and printed. The number of volumes now exceeds 26,000, exclusively of about 7000 volumes which belong to two literary Societies formed by the students. The Library is extensively used, and is accessible for all literary and studious purposes under very liberal regulations.

[5.] Library of Dartmouth College.

Dartmouth College at Hanover (New Hampshire) was founded in 1769, and, by gradual accumulations, has become possessed of about 21,000 volumes, which belong, in nearly equal portions, to the Library of the College properly so called, to that of the Society of Students, designated the "Social Friends," and to that of another Society, called the "United Fraternity."

The other principal College Libraries of the United States-founded subsequently to the commencement of the present century-I can but briefly enumerate. Taking the chief of them only (in chronological order), they are as

1838. 6. UNION THEOLOGICAL SE- New York. New York,

about

MINARY.

18,000.

Of these Libraries, the collections at Burlington, Columbia, and Charlottesville, appear to be most noticeable for the care with which they have been selected. The first named is rich in the Greek and Roman classics, and in the literature of Spain and of Scandinavia: the greater portion of the fine library collected by the Hon. George P. Marsh, formerly Minister from the United States to Turkey, being here deposited. The Columbia Library was founded by an act of the Legislature, and receives an annual appropriation for books of £400. Professor Lieber has rendered great assistance in the selection of books, and the collection is said to be more valuable “than many of twice its size." That at Charlottesville was originally formed and arranged by President Jefferson; enlarged by a legacy of President Madison, and by another -comprising 3380 volumes-of Mr. Christian Bohn. It occupies a fine circular building, erected in 1825, expressly for the Library, at a cost of £14,000.

There are many other collegiate libraries, of which no notice can here be taken, the numerical contents of which, however, are enumerated in our Statistical Table."

* Jewett, ut supra, p. 155.

CHAPTER II.

OF PROPRIETARY AND SUBSCRIPTION LIBRARIES.

THE first establishment of proprietary libraries in the United States connects itself with the illustrious name of Franklin; and to narrate the rise in

other words than his own would be impertinent. "At the time," he says, "when I established myself in Pennsylvania, there was not a good bookseller's [1.] Library shop in any of the Colonies to southward of Boston..... Those Company of who loved reading were obliged to send for their books from Philadelphia. England; the members of the Junto' [a sort of half convivial, half literary club, mainly of Franklin's foundation] had each a few. We had left the ale-house where we first met, and had hired a room to hold our club in. I proposed that we should all of us bring our books to that room, . . . .. and for some time this contented us.... But soon [in 1731] I set on foot my first project of a public nature, that for a subscription library. I drew up the proposals... and, by the help of my friends in the Junto,' procured fifty subscribers of forty shillings each to begin with, and ten shillings a-year for fifty years, the term our company was to continue. We afterwards [in 1742] obtained a charter, the company being increased to one hundred. This was the mother of all the North American Subscription Libraries now so numerous. It is become a great thing itself, and continually goes on increasing." "These libraries," adds Franklin, "have improved the general conversation of the Americans, made the common tradesmen and farmers as intelligent as most gentlemen in other countries, and perhaps have contributed, in some degree, to the stand so generally made throughout the Colonies in defence of their privileges."*

It is worth while to remark that, when Franklin took this step, no town in England possessed a subscription library. Liverpool appears to have been amongst the earliest towns which took action in this direction, and there no such library was formed until 1756.† Bristol did not possess one until 1772.‡ Nor is it less to the honour of Franklin, and of Philadelphia, that one of the first regulations which was made for the management of the Library, directed that it should be publicly and gratuitously accessible as a library of reference. The instructions to the first Librarian, Louis Timothee, expressly empower him to permit "any civil gentleman to peruse the books of the library in the library-room." The first donor to the infant Library was Peter Collinson, “Mercer, in Gracious Street, London," and the second, William Rawle, of Philadelphia (who gave Spenser's works in six volumes). Franklin himself succeeded Timothee as Librarian for three months. In 1738, a piece of ground was granted to the society by John Penn; and, within little more than thirty years

* Autobiography (Sparks' Edition), p. 97.

+ Brooke, Liverpool as it was... in the last century, p. 89.
Tovey, The Bristol City Library, p. 000.

of the establishment of the Library, it was stated in a report that "many other libraries, after our example and on our plan, have been erected in this and the neighbouring provinces, whereby useful knowledge has been more generally diffused in these remote corners of the earth." *

In August, 1774, an order was made that the Librarian should "furnish the gentlemen who are to meet in Congress, in this city, with such books as they may have occasion for during their sitting, taking a receipt for them. A similar privilege was afterwards accorded to the legislature of Pennsylvania. In 1777, the Library was, for a time, converted into a military hospital. During the nine months of the British occupation of Philadelphia, the Library sustained no injury, except (as during the whole period of the war) from the non-importation of books. The funds which had accumulated in the interval were expended, on the conclusion of peace, in a large accession of English and foreign literature. In instructing their agent as to the purchases they wished to make, the Committee write thus: "We shall confide entirely in your judgment to procure us such books of modern publication as would be proper for a public library, and though we would wish to mix the utile with the dulce, we should not think it expedient to add to our present stock anything in the novel way."

In 1789, a new building was erected for the reception of the books, and an inscription was placed on the corner-stone, which is worth quotation :

Be it remembered

in honour of the Philadelphia youth
(then chiefly artificers),

that in 1731, they cheerfully,
(at the instance of Benjamin Franklin,
one of their number),

instituted the PHILADELPHIA LIBRARY,
which, though small at first,

is become highly valuable and extensively useful,
and which the walls of this edifice

are now destined to contain and preserve;
the first stone of whose foundation

was here placed the 31st Aug., 1789.

...

The collection founded by Franklin had scarcely been arranged in its new habitation when the addition to it of the library of James Logan (the friend of William Penn, and the first president of the Pennsylvania Council) made an enlargement of the building necessary. This "collection of rare and valuable books, principally in the learned languages, and in the existing languages of the continent of Europe, which, having formed it at considerable expense, he was anxious should descend to posterity, . . . Mr. Logan had endowed and vested in Trustees, for the use of the public for ever."+ The library thus bequeathed was enlarged by the brother and son of the founder. At the time of annexation it contained about 4000 volumes. Large additions have since been made by purchase (as well from the sale of the original building and site, as from the founder's endowment), and also by donation. In 1828, Mr. Address presented to John Penn, 1763, quoted by Jewett, ut supra, p. 116. + Catalogue of the Loganian Library (Ibid. p. 121).

William Mackenzie, an eminent collector, bequeathed "all his books printed before the beginning of the eighteenth century, and eight hundred volumes more to be chosen by the Trustees, from his French and Latin books of later date." This valuable bequest amounted to 1519 volumes "of great rarity and value," and 3566 volumes were subsequently purchased from the Executors. 500 selected volumes were also left by Mr. Mackenzie to the Philadelphia Library, and its Directors made a purchase of 1466 additional volumes.* The present contents of the Loganian collection exceed 10,000 volumes, and they are thoroughly accessible to the public at large.

The progress of the Philadelphia Library during the present century has been still more considerable. By the bequest of a native of Ireland, Mr. Henry Cox, it received a large number of MSS. relating to Irish history, including, it is said, the original correspondence of James I. with the Privy Council of Ireland for upwards of twelve years, with other historical documents, the value of which remains unknown. Shortly afterwards (in 1803) another British subject, the Rev. Samuel Preston, Rector of Chevening, in Kent, bequeathed his library of above two thousand five hundred volumes, many of them, it is stated, “very splendid works, selected with great taste and judgment." Mr. Preston, it appears, was an intimate friend of Benjamin West. In the following year John Bleakley, of Philadelphia, bequeathed at thousand pounds to the library, of which he had long been a director. At a subsequent period about 5000 volumes were purchased on very favourable terms of James Cox, an artist, since deceased. Amongst these were many valuable works on the fine arts, and many rarities. By these varied means, the Philadelphia Library, which, seventy years ago, contained but little more than 5000 volumes, has now grown to upwards of 50,000 volumes.

Much to the honour of the Association, "citizens and strangers are permitted to consult the books without charge." The privilege of borrowing is of course restricted to shareholders and subscribers. "The number of persons who consult the library is," it is stated, "very considerable." §

Another Philadelphia Library-that of the AMERICAN PHILO[2.] Library of the American SOPHICAL SOCIETY-is of considerable antiquity, and now conPhilosophical tains upwards of 20,000 volumes. The Society itself dates Society, from 1742, was also founded by Franklin, and is the oldest of its kind in the United States; but of the precise date when its collection of books was begun, there seems to be no record. The Society also possesses a considerable number of MSS., Maps, and Prints.

[3.] Redwood
The Redwood Library, at Newport, Rhode Island, appears to
Library at rank next to the Philadelphia Libraries in point of date, though
Newport.
there is great difference between it and them in point of extent.
But this collection is intrinsically more valuable than might be inferred from
Catalogue of Books belonging to the Library Company of Philadelphia (1835),
Preface, p. x. seqq.

But for so many similar examples, the possession of State papers of a date comparatively recent by a private person would excite suspicion as to the manner of their obtainment. Can this Mr. Henry Cox have been a descendant of the Irish Historian, and Lord Chancellor, Sir Richard Cox?

Catalogue, &c., ut supra, p. xi.

§ Jewett, ut supra, p. 122.

its smallness. Abraham Redwood, the founder, gave, in 1717, the sum of £500 for the purchase of standard books in London. A sum of £5000 was speedily subscribed by the citizens for the erection of a building to receive them (to which sum was ultimately added £1200 more), and a site was freely presented by Mr. Henry Collins. In its very infancy the Redwood Library had the distinction of attracting to Newport the Rev. Ezra Stiles, who for so many years elevated the town and Colony by his learning and his public spirit, and of whom Channing has said, that in his early years he regarded no human being with equal reverence.† Mr. Stiles was long Librarian, and was the means of adding to the collection many works of great value.

Here, as elsewhere, the Revolutionary war interrupted the peaceful pursuits of literature; but here, too, an enlightened public opinion saw in the transient evil the seeds of permanent good, and was patient. The Library suffered more from the perils of the time than some others; and when these were over its progress met with a check in the death of the founder. Of late years a revived interest has been evinced in its growth and usefulness, but it does not yet number 5000 volumes.

[4.] New York Society Library.

The Library of the NEW YORK SOCIETY dates from 1754, when (according to Smith's History of New York) "a set of gentlemen undertook a subscription towards raising a public library, and in a few days collected near £600, which were laid out in purchasing 700 volumes of new well-chosen books." They subsequently obtained what remained of a " Public City Library," which had been established more than half a century before, but had fallen into a neglected and dilapidated condition. In 1772 the Society was incorporated.

During the occupation by the British troops, this Library seems to have suffered more injury than was sustained by similar institutions in most of the other occupied towns. John Pintard (of whom mention will be made hereafter, in connection with the "Historical Society of New York ") affirmed, as an eye-witness, "that the British soldiers were in the habit of carrying away the books in their knapsacks, and bartering them for grog." In 1788, however, vigorous exertions appear to have been made for the recovery, augmentation, and improvement of the collection.

Originally located in the City Hall, this Library has had the singular fortune of occupying within sixty years three new buildings, each of them expressly erected for its reception. Its temporary abodes included, it has, within little more than that period of time, had six different habitations. The moving cause is not explicitly stated, but would seem to have been the rapid increase in the value of sites favourable to commerce. In 1795, when removed to its first new building, it contained about 5000 volumes. When transferred to its second, in 1840, it had grown to about 27,000 volumes. In the present year, Catalogue of the Redwood Library, 1843, Preface. (Quoted by Jewett, pp. 48, 49.)

+ Christian Worship: a Discourse at Newport, R. I., 27 July, 1836 (Works, vol. ii. p. 207). In this discourse Dr. Channing speaks of the Redwood Library as "yonder beautiful edifice, now so frequented and so useful as a public library, but once so deserted that I spent day after day, and sometimes week after week, amidst its dusty volumes without interruption from a single visitor."-Ibid. p. 205.