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LC in the 19Th Century; an Informal Account. INSTITUTION Library of Congress Professional Association, Washington, D

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LC in the 19Th Century; an Informal Account. INSTITUTION Library of Congress Professional Association, Washington, D -DOCUMENT RESUME ED 070 465 LI 004 017 AUTHOR Cole, John Y. TITLE LC in the 19th Century; An Informal Account. INSTITUTION Library of Congress Professional Association, Washington, D. C. PUB DATE 72 NOTE 15p.;(0 References) EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29 DESCRIPTORS Chronicles; *Government Libraries; History; National Libraries IDENTIFIERS *Library of Congress ABSTRACT A brief historical account of the Library of Congzess from its establishment in 1800 up to the development of a new classification scheme in the early 1900's is presented. A chronology of major events from 1800 to 1907 is included..(SJ) VP te.5..0 . U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION 8 WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS SEEN REPRO- DUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIG- INATING IT. POINTS OF VIEW OR OPIN- IONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY f.EPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDU- CATION POSITION OR POLICY. LC IN THE 19thCENTURY an informal account b y John Y Cole j`'r $ %Ilk *% 411,, VA.,%1%1%tIS0%*/%01%. see .%0%. 1 %,*Si%SSt" fi *15.14.14100e '4W1 s" re =1, - LC in the 19th Century: AnInformal Account has beenFaTiEedin an ediaR7157-1-200 copies by the Library of Congress Professi.....0a1 Associa- tion (1972). These essays first appeared,in substantially the same form, in the LCPA News- JEFFERSON TAKE-OFF letter during 1970 and 1971.This is not an official Library ofCongress publication. The views expressed are solelythose of the author. Many American traditions andinstitutions Mr. Cole is on the staffof the Assistant Direc- are traced to Thomas Jefferson; in thecase of tor for Library Resources inthe Reference LC, it really happened. Department. As Vice-President Jefferson took an active partin the Library's establishment in 1800.He maintained this close interest during his Presidency,even personally preparing a catalog ofdesiderata in 1802. That list formed the basis forthe fledgling Library's early acquisitions. LC's first catalog was issued in thesame year; ten .pages in length, it lists 964volumes (classi- fied by size) and nine maps. To care for the tiny legislative library, housedin the Capitol building, President Jeffersonappointed his personal friend and "campaignmanager," John Beckley of Virginia.A skilled behind-the- scenes political strategist, Beckley hadbeen instrumental in Jefferson's election,and the Library appointment wasa political plum. The first Librarian of Congress received$2 a day for his duties and also servedas the-first Clerk of the House of Representatives, . Beckley was well aware of his friend's keen interest in the Library, andhe joined the President in aggressively solicitingbooks for its collection: But the Librarian had many CONTENTS enemies, mostly Federalists, andparticularly Alexander Hamilton and George Washington,whom Jefferson Take -Off . 2; George the Third. .he contemptuously called "old Ebb Tide .3; W".and had tried .. 4; Bordering on Greatness to get impeached. Another opponent proved to be Struggle for a Structure S; I . 7; Struggle for- the only other LC,staff"member," Josias a Structure II Wilson . 8; A New and Monumentallle- King, the,House of. Representativesengrossing ginning . 10; Bacon Slicing clerk. 12; LC and In 1806 Mr'. King fileda formal com- its Collections,a Chronology 1800-1907 . : 14. plaint with-Congress about Mr.Beckley's behavior. .King claimed,thatBeckley had agreed to pay h001A day for arranging and labeling :the books,,but that Beckley hadnever paid him the agreed-upon sum;.in the meantime,he had doing all: the Librarian's work. LC's first-personnil:Aispute reaulted'in thefirst Congressional investigation of Libraryaffairs. The employee lost. Librarian Beckley was in poor health and, in 1807. he died in office, .Patrick Magruder, a lawyer and former Congreiiman fromMaryland, asked for and obtained the combined post'of Librarian and Clerk of the House. t. He quickly EMI established new and severe rules for the loan of books to Congressmen: folios could only be kept three week: and the overdue fine was a stiff $3 a day, quartos two weeks and $2, and octavos one week and $1 a day. In the War of 1812 the British burned the unfinished Capitol building, -including the 3,000 volumes in the Library. Contrary to legend and a good story, LC's books did not serve as capital landling. Nonetheless, as related in a contemporary account, the British commander expressed polite regret at the burning of the books: "I lament most-sincerely I was not apprized of the circumstance, for had I known it in time, the books would most certainly GEORGE THE THIRD have been saved. I make war neither against Letters or Ladies." In 1814, after the destruction by the For failing to protect the Library during British of the Capitol and its tiny Congressional -the fire, in 1815, Librarian Magruder was fired. Library, Congress engaged in a lively debate He claimed he was a scapegoat and that Congress about the proposed purchase of ex-President seemed all too willing "to sacrifice not only Jefferson's personal library..Opponents of the my family but my reputation;" perhaps his high acquisition, including Daniel Webster, were Library fines and restrictive loan policies .Federalists who objected to: 1) Thomas Jefferson, were the true causes of Congressional resentment. 2) the large number of foreign-language Literary and philosophical works in'the library, including volumes by Voltaire, Rousseau, and other French The burning of the Library in 1814 was a Revolutionaries, and 3) the cost of the library. critical step in LC's development and, one must The vote was a squeaker: by a margin of 81 to is admit in retrospect, a most effective use of the 71 Jefferson's library of 6,487 volumes was I books: the Library became a modest cause purchased for $23,950. The Library of Congress celebre. The blaze sparked new Congressional had been re-established with vengeance; the interest in the Library and a suggestion from size of the old Library was more than doubled ex-President Jefferson, retired to Monticello and Jefferson's subversive literary and and almost bankrupt, that Congress might be philosophical works helped to expand the scope' interested in purchasing his personal library of the Library into a "most admirable substratum to replace the burned volumes. for a National 4ibrary."Jefferson used the money from the sale to pay off his creditors. George Watterston, a local writer and poet, was appointed as the third Librarian of Congress by President Madison in 1815, and served as the first Librarian who was not also the Clerk of the House of Representatives. A few years . earlier, Watterston,had dedicated a poem to Dolly Madison, the President's wife, as follows: "Madam, I have presumed to address this political effusion to you, from the reputation you have acquired of'being desirous to promote the cause of general literature." Local gossips.whisperei that the dedication was responsible for Watterston's appointment, but it ,is more likely that he gained the position because of his reputation as.Washington's leading (albeit only) man-of-letters. How could the author. of The Lawyer, or, Man as He Ought Not .Be, A Tale (1808) or The ChildUFeelin , A Comedy in 5 Acts (1809) biraiiiIt e job? While the Capitol was being restored, the MOISIL MAIM /,M111111K YR 1110111111TNWILDA Library was housed (and Congress met) in Blodget's Hotel, at 7th and E Sts., N. W. It was from Blodget's that Jefferson's catalogue 4 of his library was issued; ambitiously,it was titled Catalogue ofthe Library of the States (1815). United Jefferson's classification with a few modifications, was to be followed by LC until the end of thecentury. Perhaps inspired bythe catalogue title, Senator Fromentin of in 1817 Louisiana introduceda resolution calling fora separate Library to be built on Delaware building Capitol. Avenue, north of the But the Librarywas not able to shift into its own building for another 80years; in the meantime, it was movedback into the Capitol. The Library underGeorge Watterston a modest literary became center, where the bookish other members of and Washington society rendez- voused. If Watterstonwas truly a "supercilious dilettante," assome charged, he also productive: was during his 14years as Librarian he published 6 more books. And the Library made progress, as in 1824 when En TIDE . it received thefirst in a long succession of$5,000 annual 4-5..A.for the appropriations purchase of books. A small but fright- ening set-back wasa fire in the Library President AndrewJackson, anxiousto on Gedrge Watterston, replace December 22, 1825,but a bucket brigade the arrogant Whig which Librarian of Congress, who was inclAed Congressmen"who vied with first offered the one another Charles P. Tutt; Mr. job to in their exertionsto save the Library" Tutt turned it extin- preferring an appointment down, however, guished the flameswithin an hour. as U.S. Navy agent at a local newspaper, A verse in Pensacola. perhaps penned by the Jackson's second choicewas John Silva himself, moralized: Librarian Meehan, a local printer, newspaperman,and loyal Democrat, who becameLibrarian in 1829. "The Congress Library Mr. Meehan wasto hold the librarianship has been on fire, 32 years. for But very little damageis sustained; By error only, prudencewe acquire, During most of his 'Tis well experienceis so cheaply administration, gained." Librarian Meehan hadto content with the journalistic snipingsof ex-Librarian Watterston, but Meehan Librarian Watterston remained calm, efficient, was removed from . office in May 1829, and dull.The Law Library not for his poetry butfor was established in his politics. 1832, but LC grewslowly. A ferrent Whig anddiehard In 1836 Congress hadan supporter of Henry Clay, opportunity to buy thefamous Buturlin Watterston never should a 25,000 volume library collection, have expected to remainin office during the of Italian and Latin Democracy of newly- elected classics which' containedhundreds of 15th President Andrew century works, but the Jackson, but he did.
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