us copyright office: ar-1874

8/14/2019 US Copyright Office: ar-1874

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A N N U A L R E P O RT

OF THE

IJBRARIAN OF CONGRESS

THE P R O G R E S S O F T H E ' L I B R A RY

DURMQ

THE YEAR ENDINB DECEKBER 1, 1814.

WA S H I N G T O N :G O V E R N M E N T P E I N T T R Q OFFIC! E.

1 S 7 4 .


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'I'HE

ANNUAL REPORT

L I B R A R I A N CONGRESS.

LIBRARY F CONGRESS,Wadi?tgton, D. O., Decenaber 7, 1574.

The increase of the Library of Oongress during th e pest year hasl)eeu highly gratifyiug. By th e regulitr annual enurneretion of booksi l l t,he Library on th e 1 st of December, 1874, it in found t ha t th e aggre-gate nu ml xr of volumes now a mon ut. ~ o 374,157~ o which uust berulded about 53,000 pamphlets. Out of this aggregate, th e Irt:v depart-ment of t he Library embraces 33,712 volumes. At tho cori.c~pondingt1;lt .e one year since th e Library contained 26'5,782 \~olunles, hus exhib-iting an increase dar ing the of 15,405 volumes.

he additions to th el ib &r Y dnring th e year mere derived from thefollowiug-named soarces :

Books. Pamphlet..Ily pnrehase .................................................... 6,528 565lly oopyright ..........

, ..................................... 6,840 3,218Ily deposit of the Smithsoniau Institu liou ........................ 1,264 1,756Ily donation, (includin g State doonmenta). ........................ 66e 75....................................................iy exc hange 10.5 6-&.--- -

o t d ..................

.............................. 15,405 6,'272

'L'he number and designation of art icles received at' th e Library, underl,l~e aws which make it th e depository of all copyright matte r, mill belijund below:

Ii00k8 ........................................... r ........................I'uriodicals ................................................................Musical oompositions .......................................................Uramatio compositions ....................................................Pl~utographs..............................................................IZr~grevings nd chromoe ..................................................Maps, charts, and drawings.. ..............................................I'rintP ....................................................................

Total number of articlee .............................................The deposits under th e copyright law thus ex& those of the year1873 to the number of 5,736 articles. Bs the law requires that two

copies of each publication proteoted by copyright sha ll be deposited,the actual nun he r of separ ate pnblications received, excluding dnpli-


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4 REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN OF COKQRESB.

cates, was 14,841, of which there were 3,424 volumes of books and 3,218periodimla

The total number of c op ~r ig ht ntries in th e office of the Librarian ofCongress during the year ending December 1, 1874, mas 16,283, beingan increase over the entries of the preceding year of 931. The amountpaid into th e Treasnry by the Librarian on account of copyright feeswas $13,534.78.

This stead y illcrease of t he copyright business, and t he securlng ofa subs tan ti all^ complete represeotittion of all publications upon whichcopyright is claimed, through the I equiremei~t of one cent ral office ofregistry at th e seat of Government, iudicates the wisdom of t he steptaken by Coi~gress our years ago ic transferring the whole busiuess otc o p ~ r i g h t s o Washington. By this means alone c o~lld e secured forpermane ut pr eservation in th e national archives a substan tially com-plete recorcl of th e progress of Americeu lite rat ure an d science, not

only in t he higher fields of cr ea th e intellect, bu t in the direction ofeducatioilal, musical, a nd a rti stic pnblications.

By a n ac t of th e las t session, approved Jun e 18, lY'i4, the ent ry of allprints and labels inteuded for use in conxiec tio~~ ith ally article ofn~anufactnre was transferred from tbe o 6 c e of the1,itibrarian to th at ofth e Commissioner of Pate nts. This relier es t he copyright records of sev-eral thousaild ectr ies annually of mere labels, xhic h never ha d any ap-propri ate relation to co pyrigh t protec.tion, and which wereuseless a s addi-tions to the collections of the Library. This act, not w~th stan din g ha tit took effect ou th e 1st d ey of Augu st last, since which tim e all labelsclaiming protection have been registered i n the Patent-OBce, has stillleft the copyright bnsiuess of the year considerably larger the n th atof the yea r preceding.

The unexpeuded balances of funds uuder charge of th e Jo in t Corn.Inittee on the Library mere as follo~vs December 1, 1574 :

.........................a r ~ d or increase of Libr ary. . $14,449 75F ~ m d or cont iugeut expensos of Libr ary .. .............. 2, G33 86.......I I I ~ ~or expense of exc hanging public doctlments 1,250 00Fu nd for purchase and priuti ng of unpublished historical

tiocutueuts laelating to th e earl y French discoveries in th e...................orthwest an d on the Mississippi.. 10,000 00......und for ornameutiug the Capitol with works of ar t. 7,079 15Fu nd for completion of th ree volnrues of Wilkes7s exploring

expedition. . . - . - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,338 91Piiud for salaries in B o t a ~ i c arden and gretinhouses . . . 7,193 08

....................uud tbr improving Botanic Garden 3,801 92

Fu nd to procure plaus for accommodation of the Li bri ~ry .. 2,000 00.....und for portraits of Presidents of the United States 850 00

The catalogue system of the Librar y i s of cardin al importance, and theqilestiou of the most expedient means of furnishing 8 reedy index to itafull coutents, available to all who oonsult it, and kept constantly up to


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I BEPOB'I' OF TH E LIBK-IRIAK OF CONGRESS. 5

dote, is not free from difficulty. Malty libraries of the Brst class, bothkr 1i:urol)e ant1 in thi s coun trg, hav e abaudoned th e l~ ri ut in g of cata-logtles of the ir collectious, from th e eoustal itly iucreasing difficulty, intllr rapid growth of each gear, of keeping them ul) to da te without tookc;rvy all expeudit ure. In t


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6 B E P O RT O F THE L I B R A R IA N O P C O N O R E 8 4.

nbencement of t,his great work. The late period of the year at whichtliiu ;kction was taker1 has rendered it i~npousible o tlo more than tofltlly \-mark o u t the grouncl and to prepare a complete list of what isnecessary to co~ rst itu te full set of the congressional documents. Thislias occupied urnch time, expended in rednoing to sy sk a~a ti c rder thecoutents of th e L)ewildering series of documerrts existiug in the variousGovernment clepositorics tliroughout he city. Of t l ~ e arly clocaments,up to the Fourteenth Uongress, or from 1759 to 1816, il~clusis~e, o twosets are al ~k e, or is there in any one place iu WasliingLoli a perfect fileof do cu~n eu ts rinted by order of Cougress. The labor underhl ren byt l ~ e ndersigned has been courteously aided by the heads of all the var i-ous Departrneiits of the Gove n~ment, who have placed their sets ofpnblic docuinents before my assistants in their tasl; of secnrir lg a com-

plete record of :111 existing documents. Owiug to the fac t that no uni-form method of bindirlg or of indexing the e;~ rl y locuments prevailed,.a ~ ~ do the conseclueut scattered uature of tbei r conteilts, both in folioau d octavo, this has been a work of ~ luexpected ntricacy. Up011 theco~uyletiou f re searc l~es uow in Ibrogress at the Treasury Depiirtmeut,the undersigned will be prep i~red o report to tbe comlnittee what mate-rials are needed in orcler to form n complete file of 1)ublic do cu l~~e rl ts orthe iudes. He is happy to be able to adcl tha t the set of later docu-me~its n the Library of Congress, from IS15 to lS74, is more nearly com-plete t,han was anticipatetl, embracing two copies of all doc~lnlents ortlre past sixty >ea rs, except about 150 voliinras.

The que stio ~~ f most commanding importance regarding the Librarystill rei~lai~ ls nsettled, aucl that is the provision of more space ibr it s

overflonring collectioi~s nd business. No s~ ~ h st a i ~ t ia l rogress 11as beenmade tomnrd su1,plying this imminent necessity during the last twoyears, owiugohietly to a want of 1l:trmony of views in Uougress as to th emost expedient uleans of building nclditioual accornmodation. Al tl~o ng hthe Joint Conln~ittee n the L ibr arj mere snbst:~ntially united a s to t h enecessity of s separate building, their recorumendation of an appropria-tion to colnmeuce the work, on ground to be selected by the committee,failed to pass Congress a t the last sessioo. A small appropriation of$2,000 was inacle to enable the Libn~ry ommittee to procure plans forthe accommodation of the Library. Under this authority, several de-signs for an enl~~rgement f the Capitol have been prepared. Untilthe committee shall have considered tliese several plans, it wo~lld epremature to al111de to then1 iu detail. Bu t the nndersigned deems i this duty to renew Irere the snggestion made in his fonner annualreports, to t he effect th at no enlargement of the Oapitol likely to Laagreed upon can possibly furnish either permanent or appropriate ac-commodation for so great a library as this is becoming. The collectionof bool~s as already been twice doubled in numerical extent within thepast thirteen years. The present rate of increase, f ro n~ he ordinary

, 1 > u -ccessions by copyright, by documentary exchanges, by t l ~ e ontr'l


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R E P O RT O F T H E L I B R A R IA N O F C O N G R E S S . 7

tions of t. l~e niitl~sonian nstitution, and by t he very moderate purchasesi~ow made, will swell the Lib ri tr ~ o five hundred tbousa,nd volumes in

less than twent.y years, to more than one nill lion volnloes in fifty years,and to two million volumes betore a century pas ses; this, too, wi tl~ outany increase of t.he pre sent extremely modest appropriatiou of $11,500for the annual purchase of books.

When it is considered t ha t iu the eingle year jus t elapsed 30,000 ar -ticles (inclnding duplicates) on which copyright wa s gran ted have beenreceived at the Library ; when to this is added the fact tbat over fiftythousand volumes ar e already piled upon th e floors, mitliont space forsbelviilg or a rrangement, and wllerl nre reflect t ha t the growth of aeountry7a iterature i s from the natn re of th e case illimitable, the impos-sibilit4y f so eularging the Capitol a,s long to afrord quar ter s for so vttstand mnltil'arioos a collectiou .becomes appa rent . The acc~linulation fniaps, engravings, chronios, and l)llotograplis alone, \vhicli there is nowiio possibilitg of exliibitiiig, mill soon require a space as large as thepresent Library, unless they arc: to be bnried perina~iently rom publicview. Iu no country in Enrol)e, of the firs t raillr, is i t a ,&tempted okeep tlie library of the government uncler the same roof wioh the halls 'of legislatiou. In Lontlon, iu lr'aris, i r ~ erliu, in Vienna, in Munich, inSt. Petersbnrg, there exists a natiolial library having its owl1 separatebuilding, wl1il.e the 1ibrar)- of tlie legislative body, snfficiently copiousancl aml~le or its wants, is provided fur within the parliib~nentary malls.I?oreigli precetlelits or usnges, it is trne, form 110 role for our guidance oriliiit;ition. But when Colt gre w cnitoted t ha t all en tries of copyrightt Iironglic;ut the United St ates s l~ou ld e made in tlie oflice of the Libraryof Coiigvess, an d wlie11 it added th at two copies of every hook or oth er1)ublio;ttion protected by copyright shoultl be deposited thervin, it took;b step which reiiclerecl tlie separation of this vast eollectio:~ iom theCapitol, soouer or later, a necessity. Tliat this buildiug slioaltl be, andmill be, enlargetl, is rnost trne; but when extelldetl 'so as to #ire a$ onceadditional space : t i ~ t l rchitectural harmouy to the edifice, it wi l l still be~ufficiently mnll for t1.w wa,nts ot' the legislative body. There is urgeu titeed of inany more committee-rooms, a i d of larger oiies, as well as ofrrdditioual space for the cour ts of tli e United S tates. The House ofIiepreseiitatives has recelttly received an accessiou of fifty members.With the advancing growth of the Republic, the tl~roii g bout t he Capi-to l will steadily increase. I t is inevitable tba t the legislature shonldIlibve more room, and should have it in n s1i:lpe th at can be inade lnostconvenient for its uses. No possible eulargernerit for library purposeswould be in ~ u c h forin th a t it could be utilized for the wants of Con-gress, when abandoned by the Lihrary. The dilemma plainly before us\!-ill be tha t th e legidlatore will crowd out the Lib rary, with t he al terna -tive tha t t h e L ib ra r~ ill crowd ou t the legislative body. \T711ich of thesel~iigrations hall first take place is a matt er which addresses itself totlie sound discretion of Congress.


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8 REPORT Of THE LIBRARIAN OF C O N G R E S S .

These considerations are wholly indepen dent of th e fact of any obli-gation on the pe rt of Congress to render thi s great an d priceless repos-itory of knowledge in the widest degree useful to the country. 9 s . t h eonly 1ib ra .r~ hich contains even an approximate collection of theentireproduc t of th e American mind, as fonnd in books, gathered , too, iu grea tpar t, without cost to th e Government, i t may well be considered w hether

Jit is not due to the people th at it s st'ores should be made as nccessib!ea s is consistellt with i ts safety alicl pre.'ser~ation. This result could onlybe accomplished by e regulat,ion for opening t he Library during theevening: There are in th e employ of the G ove rn rne ~~ t t TTTashingtouseveral thonsa ,nd clerks and officia'ls, noue of whom cau draw book6from i t or have access to i t during hours not devoted to their rlailyduties. It mo~lld e ne ither safe nor exyedieut to m ake of th is nw.tiona1collection a circulating librar y; hut il; might prove of incalculable bene-fit to the public intelligence, and even tend to t,he irnproveiuei~t f th eGorern meut service, mere these rich st.ores of in fo r~ na ,t io ~~ bromn freelyopen every nigh t for th e use a,nd reference of all. Slich au extensiouof the benefits of t he L ibr ary could hardly be ma.tle nvaila,ble within theCapitol. Asi de from t he difficu1t.y of providing a great rea,dingroomwithin those walls, Capitol Hill is t.oo remote from th e cent er of popu-lation to justify th e belief t.hat i t would be very largely resorted to,even were it open evenings in th at locality. Yet t ha t we should con-tinue t,o see thi s gre at Library, a s a means of education and enlig hten-ment, so confioed and limited in its uses, cannot fail to be uiewcd withregret, by every liberal mind. It is true that there is almost, no work,wit'hin the. va.st ran ge of litera ture an d science, \vhich may no t a t sometim e prove useful to the legislat,urc of a gr eat nation ia their manifoldaud reSp011bible dut ies; and, therc~fore, t is not strictly t n ~ e hat thisLibra ry has grown altoget her beyond the want.8 of Oougress. But i t ist.rue tha t, in a Republic which rest s upou th e popular intelligence, an done of a ho se chiefest glories is i ts litpra'tmre, a g reat na.tiona1 collect.ionof books, while formed yr i~n aril y or the Use8 of the legislative and j~ id i-cia1 branches of the Governrner~ t,, ugh t t,o be nt.ilized by a far widercircle of readers.

Xoth ing has l)c-len said of th e relati ve expense of making extensivearchi tectur tl l a~ ld i t i o ~~ s O the Capit,ol, as compared with the erectioii ofa new Libra ry buildiiig. In the juclglneut of the best archit.eots, however,the one would cost very ne~rly he 'same as the other; and t,liis addsforce to the suggestion th at th e plan which mould from t l ~ e tart, bestacls,pt mea.ns t o euds, a ~ i d rovide for the Libra.ry in some place where i 6

would have room to grow, woiilcl be t he wisest and most economicalexpend iture of the public money. To believe th at Congressi which ha,ssoliber ally proricled marble pal act:^ for the cmren t bnsiuess of post.ofIicrtiand custom-houses iu so Inany cities of the coun try, milt nc.glect to pro-vide with proper foresight, for this ::.!.eat repository of a nat,ion's learning


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R E P O RT OF TH E L l B R A R I A N O F C O N G RE W. 9

and ar t, n?ould be to charge upon i t a degree of illiberality no t justifiedby th e history of th at body.

While entertaining decided views upon the w hd e question, the fruitof much thought and experience, the undersigned would not be under-stood as objecting to an y plan for relief which may unite th e judgm entof th e Libmry Committee and of Congress. The first necessity is th atprompt and immediate action be taken toward remedying what ha s be-come intolerable, since the Library cannot be administered successfuHyin its presen t quarters much longer. I t would uuquestionably be theeasiest for the Librarian and his assistants, and would materially lighte ntheir labors, mere an extension of th e mesteru fro nt of t he L ibrary to bedeterm ined on, thuv making rooin for the present overflow of books i nclose juxtaposition to th e existin g collection. Bu t such extension, to beof an y practical use, mould have t o be a large OM. A n ~ t h i n g ess thana projection of 100 feet would be a mere makeshift, providing space fora time, but mith the uecessity of raoating it for uew quarten in a very .few Sears. I t is therefore th at th e undersigned ha s deemed i t his dutyto place before th e committee, perhap s a t too great leugth, the consider-ations which impel him to the conclusion th at a separate building forthe Library of Cougress, constructed throug hout mith special referencato'i ts preseut necessities and futur e growth in it s manifold depart ments,is demanded di k e by a wise regard to ecouolny and pllblic policy.

A. R. SPOFFORD,Librarian of Congress.

Eon. !TIMOTHY 0. OWE,'Chairman o the Joint Committee on the Library.

us copyright office: ar-1874

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