70th Annual Report State Library, 1887.

You know, there's really not a lot to say in a year-end summary--that is when you're not fluffing and flouncing about with schools of library science, children's libraries, traveling libraries, and libraries for the blind. The mission is pretty simple and straightforward.

SEVENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY, For the Year Ending Sept. 30, 1887.

TRANSMITTED TO THE LEGISLATURE, JANUARY 11, 1888.

THE TROY PRESS COMPANY, PRINTERS. 1888.

CONTENTS. PAGE.

Report of the Trustees vii

APPENDICES.

1. Report of the Acting Librarian of the General Library xii
2. Report of the Librarian of the Law Library xv
3. List of the Books and Pamphlets added to the Library by donation and exchange 1
4. Catalogue of Books added to the General Library 39
5. Catalogue of Books added to the Law Library 113


TRUSTEES OF THE NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY.

HENRY E. PIEESON, LL. D., Chancellor of the University.
GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS, LL. D., Vice-Chancellor.
DAVID B. HILL, Governor,
EDWARD F. JONES, Lieutenant-Governor,
FREDERICK COOK, Secretary of State,
ANDREW S. DRAPER, Supt. of Public Instruction, Ex officio.

Arranged in the order of their appointment:
ELIAS W. LEAVENWORTH, LL. D.,* 1861 - Syracuse. * Deceased.
GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS, LL. D., 1864 - West New Brighton.
FRANCIS KERNAN, LL. D., 1870 - Utica.
JOHN J. LEWIS, 1871 - Penn Yan.
HENRY B. PIERSON, LL. D., 1872 - Albany.
MARTIN I. TOWNSEND, LL. D., 1873 - Troy.
REV. ANSON J. UPSON, D. D., LL. D., 1874 - Auburn.
WILLIAM L. BOSTWICK, 1876 - Ithaca.
CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW, LL. D., 1877 - New York.
CHARLES E. FITCH, 1877 - Rochester.
REV. ORRIS H. WARREN, D. D., 1877 - Syracuse.
LESLIE W. RUSSELL, LL. D., 1878 - Canton.
WHITELAW REID, 1878 - New York.
WILLIAM H. WATSON, M. D., 1881 - Utica.
HENRY E. TURNER, 1881 - Lowville.
ST. CLAIR McKELWAY, 1883 - Brooklyn.
HAMILTON HARRIS, 1885 - Albany.
DANIEL BEACH, 1885 - Watkins.
WILLARD A. COBB, 1886 - Lockport.
DAVID MURRAY, LL.D., Secretary - Albany.
ALBERT B. WATKINS, PH. D., Assistant Secretary - Albany.


STANDING COMMITTEE AND OFFICERS.

REV. DR. UPSON, Chairman,
THE CHANCELLOR,
MR. REID,
THE VICE-CHANCELLOR,
MR. McKELWAY,
MR. FITCH,
MR. HARRIS,
THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION.

Officers of the Library.

HENRY A. HOMES,* - Librarian of the General Library. * Deceased.
STEPHEN B. GRISWOLD, - - - Librarian of the Law Library.
GEORGE E. HOWELL, Assistant Librarian.
HARRY E. GRISWOLD, Assistant Librarian.
D. V. R. JOHNSTON, ------- Assistant Librarian.
BERTHOLD FERNOW, - - Clerk in Charge of Historical Manuscripts.

STATE OF NEW YORK.

No. 15. IN SENATE,

JANUARY 11, 1888.

SEVENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY REPORT.

To the Legislature of the State of New York:

The Regents of the University, Trustees of the State Library, pursuant to the provisions of law, hereby submit to you their seventieth annual report, covering the year ending September 30, 1887.

The following summary will show the additions that have been made to the library, and also its present condition:

At the beginning of the year October 1, 1886: volumes.
In the general library 92,230
In the law library 38,575
Total 130,805

Added during the year ending Sept. 30, 1887 :
To the general library 2,296
To the law library 1,292
Total 3,588

At the close of the year ending Sept. 30, 1887 :
In the general library 94,526
In the law library 39,867
Total 134,393

Of the additions to the library :
Acquired by purchase 2,265
Acquired by donation and exchange 1,323
Total 3,588

During the past year the library has been compelled to remain in the temporary quarters which were provided for it. In consequence of the contracted space which it is allowed to occupy, it has been impossible to expand it as much as under other circumstances would be feasible. Some additional shelving, made necessary by the increase in the number of volumes, and additional store-room for duplicates have been constructed. It is important to call the attention of the Legislature to the condition of the duplicates belonging to the library.

When, in 1883, the old library building was torn down, it was expected that the new quarters for the library would be ready within a year. Under these circumstances a room was fitted up in the basement to hold the duplicate volumes belonging to the library and the legislative documents which are entrusted to the care of the library. Long ago that room was entirely filled and the material in it packed in such a way as to be in a great part inaccessible.

It has come to be one of the most important duties of the trustees of the library to provide a new and suitable place for these duplicates. It is the purpose of the trustees to use the two pavilions which are over the rooms to be occupied by the library as places where the duplicate stock of the library may be kept. But a small amount of expenditure would be necessary to place one of these pavilions in order. This could be done without in any measure interfering with the work which may be done upon the general preparation of the rooms which are designed for the library.

The room has been examined and an estimate of the cost of making the necessary fittings for the purposes intended has been made, and it is estimated that rough shelving and partitions, such as would be suitable for the purpose, could be put up for a sum not exceeding seven hundred dollars.

If this can be done, the relief occasioned will be very great. Not only will it be possible to arrange the material in such a way that it will be possible to obtain what is sought for, but the material will be safe from the destructive causes which now are inevitable. It is interesting to mention that some additional manuscripts connected with those that the library before possessed, have been secured. Professor Jameson, of the Johns Hopkins University, found it necessary in his historical researches to have copies made of the manuscripts left by Usselincx. These were additional to the Usselincx manuscripts possessed by the State Library, to which Professor Jameson had had access. After completing his historical work, Professor Jameson offered to sell to the library the manuscripts of which he had obtained copies. These were

purchased from him and are now added to those which the library already owned. They go far towards making complete the records of the early discoveries of this country which the library now possesses.

For the usual operations of the library during the year, the trustees refer to the reports made to them by the
librarians. They desire to express their high appreciation of the assiduity and ability with which, under the present embarrassments, the work has been conducted. The absence for the entire year of Librarian Homes threw a great amount of extra work upon the others connected with the library. The want of Dr. Homes' experience and activity has been most severely felt; at the same time these have been very far supplemented by the activity of others.

Mention should be here made of the work which has been done during the past year upon the manuscripts in the possession of the State Library. Mr. Fernow has continued his services upon these manuscripts, and during the year has, under the authority of the Legislature, published a volume chiefly occupied with the military services of the citizens of the State during the Revolutionary War.

This volume contains all that is known of the organization and composition of the regiments furnished by the State of New York in that war. The volume is already found to be of great interest and value to those who are studying the services of their ancestry in that great struggle.

During part of the past year Mr. George W. Kirchwey has been employed by the trustees in continuing and completing the work begun by Judge Clinton. This work, by the sudden death of Judge Clinton, was left in a condition which made it of very little use to historical investigators.

Mr: Kirchwey is revising the calendar and index which Judge Clinton began. His work will render available the volume of manuscripts which compose the Clinton papers.

The trustees desire to make known to the Legislature the great loss which the library has sustained in the death of Dr. Henry A. Homes, the librarian of the general library. Dr. Homes w,as appointed an assistant in the State Library in 1854. Since that time he has devoted his time and energy to the management of this important trust. In 1857 he was appointed the librarian of the general library, Mr. Alfred B. Street being at the same time appointed librarian of the law library alone. Since that time Dr. Homes has continued without change as the librarian of the general library up to the time of his death, November 3, 1887. The trustees desire to express their great grief at the loss which the State has sustained, and their appreciation of the fidelity and ability with which he fulfilled his responsible duties. Since his death the trustees have received from all parts of the United States, and from European libraries, expressions of grief at the death of one who had come to be recognized as one of the chief librarians of the world.

H. R. PIERSON,
Chancellor.

APPENDIX I.

REPORT OF THE ACTING LIBRARIAN OF THE GENERAL LIBRARY.

To the Regents of the University, Trustees of the State Library: The number of volumes added to the general library during the twelvemonths ending September 30,1887, is 2,296, making the whole number of volumes in this department of the library, 94,526. Of these 2,296 volumes, 1,449 were obtained by purchase and 847 by donation or exchange. During the past year the library has been greatly strengthened in the accession of English historical works that enable the American genealogist to carry on the investigations of family history previous to the early colonizing of the country. Notable among these are a number of heralds' visitations, giving the pedigrees of many English families having descendants in the State. Several English county histories have also been obtained which are needed by visitors and authors in search of genealogical information.

Histories of counties and towns in the United States, and genealogies of American families are being rapidly published and are secured as early as possible, not only because of their importance, but because, owing to small editions and a growing demand, their commercial value rapidly increases. Such books are regarded important on account of the great number of citizens who call for them and the intensity of the desire back of the application. Several works on social science and political economy have been added to meet the wants of members of the Legislature, and several technical works to assist particularly some of the departments engaged in the service of the State. The State Library has already one of the best and most complete collections extant of works relating to the civil war, and every regimental history, not already in the library, that offered itself for purchase during the past year, has been obtained. These works are also rapidly increasing in price and scarcity for the same reasons that affect the value of local histories.

Among the notable purchases of the year is, first, a large and valuable addition to the Usselincx manuscripts, so important to a correct understanding of the colonial history of this State. In the report for 1884, Dr. Homes, in speaking of the purchases made at the sale of the library of Mr. Henry C. Murphy, says: " The most numerous and valuable of the whole are copies of papers and reports of Willem Usselincx, never yet printed." The purchase here mentioned includes 404 pages of folio manuscript, which cover the period from 1614 to 1646. During the past year another and similar collection of manuscripts, being copies of original documents at The Hague, written by, or relating to, Usselincx, was purchased of Mr. J. F. Jameson, of Baltimore. This purchase, covering a period from 1618 to 1649, includes 454 folio and 136 quarto pages, and the whole has been bound in three substantial volumes. Another important acquisition, to shed light on the early discoveries of America, is a facsimile of the so-called Borgian map of 1529, now in the Vatican library, a broad sheet, fifty-seven by twenty-four inches, mounted on cloth. A rare copy of Ptolemy's Geography of 1511, also secured, contains a map, of much interest to students of the progress of discovery
in America. Of similar interest are the Riflessioni geografiche of Vitalis Terra Rossa, containing claims for Venetian nobles of pre-Columbian discoveries in the Western World.

Two notable gifts of books to the State Library have been made: from Hon. Henry R. Pierson, a collection of United States and New York documents and miscellaneous volumes to the number of 232, and 227 pamphlets; from

Dr. David Murray, a collection of 245 Japanese books, and eighty-two other volumes and 141 pamphlets. Many of these Japanese books are illustrated, and among them are works geographical, historical and educational.

The want of room to accommodate the British patents has compelled the closing of a portion of the western corridor and the erection of shelving within the inclosure, which, it is expected, will be sufficient to contain the accessions until the new apartments are ready for occupancy.

There is still need of a type-writer copy of the greater portion of the catalogue of 1855, to be incorporated into the great manuscript catalogue of the library, so that by consulting one catalogue it may be ascertained if a given book is, or is not, in the library. All which is respectfully submitted,

GEORGE R, HOWELL,
Acting Librarian,

APPENDIX II.

REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN OF THE LAW LIBRARY.
STATE LIBRARY, November 10, 1887.

To the Regents of the University of the State of New York:

The number of volumes added to the law department of the library during the year ending September 30, 1887, is 1,292, which increases the total number of volumes in this department to 39,867. Of these 1,292 volumes, 816 were acquired by purchase, and 476 by donation and exchange.

The additions have been principally continuations of American and British reports, statutes, law periodicals
and standard elementary works. The effort to supply deficiencies existing in the collection of American statute law has been continued, and has resulted in the addition of several rare volumes. Fifty-one collected volumes have been added to the collection of the proceedings of the boards of supervisors of the various counties of the State, which proceedings, by chapter 102 of the Laws of 1877, are required to be transmitted annually to the library by the clerks of the respective boards.

During the year an opportunity occurred whereby the British parliamentary papers for the sessions of 1842, 1843, 1852 to 1859, comprising 527 folio volumes, in good binding, were obtained for the library at a cost of less than the binding. The library is now in possession of these papers complete for the sessions of 1811 to 1832,1842 to 1859,1868 to 1886, making a collection of 2,200 folio volumes.

The use of the books in this department has been equal to the average use in previous years. More than the usual number of volumes have been delivered to the various State officers for temporary use in the discharge of their respective official duties.

Respectfully submitted,
STEPHEN B. GRISWOLD,
Librarian of the Law Library.

APPENDIX III,

LIST OF BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS RECEIVED IN THE NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY BY DONATION OR EXCHANGE, FROM OCTOBER 1, 1886, TO SEPTEMBER 30, 1887.
From Foreign Countries.