To enumerate all the works he gave would require more room than the limits of this Preface will allow. Suffice it to say, that they comprise many of the most valuable productions of human genius and industry, in various languages, ancient and modern, and in all the departments of science and literature. At his decease he left five hundred pounds sterling to be applied to the same object; and this, with the addition of some unexpended interest, now constitutes a fund of three thousand dollars, the interest of which is laid out in the purchase of books.

Mr. Hollis has been thus particularly noticed, not only on account of his general claims to respect and admiration, but because, from the amount and quality of his benefactions, and from the period at which they were received, he may justly be considered as the father of Harvard College Library.

The gentleman, to whom he bequeathed his estate,

imagined what difficulty there is, even where money and industry are not wanting, to procure good copies of the old and best editions of classical and prime authors." In the Thesaurus Linguæ Arabice of Giggeius, he says; "This is a fine copy of a very scarce work. T. H. has been particularly industrious in collecting Grammars and Lexicons of the oriental Root languages, to send to Harvard College, in hopes of forming by that means, assisted by the energy of the leaders, always beneficent, a few prime Scholars, honours to their country, and lights to mankind," &c.

In the splendid large-paper, loyal copy of Walton's Polyglott Bible (remarkable more particularly as containing a Dedication to Charles the Second,) he writes thus; "Thomas Hollis, an Englishman, a Lover of Liberty, civil and religious, citizen of the world, is desirous of having the honor to present this set of books, (a gift originally of the author of it to Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, Chancellor of England,) to the public library of Harvard College, at Cambridge, in New England. Pall Mall, Aug. 12, 1764.”

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Thomas Brand-Hollis Esq., manifested a similar regard for our University. In the course of several years he presented it with many excellent books; and he gave it one hundred pounds at his decease.

It was the intention of the Hon. Thomas Hancock of Boston, the liberal founder of the Professorship of Hebrew and other Oriental Languages, to subscribe five hundred pounds sterling towards the restoration of the Library; but his death suddenly taking place before the completion of his purpose, it was voluntarily executed by his nephew and heir, the celebrated John Hancock," who at the same time still farther enriched the Library by a large collection of chosen authors," and subsequently demonstrated his continued" affection to the College" by repeated instances of bounty.

The Antiquities of Herculaneum and Piranesi's Views of Rome, in twenty large folio volumes, were presented to the Library, in 1772, by Thomas Palmer Esq. of Boston. Atthe beginning of the Revolution he left this country, and resided principally in London till his decease, which took place in 1820; when," to prove his affectionate regard to the society in which he received his education," and unmindful of past injuries and vexations, he magnanimously bequeathed to our University his excellent miscellaneous library of nearly twelve hundred choice and costly volumes.

A large collection of valuable books was presented to the Library in 1784, by Thomas Lee Esq. of Cambridge.

Mr. Samuel Shapleigh, the worthy Librarian of the University, bequeathed, in 1800, the sum of three thousand dollars, the interest of which was to be applied to the purchase of books in modern literature.

To the liberality of the Hon. Israel Thorndike of Boston the College is indebted for repeated benefactions of

great value: particularly for the celebrated library of the Jate Professor Ebeling of Hamburgh, containing upwards of thirty-two hundred volumes, and consisting chiefly of the most important works on American History, in several languages; with a collection of ten thousand maps, charts, and views, which is probably unrivalled by any other collection of a similar kind in the world.

An important addition to the Class of "Works on America," consisting of Mr. Warden's valuable collection of nearly twelve hundred volumes, besides maps, prints, and charts, was made by Samuel A. Eliot Esq. of Boston, son of Samuel Eliot Esq., who endowed the Professorship of Greek Literature with a fund of twenty thousand dollars.

Another son of the same munificent benefactor, William H. Eliot Esq. of Boston, presented a copy of the great national French work, "Description de l'Egypte," a work, which, high as its value is at present, will no doubt be rendered more and more valuable by the inquiries now prosecuting into the wonders of Egyptian antiquity and art, of which, as well as of the natural objects and features of that interesting region, this magnificent work is an immense treasury.

The Hon. Christopher Gore, many years before his decease, gave an earnest of that munificence and regard for the interests of education, so splendidly manifested towards the University in his Will, by enriching the Law Library with a large number of rare and important works in different branches of jurisprudence.

The Boylston Medical Library, consisting of more than eleven hundred volumes, with other benefactions to the College, attest the liberality of the late Ward Nicholas Boylston Esq., nephew and heir of Nicholas Boylston Esq. of Boston, the generous founder of the Professorship of Rhetoric and Oratory.

A large number of excellent works on Natural History and a "chosen collection of the most ancient Greek poets," were presented to the Library by the late Dr. Francis Vergnies of Newburyport.

The sum of two thousand dollars, given to the University by the Hon. Peter O. Thacher, "from a fund left him in trust by the late William Breed Esq. of Boston, for objects of charity, or for the promotion of learning, piety, and religion among the rising generation," was applied by the Corporation to the purchase of books for the Library.

Among the distinguished benefactors of our library may be numbered the Hon. John Adams and the Hon. John Quincy Adams, late Presidents of the United States; and the Hon. Nathan Dane of Beverly, the liberal founder of the Dane Professorship of Law.

To names, thus endeared to the University and to literature, may be added those of Dr. Franklin, Lieut. Gov. Dummer, Thomas Wibird Esq. of New-Hampshire; Jasper Mauduit Esq., Granville Sharp Esq., and John Nichols Esq. of London; the celebrated Goethe of Germany; the Hon. Thomas Hubbard, David Sears Esq., William Hubbard Esq., and Edward Brooks Esq. of Boston; to each of whom, as well as to many others, the University is indebted for valuable donations to the Library.

Its acknowledgments are also due to many learned societies, both in this country and in Europe, for the gratuitous transmission of their important and interesting publications; to the Royal Antiquarian and Horticultural Societies of London; to the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia; to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and to several Historical Societies of this and other

states.

Valuable presents have also been made by several American authors and publishers, who have thus generously set the example of doing for this library voluntarily what in England is required for some of the public libraries by law.

Harvard Hall has four spacious rooms, of which, two on the ground floor are appropriated to the departments of Natural Philosophy and Mineralogy, and two on the second floor contain the principal library.* The judicious and convenient disposition of the books according to their subjects, which was introduced by that accomplished scholar, Joseph G. Cogswell Esq., has been continued with respect to those received since he had charge of the Library, so far as circumstances would permit. Many of the books, however, which have been added to the Library for several years past, have been excluded from their appropriate places by the want of room. This want is now very sensibly experienced; and in a short time another apartment will be indispensably requisite. It is most ardently hoped, that means will at no distant period be furnished by the public-spirited friends of the University and of literature, to erect a new building for the exclusive use of this department, in some respects more eligibly situated than the present, and ample enough to accommodate a library, that shall rival the great repositories of learning in Europe, and correspond more nearly to what may be reasonably expected of the first Library in our country.

* The Library rooms contain twenty alcoves. Over the windows of several of them are inscribed the names of Hollis, Hancock, Lee, Palmer, Thorndike, Eliot. The apartments are also decorated with pictures and busts, particularly of some of the principal benefactors of the University and great men of our country, executed by Copley, Stuart, and other distinguished artists.