Leading American Library Collections

Leading American Library CollectionsAuthor(s): Robert B. DownsSource: The Library Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 3 (Jul., 1942), pp. 457-473Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4302980 .

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LEADING AMERICAN LIBRARY COLLECTIONS

ROBERT B. DOWNS

W T tHERE are the leading collections for advanced study and research in American libraries? The question has been asked repeatedly by librarians, by college and university

faculty members, graduate students, research workers for business and industry, and others contemplating an exhaustive investigation of a subject.

In the nature of things it is improbable that any library can ever acquire an absolutely complete collection on any large field, and the odds are against its doing so even in a minute segment of that field. A small, relatively undistinguished library may by chance possess the particular items needed to complete a research undertaking, and we cannot, therefore, rule out all except a select group of libraries as being of no consequence. Nevertheless, in virtually every field there are library collections so outstanding in value and so comprehensive in scope that they are naturally turned to first by the scholar and the specialist-assuming the locations of the libraries are known.

In an attempt to learn where the major collections are to be found, the American Library Association Board on Resources of American Libraries drew up a list of about seventy-five subjects, some broad and others narrow, and asked approximately five hundred authorities to state where, in their opinions, the best library collections are held. In theory, at least, the expert who is actually engaged in research ac- tivities should be most thoroughly conversant with available facilities in his specialty. Actually, the number of individuals who were familiar with resources outside their own region was not large. Since the group of five hundred is representative of the whole country, however, it was possible to synthesize the judgments of persons in different regions to obtain an over-all view of the nation's libraries. The body of experts whose advice was solicited was rather heavily weighted with university professors. To these were added a substantial number of special librarians and nonteaching research workers.

The plan followed in the survey had certain manifest pitfalls. The restricted experience of some authorities made their opinions less valu- able. In many instances judgments had to be based upon impressions

457



458 THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY

rather than upon actual extended use. Another danger was a time lag, i.e., experts frequently made their appraisals on conditions existing many years ago, overlooking the fact that the collections may not since have been adequately maintained. Obviously, a collection de- teriorates in importance if its growth stops or if there is not careful attention paid to its continual development. As the reverse of this situation, important newer collections which have come up within the past few years have not received proper recognition simply because they are less well known. Again, the presence of distinguished professors or research staffs in an institution may have influenced the views of outside experts, leading them to assume the existence of equally notable library collections.

To correct such weaknesses as those indicated above, librarians of most of the general institutions named by the experts were asked to verify the conclusions by supplying relevant data, including their own opinions of the relative standing of their collections. Certain revisions have been made on the basis of this additional information.

In the eyes of the research worker the highly specialized collection giving thorough coverage to a limited phase of a large field is of greater value than a general collection representative of the whole field but not exhaustive in any single aspect. Furthermore, unless its funds and other facilities are unlimited, a library is much more likely to achieve distinction if it limits its collecting interests to certain divisions of broad subjects. Consequently, the authorities consulted were requested to mention special divisions of large fields in which they considered libraries named by them as particularly distinguished. Such highly restricted interests constitute a sound basis for agreements among libraries for specialization in acquisition policies. Space is not available here to list these specialties in detail, though they are oc- casionally given, particularly if they have a significant bearing upon the scope of the collection.

A point brought out by various persons was the importance of con- sidering centers for research as distinct from individual libraries. Some centers, of course, contain noteworthy collections if combined resources are considered, even though no single library in the group is outstanding. Such situations offer an ideal basis for library co-opera- tion. The present study is confined, however, to the facilities of single lbraries.

The list of leading libraries below is arranged by broad fields with subdivisions. The order of listing for libraries has no significance.



LEADING AMERICAN LIBRARY COLLECTIONS 459

LITERATURE AND LANGUAGES

Classical.-Universities: California, Chicago, Cincinnati, Colum- bia (paleography, epigraphy, papyri, early Latin grammars), Cornell (epigraphy, papyri), Harvard, Illinois, Indiana (Livy, Pliny), Johns Hopkins, Michigan (papyri), New York (papyri), North Carolina, Northwestern, Pennsylvania, Princeton (papyri), Stanford, Texas, Virginia, Yale; public libraries: New York; others: Library of Con- gress.

English.-Universities: Baylor (Browning), Buffalo (modern poetry), California, California at Los Angeles (Dryden), Chicago (medieval, Renaissance, Shakespeare, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Romantic poetry), Columbia (Shakespeare, Romantic poetry), Cornell (Wordsworth), Harvard (special collections for twenty-two major authors from Chaucer to Galsworthy, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, minor seventeenth-century poetry, philology), Illi- nois (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, early periodicals, Shake- speare, Milton), Indiana (Defoe), Iowa (Leigh Hunt), Johns Hopkins (Renaissance, Spenser), Michigan (Middle English, Milton, Carlyle, proverbs), Minnesota (seventeenth-century newspapers), North Caro- lina, Pennsylvania (eighteenth-century fiction, Shakespeare), Prince- ton, Rochester (Johnsoniana), Rutgers (Defoe), Stanford (language, Renaissance), Texas (seventeenth- and eighteenth-century periodicals, nineteenth-century first editions), Washington at Seattle (Ren- aissance), Yale (Elizabethan, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, early newspapers, Boswell-Johnson); colleges: Amherst (Words- worth), Colby (Hardy); public libraries: Boston, New York; others: Folger Library (Shakespeare, Dryden, I640-I700 period, early Eng- lish printing), Huntington Library (Renaissance, Tudor period prose, Shakespeare, drama, seventeenth- and eighteenth-century manuscripts), Library of Congress, Newberry Library, Pierpont Morgan Library (medieval, rarities, first editions, manuscripts).

American.-Universities: Brown (Colonial, Whitman, poetry), Cal- ifornia, Chicago (drama), Columbia, Duke (South), Harvard, Johns Hopkins (Holmes, Lanier), Michigan, Minnesota (fiction before i8So, early periodicals, Scandinavian Americana), Pennsylvania, Rutgers (Freneau, Whitman, Howells), Stanford, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, Yale (Irving, Cooper, Whitman, Wharton); colleges: Colby (E. A. Robinson), Pennsylvania State (i8oc-i8so period); public libraries: Boston, Denver (Eugene Field), New York, Philadelphia (early ju- veniles); others: American Antiquarian Society (prior to I8oo,




early periodicals), Boston Athenaeum, Essex Institute (Whittier), Philadelphia Library Company, Library of Congress, Newberry Library, Pierpont Morgan Library (manuscripts).

German.-Universities: California, Chicago (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, folk song and folklore), Columbia, Cornell (Ice- landic), Harvard (Heine, Lessing), Illinois (fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, Goethe, folk song), Johns Hopkins (seventeenth century, drama), Michigan (Hauptmann), Minnesota, New York, Ohio State, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Stanford, Western Re- serve, Wisconsin, Yale (Goethe); public libraries: New York; others: Library of Congress, Newberry Library.

French.-Universities: Brown, California, Chicago (medieval, Bal- zac, Stendhal), Columbia, Cornell, Duke (Voltaire, eighteenth century), Harvard (Moliere), Illinois (sixteenth-century poetics), Johns Hopkins (medieval, seventeenth century, drama), Louisiana (Ro- mance philology), Michigan (Renaissance), Minnesota, Missouri (Old French), New York, North Carolina (medieval, sixteenth century), Pennsylvania, Princeton (medieval, Renaissance, Montaigne, seventeenth-century novel), Stanford, Wisconsin, Yale; public libraries: Boston, New York (Provencal); others: Huntington Library (English translations), Library of Congress, Newberry Library (Arthurian ro- mance, folklore, dialect), Pierpont Morgan Library (medieval).

Spanish.-Universities: California, Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina (nineteenth-century drama), Pennsylvania (Lope de Vega, Spanish classical theater), Princeton, Stanford, Texas, Wisconsin (medieval), Yale; colleges: Dartmouth (nineteenth- and twentieth-century drama), Oberlin (seventeenth- and eighteenth-century plays); public libraries: Boston (pre-nineteenth century), New York (drama, Cer- vantes); others: Hispanic Society (pre-nineteenth century), Library of Congress.

Drama and theater.-Universities: Chicago (American), Cincinnati (Irish theater), Columbia, Cornell, Harvard (English to i8oo, Ameri- can), Johns Hopkins (French, German), Michigan (English and Amer- ican to i8So), North Carolina (American), Pennsylvania (Shake- speare, American), Princeton (American, circus), Texas (Restoration plays, seventeenth- and eighteenth-century English theater, Spanish, Mexican), Washington at Seattle (American), Yale; colleges: Dart- mouth (motion-picture scripts); public libraries: Boston (Spanish, early American), Cleveland (twentieth century), Los Angeles (Cali-



LEADING AMERICAN LIBRARY COLLECTIONS 46I

fornia theater, motion pictures), New York; others: American Anti- quarian Society (American before I830, circus), Folger Library (Eng- lish, i56o-1700), Grosvenor Library, Huntington Library (English medieval to early nineteenth century), Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art (motion pictures), Newberry Library, Philadelphia Li- brary Company (American and British, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries).

Folklore.-Universities: California, Columbia, Cornell (witchcraft), Harvard, Indiana, Joint University Libraries (southern), Missouri (regional), New Mexico (regional, Hispanic, Latin-American), Pennsyl- vania (witchcraft), Texas, Virginia; public libraries: Cleveland, New York; others: Library of Congress.

HISTORY

United States (general and regional, not including collections limited to single states).-Universities: Brown (Colonial, Lincoln), California (Far West, Spanish influences), Chicago (Kentucky, Lincoln-Doug- las), Colorado (Rocky Mountain area), Columbia, Duke (South), Harvard, Illinois (West), Missouri (West), North Carolina (South), Princeton (Civil War), Texas (South, Southwest, Spanish influences), Virginia, Washington at Seattle (Pacific Northwest), Yale; colleges: WAashington State (Lincoln, Pacific Northwest); public libraries: Bos- ton, Denver (Rocky Mountain region), Detroit (Middle West), New York; historical societies: Massachusetts, Minnesota (Northwest), New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin (Middle West, South, Revolu- tion, Civil War); others: American Antiquarian Society (prior to I820, Revolution), Clements Library (exploration, Revolution, Lin- coln), Grosvenor Library, Huntington Library (Far West), John Car- ter Brown Library (prior to i8oi), Library of Congress, National Archives, Newberry Library (Middle West, West, exploration, Colo- nial, Revolution).

Latin-American.-Universities: Brown, California (colonial, Mexi- co), Catholic (Brazil), Cincinnati, Colorado (Argentina, Mexico), Co- lumbia, Cornell, Duke (Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador), Harvard (Chile), Illinois (Revolutionary period), Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina (Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, Vene- zuela), Pennsylvania, Princeton, Stanford (Brazil), Tennessee (Costa Rica), Texas (Mexico), Tulane (Middle America), Yale; colleges: Dartmouth (nineteenth and twentieth centuries); public libraries: New York; others: American Antiquarian Society (Mexico, West




Indies), California State Library (Mexico, i 8oo-i 8so), Hispanic Soci- ety, Huntington Library, John Carter Brown Library (colonial), Library of Congress, Newberry Library, Pan American Union.

Medieval.-Universities: California, Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard (Crusades, Byzantine Empire, Normans), Michigan, Minne- sota, Pennsylvania, Princeton (Crusades, Byzantine Empire), Syra- cuse (German and Italian), Western Reserve, Wisconsin, Yale (Eng- lish constitutional and legal history); others: Huntington Library (English).

English.-Universities: California, Cornell (seventeenth century), Duke, Harvard, Michigan (constitutional), Minnesota (medieval, seventeenth century); public libraries: Boston (seventeenth century), Cleveland (i66o-i8oo), New York; others: Huntington Library, Li- brary of Congress, Newberry Library, Philadelphia Library Company, Union Theological Seminary (church history), Wisconsin State His- torical Society.

French.-Universities: California (medieval, Revolution, Napole- on), Chicago (Revolution), Columbia (Joan of Arc, Revolution, Na- poleon), Cornell, Duke (medieval, modern diplomatic), Harvard, Iowa (Revolution), Nebraska (Revolution), New York (Huguenots), North Carolina (Revolution), Pennsylvania, Princeton, Stanford (twentieth century), Yale (Revolution, Napoleon, nineteenth century); public libraries: Cleveland, New York; others: Library of Congress, Pier- pont Morgan Library.

German.-Universities: California, Columbia, Cornell (medieval, Reformation), Harvard, Michigan (diplomatic history), Minnesota, New York, Ohio State, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Stanford; public libraries: New York; others: Library of Congress, Newberry Library.

Italian history and literature.-Universities: Brown (Dante), Co- lumbia, Cornell (Dante, Petrarch), Harvard (Dante, Petrarch, Tasso, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Risorgimento), Illinois, Pennsyl- vania, Princeton; public libraries: Cleveland, New York; others: Li- brary of Congress.

Spanish.-Universities: California, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Stan- ford, Texas; public libraries: Boston; others: Hispanic Society.

Near East.-Universities: California, Catholic (Christian), Chicago (Egyptology, Assyriology), Cincinnati, Columbia, Cornell (Egyptol- ogy), Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Michigan, Pennsylvania (Assyriol- ogy), Princeton (Arabic, Islamic), Stanford, Yale (Arabic, Assyriol- ogy, biblical studies); public libraries: Boston, Cleveland, New York;




others: Brooklyn Museum (Egyptology), General Theological Semi- nary at New York (Assyriology), Metropolitan Museum (Egyptol- ogy).

Middle East (chiefly India).-Universities: California, Columbia, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Yale; public libraries: Cleveland, New York; others: Field Museum (Tibet), Library of Congress, New- berry Library (Tibet).

Far East (Chinese).-Universities: California, Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Washington at Seattle, Yale; colleges: Pomona; public libraries: Cleveland, New York.

Far East (7apanese).-Universities: California, Columbia, Harvard, Yale; colleges: Pomona; public libraries: Cleveland; others: Library of Congress.

World War I (I9I4-I8).-Universities: California, Chicago, Clark, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Harvard, Minnesota, Princeton, Stanford, Yale; colleges: Washington State; public libraries: New York; others: Library of Congress, National Archives.

Genealogy.-Public libraries: Boston, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, New York, St. Louis; historical societies: Long Island, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Wisconsin; others: American Antiquarian So- ciety, Genealogical Society of Utah, Grosvenor Library, Library of Congress, New England Historic Genealogical Society, New York Gen- ealogical and Biographical Society, New York State Library, New- berry Library.

American newspapers (general and regional, not including collections chiefly devoted to single states).-Universities: California (early West), Chicago, Duke, Harvard (I795-I808), Illinois (United States foreign- language papers), Michigan, Rutgers (Colonial), Texas (southern and Mexican), Yale; colleges: Washington State; public libraries: New York; historical societies: New York (Colonial and Revolutionary), Wisconsin; others: American Antiquarian Society, Boston Athenae- um (before I 830), Library of Congress, Philadelphia Library Company (eighteenth century).

FINE ARTS

Fine arts (general).-Universities: Columbia, Harvard (Byzantine, early Christian, medieval), Pennsylvania (oriental), Pittsburgh, Princeton (early Christian); colleges: Oberlin; public libraries: Bos- ton, Cincinnati, Denver (Remington, western artists), Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Providence (design), Queens Borough (cos-




tume), St. Louis (costume); art museums: Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago Art Institute, Cleveland, Freer Gallery (Near and Far East, Whistler), Frick (European painting), Metropolitan, Museum of Modern Art, Philadelphia; others: American Antiquarian Society (early American engraving), Cooper Union, Grosvenor Library (costume), Hispanic Society (Spanish), Huntington Library (eighteenth- and nineteenth- century British), Iranian Institute (Islamic), Library of Congress, Pierpont Morgan Library (medieval, Renaissance, illuminated manuscripts).

A4rchaeology (classical).-Universities: California, Chicago, Cincin- nati, Columbia, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Washington (at St. Louis), Yale; public libraries: New York; art museums: Metropolitan; others: Library of Congress.

Architecture.-Universities: Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Princeton; public libraries: Boston, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, Pitts- burgh, Providence; art museums: Chicago Art Institute, Metropoli- tan; others: Library of Congress.

City planning and housing.-Universities: Columbia, Harvard; public libraries: New York; others: Library of Congress, Russell Sage Foundation.

Music.-Universities: Chicago (folk song), Columbia, Harvard (early English, sheet music), Illinois (late Elizabetlhan and Jacobean, Sousa), Louisiana, Pittsburgh (Foster), Rochester (medieval, orches- tral, chamber, folk song), Yale (American hymnology); colleges: Smith (Italian madrigals); public libraries: Boston, Cincinnati, Cleve- land (folk song), New York, Philadelphia; historical societies: New York; others: American Antiquarian Society (Americana, sheet music), Curtis Institute of Music, Folger Library (sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English), Grosvenor Library (American), Huntington Library (early English), Library of Congress, New England Conserva- tory, Newberry Library (medieval, Renaissance, early American), Philadelphia Library Company (early American).

PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION

Philosophy.-Universities: Boston, California, Columbia, Cornell (Kant), Duke, Harvard, Michigan, New York (Hegel, French philosophy), Princeton, Southern California, Texas, Yale; public libraries: New York; others: Folger Library (Bacon), Library of Congress.

Religion.-Universities: Boston (philosophy of religion), California




(comparative religion), Catholic, Chicago (church history, Bible), Cornell (Inquisition, Jesuits, Protestant Reformation, science and religion), Duke (biblical criticism, Methodism), Emory (Methodism), Georgetown, Harvard (medieval, papacy, Greek church, denomina- tional history, Quakers), Joint University Libraries, Michigan (history), Notre Dame (Catholic), Pennsylvania (Inquisition), Princeton (Christian art, Puritan theology), Yale (missions, Congregationalism); colleges: Haverford (Quakers), Oberlin, Swarthmore (Quakers); theological seminaries: Colgate-Rochester, Crozer (Baptist), Drew (Meth- odism, hymnology), Eden (Lutheran), Episcopal Theological School, Garrett Bible Institute, General Theological Seminary in New York (liturgics, Latin Bibles, Anglican church), Hartford (Reformation, missions), Presbyterian at Louisville, Southern Baptist, Union at New York (English church history, French Protestantism, hymnology, missions); public libraries: New York (missions, Bibles, sociological aspects); others: American Antiquarian Society (American to 1820),

California State Library (Reformation tracts, Spanish and Mexican Catholicism), Grosvenor Library (Shakers), Huntington Library (seventeenth- and eighteenth-century English sermons), Library of Congress (American sects), Presbyterian and Reformed Churches Historical Foundation, Presbyterian Historical Society.

7ewish history and literature.-Universities: Columbia, Cornell, Har- vard, Johns Hopkins (rabbinical), New York, Pennsylvania, Prince- ton, Yale (Josephus); colleges: College of the City of New York (medieval), Dropsie, Hebrew Union, Yeshiva; theological seminaries: Jewish, Union; public libraries: New York; others: California State Library (Hebrew manuscripts), Jewish Institute of Religion, Library of Congress.

SOCIAL SCIENCES

Sociology.-Universities: Chicago, Columbia, Harvard, Louisiana (rural, population), Michigan (human ecology), Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio State, Pennsylvania, Southern California, Washington at Seattle, Yale; public libraries: New York, Pittsburgh (woman); others: Library of Congress.

Education.-Universities: California, Chicago, Columbia (Teach- ers College), Harvard, Illinois, Joint University Libraries, Michigan, New York, Ohio State, Pennsylvania, Southern California, Stanford, Yale; public libraries: New York; others: American Antiquarian So- ciety (early textbooks), Library of Congress, New York State Library, United States Office of Education.




Negro.-Universities: Atlanta, Chicago, Columbia, Duke, Fisk, Howard, North Carolina; colleges: Hampton Institute, Oberlin (anti- slavery), Talladega, Tuskegee Institute; public libraries: Boston, New York, Providence (slavery); historical societies: Pennsylvania (Negro in North); others: American Antiquarian Society (early material), Library of Congress.

Political science.-Universities: California, Chicago, Columbia, Duke (social and political movements), Harvard, Illinois (local government), Michigan (public administration), Minnesota (public administration, local government), Northwestern, Pennsylvania, Prince- ton (constitutional law), Syracuse, Yale; public libraries: New York; others: Institute of Public Administration, Library of Congress, New- berry Library, Public Administration Clearing House's Joint Refer- ence Library (state and local government), United States Department of State.

lnternational law and relations.-Universities: Brown, California (Far East), Chicago, Columbia, Georgetown, Harvard, Illinois, Michi- gan, Minnesota (Far East), New York, Northwestern (Far East), Princeton, Stanford, Texas (Latin America), Yale; public libraries: New York; others: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Council on Foreign Relations, Fletcher School, International Rela- tions Library at Chicago, Library of Congress, New York Association of the Bar, Pan American Union, United States Department of State, United States Naval War College (maritime law), Woodrow Wilson Library.

Law.-Universities: California, Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Harvard, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana (civil law), Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Pennsylvania, Washington at Seattle, Yale; others: Li- brary of Congress, Los Angeles County Law Library, Montana State Law Library, New York Association of the Bar, New York State Law Library, San Francisco Law Library, Social Law Library (Boston), Wisconsin State Library.

ECONOMICS

Economics (general).-Universities: California, Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Harvard, Illinois, Johns Hopkins, Louisiana, Michi- gan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Northwestern, Ohio State, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Stanford, Texas, Wisconsin, Yale; public libraries: Boston, New York; others: John Crerar Library, Li- brary of Congress, United States Department of Agriculture (agricultural economics), United States Department of Commerce.



LEADING AMERICAeN LIBRARY COLLECTIONS 467

Business admninistration.-Universities: Columbia, Harvard, Michi- gan, Pennsylvania, Princeton; public libraries: New York; others: Library of Congress.

Labor and industrial relations.-Uni versities: California, California Institute of Technology, Chicago, Columbia, Illinois, Johns Hopkins (trade-unions), Michigan, New York, Princeton, Stanford, Wisconsin; public libraries: Detroit, New York; others: American Federation of Labor, Industrial Relations Counselors, Library of Congress, New York State Labor Department, Rand School for Social Research, United States Department of Labor, Wisconsin State Historical So- ciety.

Publicfinance and taxation.-Universities: California, Chicago, Co- lumbia, Cornell, Harvard, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn- sylvania, Princeton, Texas, Wisconsin, Yale; public libraries: New York; others: Library of Congress, New York State Tax Department, United States Treasury Department (including Internal Revenue Bu- reau library).

Public utilities-Universities: California, Chicago, Columbia, Har- vard, Michigan, Pennsylvania; others: American Telephone and Tele- graph Company, Library of Congress, Public Service Corporation of New Jersey, United States Federal Power Commission.

Transportation.-Universities: California, Chicago, Harvard, Illi- nois, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Princeton (railroads), Stan- ford; public libraries: New York (railroads, canals); others: American Antiquarian Society (American railroads before i86o), Bureau of Rail- way Economics, John Crerar Library, Library of Congress, Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago), United States Interstate Com- merce Commission, United States Maritime Commission (water transportation).

SCIENCE

Mathemnatics.-Universities: Brown, California, California Institute of Technology, Chicago, Columbia, Harvard, Illinois, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Rice In- stitute, Stanford, Washington at Seattle; public libraries: New York; others: Library of Congress.

A'stronomy.-Universities: California (including Lick Observatory), Chicago (including Yerkes Observatory), Columbia, Harvard, Michi- gan, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Virginia, Yale; observatories: Alle- gheny, Mount Wilson, United States Naval; others: Library of Con- gress.



468 THE LIBRA.RY QUIRTERLY

Meteorology.-Universities: California Institute of Technology, Chicago, Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York, Yale; public libraries: Denver, New York; others: Library of Con- gress, Smithsonian Institution (Astrophysical Observatory), United States Weather Bureau.

Physics.-Universities: California, California Institute of Technol- ogy, Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Michigan, Minnesota, Penn- sylvania, Princeton, Purdue, Rice Institute, Yale; colleges: Dart- mouth (physiological optics); others: Bell Telephone Laboratories, Franklin Institute, General Electric Company Research Laboratories, John Crerar Library, Library of Congress, United States National Bureau of Standards, Westinghouse Company.

Chemistry.-Universities: California, Chicago, Cincinnati, Colora- do, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Harvard, Illinois, Massachusetts Insti- tute of Technology, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio State, Pennsylvania, Rice Institute, Washington at Seattle, Yale; state colleges: Iowa, Pennsylvania; public libraries: New York; others: Chemists Club (New York), Franklin Institute, John Crerar Library, Library of Congress, United States Department of Agricul- ture.

Chemical technologv.-Universities: California (petroleum), Cin- cinnati, Columbia (perfumery), Massachusetts Institute of Technol- ogy, Minnesota, Texas (petroleum), Washington at Seattle (wood and pulp technology); public libraries: Cleveland, New York, Pittsburgh; others: Engineering Societies Library, Franklin Institute, John Crerar Library, Library of Congress, Mellon Institute, United States Nation- al Bureau of Standards (textiles).

Biochemistry.-Universities: California Institute of Technology, Columbia, Michigan, Minnesota; state colleges: Iowa (animal and plant chemistry and nutrition); others: Marine Biological Laboratory.

Geology.-Universities: Alabama, California, Chicago (paleontology), Columbia (physiography), Cornell, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Joint University Libraries, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Prince- ton (vertebrate paleontology), Stanford, Washington at Seattle, Yale; public libraries: New York; others: American Museum of Natural History (vertebrate paleontology), Engineering Societies Library, Li- brary of Congress, Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, Smith- sonian Institution, United States Geological Survey.

Geography.-Universities: California (Latin America, Pacific coun-




tries), Chicago (United States, Europe, Latin America, East Asia, In- dia), Clark, Columbia, Harvard, Louisiana, Michigan (United States, Latin America, East Asia), Texas (Latin America), Washington at Seattle (Northwest), Yale; public libraries: New York (historical re- lating to America); others: Geographical Society, Explorers' Club, Li- brary of Congress, National Geographic Society, Pan American Union (Latin America), United States Department of Commerce.

Maps.-Universities: California, Chicago, Clark, Harvard; public libraries: New York; historical societies: Massachusetts, New York Pennsylvania, Wisconsin; others: American Antiquarian Society (American), American Geographical Society, Clements Library, Hun- tington Library, John Carter Brown Library (early American), Li- brary of Congress, National Archives, National Geographic Society, New York State Library, Newberry Library, United States General Land Office, Geological Survey, Interstate Commerce Commission, Department of State, War Department.

Botany (general).-Universities: California, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Notre Dame (pre-Linnean), Ohio State, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Purdue, Stanford, Texas; state colleges: Iowa, Michigan, Washington; botanic gardens: Brooklyn, Missouri, New York; others: American Philo- sophical Society, Army Medical Library (herbals, medicinal botany, botanical history), Boyce Thompson Institute, Field Museum, Hun- tington Library, John Crerar Library, Library of Congress, Lloyd Li- brary (drug plants), Marine Biological Laboratory, Philadelphia Col- lege of Physicians (old botany, medicinal, herbals), Philadelphia Li- brary Company (eighteenth-century botany), United States Depart- ment of Agriculture, United States National Museum.

Cytology and genetics.-Universities: California, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Prince- ton; state colleges: Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania; others: Carnegie Institute (Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, New York), New York Botanical Garden.

Mycology and plant pathology.-Universities: California, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsyl- vania, Purdue, Texas; state colleges: Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Washington.

Taxonomy.-Universities: California, Columbia, Harvard, Minne- sota, Pennsylvania; botanical gardens: Missouri, New York; others: Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.

Zoology.-Universities: California, California Institute of Technol-




ogy, Chicago, Columbia, Harvard, Illinois (parasitology), Johns Hop- kins, Michigan, Minnesota, Princeton, Rice Institute (parasitology), Texas, Yale; colleges: Amherst (lepidoptera); others: American Mu- seum of Natural History (invertebrate, herpetology, ornithology), Army Medical Library (medical aspects), Boston Society of Natural History, John Crerar (ornithology), Library of Congress, Marine Bi- ological Laboratory, Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, Unit- ed States Department of Agriculture, United States National Mu- seum.

Entomology.-Universities: California (medical and economic), Cornell (systemic), Duke, Harvard, Illinois (economic), Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Ohio State, Rice Institute, Stanford, Wisconsin (apiculture); state colleges: Iowa, Kansas; others: American Muse- um of Natural History, Army Medical Library (medical aspects), John Crerar, Library of Congress, Philadelphia Academy of Sciences, Unit- ed States Department of Agriculture (apiculture), United States Na- tional Museum.

Genetics (zoology) .-Universities: California, California Institute of Technology, Cornell, Harvard, Minnesota, Missouri, Texas, Virginia (Blandy Experimental Farm), Washington at St. Louis; state colleges: Iowa; others: Marine Biological Laboratory, United States Depart- ment of Agriculture.

Anthropology and ethnology.-Universities: California, Chicago, Co- lumbia, Harvard, Michigan, Minnesota (India), Nebraska (Africa), Pennsylvania, Tulane (middle America), Washington at Seattle (North America and South Seas), Yale (South America); public libraries: Cleveland (India), New York; others: American Museum of Natural History, Brooklyn Museum, Denver Art Museum (Ameri- can), Field Museum, Library of Congress, Museum of the American Indian, Newberry Library (American Indian), Philadelphia Library Company (American Indian), United States Bureau of American Ethnology, United States National Museum.

Medicine.-Universities: Chicago, Columbia (plastic surgery, can- cer), Duke, Harvard, Illinois, Johns Hopkins, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Rochester, Stanford (Lane Medical Library), Vander- bilt, Washington at St. Louis, Yale (historical); others: Army Medi- cal Library, Boston Medical Library, John Crerar Library, Kings County Medical Society (New York), Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (industrial), New York Academy of Medicine, Philadelphia College of Physicians, Rockefeller Institute (clinical medicine).



LEADING AMERICAN LIBRAfRY COLLECTIONS 471

Bacteriology.-Universities: California, Chicago, Columbia, Har- vard, Johns Hopkins, Michigan, Minnesota, Rice Institute, Stanford, Texas, Wisconsin; state colleges: Iowa (dairy, soil, veterinary and physiological); others: Army Medical Library, Boston Medical Li- brary, John Crerar Library, Library of Congress, New York Academy of Medicine, Philadelphia College of Physicians, Rockefeller Institute (New York), United States Department of Agriculture.

Pharmacology.-Universities: Chicago, Illinois, Maryland, Michi- gan, Western Reserve; others: Abbott Laboratories, Army Medical Library, Lilly Research Laboratories, Lloyd Library, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, Parke Davis and Company, Philadelphia Col- lege of Pharmacy, E. R. Squibb and Sons.

Psychology.-Universities: Brown, California, Chicago, Clark, Co- lumbia, Cornell, Duke (parapsychology), Harvard, Iowa, Joint Uni- versity Libraries, Minnesota, New York, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Stanford, Yale; others: Library of Congress.

TECHNOLOGY

Patents.-Public libraries: Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Ange- les, New York, Pittsburgh, St. Louis; others: Franklin Institute, John Crerar Library, United States Patent Office.

Engineering.-Universities: California, Columbia (trade catalogs), Cornell, Harvard, Illinois, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Michigan (highway), Minnesota, Purdue, Washington at St. Louis (electrical); technical schools: Drexel Institute, Franklin Institute, Georgia School of Technology, Illinois Institute of Technology, Mel- lon Institute; public libraries: Denver, New York, Pittsburgh; others: Engineering Societies Library, John Crerar Library, Library of Con- gress, United States National Bureau of Standards.

A4eronautics.-Universities: Massachusetts Institute of Technol- ogy, Michigan, New York; public libraries: Denver; technical schools: Franklin Institute, Georgia School of Technology; others: Engineer- ing Societies Library, Guggenheim Airship Institute (Akron, Ohio), Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences, Library of Congress.

Agriculture (general).-Universities: Cornell, Illinois, Louisiana (tropical), Minnesota, Ohio State, Wisconsin; state colleges: Colorado (dry land, high altitude, irrigation), Iowa, Kansas; others: Library of Congress, United States Department of Agriculture (agricultural history).

Horticulture.-Universities: California, Cornell; state colleges:




Michigan; public libraries: New York; others: Boyce Thompson In- stitute, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Massachusetts Horticultural So- ciety, Missouri Botanical Garden, New York IHorticultural Society, United States Department of Agriculture.

Forestry.-Universities: California, Cornell, Duke, Harvard, Mich- igan, Minnesota, Syracuse (New York State College of Forestry), Yale; others: Forest Products Laboratory (forest utilization), Library of Congress, United States Forest Service.

Soil science.-Universities: Cornell, Duke, Harvard, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin; state colleges: Iowa; others: United State De- partment of Agriculture.

inimal nutrition.-Universities: Cornell, Ohio State, Wisconsin; state colleges: Iowa, Michigan, Texas; others: United States Depart- ment of Agriculture.

Veterinary science.-Universities: California, Cornell, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin; state colleges: Colo- rado, Iowa, Oregon, Washington; others: Army Medical Library (comparative medical aspects), United States Department of Agri- culture.

PRINTING HISTORY

lncunabula.-Universities: Brown (including Annmary and John Carter Brown libraries), Cornell (Petrarch), Harvard (Savonarola, Thomas Aquinas), Michigan (medical and scientific), Princeton (Vir- gil); others: Army Medical Library (medical), General Theological Seminary in New York (Bibles), Hispanic Society (Spanish-Portu- guese), Huntington Library, Jewish Theological Seminary (Hebrew), Library of Congress, New York Academy of Medicine (medical), New- berry Library, Philadelphia College of Physicians (medical), Phila- delphia Free Library, Pierpont Morgan Library, Walters Art Gallery (Cicero).

Printing.-Universities: Columbia (typefounding), Harvard, Mas- sachusetts Institute of Technology (paper), Minnesota, North Caro- lina, Purdue (Bruce Rogers), Syracuse (Goudy), Yale (Baskerville); colleges: Swarthmore (private presses); public libraries: Boston, New York, Providence (Updike); others: American Antiquarian Society (American to I820), Clements Library (American), Folger Library (early English, Elizabethan), Grolier Club, Huntington (early English and American, modern presses), John Carter Brown (early American), Library of Congress, Newberry Library, Philadelphia Free Library, Pierpont Morgan Library (early printing, binding, illustration).



LEADING AMERICIN LIBRARY COLLECTIONS 473

CONCLUSION

A tabulation of libraries by frequency of mention shows the follow- ing named for ten or more subjects-arranged in descending order: Harvard, Library of Congress, California, Columbia, Michigan, New York Public Library, Pennsylvania, Chicago, Yale, Cornell, Minneso- ta, Princeton, Illinois, Stanford, Duke, Texas, Boston Public Library, New York University, Newberry, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Johns Hopkins, Washington at Seattle, American Antiquarian Society, Brown, United States Department of Agriculture, Cleveland Public Library, Huntington Library, Iowa State College, Ohio State Univer- sity, John Crerar Library, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Such a tabulation has little significance, of course, for great libraries limited to specialized subjects. Institutions covering a variety of fields would naturally be listed most frequently, while specialized collections appear under comparatively few headings. The total number of libraries named for one or more subjects is 250, with nearly every state having some representation, though the heaviest concentration, as should be expected, is in the Northeast, upper Middle West, and the Pacific Coast area.



Documents

Leading American Library Collections