REFORT OF THE LIBRARIAN OP THE STATE LIBRARY, FOR THE YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1880; AND FIRST ANNUAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE GENEKAL CATALOGUE. BOSTON: BanÎJ, aberg, Se &o., printers to tije Cammantoealtfj, 117 FRANKLIN STBEET. 1881. oHKii TRUSTEES OF THE STATE LIBRARY. EDWIN P. WHIPPLE .... BOSTON. GEORGE O. SHATTUCK . BOSTON. JACOB M. MANNING .... BOSTON. JOINT STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE LEGISLATURE, 1880. MESSRS. STEPHEN OSGOOD, GEORGETOWN, Of the Senate. JOHN L. OTIS, NORTHAMPTON, MESSRS. ARTHUR J. C. SOWDON, BOSTON, NATHANIEL A. HORTON, SALEM, ARTHUR LINCOLN, HINGHAM, Of the House. A. CARTER WEBBER, CAMBRIDGE. SAMUEL W. BOWERMAN, PITTSFIELB, OFFICERS OF THE LIBEAEY. JOHN W. DICKINSON . LIBRARIAN EX OFFICIO. C. B. TILLINGHAST .... ACTING LIBRARIAN. C. R. JACKSON ASSISTANT. E. M. SAWYER ASSISTANT. Commonrocaltl) of ittassacfjusctts. LIBRARIAN'S REPORT. To the Honorable Legislature of Massachusetts. THE librarian of the State- Library, in accordance with sect. 8 of chap. 5 of the General Statutes, submits the fol- lowing report for the year ending Sept. 30, 1880: — ADDITIONS. Number of Volumes added to the Library from Oct. 1, 1S79, to Sept. 30, 1880. By purchase -••..... 1,285 domestic exchanges 350 foreign exchanges 78 donation 268 officers of government 86 2,067 Pamphlets. By purchase 129 domestic exchanges . ... 39 foreign exchanges ......... 24 donation ........... 463 officers of government ........ 40 695 Maps 17 FINANCIAL STATEMENT. DR. COMMONWEALTH IN ACCOUNT WITII TRUSTEES OF THE STATE LIISRARY. CR. 1879. 1879. Oct. 1, to Expended for periodicals 40 Cash drawn from appropriations for 1878 and 8793 33 Deo. 31, postage . 3 00 1879. newspaper carrier . 75 expressage 10 00 printing . 1 25 covering desk . 6 20 Cfi stationery and incidentals 5 43 H copygraph 5 00 ¡> view of Boston 5 00 H atlas of New York city 15 00 H binding . 191 42 Paid Sullivan Bros. & Libbie, for books 289 79 William B. Clarke . Cd William P. Lunt 31 00 A. Williams & Co. 22 15 i> Little, Brown, & Co. 02 30 Williams' estate 18 10 H Elias Shull .. 17 00 Whitney & Adams . 10 00 Charles De F. Burns 10 30 Edward P. Boon 9 00 George B. Reed 3 50 S. S. Rider .... 6 50 sundry other bills . 20 25 $793 33 O o c-t- oo Expended for periodicals $101 15 Regular annual appropriation $2,300 00 oo o Jan. 1, to stationery and incidentals 15 18 Special appropriation 1,500 00 Sept. 30. blank books 8 50 Incidental receipts 4 25 stamped envelopes . 16 10 postage and revenue stamps 20 45 expressage 58 82 messenger and newspaper car •"d rier .... 3 50 CI printing .... 39 87 tt1 catalogue cards 13 80 t" I—I map of Boston 2 50 O atlas of Barnstable County 12 00 binding .... 177 80 Ö indexing resolves 00 00 O Boston Directory 5 00 o Paid Little, Brown, & Co., for books 881 02 Stevens & Haynes .... 447 97 W. B. Clarke .... 349 70 Charles De F. Burns 270 50 Sullivan Bros. & Libbie 91 83 H George E. Littlefield 74 45 Robert Clarke & Co. 71 15 A. L. Bancroft & Co. 67 50 otz j Mexican consulate, for laws of Mexico 05 00 <T. W. Hinsdale, for books 57 26 Loring, Short, & Harmon 43 50 C. B. Bagley .... 35 80 Amount carried forward . 3,050 41 $3,804 25 FINANCIAL STATEMENT — Concluded. oo 1880. Amount brought forward .... 13,050 41 1880. $3,804 25 Paid N. J. Bartlett & Co 21 55 / American Association for Advancement / of Science ..... 21 00 / William P. Lunt ..... 17 75 / Estes & Lauriat 15 00 / A. Williams & Co 12 65 / Van Slyck & Co. ..... 36 00 / Edward P. Boon ..... 12 82 / J. 0. Smith 12 00 / American Antiquarian Society 10 00 / Boston Society of Natural History 10 12 / Lee & Shepard 9 80 / West Publishing Co. .... 8 50 / S. S. Rider 7 15 / Southern Historical Society . 6 50 / II. H. Curran & Co. .... 4 25 / G. A. Virgin 4 00 / F. II. Thomas & Co 3 20 / Sanford & Co. ..... 3 00 / sundry other bills for books . 78 73 / J. C. Ilazen, views of Massachusetts towns, 19 50 / Unexpended balance ..... 440 32 / $3,804 25 $3,804 25 O o B)' the foregoing account, which embraces the library year from Oct. 1, 1879, to Sept. 30, 1880, inclusive, it will be seen that the receipts and expenditures may be aggregated as follows: — RECEIPTS. Drawn from appropriations for 1878 and 1879 . 1793 33 Drawn from appropriations for 1879 3,359 68 Incidental receipts . 14,157 26 EXPENDITURES. Books, pamphlets, and maps . $3,352 58 Binding 369 22 Periodicals 167 55 Expressage ...... 68 82 Postage and stamped envelopes 39 55 Stationery 34 11 Printing ....... 41 12 Indexing resolves 60 00 Incidentals ...... 24 31 $4,157 26 Tliere remained in the treasury Sept. 30, 1880, an unex- pended balance of the several appropriations made on account of the library of 1440.32. AMERICAN LAW REPORTS. The special appropriation made by the Legislature of 1880 for the purchase of American Law Reports has covered the expense of the purchase of all the volumes needed to complete our series. Many of these volumes were rare, and their purchase has required a diligent search, extending to nearly every State in the Union. The library now contains complete sets of the printed reports of the decisions of all the courts of final resort in every State and Territory of the Union. Special effort has been made and will be continued to secure the current reports as rapidly as they are issued from the press; and it is believed that the current session laws and reports, together with the latest compilations of statutes and digests of reports, are now on the library- shelves in the most convenient arrangement for use. 2 ENGLISH LAW REPORTS. The completion of our set of the reports of the English courts should now be considered. As opportunity has of- fered, at auction or private sale, missing volumes have been purchased, and about fifty of the needed reports have been secured the past year. There are now about four hundred volumes of English reports wanting to make our set perfect. It is probable that an attempt to purchase the whole at once would involve a large expense; but an appropriation, which would cover the cost of such volumes as could be from time to time advantageously secured, would gradually, if not speedily, close the gaps that now exist, without the payment of exorbitant prices for individual volumes, and without in- volving an extravagant outlay for the ultimate completion of the series. SESSION LAWS. The library contains a collection of the session laws of the several States and Territories, which is of great value, and which will probably compare favorably with that of the lead- ing State libraries ; yet there are few sets which are absolutely complete. This is undoubtedly the most valuable and dis- tinctive feature of the library, and its deficiencies in this de- partment have been carefully considered. Several additions have recently been made, which complete the sets of the session laws of California, Colorado, Kansas, and Washington Territory, and increase our collection of the laws of Utah Territory and several of the other Territories and States. A list of the deficiencies in this portion of the library has been made during the jrear, the length of which is disagreeably suggestive. It should be possible for the library to improve every opportunity to obtain such session laws as it does not possess. Many of them are rare, and seldom appear in the market. In 110 case can our deficiencies be supplied by exchange, as application has repeatedly been made to the State authorities without success. APPROPRIATION NEEDED TO MEET DEFICIENCIES. It is thought that a special appropriation of il,000, made available for the purchase of English reports and session laws of the States and Territories, could be judiciously and profitably used during the coming year; the value of the library would be very largely increased by completion in the directions indicated. Its completion can only be secured by unwearied search, which the favor of the Legislature will alone render possible or profitable. The maintenance of a high standard of perfection in these directions will also demand incessant vigilance and correspondence. MEXICAN LAWS. In view of the rapid development of the resources of the south-west by Massachusetts capital, and through the agency of corporations created under our laws, one of which con- templates the establishment of direct rail communication with the city of Mexico, the trustees have considered it im- portant that the library should contain as complete a collec- tion as could be obtained of the Mexican statutes. A valuable collection of the earlier statutes was purchased at the sale of the library of the late Hon. Caleb Cushing, and subse- quent statutes have been secured through the agency of the Hon. John W. Foster, recently the American Minister, resi- dent at Mexico. The Mexican laws now in the library cover nearl%y the entire period of the present century. CANADIAN PROVINCIAL STATUTES. Our exchanges with the Dominion Government are very generous, prompt, and satisfactory. Negotiations during the year with the proper officials in the several Canadian Prov- inces have resulted in the addition to the library of the statutes in force to date in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, and British Columbia and Vancouver Island. DONATIONS. The library has received many donations from private indi- viduals during the year, the most important single gift being the elegant volume of " The Whitney Family of Connecti- cut," from the compiler, Mr. S. Whitney Phoenix of New York. It has also received several valuable donations of works upon genealogy and local history, the donors of which will be indicated in connection with the title entry, in the appended catalogue of additions.