BREVOORT-IRVING LETTERS

PRESENTED BY GRENVILLE KANE, ESQ., TO THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

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HIS interesting addition to the manuscript resources of the Library, by a member of its Board of Trustees, consists of forty-six letters of Henry Brevoort to Washington Irving, from 1811 to 1843, four of them accompanied by Brevoort's rough drafts. All have been printed in the two volumes of this correspondence edited by George S. Hellman (New York, 1916), but the originals are now brought into close association with the letters that Irving wrote to Brevoort, in the Seligman Collection owned by the Library. As Irving was the first President of the Trustees of the Astor Library, one of the foundations of The New York Public Library, it is most fitting that the Library should be the principal center of Washington Irving manuscripts and other Irvingiana. This is now the case, as the result of the benefactions of Mrs. I. N. Seligman, Mr. George S. Hellman, and Mr. Grenville Kane. Before these generous gifts were made the Library had only two or three Irving manuscripts and a few letters.-V. H. P.

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NEWS OF THE MONTH

GIFTS

URING the month of October, 1928, there were received as gifts 2,522 volumes, 8,713 pamphlets, 26 maps, and 8 prints. Among the many interesting items were the following:

Mr. Victor M. Berthold gave two pamphlets, by himself and Henry C. Needham, "Ahead of the Mails' A brief Story of the Transportation of the U. S. Mail by Sea 1848-1860" (reprinted April, 1928); and "Handstamped Franks used as Cancellations on Pony Express Letters 1860 and 1861 and the Pony Express Stamps and their Use" (autographed copy). From Mrs. Florence Roos, Baton Rouge, La., came two mathematical manuscripts by John and Jacobus Roos of New Hurley, N. Y., written during the latter part of the 18th century. From Mr. James D. Henderson, Brookline, Mass., Scrivener of the "LXIVmos," came two miniature copies of Punch No. 4493, v. 173, August 17, 1927. The Inokuty Memorial Committee, Society of Mechanical Engineers, Tokyo, Japan, gave a copy of the work published by them in 1928, "The Technical Papers of Ariya

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Inokuty ... and the Papers in Engineering read by His Former Students at the Memorial Meeting held in 1925." From Dr. George Alexander Kohut came two volumes and one pamphlet, one being his own work- "Concerning Alexander Kohut, a Tentative Bibliography" (reprinted, Budapest, 1927). From Mr. Luis James Phelps, Winsted, Conn., came 63 volumes of "The Works of the English Poets with Prefaces, Biographical and Critical, by Samuel Johnson," London, 1769; and Inchbald's Plays, v. 1–6. Mr. I. N. Phelps Stokes gave the Library six plans of the City of Paris, of the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries.

From Mr. Julius Plucker came a collection of autographed photographs of concert and stage artists, 43 in number, over a period of 40 years, including Clara Morris, Fanny Davenport, E. H. Sothern, John Drew, Édouard de Reszke. This is to be known as the "Julius Plucker Collection." Mr. Plucker was a wigmaker to the theatrical profession for nearly fifty years.

Gifts of privately printed works were received as follows: From Mr. G. R. G. Conway, Mexico, D. F., a copy (No. 15 of 50 printed on Italian hand-made paper, and autographed by him) of "The Rare Travailes of Job Hortop, being a Facsimile Reprint of the First Edition, with an Introductory Note by G. R. G. Conway," Mexico, 1928. From Mr. Robert James Eidlitz, a copy (No. 30 of 200 printed) of his work, "Medallic Portraits of Matthew Boulton and James Watt," New York, 1928. From Mr. Thomas Ewing, a copy of "The Military Journal of George Ewing (1754-1824) a Soldier of Valley Forge," Yonkers, 1928. From Mr. Henry H. Harper, Boston, a copy of his essay (printed exclusively for members of the Bibliophile Society, by The Torch Press), "Oliver Goldsmith." From Mr. W. Pulsifer, two copies of his work, “Ancestry and Descendants of Jonathan Pulsifer and his wife Nancy Ryerson Pulsifer of Poland and Sumner, Maine," New York, 1928. From Mr. Ly Hoi Sang, a copy (No. 138) of "Illustrious Prime Ministers of China, Their Ancient Manners, Customs and Philosophies, A Symphony of the Spheres," by Ly Hoi Sang and Richard Alexander, c. 1928. From Miss Helen Schrader, Brunswick, Missouri, a copy in crushed levant, hand-tooled) of the work, "Whitney, Wyne and Allied Families, Genealogical and Biographical, prepared for Mrs. Mary C. Whitney, by The American Historical Society, Inc.," New York, 1928. From Mrs. Gustine Courson Weaver, Cincinnati, Ohio, came a copy of her work, "The Boydstun Family," Cincinnati, c. 1927.

Gifts of prints were received as follows: From Mr. Henry Glintenkamp, seven of his woodcuts ("Sussex Landscape," "Winter on the farm," "The market place, Cholula, Mexico," "A nude," "The Serenade," "Reclining

nude," "On the wall." The Educational Alliance gave an etched portrait of Justice Samuel Greenbaum, by Elias M. Grossman, 1928.

The following gifts of music were received: From Mr. Rudolf Bank, Woodside, L. I., 4 volumes and 6 pamphlets relating to music. From Miss M. Bauer, a collection of programmes of concerts by symphony orchestras and others. From the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, their Yearbooks, 1922/23-1925/26, 1927/28. From Sr. Carlos Eugénio Ferreira, Nova Goa, India Portuguesa, sheet music of five of his compositions. From Mr. Henry Ford, Dearborn, Michigan, a collection of old-fashioned dance music collected by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ford, comprising I volume, 72 pamphlets, 56 sheets. Mr. C. E. Le Massena gave copies of his work, "The Songs of Schubert," and "L'art mysterieux du violon," by Benjamin Wood. From Mrs. L. Worth came a collection of vocal and instrumental music, comprising 14 volumes and 80 pamphlets.

Collections of material were received from the following donors: Mr. E. B. Allen (5 volumes, I pamphlet, 2 periodicals); Mr. H. Gans (13 volumes); Miss Rosamond Gilder, Lee Mass. (14 volumes, 4 pamphlets, 14 periodicals); Engineering Societies Library (535 volumes, 435 pamphlets, 337 periodicals); Albert Frank & Co. (96 bound volumes of the New York Evening Post, 1923-1927 (with gaps); Miss Grace Humphrey (7 volumes, I pamphlet, 2 periodicals); Mr. H. W. Langmann (53 volumes and 167 periodicals); Marlow and Hines (63 bound volumes of the New York Law Journal); Mrs. F. M. Warburg ("Panthéon, Monatsschrift für Freunde und Sammler der Kunst," Nos. 1-9, 1928.

From authors came copies of their works, as follows: Sr. C. Ayalad, Caracas, Venezuela, a copy of "Resumen historico-critico de la literatura hispano-americana," Caracas, 1927. Mr. Ramlal B. Bajpai, "Unhappy India, being a reply to Miss Katherine Mayo's 'Mother India,'" Calcutta, 1928. Major Anthony J. Bleecker, "Descendants of William Hill and his wife Alethea Carmer," 1927. Mr. Ye Young Chan, Shanghai, China, “A Constitutional & Political History of China" (in Chinese), Shanghai, August, 1928. Sr. Rafael De Casares Gil, Consul General for Spain, New York City, "Paraiso Perdido," New York, 1928. Mr. Arthur Orison Dillon, Ontario, California, "The Master Nation and Other Poems," c. 1928. Mrs. S. R. Dull, Atlanta, Georgia, "Southern Cooking," Atlanta, 1928 (autographed copy). Sig. Elio Gianturco, Winter Park, Florida, "Liriche dell' Estasi e dell' Oblio," Bologna (n. d.). Mr. Harrold E. Gillingham, Philadelphia, "Notes on the Decorations and Medals of the French Colonies and Protectorates," New York, 1928. Mr. Armand Godoy, Paris, "Le Carnaval

de Schuman," Paris, 1927, and "Triste et Tendre," Paris, 1927. Dr. Martin Luis Guzman, Madrid, Spain, "El Aguila y la Serpiente," Madrid, 1928 (two copies, 1st and 2nd edition). Mr. Ralph Warren Hills, Washington, D. C., "Sidelights on Reparations" and "The Unliquidated War, from the Treaty to the Dawes Plan," Washington, D. C., 1928. Mr. Waldemar Jochelson, "Peoples of Asiatic Russia," New York, 1928. Rabbi Leo Jung, "Living Judaism," 2nd edition, New York, c. 1927, and "The Jewish Library," v. 1-12, General Editor, Rabbi Leo Jung, Ph.D. Mr. Earle E. Liederman, seven bound volumes and one bound pamphlet, all relating to physical culture. Mrs. McKenna-Friend, "Mes Soixante Mois au Camp Retranché de Paris, de Juillet 1914 à Juillet 1919," Paris, c. 1921. Mr. Arthur E. Overbury, Monrovia, California, "The People's New Covenant (New Testament) Scriptural Writings. Translated from the Meta-physical Standpoint," Monrovia, c. 1925. Dr. Dagobert Runes, "Der Wahre Jesus oder das Fünfte Evangelium" (autographed copy), Wien-Leipzig, 1927. Dr. Julio C. Salas, "Civilizacion y Barbarie ..." Barcelona, 1919, “Origines Americanos," Caracas, 1924, and "Memoria que presentada el Dr. Julio C. Salas al XXIII Congreso Internacional de Americanistas reunido en Nueva York en 1928" (autographed by donor), Caracas. Mr. Orlando Worth Stephenson, Ann Arbor, Michigan, "Ann Arbor the first Hundred Years," Ann Arbor, 1927. Mr. Arthur A. Smith, Paulding, Ohio, "The American Language Movement, Book 1, Its Purpose and Plan," c. 1928. Prof. Charles Baker Wright, Middlebury, Vermont, "The Making of Note-Books," Middlebury, 1928 (one of 600 copies printed under the direction of Carl Purington Rollins by the Yale University Press in May, 1928). Sr. Orestes Ferrara, Ambassador of Cuba, Washington, D. C., "Machiavel" traduit par Francis de Miomandre, Paris, 1928.

ADDITIONS AND USE OF THE LIBRARY DURING OCTOBER, 1928

URING the month of October, 1928, there were received at the Library 24,009 volumes and 10,485 pamphlets. (These include the additions to both Reference and Circulation Departments.) The number of volumes issued for home use, by the Circulation Department, was 976,809. The total number of recorded readers in the Reference Department, Central Building, was 158,417, no record being kept of the use of books on the open reference shelves. Readers and visitors at the Central Building numbered about 318,000.

NEW PERIODICALS

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