USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Fifty years of Boston; a memorial volume issued in commemoration of the tercentenary of 1930; 1880-1930, Pt. 2 > Part 14
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47
The growth of the Library system has kept pace with the expansion of the eity. There are about four times as many books now in the Library as there were fifty years ago, and the home eireulation has reached a total of over four million volumes. The number of braneh libraries has grown from ten in 1880 to thirty-three in 1930. Over a million books are located in the Central Library. Every year there are now added to the Library system over one hundred thou- sand volumes, and, even when deduetions are made for books missing and condemned, the need today for more room is pressing. The building in Copley square, beautiful as it is, seems now, after thirty-five years of service, inadequate. In 1918 an annex was added to it, but the relief was only temporary. How to provide more shelving space for the yearly acquisitions is one of the most serious problems that confront the administration.
"Built by the people and dedicated to the advancement of learning" is the inseription on the front of the building. The Library is at once a treasury and a workshop. Bates Hall, its great reading room, has seating accommo- dations for over three hundred persons, and during the busy hours of the season there are no unoecupied seats. Thousands of reference books are kept here on open shelves. The Reference Department offers the use of its resources to students, scholars and seekers of information, no matter where they live; it answers hundreds of letters and thousands of telephone calls on the greatest variety of subjects. The Children's Room, on the same floor, is one of the most
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attractive in the building. A weekly story-hour is held at the Central Library and at many of the branches. The Teachers' Reference Library, adjoining the Children's Room, is a great convenience to teachers and Normal School students.
On the ground floor are the Periodical Department, with 25,000 indexed volumes for immediate reference; the Newspaper Room with current papers from every state in the Union and from all civilized countries; the Information Office, for the answering of inquiries; and the Open Shelf Room, where one may see the new books and choose something to read without consulting the catalogues. From the courtyard one may enter the Statistical Department, with material on statistics and economics and a remarkable collection of gov- ernment documents; and the Patent Division, which has the best collection of patent reports and specifications in New England. The Ordering and Catalogue Departments are also located on the ground floor.
The upper floor of the Central Library is occupied by a series of "Special Libraries" - by the Fine Arts, Technology, Music and Rare Book Divisions. The Fine Arts collections are especially rich, containing thousands of expensive folio volumes. The Music Division includes a valuable reference library of scores, most of which are the bequest of Allen A. Brown. But one of the chief distinctions of the Library lies in its exceptional collections of rare books. Most of these, like the unique Prince Library of Americana, the famous Barton Library of Shakespeareana and of other Elizabethan and Jacobean literature, the Ticknor Collection of Spanish and Portuguese books, the private library of Nathaniel Bowditch and that of Theodore Parker, were received before 1880, at a time when the Boston Public Library stood out as perhaps the greatest library of the country. Since then the attention of donors has turned to the rapidly growing university and college libraries. Even so, several important collections have been received since the 80's. The private library of President John Adams, formerly in the Public Library of Quincy, was deposited in the Boston Public Library in 1894. In the same year Allen A. Brown gave his unusually rich music library, to which in 1909 he added his large collection of dramatic literature. In 1896 Thomas W. Higginson gave "The Galatea Collection of Books Relating to the History of Women"; in 1897 the Boston Browning Society deposited its books. Mellen Chamberlain bequeathed to the Library his collection of rare manuscripts and autographs, together with several hundred choice printed books. This collection was received in 1900. In that year Mrs. Rufus W. Griswold presented to the Library a most valuable group of Poe letters and letters of Poe's friends. In 1917 Josiah Henry Benton left to the Library his unusual collection of Books of Common Prayer, nearly seven hundred volumes, among them many rare and early editions. The most important recent acquisition was the unique Defoe collection of Professor William P. Trent of New York, which was purchased in 1929. In 1930 Walter Updike Lewisson left to the Library his great collection of Washingtoniana, consisting of thousands of pamphlets and books. Recently the Library acquired Paul Sabatier's collection of works relating to St. Francis and the Franciscan order. For the safeguarding and better protection of these collections, in 1929-30, at an expense of a quarter of a million dollars, a Treasure Room was
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established, and the Barton Room and the north gallery of the third floor, as well as a new Musie Room, were put in fireproof condition.
The branch system ineludes thirty-three smaller libraries in all parts of the city, through which about five-sixths of the home eireulation is carried on. The great work of the Library for children, who borrow yearly half of the books lent each year, is largely eondueted at the branches. The newest of these, the Kirstein Memorial Library in City Hall avenue, is worthy of special mention. Situated at the heart of the business district, it maintains a twofold serviee. The upper floor is devoted to the use of an ordinary Braneh Library, while the first two floors house the Business Braneh. The artistie and finely equipped building, a gift from Louis E. Kirstein, in memory of his father, was opened in the spring of 1930. This year the Library also received by special appropria- tion the sum of $200,000 for the ereetion of braneh library buildings at Mattapan and in the Parker Hill distriet. This marks the initiation of a program by which it is expected that two new braneh buildings will be erected each year.
Through an agreement with Harvard University, the Baker Library of the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration is a branch of the Boston Publie Library system, freely open to the publie for referenee. Through a similar understanding the Boston Medical Library has for many years served as the medieal branch of the Boston Publie Library.
For the edueation of adults the Library offers three courses of weekly leetures in the Lecture Hall of the Central Library. The Lecture Hall is used also for university extension courses and for a wide variety of educational and civic meetings. The Library annually publishes lists of extension and other educational courses and of free lectures open to the publie in Greater Boston. The Readers' Adviser is always ready to diseuss their reading with individuals. The Treasure Room and the Exhibition Room make it possible to present to the public a constant series of educational exhibits.
The Library also issues various publieations. The most notable of these is its monthly bulletin, "More Books," each issue of which contains a elassified and annotated list of important accessions, criticisms of new books and literary articles based on material in the Library. Another publieation of interest is the series of reading lists based on the programs of the Symphony Concerts. Other reading lists, eovering a great variety of subjeets, have been published from time to time.
For the use of the Library Department in 1930 the City of Boston appropriated the sum of $1,173,144. In addition, the Library has available the income from trust funds, the average annual amount of which is about $26,000.
The active management of the Library is in the hands of the Diree- tor, who is responsible to a board of five trustees, appointed by the Mayor for five-year terms.
THE STATE LIBRARY AND THE STATE ARCHIVES
The Massachusetts State Library, established by the Act of 1826, is pri- marily a legislative reference library, kept "for the use of the governor, lieutenant-governor, eouneil, general court, and such offieers of the govern-
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ment and other persons as may be permitted to use it." The interpretation of this rule has always been most liberal. The main portion of the Library is, indeed, in every sense public.
The Library possesses a unique collection of the laws and judicial decisions of the United States and the several states; of the laws and judicial decisions of Great Britain and her colonies; and of the statute laws of all other civilized countries. It also possesses a fairly complete collection of the congressional and public documents of the United States and of the several states; the par- liamentary reports of Great Britain and selected departmental reports of her colonies. Further, the Library has a large collection of material relating to New England, and especially to Massachusetts as colony, province, and com- monwealth. Every effort is made to make these collections as complete as possible. The State Library contains today about 500,000 books and pamphlets.
The Massachusetts State Archives, from 1630 to date, consist principally of papers relating to legislation, deposited there in accordance with the law. Between 1836 and 1846 all these papers had been classified up to 1780. These papers, about 200,000 pieces arranged under seventy-six topical headings, fill 241 volumes. Three volumes of Hutchinson papers and eighty-one volumes of miscellaneous papers belong also to this group, called the "Archives proper." From 1780 to date at least a million other pieces of legislative papers have accumulated.
The State Archives contain, in addition, about 5,000 maps and plans; the General Court records from 1628 to date; the printed House Journals from 1730 to 1779; the executive and legislative records of the Council from 1692 to 1780; the Council records and files from 1780 to date; the House and Senate journals from 1780 to date; the Charters of Massachusetts of 1628 and 1691 with the explanatory Charter of 1726 and the Exemplification; the Constitu- tions of Massachusetts and the proceedings and papers of the various constitutional and other conventions; the military records and other mis- cellaneous records extending to every phase of the history of Massachusetts.
LIBRARIES OF SOCIETIES
Boston is the seat of several important learned societies and associations. Most of these have valuable libraries, offering unusual opportunities for research in special fields.
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, founded in 1780, has a library as old as the institution itself. The Academy early established exchanges with most of the scientific societies of the world, and in this way it has acquired long files of the publications of these institutions. The library contains today about 40,000 volumes and several thousand pamphlets. It is especially rich in the departments of physics, chemistry and mathematics.
The Massachusetts Historical Society, the first of state historical societies, was founded in 1790 for the "preservation of books, pamphlets, manuscripts and records containing historical facts." By 1899, at the time of the com- pletion of the Society's present home on Boylston street, the library possessed 40,000 volumes and 100,000 pamphlets. Today the number of volumes alone exceeds 125,000. The Society's collection of American historical manuscripts
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is among the largest in the country. One of the chief functions of the Society is the publication of such historical material. So far one hundred and fifty volumes have been published.
The library of the New England Historical Genealogical Society, founded in 1844, has naturally specialized in works on New England, in town and county historics, in directories and registers, in genealogies and biographies. Thc library has also valuable files of American newspapers, besides a large collection of manuscripts. The collection contains over 120,000 volumes and pamphlets.
The library of the Bostonian Society, comprising about 5,000 volumes, is used largely by students of local history.
The Social Law Library is a typical association library. It is not open to the public or to law students, but only to such members of the bar as take out membership in it. The standard field of the library is United States, English and Canadian law. The library has today some twelve hundred mem- bers and over 80,000 volumes.
The General Theological Library, founded in 1820, is a non-sectarian institution. Since 1900 the books of this library have been free to all the clergy in New England. The library contains about 45,000 volumes. Tlic Congre- gational Library, with its 75,000 volumes, the library of the Episcopal Theo- logical School, in Cambridge, with 28,000 volumes, and the library of the Newton Theological Institution, with 41,000 volumes, should also. be mentioned.
For lack of space, several notable special libraries must be passed over. The Boston Medical Library, with 125,000 volumes; the library of the Boston Society of Natural History, with 100,000 books and pamphlets; the library of the Museum of Fine Arts, with 40,000 volumes, and that of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, with 27,000 volumes, are only a few from among many.
Though outside of the area of Greater Boston, the library of the American Antiquarian Society at Worcester and that of the Essex Institute at Salem are so easily within the reach of scholars in Boston that they may be justly included in this survey.
BOSTON ATHENAEUM
Among the association libraries of the city the Boston Athenaeum is per- haps the most conspicuous. This is a general library, owned by shareholders. Founded in 1807, the Boston Athenaeum is a typical Boston institution. In the 50's of the last century it was the meeting-place of the Boston literati. The special significance of the institution has gone by, yet even under different conditions the Boston Athenaeum has kept its vitality. It is a favorite resort of members of the old Boston families, who love its dignified traditions and its atmosphere of quiet and privacy.
Biography, history, travel, poetry, fiction, letters and essays are today the special fields of this library. Science in its more technical aspects and works relating to the professions have been abandoned, as the administration of the library has wisely recognized that it would be futile to try to satisfy the demands in these fields.
Among the special collections the library of George Washington deserves first mention. The famous King's Chapel library, a collection of Church of
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England books, has been in the Boston Athenaeum since 1823. The collection of first editions of American authors is especially rich. The number of books in the library is over 300,000.
UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE LIBRARIES
The library of Harvard University is one of the three largest libraries in this country. It equals in size the New York Public Library and is second only to the Library of Congress in the number of its volumes. The term "Harvard University Library" comprises all the books in the possession of the University,- Harvard College Library, located in the Widener Memorial Building, and sixteen departmental libraries housed outside of Widener Build- ing. The College Library alone contains some 1,550,000 books and pamphlets, while the departmental libraries bring the number up to nearly 3,000,000.
The special collections of the College Library are too numerous to mention. In English literature and American history the Library possesses many rare and valuable items, and the collection of incunabula numbers about three thousand volumes.
Several of the departmental libraries are considered as the most nearly complete collections of their kind that exist. The Law School library, with 320,000 volumes, is undoubtedly the greatest law library in the world. The library of the Theological School (the Andover-Harvard Library) contains over 190,000 volumes. A inere enumeration of the outstanding collections must suffice here: the Medical School has 160,000 volumes, the School of Business Administration over 125,000 books and pamphlets, the Museum of Comparative Zoology 141,000 volumes, and the Astronomical Observatory about 65,000 books and pamphlets.
At the head of the University Library is the Director. The general control of the College Library is vested in the Library Council; the departmental libraries are under the control of the schools or institutions to which they belong.
In addition to the Harvard University Library, there are a half-dozen important college and university libraries in Greater Boston. The Library of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is the most notable among these. This is, of course, mainly a library of scientific and technical literature. Per- haps the most valuable portion of the library is its very complete collection of bound scientific periodicals. The library contains nearly 260,000 books and pamphlets. The various branches of Boston University all have their special libraries; the collections of the Law School and of the College of Business Administration are of good size. Boston College, Tufts, Radcliffe and Wellesley also have fairly large libraries, each containing about 100,000 vol- umes. The library of Boston College has only recently moved into a new, beautiful building; it is especially rich in Catholic church history. The library of Wellesley College has several valuable special collections, among them a group of rare Italian books and manuscripts and a collection of early editions of English poetry.
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THE FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY COMMISSION
Massachusetts was the first to establish, forty years ago, a public library commission to promote library interest, especially in the towns of the Common- wealth. At that time there were still one hundred and three small towns in Massachusetts without a public library. An act of the General Court in 1890 authorized the Board of Library Commissioners to grant one hundred dollars to each of these towns toward the purchase of books, provided that the towns so aided were willing to establish and maintain public libraries.
Of the thirty-eight towns which surround Boston and constitute with the city the area of Metropolitan Boston, only the small town of Dover had no public library at that time. Subsequent acts empowered the Commission to render further aid to the libraries, and of this aid several of the smaller libraries of Greater Boston availed themselves. Since 1910 the Commission has employed a field agent, who is in direct contact with the small public libraries, visiting them and making suggestions for various ways of improvement.
To promote co-operation, the Act of 1911 authorized the granting of inter- library loans. About one-third of the small libraries immediately took advan- tage of the system. The larger number of books were lent by the Boston Public Library and other libraries of Greater Boston. The college libraries, however, soon found the demands upon them overburdensome. To satisfy the special needs of the smaller libraries, the Commission itself has bought books for their use.
In recent years the Commission has extended its aid to numerous state and county institutions. The State Prison at Charlestown is among the insti- tutions thus benefited.
EMINENT LIBRARIANS
The libraries of Greater Boston could not be what they are today without the librarians who gave to these institutions their ability and unstinted devotion. The Boston Public Library, which had at its founding the service of such citizens as Edward Everett and George Ticknor, had among its early librarians Charles C. Jewett and Justin Winsor. In 1877 Winsor joined the library of Harvard University. Mellen Chamberlain was his worthy successor. For four years Dr. Herbert Putnam, the present chief of the Library of Congress, was the head of the institution. At Harvard for almost thirty years William Coolidge Lane was the librarian of the College Library.
Devotion to their work is a tradition with the librarians of Boston. And the members of the new generation, educated in the scientific methods of modern librarianship, are equally mindful of the highest ideals of their profession.
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PUBLISHING AND PRINTING, 1880=1930
By DAVID T. POTTINGER
As one looks back upon the lists of Little, Brown and Company or Houghton, Mifflin and Company issued just before 1880, one is impressed by Boston's literary self-sufficiency. Parkman, Webster, Sparks, Emerson, Hawthorne, Lowell - these and dozens of other writers lived in Boston or the neighborhood and had their books published by the local houses. By 1880, however, this happy period of "mutual admiration" was almost over. The great New England writers were old and nearing the end of their careers. The tide in literature as in all other phases of American life had begun to set towards New York. The rest of the country, too, was feeling the energizing effects of that wonderful Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia which had made America conscious both of itself and of Europe. After the awakening of the 80's and 90's no one section could ever again be what New England was in the middle of the century.
Old-established traditions, however, have continued to give Boston publishers a prestige that is of incalculable value in their somewhat idealistic business. The Houghton Mifflin Company and Little, Brown and Company are among the leading six or seven general publishers of the country; and the position of Ginn and Company and D. C. Heath and Company at or near the head of the line among educational publishers is undisputed. The great print- ing houses of this section - the Riverside, the Athenaeum, and the old Uni- versity Presses in Cambridge, together with the Norwood Press in Norwood - have only recently had serious competition either in quantity or quality of production from other parts of the country.
Keeping abrcast of the times, Boston publishers have borne an honorable part in every literary movement. Roberts Brothers, whose list was taken over by Little Brown in 1898, introduced the English writers of the 80's, such men as William Morris and Rossetti; they gave us Miss Wormeley's standard translations of Balzac and Molière; and they influenced the lives of genera- tions of youngsters through the works of Louisa May Alcott, Edward Everett Hale, Helen Hunt Jackson and Laura E. Richards. When the "men of the 90's" gilded the final days of nineteenth century literature in England, and Charles Shannon and Charles Ricketts designed their charming little books for London publishers, here were Copeland and Day, Small, Maynard and Con- pany, and (for a while) Stone and Kimball to import or reprint editions and to stimulate an analogous movement among our own writers. In the late 90's came the vogue for romances founded on colonial American history, and both Houghton Mifflin and Little Brown cultivated the local garden to advantage. This was the day when one began to hear of "best sellers" and of sales running into unprecedented totals of over a hundred thousand. Little Brown, in 1896
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and shortly afterwards, made a record by a sale of over seven hundred and fifty thousand copics of Sienkiewicz's "Quo Vadis"; within the past few years they have again been leaders with A. S. M. Hutchinson's novels and Remarque's "All Quiet on the Western Front." The latter, as its title indicates, is one of the many war books which have been an important part of every publisher's list since 1914. To enumerate cven a few of the successes and failures in this field issued by our Boston houses would be impossible; there is room only for mention of Roland G. Usher's influential "Pan-Germanism," which Houghton Mifflin brought out at the beginning of the World War.
The quieter forms of literature, the books that stand apart from ephemeral fashions, have, of course, been prominent during these years. One recalls the short stories and essays of Sarah Orne Jewett, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, George Herbert Palmer and LeBaron Russell Briggs; the poetry of Amy Lowell and of the Imagist school; the scholarly criticism of John Livingston Lowes in "The Road to Xanadu" and "Convention and Revolt in Poetry"; the local flavor of the stories by Alice Brown, Elsie Singmaster, and "Charles Egbert Crad- dock." In the more humble field of juvenile literature "Little Men," "Little Women," and "The Five Little Peppers" have had their hosts of playmates. And for a "back log," the trade jargon for a book that sells in undiminished quantity year after year without special advertising, what publisher has ever had the equal of Little Brown's "The Boston Cooking School Cook Book, " by Fannie Farmer?
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