* Vacancy caused by death of S. Van Rensselaer Cruger, June 23, 1898. OFFICERS President, Hon. JOHN BIGELOW. First Vice-President, Rt. Rev. HENRY C. POTTER, D.D. Second Vice-President, JOHN S. KENNEDY, Esq. Secretary, GEORGE L. RIVES, Esq., 32 Nassau Street. Treasurer, EDWARD KING, Esq., Union Trust Company, 80 Broadway. TH REGULATIONS HE Astor Building, 40 Lafayette Place, and the Lenox Building, Fifth Avenue and 70th Street, are open daily, excepting on Sundays, Independence Day, Christmas, and New Year, from 9 A. M. until 6 P. M. The Reading rooms and the Exhibition rooms are free to all persons; but children under the age of fifteen years must be accompanied by an adult. In the Reading room of each Library Building certain shelves are set apart for books of reference, which readers are allowed to take down and examine at their pleasure. For all other books an application must be made by filling out and signing one of the blanks provided for the purpose. Published monthly by The New York Public Library, No. 40 Lafayette Place, New York City Subscription One Dollar a year, single numbers Ten Cents Entered as second-class matter at the New York, N. Y., Post Office, January 30, 1897 VOL. II. NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY, MASS ASTOR LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS NOVEMBER, 1898. No. 11. REPORT FOR OCTOBER, 1898. During the month of October there were received at the Library by purchase 676 books and 463 pamphlets, and by gift 824 books and 2,514 pamphlets. There were catalogued 4,868 volumes and 2,383 pamphlets, for which purpose 29,283 cards and 1,120 slips for the printer were written. The following table shows the number of readers and the number of volumes consulted in both the Astor and Lenox branches of the Library during the month: Among the important gifts received this month were, from the Boston Medical Library, 33 volumes and 282 pamphlets; the Royal Norwegian University Library, 5 volumes; Captain Carl Stuart of Sweden, 8 volumes and 2 pamphlets; Eliot Norton, 15 volumes; New York City Supervisor, 8 volumes of the City Record; the Evening Post, 231 volumes and 94 pamphlets; Hon. Robert P. Porter, 106 volumes and 551 pamphlets; Dr. E. B. Foote, 9 volumes of old periodicals; J. H. Hill, 2 volumes of etchings; Alexander Maitland, 16 volumes and 86 pamphlets; John L. Cadwalader, 56 volumes of sporting books. A new reading room has been opened at the Lenox, one end being devoted to music and the other to American genealogies and state, county and town histories. The section of French literature at the Astor has been classified and catalogued and about 1,600 volumes have been transferred to it from the Lenox. Considerable additions have been made to the department of Scandinavian literature at the Astor, and Danish and Norwegian authors are now well represented in the collections. EARLY TRAVELLING LIBRARIES. In the year 1817, a system of what was called "Itinerating Libraries," was begun in East Lothian, Scotland, -the object being to furnish the towns and villages of the county with libraries of useful books. Each library was to consist of fifty volumes, and was to be moved about from one town or village to another, and a new division sent in its place. The plan was commenced with five of such libraries, each with bookcases, catalogues, labels, advertisements, and records for the issuing of books, the total cost of each of these libraries being from ten to twelve pounds. At first, all the libraries were entirely gratuitous. Subsequently, a plan was adopted of keeping the new books for the use of persons giving a small annual subscription, which amounted to about a penny a volume. Nine years later, on the 15th day of August, 1826, a public meeting was held at Edinburgh, for the purpose of establishing a Society for the promotion of itinerating libraries, when it was agreed that an annual contribution of five shillings should be paid by every member of the Society. In the Report of the Organization the utility of such libraries is briefly set forth. The first Report of this Society was issued November 29, 1827, and gives an account of the establishment of five or six itinerating libraries, the number being soon after increased to ten. Of the stock of five hundred volumes, it is stated that 250 were religious treatises and religious biographies; 70 related to history and general biography; 50 to elementary science, mechanics, and agriculture; and 130 to travels, voyages, and miscellany. In this report, a catalogue of the books in the several libraries is given, and the following is the list of books contained in Nos. 1 and 2 of these travelling libraries, which it may be of interest to compare with some of the lists of the travelling libraries of the present day : 56 ditto vol. 2. Lives of the Duke of Marlborough, Lord Nelson, and the Duke of Wellington. 7 Narratives of Shipwrecks. 8 History of the Plague in London in 1665. 17 18 19 20 21 Orton's Life of Dr. Doddridge. Life of Captain Cook. Memoirs of Dr. Dwight. Marten and His Scholars-Serjeant Dale-and Lucy Clare. 22 Remains of Henry Kirke White. 29 Booth's Reign of Grace. 30 Doddridge's Sermons on the Power and Grace of Christ. 44 ditto vol. 2. vol. 3. Minerals. 45 Chalmer's Sermons, Preached in St. John's Church. 46 Bonnycastle's Introduction to Astronomy. 47 Hall's (of Leicester) Sermons. 48 More's Essay on the Character and Writings of St. Paul, vol. 1. 49 ditto 50 Letters and Papers of the Rev. Thomas Scott. vol. 2. Hora Paulina-Clergyman's Companion. 19 Doddridge's Rise and Progress, with an Introductory Essay by Foster. Optics and Magnetism. Pneumatics. 23 Robertson's Historical Disquisition on Ancient India. 24 Maternal Solicitude for a Daughter's Best Interests, by Mrs. Taylor. 27 Jerram's Tribute of Parental Affection to the Memory of a beloved and only Daughter. 28 Simpson's Visit to Flanders in 1815. 29 Lives of the Duke of Marlborough, Lord Nelson, and the Duke of Wellington. 30 Josephus's Wars of the Jews, vol. 1. vol. 2. 32 Thornton's Anecdotes, accompanied with Observations, vol. 1. 33 ditto Conversations on Natural Philosophy. 35 Narrative of the Loss of the Kent East Indiaman. 36 Bunyan's Grace abounding to the Chief of Sinners. 37 38 39 40 Bickersteth's Christian Hearer. James's Christian Father's Present to his Children. 41 Edgeworth's Popular Tales, vol. 1. vol. 2. 44 Murray's Historical Account of Discoveries and Travels in Africa, vol. 1. 45 ditto vol. 2. 46 Walton's Lives of Donne, Wotton, Hooker, Herbert, and Sanderson. 48 Foster's Essay on the Evils of Popular Ignorance. Subsequently, the Society appears to have extended to two or three other counties of Scotland. From the last report of these libraries, dated November, 1834, it would seem that the Organization became involved in debt, and it is doubtful whether the work was continued much beyond that date. |