
 Munich " 2 do. 800,000 
 
 Copenhagen " 3 do- 557,000 " 
 
 Florence " 6 do. 318,000 " 
 
 London 4 do. 490,500 " 
 
 Arrranging these libraries according to their extent, they 
 would stand as follows : 
 
 Paris (1) National Library, 
 Munich, Royal Library, 
 Petersburg Imperial Library, 
 London, British Museum, 
 Copenhagen, Eoyal Library, 
 Berlin, Royal Library, 
 Vienna, Imperial Library, 
 Dresden, Royal Library, 
 Madrid, National Library, 
 Wolfenbuttel, Ducal Library, 
 Stuttgard, Royal Library, 
 Paris (2), Arsenal Library, 
 
 Vols. Vols. 
 
 824,000 Milan, Brera Library, 170,000 
 
 600,000 Paris (3), St. Genevieve, 150,000 
 
 446,000 Darmstadt, Grand Ducal, 150,000 
 
 435,000 Florence, Magliabecchian, 150,000 
 
 412,000 Naples, Royal Library, 150,000 
 
 410,000 Brussels, Royal Library, 133,500 
 
 313,000 Rome (1), Casanate Library, 120,000 
 
 300,000 Hague, Royal Library, 100,000 
 
 200,000 Paris (4), Mazarine Library, 100,000 
 
 200,000 Rome (2), Vatican Library, 100,000 
 
 187,000 Parma, Ducal Library, 100,000 
 180,000 
 
 The chief University Libraries may be ranked in the fol- 
 lowing order: 
 
 Vols. 
 
 Gottingen, University Lib., 360,000 
 
 Breslau, University Library, 250,000 
 
 Oxford, Bodleian Library, 220,000 
 
 Tubingen, University Lib., 200,000 
 
 Munich, University Library, 200,000 
 
 Heidelburg, University Lib., 200,000 
 
 Cambridge, Public Library, 166,724 
 
 Bologna, University Library, 150,000 
 
 Prague, University Library, 130,000 
 
 Vols. 
 
 Vienna, University Library, 115,000 
 Leipsic, University Library, 112,000 
 Copenhagen, University Lib., 110,000 
 Turin, University Library, 110,000 
 Louvaine University Library, 105,000 
 Dublin, Trinity College Lib., 104,239 
 Upsal, University Library, 100,000 
 Erlangen, University Library, 100,000 
 Edinburgh, University Lib., 90,354 
 
 The largest Libraries in Great Britain are those of the 
 
 1 British Museum, London, 
 
 2 Bodleian, Oxford, 
 
 3 University, Cambridge, 
 
 Vols. Vols. 
 
 435,000 4 Advocates, Edinburgh, 148,000 
 
 220,000 5 Trinity College, Dublin, 104,239 
 166,724 
 
 Several pages are devoted by Mr. Edwards to a statistical 
 
16 
 
 view of the public libraries in the United States. But as the 
 estimated number of volumes in each does not appear in all 
 cases to apply to the same year, and as many of these collec- 
 tions have recently been considerably enlarged, and their 
 relative size changed, we cannot make use of the tables which 
 he furnishes, to show the actual extent of our libraries at the 
 present time. But as it may be a matter of interest to our 
 readers to know how we stand reported to the British Parlia- 
 ment, we present below Mr. Edwards's " Summary." In this 
 account, he includes only those libraries which contain 5000 
 volumes and upwards, to which the public, more or less re- 
 strictedly, have access. It embraces State libraries and those 
 of Colleges and Mercantile Societies ; but does not include 
 the numerous small school and parish libraries. 
 
 Vols. 
 
 
 
 Vols. 
 
 1 Alabama, has 1 Pub. Lib. 6,000 
 
 
 Brought up, 34, 
 
 454,366 
 
 2 Columbia, Disk of, has 2, 53,000 
 
 12 
 
 New Jersey, has 3, 
 
 28,500 
 
 3 Connecticut, " 6, 81,449 
 
 13 
 
 New York, 
 
 12, 
 
 157,411 
 
 4 Georgia, " 1 13,000 
 
 14 
 
 North Carolina, 
 
 1, 
 
 10,000 
 
 5 Kentucky, c 1 
 
 7,000 
 
 15 
 
 Ohio, 
 
 4, 
 
 30,497 
 
 6 Louisiana, " 1 
 
 5,500 
 
 16 
 
 Pennsylvania, 
 
 14, 
 
 159,200 
 
 7 Maine, " 3 
 
 38,860 
 
 17 
 
 Rhode Island, 
 
 3, 
 
 37,185 
 
 8 Maryland, " 1 
 
 12,000 
 
 18 South Carolina, 
 
 2, 
 
 30,000 
 
 9 Massachusetts, "14 
 
 200,757 
 
 19 
 
 Tennessee, 
 
 2, 
 
 16,000 
 
 10 Missouri, " 2 
 
 14,300 
 
 20 
 
 Vermont, 
 
 2, 
 
 16,254 
 
 11 New Hampshire, " 2 
 
 22,500 
 
 21 
 
 Virginia, " 4, 
 
 41,000 
 
 34, 454,366 
 
 
 Total ... 81 
 
 980,413 
 
 In accordance with the spirit of Mr. Justice Story's advice, 
 which we quoted at the commencement of our article, it may 
 not be amiss for us to compare this aggregate number of 
 volumes, which is given as the sum total of books in our pub- 
 lic libraries, with that of some other country, state, or city. 
 We select the capital city of France. 
 
 Estimated number m the Public Libraries of Paris is 1,474,000 
 
 " in the U. S. 980,413 
 
 Excess in favor of Paris, 493,587 
 
 This remarkable fact, that, in the matter of large libra- 
 ries, the single city of Paris is much better supplied than the 
 whole United States, may well create surprise, but should not 
 cause discouragement. If we are compelled to confess, in 
 the words of the orator alluded to above, " that we know the 
 fact," we can with equal truth add what he then hoped might 
 be so, " we are every day getting the better of it." We shall 
 
17 
 
 have something more to say presently about the real condi- 
 tion of the libraries in this country. 
 
 Mr. Edwards's u summary " is probably as nearly correct as 
 it could be made from any statistics which had then been pub- 
 lished in this country. It is a fact not very creditable to us, 
 that the most accurate account of American libraries that has 
 ever appeared, was published several years ago in Germany, 
 and has never been translated into English. We are much 
 pleased to learn, however, that the officers of the Smithsonian 
 Institution have taken measures for ascertaining fully and 
 exactly the number and size of the public libraries in the 
 United States ; so that we shall be likely soon to have accu- 
 rate statistical accounts of the highest value, prepared by the 
 accomplished librarian of that national institution, and pub- 
 lished under the sanction of its government. In his report 
 for 1849, Professor Jewett states the number of public libra- 
 ries in the United States, as far as then ascertained, to be 182 ; 
 and the whole number of volumes 1,294,000. This would 
 still leave this country behind the single city of Paris. When 
 the complete returns above alluded to are received and pub- 
 lished, the United States will present a much better appear- 
 ance than heretofore, though even then obliged to acknowledge 
 great deficiencies, and to take a lower rank with respect to 
 libraries than almost any country in Europe. We have 
 already stated that the relative rank of the libraries in this 
 country has been changed within a few years. We give 
 below the present number of volumes in a few of the largest. 
 
 1 Harvard College, including Vols. Vols. 
 the Law and Divinity Schools, 72,000 6 Mercantile Lib., New York, 32,000 
 
 2 Philadelphia & LoganianLib. 60,000 7 Georgetown College, D. C., 25,000 
 
 3 Boston Athenaum, 50,000 8 Brown University, 24,000 
 
 4 Library of Congress, 50,000 9 New York State Library, 24,000 
 
 5 New York Society Library, 32,000 10 Yale College, 21,000 
 
 We are sorry to find that the library of Harvard College, 
 which is the oldest, and, for a long time, was much the largest 
 and best, in the country, is fast losing its relative rank. Had 
 the powerful appeal of President Quincy to the Legislature in 
 1833 produced its proper effect, and had the State of Mas- 
 sachusetts granted from her treasury the sum necessary to 
 erect a suitable library building, the College would have been 
 enabled to expend annually for the increase of the library 
 the interest of the cost of that building, and we should not be 
 
18 
 
 obliged to deplore the many deficiences of the library. It was 
 well said by Mr. Quincy at that time, " The interest of 
 the public in the preservation of this library is far greater than 
 the interest of the seminary ; so much greater, that, in one 
 point of view, it may truly be said, that the commonwealth is 
 exclusively interested in its preservation ; for so far as the 
 interests of the seminary are regarded as identical with its 
 wants as an institution for the instruction of youth, they are 
 within the power of insurance. But the interests of the 
 public are absolutely beyond the power of any insurance, and 
 if lost are irreparable." * Unfortunately it sometimes happens, 
 that State Legislatures are so constituted that the logic and 
 eloquence of such a man as the distinguished President are 
 less effective than the fulsome and extravagant addresses of 
 Monsieur Vattemare. 
 
 But the aid which ought to have been promptly granted 
 by the State to the College that she delights to claim as her 
 own child, and over which she exercises jurisdiction, was 
 derived from the munificent bequest of a private individual. 
 Gore Hall is the monument of the 'liberality of a single bene- 
 factor. We wish we could say that the contents of the library 
 were in better keeping with the costly edifice in which they 
 are deposited. We are not unmindful of the great real and 
 comparative value of the books that are now to be found in 
 the collection. By the munificence of Israel Thorndike and 
 Samuel A. Eliot, two entire and very valuable collections of 
 books on American History were bought and presented to the 
 College. These, together with books purchased with the 
 bequest of $3,000 by the late Judge Prescott, make the 
 library more nearly complete in this than in any other depart- 
 ment. On the completion of Gore Hall, a liberal amount 
 was subscribed, by which other departments of the library 
 were greatly enriched. Yet its meagreness in almost every 
 department, if made known, would be likely to create aston- 
 ishment. We venture to point to a single instance as an 
 illustration of what we have just said ; and we do this not to 
 decry the college library, which is, on the whole, the best in 
 the country, but to show that the common idea, that the library 
 is already full, is far from correct. The department of bibli- 
 
 * Considerations relating to the Library of Harvard University, &c. p. 4. 
 
19 
 
 ograpliy is of the highest importance to every well conducted 
 library. Bibliographical books are to the librarian and the 
 literary man what the compass is to the mariner, or the tools 
 of his trade to the artisan. A complete bibliographical library 
 would not of itself contain less than 20,000 volumes. We 
 have recently seen two accounts of the number of volumes 
 that would be immediately important at the commencement 
 of a large library. The first was prepared for the Smithso- 
 nian Institution, and consists of 3000 volumes ; and the other 
 is " A concise classified list of the most important works 
 on Bibliography, being those selected in this department for 
 the Astor Library," and embracing about 2000 volumes. A 
 few weeks since, we had the curiosity to ascertain from actual 
 count, how many of the works named in this " concise list " 
 were in the college library, and found that not one third of 
 those named therein were now, or ever had been, there. 
 Other departments are equally deficient. We should be 
 sorry to see the managers of our public libraries under the 
 influence of bibliomania. We do not, however, consider 
 that their tendency lies in that direction. There is not, to 
 our knowledge, in any public library in New England, even a 
 specimen of the printing of Guttenberg, the inventor of the 
 art, nor of Caxton who first printed in England. The only 
 specimen of printing from the early New England press, which 
 is contained in the college library, is an imperfect copy of the 
 Bay Psalm Book. Let us look for one moment at the other 
 end of the list of works which one would naturally expect to 
 find in a library like this. Considering the close connection 
 which such men as Buckrninster, Channing, and Henry Ware, 
 held with the institution, we should expect to find at least one 
 copy of the published life and works of each of these eminent 
 divines. But they are not there. We will not multiply 
 instances of deficiences. The Harvard College Library is, 
 notwithstanding what we have said, better provided with use- 
 ful books than any other library in the country. It has been 
 confidently asserted, and we believe with strict truth, that not 
 one of the original thirteen States in the Union possesses a 
 complete and perfect set of its own printed documents. 
 
 The second witness examined by the committee was M. 
 Guizot. In the distinguished positions which he has filled as 
 Minister of Public Instruction, ajid Prime Minister in France, 
 
20 
 
 his attention has been turned to the public libraries of that 
 country. Whilst in office, he ordered an inspection of those 
 institutions ; and the French Government now has complete 
 and exact documents relative to the number of public libra- 
 ries and the number of books in each library. These libra- 
 ries are accessible to the public, in every way, for reading, 
 and, to a great extent, for borrowing books. Some of them 
 receive direct grants from the government towards their sup- 
 port. Others, in the provincial towns, are supported by muni- 
 cipal funds; to these, the government distributes copies of costly 
 works, for the publication of which it subscribes liberally. 
 
 The subject of international exchanges of books, as pro- 
 posed and urged with so much zeal by M. Vattemare, was 
 considered by the committee of Parliament. M. Guizot, 
 from his intimate knowledge of the origin and success of this 
 much vaunted system, was eminently qualified to perceive the 
 great advantages, if any, which have arisen, or would be 
 likely to arise, from its general adoption by various countries. 
 His calm and cool replies contrast strongly with the tone of 
 extravagance with which the matter has generally been 
 treated, especially in this country. 
 
 Ques. " Can you favor the committee with any suggestions as to 
 the means of facilitating interchanges of books between the public 
 libraries of different countries ? " 
 
 Ans. " I had some conversations on that matter with M. Alexan- 
 dre Vattemare, who travelled in the United States. He was the 
 great undertaker of the interchanges between the different libra- 
 ries ; nothing very practical or of great extent occurred ; I tried 
 several different ways, but I never came to any important and 
 general results." 
 
 Ques. " Not even with the United States ? " 
 
 Ans. "No." p. 42. 
 
 When we call to mind the fact that this witness was greatly 
 interested in the growth and prosperity of libraries, that he 
 had given much attention to their condition and wants, that 
 the system of which he speaks originated almost immediately 
 under his own eye, and that the views and projects of the 
 originator were well known to him, we must attach the high- 
 est value to his testimony. 
 
 There is much that, at first, is quite attractive and plausi- 
 ble in the system, as presented by its founder and zealous 
 
21 
 
 agent. The good feeling which it promises to promote 
 between nations and individuals, is a pleasant feature in the 
 plan, and has won for it many advocates. The earnest and 
 continued importunity, with which the matter has been pressed 
 upon the attention of Congress and of the State Legislatures 
 has secured sufficient attention to obtain approbatory resolves 
 and liberal grants of money and books to forward the object. 
 
 The estimated amount which M. Vattemare names, as 
 necessary for the support of his agency, is $10,250 per year. 
 He has already secured toward this object the following grants ; 
 namely, from the U. S. Congress, $2,000 ; and from the State 
 of Maine, $300 ; New Hampshire, $200 ; Vermont, $200 ; 
 Massachusetts, $300; Rhode Island, $200; Connecticut, 
 $200; New York, $400; New Jersey, $300; Delaware, 
 $100; Virginia, $400; North Carolina, $200 ; South Car- 
 olina, $300; Indiana, $400; which gives him already 
 the annual sum of $5,500. M. Vattemare very naturally 
 feels encouraged by this success, and indulges the confident 
 expectation, that " every State in the Union will cheerfully 
 contribute toward the support of the central agency at Paris." 
 A still more gratifying circumstance connected with his labors 
 is thus mentioned : " It is, that from the hour I, for the second 
 time, set my foot upon your shores, to this hour, though I have 
 in that time traversed so large a portion of your country, and 
 visited so many of your cities and great towns, I have not yet 
 been permitted to expend the first dollar, either for my 
 personal support or my travelling expenses." * He, with 
 much reason, speaks in high terms of the hospitality and 
 generosity with which he has been received in this country. 
 We believe a similar cordiality of reception has not awaited 
 him elsewhere. We do not learn that any other government, 
 not even that of his own native country, has made any grant 
 toward the support of his agency. 
 
 Appeals were made to our national pride and patriotism, as 
 well as to our purse. A single specimen will give a fair idea 
 of the usual style of his addresses. Mons. Vattemare, in his 
 letter to his Excellency, Governor Briggs, says,f i( It is 
 a lamentable fact that the United States does not now 
 
 * Address delivered before the Legislature of New Hampshire, June 28th, 
 1849, page 33. 
 t Massachusetts Senate Document, No. 26, February, 1845, page 4. 
 
22 
 
 occupy that rank in European estimation to which her 
 social and national position entitle her." After intimating 
 that the adoption of his system of exchanges is all that is 
 necessary to raise us in European estimation, he breaks out 
 in the following strain of overpowering eloquence : " The 
 veil of ignorance which shuts out your country from view will 
 fall ; and she will stand in the eyes of Europe in her true 
 dignity and glory, illuminated by the blaze of intellectual light 
 ever radiated from the constellation of stars that deck her 
 standard ! She will be known. She needs but to be known 
 to be appreciated, admired, and respected." 
 
 Our reputation as a sharp, calculating people is not forgot- 
 ten ; and he sets forth the good bargains we may make by ex- 
 changes with our European friends in the following terms : 
 
 " But your State will reap a rich reward for thus elevating the 
 national character. The treasures which have for centuries been 
 accumulating in the vast storehouses of European knowledge, 
 the works of her artists, inspired by the masterpieces of the world, 
 the laws, founded on the experience of ages, which direct her vast 
 governments, and protect her immense population, will be sent 
 you with a profuse hand, in exchange for what will cost you a 
 mere trifle. Value, intrinsic value, will not for a moment be 
 taken into consideration. The Bulletin des Lois, 240 volumes, 
 has already been sent for a copy of the Revised Statutes of one 
 of your sister States; and you may expect a similar prolific 
 return ; a rattlesnake or a lizard may procure a copy of the 
 Venus de Medicis, a State map the Geological map of France, 
 published at a cost of five hundred francs per copy, and not to be 
 purchased. In short, while the first-mentioned object will be glo- 
 riously effected, you will be real gainers by the exchange, and 
 fill your State Library, or the collection of your University, with 
 what it would cost immense sums to purchase." 
 
 Such appeals were irresistible. Appropriations of money 
 and books were soon made, and have been continued annually. 
 We will not say that the works received in exchange are 
 not all that could be reasonably expected or desired ; nor that 
 the amount appropriated, if wisely expended by a committee 
 of our own legislature, would have procured more books, and 
 those better adapted to the wants of the persons who make 
 use of the State Library. We cannot say, whether or not our 
 rank as a nation or state has been raised as was predicted. 
 Nor have we heard whether the rattlesnake was ever sent, 
 
23 
 
 and the Venus de Medicis received in exchange. But one 
 thing we must confess ; namely, that our faith in the feasibil- 
 ity of the system, never very firm, has not been strengthened 
 by carefully considering the subject in its various bearings. 
 
 It is not our object to throw doubt on the sincerity and dis- 
 interestedness of the zealous originator and promoter of the 
 system. The recent manifestations of distrust in certain 
 quarters concerning his fidelity have not been justified by any 
 specific proof. Monsieur Vattemare appears to be filled 
 with the idea, that his system of exchanges will be of 
 immense benefit to the nations which embrace it ; and by his 
 personal exertions he has already accomplished much. No 
 one can look over the printed list of donations to the New 
 York State Library, procured through his agency, without 
 feeling that that State, at least, has good cause to speak well 
 of his scheme and its results. But our conviction is strong, 
 that the system does not possess the elements of permanent or 
 long continued vitality. The novelty of the thing, and the 
 lofty promises which it makes as a promoter of good feeling 
 between nations, and of their mutual benefit in other respects, 
 when presented by the ardent advocate of the system, are 
 likely to make for it friends, and may produce immediate good 
 results. But this zealous interest is not easily to be trans- 
 ferred to another agent, when M. Vattemare's labors from any 
 cause shall cease. 
 
 When we notice the readiness of our national and state legis- 
 latures to listen to the representations of this foreign irresponsi- 
 ble agent, and to grant him privileges and appropriations with 
 unwonted liberality, our fears are great, that the attention of 
 those whose duty it is to see that the deficiencies of our public 
 libraries are carefully attended to, will be diverted from practi- 
 cable and permanent methods of supplying their real wants by 
 this attractive though somewhat visionary project. 
 
 His Excellency M. Van de Weyer, Minister from Belgium, 
 was next examined. He testified that the public libraries in 
 his country were numerous, large, and easily accessible to all 
 who desire to make use of them. He attributes the best results 
 to the literary character of his country from this privilege of 
 free access to their large collections of books. He thinks the 
 people are better prepared than is generally supposed to 
 appreciate works of a high character. He seems to think it 
 
24 
 
 unwise to attempt to popularize science and literature by 
 printing inferior books, written expressly for common and 
 uneducated people. The government subscribe for a num- 
 ber of copies of nearly every valuable work that is published, 
 by which means they encourage the progress of literature, and 
 are enabled to enrich many of the libraries. 
 
 " The government have sometimes, within a space of twenty 
 years, spent some ,10,000 or .12,000 in favor of libraries. I 
 take this opportunity of stating also, that though the Chamber only 
 votes a grant of 65,000 or 70,000 francs for the Royal Public 
 Library of Brussels, whenever there is some large sale going on, 
 there is always a special grant made to the library. Lately one 
 of the most curious private libraries had been advertised for sale ; 
 a catalogue had been printed in six volumes ; the government 
 immediately came forward, bought the whole of the library for 
 13,000 or 14,000, and made it an addition to the Royal Library 
 in Brussels ; they did the same thing at Ghent ; I believe the 
 library that they bought at Ghent consisted of about 20,000 vol- 
 umes, and in Brussels about 60,000 or 70,000 volumes." p. 52. 
 
 Passing by several witnesses, whose evidence we should 
 be glad to notice did our limits allow us to do so, we come to 
 George Dawson, Esq., who, as a lecturer, has had opportu- 
 nities of becoming acquainted with the condition, the feelings, 
 and the wants of the working classes in the manufacturing 
 towns, both in England and Scotland. He testifies, that 
 libraries to some extent have already been formed in those 
 places, and that there is a very general desire among the 
 working people to avail themselves of more and better books. 
 They can appreciate the best authors. Political and histori- 
 cal subjects interest them most, but the higher class of poetry 
 is also read by them. Milton is much read. Mr. Dawson 
 says, " Shakspeare is known by heart almost ; I could pro- 
 duce men who could be cross examined upon any play." 
 
 The contrast between the manufacturing and the farming 
 districts, in respect to the intelligence of the people and their 
 desire for improvement, is very great. Speaking of one of the 
 agricultural districts, Mr. Dawson says, " I have heard of a 
 parish in Norfolk, where a woman was the parish clerk, 
 because there was not a man in the parish who could read or 
 write." 
 
 The Rev. William Robert Freernantle, the next witness, 
 has turned his attention to the institution of libraries for the 
 
25 
 
 instruction of the rural population. He says that people are 
 very little acquainted with the extraordinary ignorance of 
 the poor in rural districts. Many books selected for them 
 lie on their tables unread. " Shakspeare would be lost upon 
 them." Alluding to the opposition manifested by the farmers 
 to the spread of education and knowledge among the laborers 
 in these districts, he says, 
 
 " I should be sorry to say any thing unfavorable to farmers ; I 
 have a great respect for them, but I am afraid if they do not read 
 themselves, they do not like to see the laboring class becom- 
 ing really and truly wiser than themselves ; if the farmers do not 
 move forward, the laboring classes will be the wiser of the two. 
 I have many young men in my parish better instructed than the 
 farmers, and who could give a better answer to a question than 
 many of the farmers themselves." p. 91. 
 
 Henry Stevens, Esq., formerly librarian of one of the librar 
 ries connected with Yale College, and familiar with the con- 
 dition of the principal libraries in this country, was called 
 upon to give an account of the present state of these institu- 
 tions in the United States. There are but few of our coun- 
 trymen who would have been able to give so full and correct 
 answers to the questions proposed by the committee as Mr. 
 Stevens. The subject is one to which he has devoted much 
 time and attention, and it was fortunate for the committee that 
 he was in London at the time when they were pursuing their 
 investigations. As Mr. Stevens's evidence has been exten- 
 sively republished in various ways in this country, and is 
 familiar to many of our readers, it is not necessary to copy 
 any portion of it here. We cannot, however, forbear to avail 
 ourselves of this occasion to allude to the important work on 
 which Mr. Stevens is now engaged, and to accomplish which, 
 in the most thorough manner, he has taken up a temporary 
 residence in London, that he may make use of the rich bibli- 
 ographical treasures in the British Museum. " The Biblio- 
 graphia Americana " will contain a bibliographical account of 
 the sources of American History, comprising a description of 
 books relating to America prior to the year 1700, and of all 
 books printed in America from 1543 to 1700, together with 
 notices of many of the more important unpublished manu- 
 scripts. When the work is ready for the press, it will be 
 published by the Smithsonian Institution in two quarto vol- 
 3 
 
26 
 
 umes. Its importance to the future historian will be ines- 
 timable. 
 
 The committee very justly place much value on the opin- 
 ions and suggestions of M. Libri. The thorough knowledge 
 which this eminent bibliographer possesses of all matters per- 
 taining to the condition and wants of public libraries, as well 
 as of the needs of literary men, renders his remarks worthy 
 of careful consideration. 
 
 " As I have already stated in my evidence, in my opinion, and 
 as all educated men agree, it is necessary that in a great country 
 there should be at least one library, in which one may expect to 
 find, as far as it is possible, all books which learned men, men 
 who occupy themselves upon any subject whatever, and who cul- 
 tivate one of the branches of human knowledge, may require to 
 consult. Of these, there is nothing useless, nothing ought to be 
 neglected ; the most insignificant in appearance, those which on 
 their publication have attracted the least attention, sometimes 
 become the source of valuable and unexpected information. It 
 is in the fragments, now so rare and precious, of some alphabets, 
 of some small grammars published for the use of schools about 
 the middle of the 15th century, or in the letters distributed in Ger- 
 many by the religious bodies commissioned to collect alms, that 
 bibliographers now seek to discover the first processes employed 
 by the inventors of xylography and typography. It is in a for- 
 
 fDtten collection of indifferent plates, published at Venice by 
 austo Verantio, towards the end of the 16th century, that an 
 engineer who interests himself in the history of the mechanical 
 arts, might find the first diagram of iron suspension bridges." 
 
 " Nothing should be neglected ; nothing is useless to whoever 
 wishes thoroughly to study a subject. An astronomer, who desires 
 to study the motions peculiar to certain stars, requires to consult 
 all the old books of astronomy, and even of astrology, which 
 appear the most replete with error. A chemist, a man who is 
 engaged in the industrial arts, may still consult with profit certain 
 works on alchemy, and even on magic. A legislator, a juris- 
 consult, needs sometimes to be acquainted with the laws, the ordi- 
 nances, which derive their origin from the most barbarous ages. 
 But it is particularly for the biographer, for the historian, that it 
 is necessary to prepare the largest field of inquiry, to amass the 
 greatest quantity of materials. This is not only true as regards 
 past times, but we ought to prepare the materials for future stu- 
 dents. Historical facts which appear the least important, the 
 most insignificant anecdotes, registered in a pamphlet, mentioned 
 in a placard or in a song, may be connected at a later period, in 
 
27 
 
 an unforeseen manner, with events which acquire great impor- 
 tance, or with men who are distinguished in history by their 
 genius, by their sudden elevation, or even by their crimes. We 
 are not born celebrated. Men become so ; and when we desire 
 to trace the history of those who have attained it, the inquirer is 
 often obliged to pursue his researches in their most humble begin- 
 nings. Who would have imagined that the obscure author of a 
 small pamphlet, " Le Souper de Beaucaire," would subsequently 
 become the Emperor Napoleon, and that to write fully the life of 
 the execrable Marat, one ought to have the very insignificant 
 essays on physics that he published before the Revolution ? 
 Nothing is too unimportant for whoever wishes thoroughly to 
 study the literary or scientific history of a country, or for one 
 who undertakes to trace the intellectual progress of eminent 
 minds, or to inform himself in detail of the changes which have 
 taken place in the institutions and in the manners of a nation. 
 Without speaking of the commentaries or considerable additions 
 which have been introduced in the various reprints of an author, 
 the successive editions of the same work which appear to resem- 
 ble each other the most are often distinguished from each other 
 by peculiarities worthy of much attention." p. 119. 
 
 With a brief extract from the evidence of one other wit- 
 ness, we must close our notice of the Report on Public Libra- 
 ries. Charles Meyer, Esq., German Secretary to His Royal 
 Highness Prince Albert, had given attention to the public 
 libraries of Germany, having resided several years in Gotha, 
 in Hamburgh, in Leipsic, and in Munich. He had perused 
 the principal part of the evidence which had been given by 
 Mr. Edwards upon this subject, and found all that he stated 
 to be quite correct. Dr. Meyer thinks the existence of the 
 numerous and valuable libraries of Germany has given the 
 literary men of that country an advantage over the literary 
 men of England. 
 
 " It has saved a great number of our German learned men from 
 the danger of becoming autodidactoi, self-taught. I think that is 
 one essential point of difference that is visible in comparing the 
 general character of the instruction in this country with that on 
 the continent ; there are in this country a great number of self- 
 taught people, who think according to their own views, without 
 any reference to previous scientific works. They make, some- 
 times, very great discoveries, but sometimes they find that they 
 have wasted their labor upon subjects already known, which have 
 been written upon by a great number of people before them ; but 
 
28 
 
 as they have no access to libraries, it is impossible for them to get 
 acquainted with the literature of that branch upon which they 
 treat." p. 139. 
 
 We come now to the Report of the Commissioners ap- 
 pointed to investigate the affairs of the British Museum. 
 There is probably no other public institution in Great Britain 
 which is regarded with so great and general interest as this. 
 By the variety of its departments, this great national deposi- 
 tory of literature and objects of natural history and antiquity 
 meets, in some way, the particular taste of almost every class 
 of citizens. The department of Natural History, in its three 
 divisions of Zoology, Botany, and Mineralogy, contains a 
 collection of objects unsurpassed, probably unequalled, in the 
 world. The department of antiquities is, in some particulars, 
 unrivalled for the number and value of the articles it contains. 
 But the library is the crowning glory of the whole. If, in 
 respect to the number of volumes it contains, it does not equal 
 the National Library at Paris, the Royal Library at Munich, 
 or the Imperial Library at Petersburg, in almost every 
 other respect, such as the value and usefulness of the books, 
 the arrangements for their convenient and safe keeping, the 
 facilities afforded by the officers to persons wishing to consult 
 the books, and, in fact, in every matter pertaining to its 
 internal arrangements, the library of the British Museum, by 
 the concurrent testimony of competent witnesses from various 
 countries, must take rank above all similar institutions in the 
 world. Well may the people of that nation regard the Mu- 
 seum with pride and pleasure. The liberal grants of Parlia- 
 ment and the munificent bequests of individuals are sure indi- 
 cations of a strong desire and purpose to continue and extend 
 its advantages. 
 
 Some idea of the magnitude of the Museum, and of its vast 
 resources, may be formed by considering that the buildings 
 alone, in which this great collection is deposited, have cost, 
 since the year 1823, nearly 700,000 ; and the whole expend- 
 iture for purchases, exclusive of the cost of the buildings named 
 above, is considerably more than 1,100,000. Besides this 
 liberal outlay by the British government, there have been nu- 
 merous magnificent bequests from individuals. The acquisi- 
 tions from private munificence were estimated, for the twelve 
 years preceding the year 1835, at not less than 400,000. 
 
29 
 
 The latest considerable bequest was that of the Rt. Hon. 
 Thomas Grenville ; his library, which he gave to the Museum 
 entire, was valued at over 50,000. The annual receipts of 
 the institution, of late years, from parliamentary grants and the 
 interest of private bequests, have been about 50,000. The 
 number of visitors to the Museum is immense. In the year 
 1848, they amounted to 897,985, being an average of about 
 three thousand visitors per day for every day when the Museum 
 is open. On special occasions, there have been as many as 
 thirty thousand visitors on a single day. 
 
 But great as are the advantages which the Museum has 
 freely offered to all who have had occasion to resort to it, and 
 faithfully as its managers have striven to meet every want of 
 the various classes who are interested in any of the different 
 departments, the Museum and its managers have not escaped 
 severe censure. Those of our readers who are in the habit of 
 looking over the English newspapers and magazines must 
 have been for some time aware of this fact. The complaints 
 have principally been of a vague and general character; 
 though occasionally they have assumed a definite form. 
 These increasing, though, as it has proved, generally un- 
 founded, complaints at length demanded and received the 
 attention of Parliament. 
 
 In June, 1847, commissioners were appointed to inquire 
 into, and report upon, the constitution and government of the 
 British Museum. In May, 1848, their number was increased. 
 They were invested with full powers to send for persons and 
 papers, and to administer oaths to the witnesses. The Earl 
 of Ellesmere was chairman ; and among his associates we 
 find the names of Lord Seymour, the Bishop of Norwich, 
 Joseph Hume, Richard Monckton Milnes, and Samuel Rogers. 
 The character of the commissioners was such as to inspire very 
 general confidence in the fidelity with which they would exer- 
 cise their functions, and the wisdom with which they would 
 come to their conclusions. Their report, with the minutes of 
 evidence, makes a gigantic document of nearly nine hundred 
 closely printed folio pages. We must express our disappoint- 
 ment and sorrow, that so much of the report and evidence 
 relate to difficulties and misunderstandings between the trust- 
 ees and the officers of the Museum. We regret still more, 
 that the commissioners found it necessary, in the discharge of 
 3* 
 
30 
 
 the duty assigned them, to publish so much concerning the 
 internal dissensions, the jealousies, and ill feeling, which pre- 
 vail among the heads of the departments and officers them- 
 selves. From their vocation and relative position, we should 
 expect no other than the expression of the kindest sentiments, 
 and the cultivation of the most genial feelings. We would 
 not dwell on these ungrateful and delicate topics, though we 
 do not feel justified in passing them over in entire silence. 
 
 The government of the Museum is vested in a Board of 
 Trustees, 48 in number, of whom one is named directly by 
 the Crown, 23 are official, 9 are named by the representatives 
 or executors of parties who have been donors to the institu- 
 tion, and 15 are elected. The Royal Trustee is H. R. H. 
 the Duke of Cambridge. Among the official trustees are the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, the Speaker 
 of the House of Commons, the Lord Chief Justice, the Pre- 
 sidents of some of the principal scientific and literary asso- 
 ciations, and other high dignitaries of the nation. Among 
 the elected trustees are Sir Robert Peel, Henry Hallam, and 
 T. B. Macaulay. 
 
 " Such a Board of Trustees, to any one who considers the in- 
 dividuals who compose it, with reference to their rank, intelli- 
 gence, and ability, would give assurance rather than promise of 
 the most unexceptionable, and, indeed, wisest administration in 
 every department. High attainments in literature and in science, 
 great knowledge and experience of the world and its affairs, and 
 practised habits of business, distinguish many of them in an em- 
 inent degree ; and it would be unjust either to deny the interest 
 which all of them feel in the prosperity of the institution, or 
 refrain from acknowledging the devoted services which some of 
 them have rendered in its administration. But, on the other 
 hand, absorbing public cares, professional avocations, and the 
 pursuits of private life, must, in many instances, prevent those 
 individuals whose assistance might have been relied on from giv- 
 ing any thing like continued attention to the affairs of the Institu- 
 tion ; and, what is perhaps of more importance, the large number 
 of the Board, by dividing, or rather extinguishing, individual 
 duty or responsibility, has, in a great measure, interfered with the 
 superintendence and control which might have been usefully 
 exercised by any smaller selected number specially charged with 
 the duty." p. 3. 
 
 There appears to be no opportunity afforded, by means of 
 
31 
 
 personal intercourse between the officers of the different de- 
 partments and the Trustees, for consultation and advice 
 relative to the management of the various and complicated 
 affairs of the Museum. The Trustees, or such a number of 
 them as find it convenient, meet once a month. No notice 
 is given to them beforehand of the business to be brought 
 before them, and all communications are by the means of 
 written reports. 
 
 " We are compelled to add, that the mode in which the busi- 
 ness is brought before the Trustees seems in itself as objectionable 
 as the want of notice. It is done almpst invariably by means of 
 written reports. Not to mention the reports of the assistants and 
 subordinate officers, the heads of departments communicate with 
 the Board by written reports. These reports are transmitted to 
 the Trustees by the principal librarian, who accompanies them 
 with another report, in which he states such observations as occur 
 to him. Neither the principal librarian nor the heads of depart- 
 ments are, except in extraordinary cases, admitted to the board- 
 room when the business of their department is under consideration. 
 The reports themselves, from the great increase of the establish- 
 ment, have become so voluminous, that they cannot be read en- 
 tirely at the meeting of Trustees." p. 6. . J&v 
 
 The Commissioners further say, 
 
 " We find, however, there is scarcely one of the highest 
 officers of the institution who has not complained of systematic 
 exclusion from the Board when the affairs of his department are 
 under consideration, as equally disparaging to himself and inju- 
 rious to the interests of the department, giving no opportunity of 
 explaining their reports, or meeting the objections and criticisms 
 to which they may have been subject ; and their own absence, 
 joined to that of the principal librarian, leaves them under the 
 painful but natural impression, where their suggestions are disal- 
 lowed v that the interests with which they are charged have not 
 been fully represented. We cannot but ascribe to this cause the 
 unfortunate and unseemly jealousies which the evidence shows 
 to have long existed among the principal officers of the Museum 
 
 their distrust in the security of the means by which they 
 communicate with the Board their misgivings as to the fulness 
 and fairness of the consideration which their suggestions receive 
 
 and their feelings of injustice done to their own department, 
 arising, it may be, from an over zeal for its interests, or over 
 estimate of its importance." p. 7. 
 
 Whilst looking over the Report and minutes of evidence, 
 
32 
 
 we have had frequently forced upon our attention the unpleas- 
 ant fact of " the want of harmony and good understanding 
 between the heads of different departments." We are sorry 
 to see that these internal dissensions are so great, and have 
 been of so long standing. It is well known that much dis- 
 satisfaction was manifested in certain quarters when Mr. 
 Panizzi was, several years since, appointed Librarian, or 
 Keeper of the Printed Books. The chief reasons given for dis- 
 satisfaction at his appointment, and for his commission bear- 
 ing an earlier date than ^hat of Sir Frederic Madden, were : 
 First, that Mr. Panizzi was a foreigner ; and secondly, 
 that he had not been so long a time in the Museum ; 
 either of which facts it was considered ought to prevent his 
 having precedence over Sir Frederic Madden. We have no 
 desire or occasion to pass judgment on the propriety or jus- 
 tice of the original appointment, but we feel bound to say, in 
 view of all the facts which have been elicited by the inves- 
 tigations of the Commissioners, that it would be a difficult 
 matter to find in any country another man so pree'minently 
 fitted to take charge of such a department, as Antonio Pa- 
 nizzt. Through his agency, in a great degree, the recent 
 large and valuable additions to its numbers have been made, 
 and a system of management been devised and adopted,' 
 which gives this collection the character of the MODEL LI- 
 BRARY for the world. And here we cannot do better than to 
 borrow the remarks of Professor Jewett, alluded to in the 
 Report of the Commissioners, and published in full with the 
 minutes of evidence. Few persons are so well entitled to 
 express an opinion on such a subject. Writing to a friend in 
 London, who had desired to know his views, he says, 
 
 " I have heard with regret, not unmingled with indignation, of 
 the complaints which have been made against Mr. Panizzi's man- 
 agement of the Library of the British Museum. You ask my opin- 
 ion in extenso on the subject. This I am most ready to give. You 
 know that, after having been employed for several years as a 
 Librarian, and having thus become familiar with all the details of 
 a Librarian's duties, I spent two years on the continent of Europe, 
 visiting the principal libraries, for the purpose of collecting such 
 information as would enable us in America to establish our libra- 
 ries on the best possible foundation. With this preparation I went 
 to England. You know how much time I spent at the British 
 
33 
 
 Museum, and how kindly and courteously we were both received 
 by all the gentlemen connected with the establishment. The 
 opinion which I then formed, and which I believe I expressed to 
 Mr. Panizzi, I still hold that any person who wishes to become 
 thoroughly acquainted with the whole subject of Bibliothekswis- 
 senschaft (to use a German term for which we have no English 
 equivalent,) with the science of libraries, need go no farther 
 than the British Museum. In my opinion, it is by far the best 
 regulated library in the world. The books are more faithfully 
 guarded, and the public are more promptly served, than in any 
 other library with which I am acquainted. No doubt the whole^ 
 affair would have been in much better shape had Mr. Panizzf. 
 had the management of it from the outset." p. 265. 
 
 We shall not attempt to grapple with that complicated and 
 vexatious subject which has occasioned so much controversy 
 in England, and to which the commissioners were obliged to 
 devote so much attention, the Museum Catalogue. A sepa- 
 rate and entire article would hardly be sufficient to consider 
 the matter in its various aspects and bearings, and to present 
 the different theories which have been started, and the nume- 
 rous objections which have been brought against them all. 
 We entertain some pretty decided opinions on the general 
 subject of library catalogues, which we may possibly offer to 
 our readers at a future time. 
 
 At this time, however, it may not be amiss to mention, that 
 the plan proposed by Mr. Cooley to the commissioners of the 
 Museum, and received with so much favor by them, namely, to 
 stereotype the titles of the books separately, originated, several 
 years since, with an eminent bibliographer in this country, 
 Professor Jewett, then of Brown University, and now one of 
 the officers of the Smithsonian Institution. Professor Jewett 
 has devoted much time and thought to maturing and perfecting 
 his plan. He has mentioned it freely to those persons who 
 are most interested in such matters in this country, and has 
 communicated his views to some of his friends in Europe. 
 The plan has been received with approbation by the man- 
 agers of some of our larger libraries, and arrangements have 
 been made for carrying it into speedy effect. We are glad 
 that it finds favor also in England ; though we notice that 
 Mr. Cooley embarrasses it with impracticable adjuncts, which 
 will be likely to defeat his object. An important improve- 
 ment of the plan was suggested, and specimens were shown, 
 
34 
 
 at a recent meeting of the American Antiquarian Society, by 
 the Rev. E. E. Hale, of Worcester ; namely, substitu ting elec- 
 trotype for common stereotype plates. We presume that the 
 public will soon be in possession of the details cY Professor 
 Jewett's plan, which has been known to individuals for several 
 years. We hope that when this is the case, the author will 
 not be accused of borrowing it without credit from an English 
 source. 
 
 It is a lamentable fact that the matchless collection of 
 J)ooks contained in the British Museum has no catalogue. 
 The means of using the rich literary treasures, which have 
 been obtained and preserved with so much care and cost, 
 have not yet been provided. No one can tell the exact char- 
 acter of the contents of the library, and, of course, it does not 
 at present answer the highest purpose for which it was de- 
 signed. A great library without a catalogue has been well 
 described by Carlyle, as a chaos and not a cosmos. Some 
 thirty or forty years ago, a catalogue in eight octavo volumes 
 was printed, giving the titles of books then in the library. It 
 was an unpretending though very useful publication, not free 
 from errors, but sufficiently accurate for the common purposes 
 of consultation. Since that time, the contents of the Museum 
 library have been quadrupled in number, and incalculably in- 
 creased in value. Yet the only portion of a general cata- 
 logue which has been printed, since the one named above, is 
 a single folio volume embracing only the titles which fall under 
 the letter A; and the further publication of the work has 
 been indefinitely postponed. The reading-room of the insti- 
 tution, it is true, contains something intended to answer the 
 purposes of a catalogue, to be used only on the spot. It is 
 partly in manuscript and partly in print, and fills, in its pre- 
 sent very incomplete state, 70 or 80 folio volumes. The want 
 of a printed catalogue has been the cause of much controversy 
 and complaint. 
 
 This is a subject presenting more numerous and much 
 greater difficulties, than persons who have not made it a mat- 
 ter of careful study, are aware of. Even the bibliographical 
 giant at the Museum, who has for a long time past had the 
 matter in special charge, has not been able satisfactorily to 
 master it. Many years of thoughtful attention and laborious 
 industry have been insufficient to produce the desired catalogue. 
 
35 
 
 There has been much vexatious interference concerning the 
 manner of making out the manuscript, from persons claiming 
 superior wisdom and authority. This h?.s only tended to in- 
 terrupt and delay the completion of the work. The multitude 
 of literary men in England have become impatient and clam- 
 orous for its appearance in print, though they have no proper 
 appreciation of the obstacles in the way of its speedy publica- 
 tion. 
 
 There are two parties on the catalogue question. Mr. 
 Panizzn and his friends maintain, that the great and im- 
 portant thing to which all their efforts should tend, is the 
 preparation of a manuscript catalogue with the title entered 
 in full, and with numerous cross references. This would un- 
 doubtedly be of great service to all who could consult it at 
 the Museum. It would certainly be a great bibliographical 
 curiosity ; filling a very large number of volumes (500 in folio, 
 it is estimated,) and needing the work of many years. This 
 manuscript catalogue, intended to be superior in its plan and 
 execution to any ever before produced, hag been said, appa- 
 rently with much truth, to be Mr. Panizzrs favorite hobby. 
 His views are ably advocated by Professor De Morgan, John 
 Wilson Croker, Mr. Hallam, and other distinguished literary 
 gentlemen. It is maintained by them, that, as the library is not 
 a lending one, but the books must be consulted at the Museum, 
 this description of catalogue will be better than a briefer 
 printed one. The objections to the printing of the catalogue 
 of such a constantly increasing library arise from the fact, that 
 it must necessarily be incomplete, although it would extend 
 in print to at least forty folio volumes, and cost fifty thousand 
 pounds. To abridge the titles would, it is said, be likely to 
 occasion and perpetuate numerous errors. In answer to the 
 question, 
 
 " Do you think it would have been possible by any other plan 
 than that which is now in progress, to have consulted the impa- 
 tience of the public for a complete catalogue ; could you have 
 sacrificed, in some degree, uniformity and fulness without material 
 disadvantage ? " 
 
 Mr. Panizzt says, 
 
 " No, it could not have been done. The complaints against 
 the present catalogue [i. e. the printed one in eight volumes] are, 
 in fact, that the titles are not full and accurate, and if those who 
 
36 
 
 compiled them, Sir Henry Ellis and my predecessor, had not 
 been hurried, I have no doubt that they would have made a much 
 better catalogue. They made as good a catalogue as they could 
 make, under the pressure of the trustees wishing for a " compen- 
 dious " catalogue immediately. If we now publish another cata- 
 logue in a hurry, we never shall have a good one. We shall 
 jfublishone in a hurry, and then again, when that is completed, we 
 must publish another still in a hurry. What we really want now 
 is a catalogue on a lasting basis carefully compiled, serving as a 
 pattern for titles to be added ever after a catalogue that shall be 
 creditable to such an institution as this, and such as the public 
 have a right to expect, and not any more make-shifts as we have 
 had hitherto. If we are to have short titles, we not only have to 
 do what has been done hitherto, but we have actually to spoil the 
 good titles which we have." p. 235. 
 
 The other party, at the head of which we should place Sir 
 Robert Inglis, a trustee of the Museum who has devoted much 
 time and thought to the subject, insists on the practicability and 
 expediency of printing without delay a correct compendious 
 catalogue, giving in brief the title of every work in the col- 
 lection. Lord MJhon, Bolton Corney, and Thomas Carlyle 
 are among the numerous and able supporters of this view. 
 The Rev. Josiah Forshall, who has been for many years 
 Secretary to the Trustees of the Museum, says, 
 
 " I take the liberty of stating my own unvarying, but more and 
 more confirmed, and now perfectly established conviction, that if 
 the public are to have a proper use of the Museum Library, there 
 must be a printed catalogue of its contents ; and I speak confi- 
 dently, not merely because my convictions are thus complete, but 
 because, in the course of my experience, I have met with very 
 few persons indeed, of an average amount of common sense, and 
 well acquainted with the subject, who were not substantially of 
 the same mind ; and I am pretty sure that if the Commissioners 
 were to examine not merely the officers of this House, but the 
 chief librarians of all the public libraries in this country, such as 
 those of the Universities, of Sion College, the London Institution, 
 and Red Cross Street, they would find a very general concurrence 
 of opinion upon that point ; and it is my firm belief that there is 
 no money that could be expended by government so profitably 
 with a view to the improvement of the people, as* that which may 
 be necessary for the publication of a good printed catalogue of 
 the library of the Museum I say a good catalogue. Any printed 
 catalogue is far better than none. A catalogue with one tenth 
 part of the merit of the old octavo catalogue is vastly better than 
 
37 
 
 none. But the catalogue printed by the Trustees of the British 
 Museum, the national catalogue of this national library, ought to 
 be a good catalogue, one of the best of its kind ; and I venture, 
 from an experience of 27 or 28 years, to assert that there is no 
 real difficulty in producing it." p. 356. 
 
 The commissioners in their report declare themselves un- 
 equivocally and strongly against printing, for the present at 
 least, any catalogue. Their decision is not likely to be 
 quietly acquiesced in by the literary men of Great Britain. 
 It has created much dissatisfaction. Already there have been 
 some fierce attacks upon the report. We shall not enter into 
 the controversy ; but, having stated the principal points at 
 issue, leave it to be settled by the parties most nearly con- 
 cerned, though the result will be regarded with deep interest 
 by the whole literary world. 
 
 The other matters which claimed the attention of the com- 
 missioners were of minor importance and of less general inte- 
 rest ; and as they have no direct bearing upon the particular 
 subject which we have been considering, we pass them over 
 without further remark. We cannot, however, close our 
 notice of the Report without expressing our high gratification 
 tha.t, notwithstanding the difficulties and complaints to which 
 we have alluded, this noble national institution is in a highly 
 prosperous condition, and our hope, that it will not be long 
 before the United States will successfully emulate the exam- 
 ple of Great Britain. 
 
 The two pamphlets, whose titles are placed last on our list, 
 may be regarded as auspicious signs full of good promise. 
 Our limits at present will hardly allow us to give even a 
 brief outline of the prospects and plans of the institutions to 
 which they relate. 
 
 The Astor Library owes its existence to the munificence of 
 John Jacob Astor, who died on the 29th day of March, 1848, 
 leaving by his will the sum of $400,000 for the establish- 
 ment of a public library in the city of New York. He named 
 twelve trustees. The Mayor of the city and the Chancellor 
 of the State for the time being, in respect to their offices, were 
 to be of the Board, with Washington Irving, Joseph G. Cogs- 
 well, Fitz-Greene Halleck, and seven others. Washington 
 Irving was appointed President of the Trustees, and Mr. Cogs- 
 
38 
 
 well Superintendent of the Library, both by the unanimous 
 vote of the Board. 
 
 " On the 28th of October, 1848, Mr. Cogswell, the superintend- 
 ent, was authorized to go to Europe and purchase, at his discre- 
 tion, books for the library to the value of twenty thousand dollars, 
 his expenses to be defrayed by the institution, and the books paid 
 for out of the first moneys to be received from the executors of 
 Mr. Astor's will. The object of the trustees in sending Mr. Cogs- 
 well abroad at that particular time was to avail themselves of the 
 opportunity afforded by the distracted political condition of 
 Europe and the reduction of prices consequent upon it, to pur- 
 chase books at very low rates ; and they deem it proper to say in 
 this place, in order to avoid the necessity of recurring to the sub- 
 ject, that the trust confided to him has been executed to their per- 
 fect satisfaction, that the purchases were made at prices greatly 
 below the ordinary standard, and they consider it due to him to 
 add, that his selections fully confirm the high estimate they had 
 placed on his peculiar fitness for the services he has performed, 
 and is performing, in the establishment of the library." p. 5. 
 
 One of the conditions of the bequest has caused the trus- 
 tees much embarrassment. The will contains the following 
 emphatic clause, namely, " I direct that the sum to be appro- 
 priated for erecting the library building shall not exceed sev- 
 enty-five thousand dollars." It has been found very difficult 
 to obtain a satisfactory plan for an edifice which could be 
 built for this sum, and which would combine the various 
 requisites of size, solidity, and security against fire. The 
 wisdom of Mr. Astor, in imposing this restriction, has been 
 doubted by some persons, though the trustees make no com- 
 plaint concerning the matter. A glance at Girard College, 
 Gore Hall, and the Boston Athenaeum ought to convince any 
 one, that the temptation to indulge a taste for architectural 
 display, even at the expense and by the sacrifice, in a great 
 degree, of the real wants and legitimate objects of such insti- 
 tutions, is sufficient to overcome the judgment of men having 
 a high reputation for wisdom and for the exercise of judicious 
 economy. The trustees of the Astor Library have succeeded 
 in forming a contract for a suitable building at the above 
 named cost. It will be 65 feet front and 120 feet deep, and 
 is to be completed by the first of April, 1852. 
 
 The library will not be considered as formed until $ 120,000, 
 being the whole amount which is authorized by Mr. Astor's 
 
39 
 
 will to be applied to the purchase of books in the outset of 
 the institution, has been expended. The smallest number of 
 books, which the trustees consider it safe to estimate as a basis 
 for enlargement, is one hundred thousand volumes. The 
 number of books now collected amounts to over 20,000 
 volumes. These are arranged on temporary shelves in a 
 house hired for the purpose; and any persons desiring to 
 view or use the books are permitted to do so. No little sur- 
 prise has been expressed by visitors acquainted with the value 
 of such works, on learning that the entire cost, thus far, has 
 been only about $27,000. We doubt whether so large and 
 valuable a collection of books has ever before been purchased 
 on so favorable terms. 
 
 Particular attention appears to have been paid to the selec- 
 tion of the best books on bibliography. It appears, in the 
 report of the trustees, that the valuable bibliographical works, 
 amounting already to about one thousand volumes, were pre- 
 sented to the institution by the librarian. " Mr. Cogswell has 
 thus become, in effect, the founder of a department of great 
 importance in connection with the library, to be completed by 
 a large additional contribution from his own means." We 
 have before us an unpretending pamphlet of thirty pages, 
 being a printed list of these works, which the compiler says 
 is designed merely to answer the simple question, " Does such 
 a work belong to the library ? " It is, however, of itself, a 
 valuable contribution to bibliography, and though printed 
 anonymously, is evidently the work of the learned librarian. 
 If published, it would be of great use to many persons who 
 cannot avail themselves directly of the advantages of the 
 library. 
 
 The Astor Library will, probably, when first formed, con- 
 tain a larger number and a better selection of books than any 
 other in the United States. With the generous provision 
 which the founder has made for its increase, together with the 
 liberal donations which will undoubtedly come to this as the 
 largest library in the country, it is likely to grow rapidly, till 
 it shall take rank with the large libraries of the Old World. 
 Under the direction of an enlightened and judicious Board of 
 Trustees, with Mr. Irving for President, and Mr. Cogswell 
 for Superintendent of the library, there is every reason to 
 believe, that the desire so warmly expressed at the conclusion 
 
40 
 
 of the report will be fulfilled: "That the Astor Library 
 may soon become, as a depository of the treasures of litera- 
 ture and science, what the city possessing it is rapidly becom- 
 ing in commerce and wealth." 
 
 From local situation and other causes which will readily 
 suggest themselves to the reader, the chief interest and bene- 
 fits of the Astor Library will be felt by the particular State 
 and city where it is established. We hope that private 
 munificence or public patropage will originate and support 
 elsewhere many other similar libraries. Still something more 
 will be necessary. We must have a large national library, 
 to which we can point men of other countries as the substan- 
 tial evidence of interest in the promotion of literature and 
 science ; and to which we can direct such of our own scholars 
 as are desirous of availing themselves of the highest and fullest 
 authorities in their investigations and studies. The time has 
 come when this subject demands, and is likely to receive, 
 speedy and efficient attention. 
 
 The foundation of the Smithsonian Institution affords one 
 of the most favorable opportunities that was ever offered in 
 any country for the establishment of such a library. We are 
 sure that a much wider and deeper interest on this subject 
 pervades the community, than has been publicly expressed. 
 We know that many are with confident expectation awaiting 
 the proceedings of the Regents and Officers of that institution. 
 They to whom the management of its affairs is entrusted 
 appear to be working together vigorously for this, in connec- 
 tion with the other great objects of the institution. It is a 
 design worthy of their best wishes and best efforts, and they 
 will be sustained in it by the cooperation and sympathy of 
 men of letters and men of science throughout the country. 
 May we not reasonably hope, that our national senators and 
 representatives will regard the matter with special favor? 
 Let Congress emulate the noble example of the British Par- 
 liament, by a liberal grant, and we shall soon have an insti- 
 tution that, in extent and usefulness, will rival the British 
 Museum, and be an honor to the country. 
 
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