US Copyright Office: ar-1877

8/14/2019 US Copyright Office: ar-1877

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A N N U A L REPORT

LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS

THE YEAR 1877.

W A S H I N G T O N :G O V E R N M E NT P R I N T I N G OFFICLC.(1878.


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R E P O R T .

LIBRARYOF CONGRESS,Washington, January 2,1878.The undersigned has the honor to submit herewith his annual report,covering the statistics of t he Library of Congress and the wpyrightbusiness of t he United Sta tes for the year closing December 31,1877.ltapid progress in the growth of the Library and all i ts interests, exceptthe provision of adequate space for its fast accumulating treasures, hsecliaracterized the rear just closed. The number of readers has been fargreater than ever before, the majority of whom are serious studenta iniues t of authorities and information, and i t is a t times impossible tofurnish adequate accommodations, within the narrow space at command,both for thireaders and for th e members of Congress themselvea.The enumeration of books January 1,1878, exhibits an aggregate of$1,118 volumes, and about 110,000 pamphlets. Of the books, no lessthan 39,796 belong to the law department of the Library. At the dateof my last annual report the L i br a r~ontained 311,097 volumm Theillcrease during the last year was thus 20,021 volumes, derived from thefollowing specifio sources, namely :

M y pnrebpss........................................................................liy copyright .................................... ..... ..............................Ily ~lcp osit f the Smithsoninn Institution ......................... ...... .............Ily dnnation (includin g State doouments) ............................................ 1,Ily exchange.......................................... ............................ToW ..................... .....................................................

To this should be added maps and charts, to the number of 2,622,~~cquireduring the year 1877.The Librarian has been this year confronted with a new embarras8-1110nt. The annual enumeration of the Library rielded a result so sur-prisingly large when first taken that the uudersigned had the count ofllrc whole retaken, each department by different assistants as enumera-I . The result above gi re :~ an be regarded as approximately correct,l111tonly approximately, siuce i t has been impossible with tho help a t the1,ibrarian'a disposal to remove the piles of books that have~accumulated,r o a s to insure accurate counting. Any library upon shelves, however\.list in extent, can be accurately ennmerated, even to a single volume,I ~a tn a library like tha t of Congress, which has shelve8 but for 260,000


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4 I(ER)KT OF THE LIBRARIAN OF COh'QBE8S.volumes, while about 70,000 volomes a.m heaped in places so narrowthat they cannot be moved for counting, the contents must in great partbe estimated-not enumerated.The business of the copyright department continues to increase, bothin th e number of entries and in the number of publications received a tthe Library. There were entered during the calendar year 1877,15,758 publications, as against 14,882 for the year preceding, 1876. Thiuis an increase over the preceding year of 576 publications. The a'ggre-gateof copyright-feespaid into theTreasury by theundersignedamountedto $13,076, while for the year preceding the aggregate was $12,550.50;showing an increase in fees of $575.50. The deposits of publicationsprotected by copyright, under the law requiring that two copies of eachbook or other publication entered be transmitted to the Librariau ofCongress, show the following result for t.he year under the various desig-nations of articles which are lawful subjects of copyright:Booke ..................................................................................................................................eriodicela..Musicel compositiona ......................................................Dramatic cornpositiona ....................................................Photographa ..............................................................Engravings and chromos. ..................................................Mapa, charta, end drawing8 ................................................Printa ....................................................................Designs. . .................................................................

Total............................................................... 2/,WAs two copies of each publicatiori are deposited, the net additions tothe collections of cop jright materiiil in the Library foot up 13,979 art i-

cles, of which 4,476 are separate books, besides a still greater numberof periodicals.The funds placed by law under charge of the Joint Committee outhe Library show the following ba1:rnces on the 1s t of January, 1578:Fund for increase of Library........................... .-., .......... $10,228 54Fund for pnrchase and printing of unpnb:ished historical doculnenta re-lating to the early French diacoveriea in the Northwest and on the Mie-siasippi ............................................................. 7,304 71;Fun d for ornam enting th e Capitol w ith wc8rka o f ert.................... 3,144 47Fun d for salaries in H otauic Garden aud greeuhonsea.................... 4,512 17Fund for improving Botanic Garden.................................... 1,792 7:;Fund for portraits of Presidents of the United Sla tes ................... 850 OoFund for reprint of act8 of the C ontinental C ongress and the Congreae ofthe Confederation .................................................. 800 011

The printing of the new general catalogue of the Library, so l owready for the press, though delayer1 a Fear by the failure of sppropria-tions for printing and binding for the Library of Congress at the ]as1regnlar session, was provided for at the extra session recently adjourned,and is now proceeding. This catdogue mill embrace the tit les of allthe works in the Library up to 1877, including both books and pamphleh.


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REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONCsmS. 5'I'llc srraugemeut will be that most generally ayprorkxl, by m~tbors' emea111 :I single alphabet. Embodying, as it will, the titles of a larger collec-I I I I I I of English and American literature, to say nothing of other lan-Kll:lges, than has ever been embraced in the priuted catalogue of anyv\isting library in a siugle alphabet, i t is hoped that i t may be found a\r ork of reference of the highest utility to all. I t will be produced in1111: sa111e clear and satisfactory style of printing which has characterizedI 110catalogues of th e Library heretofore executed at the Government

' I'riuting Oflice.'l'he labor of preparing a complete index to the documents, debates,

nnt l laws of Congress, which was suspended last spring through the\\:w~t f appropriations, will now be resumed and pushed forward tot.o~npletion. The undersigued baa in previous reporb recommended,I\ ith a view both to the highest utility and to public economy, that nof'r:~gmentary ork be attempted, and that no part of this index be pub-lidled until the whole of this vast material shall have been properly~wcpared, evised, and co ordiunted into a single alphabet. This work,~wbracing s it does the contents of over 1,500 volumes, is one of such111:lgnitude s to reqnire the most careful application both of industry: I I I I ~ f time to the work involred. There have already been indexed1111. this proposed publicatiou, the Annals of Congress, 49 rolumes; theI:~.gisterof Debates, 99 volumes; nearly the whole of the ~ongre ssiohalc ;lobe and the Congressional Record, 135 volumes; with 18 rdu mes of1111: Statutes at Large, np to the la st Congress. There still remain toI I V indexed a great proportion of the Execntire and other documents ofc'tll~gress. Meanwhile there has been offered to the Committee on theI,lbrary, on certain coi~ditions s to printing, the index of documentsi~lor~e,repared in rnaunscript by the otlicers of the Bostun Public Li-Ill..lry, and assumed to be approximately complete. With a view to avoid111-l:1y,t is recommeuded that the Library Committee consider the expe-tllc.ncy of accepting these already prepared materials for an index, withnllah revision aud additions as may be found important, the whole tol r t r llrinted in one alphabet, mith the i~idexo the debntes of Congressnl111 the laws. Under each topic of legislation there can then be traced11s Ilistory, mith complete refereuces to it s discussion in both houses of4 't~~lgress,o all reports or documei~tsbearing tbereon, and to the laws~tlli.c:ting he subject, iu chronological order.

Iluring the gear, the secoud volume of the publication of originalIrl*torical documents exhibiting the Frerlch discoveries and explorations111 I l ~ eorthwestern regions of the United States and on the Mississippi,11,ls een received from Paris, aud the third volume approaches compls-(11111. The recommendation is renewed tha t as the cost to the govern-I I I I - I I ~ f each set of this work in six volumes is about twenty dollars,nrltl as the edition is small (being only 600 copies), the Librarian berill l~orizedo exchauge copies of the w o k with historical societies and411 l~cribraries for books, perioclicala, and pamphlets, deemed of equal


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6 REPORT OF TEE LIBRARIAN OF CORORlZ88.value, to enrich th e collections of Congreao. T h e great intere st an dvalue of the lett ers and papem embodied in this collection, as throw inglight upon the aboriginal tr ibee and pioneer settlements in wh at arenow great and populous commonwealths, fully vindicate the wisdom ofCongress in making th e moderate appropriation necessary t o the ir p ub-lication.Th e Librarian mas charged by act of M arch 3,1877, with the edi tin gand preparation for the press of the reso l~ es, rdinances, and acts of theContinental Congress and the Congress of the Coufederation, " o betak en from th e journals." Afte r a thorough examination of the printedjournals, in thirteen volumes, and a careful co~np arison f them w ith theor ig ha l manuscript journals of t he ' Congress, preserved in thirty-ninevolumes in the Department of State, the undersigned found that suchlarg e and im portant omissions had beer] made in printing these inesti-mable records of ou r early political h istory as to justify him in suspend -ing any a tt empt a t a selection or a fragmentary publication from thejournale until Cong ress should bo consulted ss to the expediency ofprinting the origiuals iu full . This importan t matter, as it involves de-tail, mill be m ade th e subject of a special repo rt soon to be presented tothe committee.Un der th e joint resolution of March 13,1876, and th e proclamation ofM a r 25 , of the same Sear , r ecommending tha t the s e ~ e p lounties andtowns in the United States cause to be prepared a historical sketch ofeach county or town from i t s fou ~~ da t io ~lo the year 1876, and tha t scopy in pr in t or m anuscript be filed in t he Library of C ongress, thereha ve been received up to da te two huudred an d twentyfive historicalmemoria ls , which are c~ref i~l lyaid aside and catalogued for bindingand pre se rvat ion . m i l e it may be regretted tha t the suggestion ofCongress has not been to a larger extent complied with, no such con-tr ibut ion to our his torical l i te ra ture a n be wholly without benefit.The Librarian renews, for the fiixth time, bis earnest appeal throughthis committee to the judg men t wnd patriotism of Congress, th at thisbody will no long er permit tohe reat collection of literature ant1 ar t con-fided to its care to suffer injury and loss in its present narrow and in-convenient quarters. T he space, which five p a r s ago was too small forthis Library, is now, throug h the accumullttiou of nearly one lrund retlthousau d add itional volumes, ut ks lg iusilequate, not only to sto re tlrclbooks, pamphlets, maps, charts, el ~g mr in gs , url othe r works of art , bliLi t i s a t t imes nnco~n for tab l j rowded b ~ .hpse p elsons lnurlably seeki~ ~::to make the best use of its r ich and o~er flon- ingtores. A new Libmyybuilding has become a positive 2nd irn1nerli:lte necessity to furnishroo n~ or the readers, to sa y nothing whatever of room for the books,nearly seventy tb ou sa ~l d olumes of \vbich are now ltilecl upon tb e f lwmin all directions. It i s w itbin the k t~owledge f the L ibrar ian , and h : ~forlnerl n frequ ent subject ofp ainfu l regret, tililt stutle ~lt s, nd especiallyladies, are deterred from frequenting t l ~ s i bra rr of Congress, bwaour,


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REPORT OF 'l'EE LIBRARIAN OF CONGREBS. 7111 he di5ctdty of procuring seata therein, while some schools of thec~ity,whose pupils once resorted to it s halls to examine the sources of1S11glish iterature in volumes r~ot lsewhere to be found, can no longerol!joy the possibility of such improvement. It is moreover well knownto a11 who come to the Library tha t i ts own rules, adopted by thec~nmmittee or the protection of students, are subject to compulsoryviolation, and that the measure of silence which should be enforceQrijr the protection of readers is rendered impossible for want of spamil l which members of Congress or other investigators can be isolatedftom the crowd of sight-seers which sometimes throng every public11laoe within the Capitol. "The still air of quiet and delightful stud-

which should mark the halls of every library becomes farther an dfirrther removed from those of the Library of Congress with each sd-veacing year. While i t may be said in extenuation tha t it is no func-r.ioa of the Library of Congrevs to supply the publio, whether residents ofIVashington or tlie scholars of the conntry, with facilities for informe-t ion,it cannot be forgotten that Congress has itself iuvited such frequen-~r~tiony the liberal policy of accnmulatiog a grea t library at the seat of~overnment, nd throwing open its doors to ail. I t has also taken inc-ll:trge the rich scientific library of the Smithsonian I~~stitntions erobab ably permanent deposit, with the contingent responsibility of mak-1116ts stores contribute to the diffusion of knowledge among men. AndIt would little comport with the theory or the practice of onr popularillfititutions and form of government that any new bars should be placedI I I the path of the widest diffusion of intel ligena When it is consid-cared that, from the nature of the case, the embarrassment of producingIlooks and information from these accumulated heaps is constantly grow-lug; that Congress, by the act of 1870 requiring two copies of every1111blication rotected by copjright to be deposited in the Library of1110 government, settled the quecltion of i ts possible permanent shelter111 the Capitol in the negative; that this building, overcrowded in all ibclifpartments,so that several committees have to occupy the same room,Iti crowded worst of all in the library department, to which no possibleo~~t,letr addition of room can he procured; that the mere arithmeticalro~~iputationf the growth of the country's literature proves that space1111lste provided for a building at least two-thirds he size of thecapitol,aibl~in he century ; hat there is no large capital in Europe iu which111(~ibrary of the government can be or is provided for under the samerlwf with its legislature; tha t in our case, and in ours alone, there isullllcd to the great government library the extensive and growingb~~t.canf copyrights and cop jright business for the whole country ;llrrrt the attempt to get along with this double difficulty has already~wtj~lucedreat injury to the books, with partial exclusion from theirIn.~~cfits,nd must ultimately curtail the usefulness of the Library to anIt~e:rlculsble egree; that even if the remedy anthoriziog new spacm toIn*prorided were immediately applied, some ream must elapse before


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8 REPORT O F TH E L IB RA RI AN O F C O N G R m .the requisite building accolnmodations could be completed; be casebecomes one of such pressing emergency, not to say distress, th& argri-ment upon it should be unnecessary. Suffice it to say that it scarcelybecomes a government representing a uation of such wealth, intelligence,and power to treat the assembled stores of l iterature and a rt of tbecountry, which its own laws have caused to be gathered a t the capitaland thrown open to the people, with such iudignity as to subject themto injury and destruction, or to equally reprehensible exclusion fronitheir benefits. Of the mode and manner of providing for the care andpermanent preservation of this treasury of knowledge, Congress isproperly the sole judge; but should another session of tha t body besuffered to pass witbout proper provision being in some way made fbrits protection, Congress mill hardly be held to have discharged thetrust reposed in it a s the custodian of what President Jefferson calledwith prophetic wisdom the Library of the United State&

A. R. SPOFFORD,Librarian of C o n g r w .Roo. T. 0.H o r n ,Chairntan of the Joint Committee on the Library.

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US Copyright Office: ar-1877