INTRODUCTION.

The provisions of the will of Mr. George Ticknor, by which the City of Boston received his Spanish and Portuguese Library, are as follows:

NINTH. On the death of my wife, I give to the city of Boston, where I was born, where I have lived a long and happy life, and where I hope to die, all my books and manuscripts in the Spanish and Portuguese languages; and I further give and bequeath to the same city of Boston the sum of four thousand dollars to be paid within one year after the probate of this my will, the same to be always kept by the said city safely invested at interest for the purposes hereinafter specified. But I make these two bequests to the city of Boston only in trust for the following purposes, and no other, to wit: (1.) That, in the course of each and every period of five years during the twenty-five years next succeeding the receipt by the said city of the said sum of four thousand dollars, the said city shall expend not less than one thousand dollars in the purchase of books in the Spanish and Portuguese languages and literatures, or in one of them; and furthermore expressing it as my wish, but not as my requirement, in order; so far as may be, to insure the purchase of books already determined to be worth possessing, that no books shall be so purchased during said twenty-five years, nor afterwards, from the income of the said fund of four thousand dollars, which shall not have been published in some one edition at least five years; it being my will that every book purchased at any time from the income of my said fund of four thousand dollars shall be a book of permanent value and authority, and neither newspapers, periodicals, nor other popular publications not likely to be of lasting consid

eration.

(2.) That no person whatsoever shall, at any time or under any circumstances, except for binding or needful repairs in binding, be permitted to remove from the proper rooms of the Public Library, any of the books hereby bequeathed or for the purchase of which provision is hereby made; but that within such rooms, and at all such times and hours, and under such restrictions as the Trustees or other lawful managers of the said library may deem expedient or reasonable, each and all of said books so bequeathed, or so purchased, shall be freely accessible for reference or study to all such persons as may be permitted to resort to said library, or to use it.

(3.) That at the end of the twenty-five years aforesaid, and in each and every year thereafter forever, the said city of Boston shall cause the income of the said fund of four thousand dollars, but no part of the principal, to be expended in the purchase of books of permanent value, either in the Spanish and Portuguese languages, or in such other languages as may be deemed expedient by the Trustees of the said library, or other persons having lawful charge of the same, but always under the conditions and restrictions herein before expressed, namely: That the same shall be used only in the proper rooms of the said library, and never lent abroad or out of them.

(4.) That none of the books bequeathed by me as aforesaid, or to be purchased from the income of the fund of four thousand dollars as aforesaid, shall, at any time, be sold, exchanged, or given

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away; but that they shall, if not inconvenient, be kept together, like the Bowditch and the Parker collections, now in the library.

(5.) That if, at any time, the fund aforesaid shall, from any cause whatever, become diminished, then at least one-half of the annual income thereof shall yearly be added to the principal, until the full sum of four thousand dollars shall be made good again.

(6.) But in case the city of Boston shall refuse or neglect for the space of one year after the probate of this my will to accept the said bequests of books, manuscripts, and money on the trusts and conditions herein before set forth, or shall, at any time after accepting the same, fail or neglect faithfully to fulfil each and all of said trusts and conditions, according to their true spirit and intent, then, and in either of said cases, I give and bequeath the same books, manuscripts, and money to the President and Fellows of Harvard College, in the city of Cambridge, for the use of the General Library of the said college, upon the same trusts and conditions, so far as the same can be made applicable to the said General Library, giving, as I do hereby give, to the said President and Fellows, full power to sue for and recover the said books, manuscripts, and money, or any of them, from the said city of Boston, or from any person or persons who may have the same or any of them in his or their possession.

Mr. Ticknor died on January 26, 1871.

On the 6th of March, 1871, Mrs. Ticknor generously offered to relinquish to the city her right to use the Library during her life. Ten days later, on the 16th of March, 1871, the City Council accepted by resolution her offer, and passed the following orders:

Ordered, That the bequests to the city of Boston, named in the ninth article of the will of George Ticknor of Boston, proved February 20, 1871, be, and the same are hereby accepted, in accordance with the terms and conditions of said will; and the Trustees of the Public Library are authorized and directed to receive said bequests in behalf of the city, and make suitable arrangements for the care and custody of the books and manuscripts given in trust to the city by the said George Ticknor, and also to invest the money received in trust as aforesaid in bonds of the city, and expend the income in the manner designated in the trust.

Ordered, That the Committee on Finance be requested to report an order providing for a special appropriation of three thousand dollars to furnish accommodations in the Public Library for the books and manuscripts given in trust to the city by George Ticknor; and also for preparing and printing a catalogue of the same.

Under these conditions the collection was received at the Public Library, April 26, 1871.

The preparation of the catalogue was at once entrusted to Mr. William A. Wheeler, the accomplished head of the Catalogue Department, who carried on the work, with the assistance of Miss Mary E. Joslyn, until interrupted by the illness which ended in his death on the 28th of October, 1874. During this period a little more than one-half of the titles had been primarily prepared, but not put in condition for the press. After his death the work was placed in the hands of Mr. James L. Whitney, his successor in office, who, at first with the help of Miss Joslyn, and after with that of Mr. José F. Carret, catalogued the remainder of the original library,