IV. HISTORICAL MANUSCRIPTS IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.

By HERBERT FRIEDENWALD, Ph. D., SUPERINTENDENT OF MANUSCRIPTS DEPARTMENT, LIBRARY

OF CONGRESS.

HISTORICAL MANUSCRIPTS IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.

By HERBERT FRIEDENWALD.

In the short time that I shall occupy no more will be attempted than to indicate briefly some of the more important historical manuscripts of the Library of Congress. It will not be possible to go into details, nor, I may say at the outset, will I have the pleasurable task of describing a vast collection, such as that of the Vatican, whose treasures have been so learnedly portrayed by Professor Haskins. Yet that of the Library of Congress is well worthy of having the attention of historians attracted to it, more especially as the establishment by Congress of a special department under the Library of Congress for the care of manuscripts marks a great step forward in the history of the care of the Government archives in this country. Nor was this action taken any too soon in this instance. An almost total neglect, in that they were stored away indiscriminately among books and pamphlets in cellar and garret, exposed alternately to heat and cold, damp and dust, for a period, in most cases, of from fifteen to thirty years, has left its ineffaceable marks. As a result, of the six hundred and odd bound volumes scarcely more than a tithe will make a presentable appearance, and be fit to be handled without rebinding. Of those unbound, numbering some 170 volumes, and two hundred and odd bundles (which when bound will nearly double the number of volumes on the shelves), the tale of abuse that has fallen to their lot is even sadder, and, naturally, because of their greater exposure to injury. All told, of the 25,000 individual original manuscripts forming the collection, but an insignificant portion are in such a state of preservation as to require no attention at the restorer's hands. To arrange these upon temporary shelves-for the permanent fixtures for the manuscript department of the Library have just been put in place to classify them so that even before cataloguing

they might be rendered measurably accessible; to begin at once the preparation of a catalogue, for none has ever been in existence; to put repairers at work and to give attention to an infinity of minor details, such was the work which may be said to have begun just about one year ago. We must pass now from the consideration of mere mechanical details to the more important matter of the contents and scope of the historical collections.

It will surprise none to state that practically all the papers of an historical nature relate to the Colonial and Revolutionary history of our own country, though the investigator who is making researches in the history of the West Indies and of British America can ill afford to pass by the few, yet valuable, volumes we have relating to those possessions. For many of the manuscripts, gathered with such painstaking care by George Chalmers, who took advantage of his exceptional opportunities, have found their way here and help to add greatly to the worth of the collections relating to Colonial history. Not the least interesting of the volumes compiled by him is one entitled Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction over the British Colonies, containing papers concerning that much agitated subject between the dates 1662 and 1768. The Colonies concerned are Virginia, North and South Carolina, New York, and Jamaica. And the investigator will find a worthy supplement to the information contained in this volume by reference to the papers which we have of Sir William Johnson and which cover the years 1760 to 1767. Included among these is a petition addressed to him in 1766 by the Episcopal clergy in convention assembled in New York, praying him to use his good offices with the Board of Trade to procure bishops for America

Of great utility in supplying information that is missing from the Chalmers papers is another unique set of documents relating to our colonial history. They are the so-called VernonWager Papers, in 12 large folio volumes. There is scarcely a phase of colonial history in its broadest sense during the first half of the eighteenth century that they do not touch upon, though in the main being made up of reports and opinions of Admiral, Lord Vernon. A catalogue of the documents in this collection which relate to Cuba was published in the first publication issued from the Library of Congress during the incumbency of Mr. Young.