TTTK OMAIIA KT17DAY BEE: OCTOBER 19, 1913.
5-B
Nevv Manuscripts of
Vg.Atr Gall-Lard Hunt, in cJiarQe of Uncle
(Coprlghted, 1913, by Frank O. Carpenter.)
ASHINGTON. D. Q.. Oct 18.
ti wiinin mo last nve year
t 1 some of the must- Important
I littnrlil tfnrlf nvtt rinn for
this nation has bee-n "going oiv
In tho library of c'onsress In
Washington. Thls Is 'the collo tlon of
tho raw-l.maUr&iP-Wf-. 'the ' hlslory of
tho United States and that of the
American colonies. It consists of (fath
ering together from every available
source the- private pnpenand letters of
our presidents and our greatest states
men. It Includes the transcribing- from
the archives of foreign countries every
document tjiat relates to tho American
colonies, as well as all the mater'al In
manuscript form that sheds Unlit upon
tho true story of tho making of tho
American nation.
Already the manuscript division ot the
library ranks among the three greatest
manuscript collections of the "world. Its
papers and lottcrs now surpass in extent
and value thoeo ot any other library or
government, of Europe excepting perhaps
tho Hritish n.nseum in London nnd the
Blbllotheque Natlonale In Paris. The
work so far has been In active operation
for only about five years, and tho col
lections aro increasing so rapidly that
our division of manuscripts will have
more of such material than any othor
similar collection in tho world.
Numerous Letters.
Indeed, I despair of giving you an nde
qua to conception of the enormous amount
of material and of the admirable way In
which it is being made accessible to the
student and author. The correspondence,
private papers and other documents al
ready In hand aro actually numbe cd by
millions. Thero are more than 100,000 let
ters of the Washington correspondence,
there are 39,000 or 40,000 of the prlvato
papers and letters of Andrew Jackson,
and there ore other papers' of almost
very president from the' time 6f Goorgc
Waehlngton down, to the lata civil war.
There are thousands of unpublished
letters of American statesmen and poli
ticians, Including the complete papers of
Alexander Hamilton, Duff Green. Salmon
p. Chose and Edwin M. Btanton. The
papers of John Sherman ore here ai d
those o'f Gideon Welles, as well as thoee
of General eherman.ond General McClel
lan. There are'.also naval papers, papers
relating to our commercial history and
upward of 100,000 folios of transcripts of
documents relating to American colonial
history. There is scientific correspon
dence and literary correspondence, the
latter Including letters of the .two Drown
ings. Marlon Crawford, Mark Twain and
James Whltcomb Riley.
The greater part of the material is new.
and as I shall show, further n In nty
talk with Mr. Galllard Hunt, who Is !n
charge of this collection, much of it will
throw a new light upon history, tnd
tho most of It has never been pupltslicJ.
But first let me give you some ides. f
the manuscript division of the National
library. H Is In th northwest pavilion
on the second floor of the building. It
conslsta of a circular reading room About
J0O feet in diameter, book stacks rJnnmg
off from it containing the hundreds of
great volumes bound in red .morocc, in
Meh the priJo:M letters nd papers
are so carefully pasted. The reading room
is In the. shape of a dome, wtt'.i a circu
lar mahogany desk in tho canter, about
which those who handle the manuscripts
must sit. The arrangement is such that
the readers are P.?Yr out of sight at the
chief of the division or his asidstant The
room la flooded with light, and. all nan
AUn of the Doners is done under the
Argus-eyes of the attendants. Eyep;the:
private office of Mr. Galllard 'Hunt is
surrounded by glass, .and ne has the
whole of the workings constantly before
him.
Around the reading room are cases
which contain. n card Index catalogue to
certain divisions ot the collection. This
index is a, .general on. The material is
so vast that It would be impossible tn In
dex It In dntail. nnd It is only by coming
here ln;person that the historical student
or writer can get the material for his
work.
Letters Accessible.
Nevertheless, these hundreds of thou-'
sands, of letters and papers have boon
niado wonderfully accessiWe, and they
nr UHlie in cared for that from now on
theywlll bo practically indestructible.
Como with, me Into tho book stocks
where 'he manuscripts are kept We
nr In a great room 100 ftot or more
Ion-.-, filled with steel eases, which run
hack on ttoeb'side from a central alfle.
The caes are In stacks, three stories
high. The whole is a skeleton of steel.
The rooms are fireproof and the manu
scripts are a)ored away In great .volumes
as big as the biggest family Bible, each
having lis own place In. this steel con
struction. There are thousands of theso
volumes. . each containing hundreds of
pages, and each page holding a tttr or
paper, many of which are worth thtlr
weighty gold. Tho papers are classified
according to-the president or period to
which thoy relate. Many of them are in
collections, such as tho Washington doc
uments, the Madison documents and tho
John Sherman papers, but all are chrovf
nologlealty arranged, and every letter
and paper has been so prepared and
pasted that it can b easily got at to be
photographed or copied.
When you remember that, as I have
cald. the collection already numbers sev
eral millions of letters and papers, on
can appreciate the vast work that is
going on. At present a force of three
men and three women are engaged In
mounting tho documents. The papers as
bought by tho library aro often in a de
plorable condition, but they are taken
and treated so that thoy will last forever.
Each manuscript has Its own treatment
according to its needs, the work being, an
improvement on that originated by
Father Ehrly of the Vatican library, who
until tho work began here was tho past
master in tho art of preserving and reno
vating old manuscripts, One method used
to keep the. tattered and torn and crum
bling worm-eaten papers together Is by
smoothing them out 'aifd covering them
vjijh. a fine' silk g'auza known as crepe
ljne. This stuff Is so delicate .that it Can
hardly ba detected, whon ' It covers tho
wrjUng. but It holds the papers for all
time to come.
V
Chief of Division.
But let me continue the story of this .
collection by giving you a talk that I
had with Mr. Galllard Hunt, who has
been chief of the. division' of manuscripts
of the library for the last five years.
Mr. JIunt has long 'been well knpwn us
an historical writer. He has for years
been an authority upon all manuscripts
and facts relating to American history.
He is the author ot the well known bl
ographles of James Madison and John C.J
Calfioun; and he was the editor of the
great edition of the writings of Madison
in eight volumes, ot the "First Forty
Years of Washington Society" and of -a
large part of the Journals of tho con
tinental congress. He knows as much,
if not more, than any other man in the
United States about manuscripts, and es
pecially about those relating to our his
tory. He had a long experience conhected
with the manuscripts of Uie Stato de
partment before he came here, and his
work Is known in all the great libraries
of the .world.
In response to ray question Mr. Hunt
said;
"The manuscript division began when
the library cams Into this building,
which was approximately ten years ago.
It has been Increasing Jn size very rap
idly within the last five years, and It has
now takun lu place among the first
threw manuscript 'collections of the world:
Tho credit of this is duo first to the power;
of organization ot Mr. Putnam,' secondly
rto tils work of Wlmhlncton C. Ford,
who waa Uie first chlet of this division,
and thirdly to ruy persistency in follow-j
Ing up the policy laid down by Mr. Ford.
Mr. Ford Is the greatest authority on
manuscripts in 'this country." He la now
employed In tho library at Boston, and
I have taken his place."
What manuscripts ' had you In the
library at the start?"
"Very few. When Mr. Ford took hold
there were several collections of docu
ments that hod been acquired in one
way or another In the course ot Its long
history. The origin of corns .of them is
not known. Otfiera had been, bought or
given. These few. however, wer valu-'
able. They contained, for example, the
fiapers ot Rocbambeau, which the gov.
ernment hod bought from his family, and
the Jamestown court book, which cama'
with the .Jefferson library, which was
bought by congress during the latter
part of Jefferson's life. Ami then thero
were the private paper of John Paul
Jones and others, which were r.of great
value,
"Tho Jamestown 'court book gives the
proceedings of the court at Jamestown
from A. D. ICS to ICS. It is the oldest
EnglUb-Aroeilcan document In existence.
This book was In bad condition when It
arrived her. It had been lyjng In a cel
lar and IikjI crnt t fhrnflf.h mnti thrrmtrli
We have In s measure embalmed it and i
It Is now as well preserved as it it were
In & metal casket The writing is in ihe
court hand ot the .seventeenth century.
Credit to Itooaevrlt.
"The library owes much to President
Roosevelt" continued Mr Hunt "He
caused all the private papers and manu
scripts of the State department to be
transferred to this division. That ce-
partment had no place for them, and i
tbey were not accessible. These papers '
ar all here. They Include 'hose of
George Washington, Thomas Jeffe son
James Madison. Jamts Monroe, the rcc-,
the National Library
S&jn'& mnniL&cFipT.
ords of the Continental congress and tho
papers of Benjamin Franklin."
"How did tho State department acqulro
those papers?" I asked. ,
"They were bought by congress away
back In tho MOs. For somo unknown
reason congress wob .particularly gener
ous at that period and it appropriated a
large sum for the purchase of the papers
of Washington, Jefferson, Madison arid
Hamilton. It paid about 125,000 for the
first installment of the Washington pa
pers and about the tamo for the second
installment. It bought two sots of Mud!
son papors, giving '$30,000 for one and
130,000 for another. It gavo $23,000 for
tho. papers of Alexander 'Hamilton and
about 20,0 tqr those of Jamer Monroe.
It also gave $25,000 for the ' Jefferson
papers.
"These payments had no reference to
tho value of the manuscripts, and they
.were mostly mado In order to assist the
descendants of the several statesmen and
presidents. This was - especially . so with
tho money paid for the Madison papers.
It was to relieve the wants of "Dolly
Madison, and tho money was so appro
priated that It was paid to her In In
stallments. - This was mostly on account
of her wayward son, Payne Todd, who
had spent the greater part ot his mother's
fortune und who would have probably
spent this If he could have gotten it It
was due to this provision that Dolly Mad
ison had sufficient to mutntan her In
her old age. She died in comfort here
at her house on Lafayette park."
"Has congress recently bought any Im
portant collection of manuscripts?" v
"No, congress has. bought no collec
tions by direct appropriations tor a great
many years. Tho library Itself has
'bought a large number, but & great part
of our manuscripts aro given to us. Tho
accessions to the division come in. three
different ways. Some of them are given,
others aro sold to tho library for a sum
entirely out of proportion to their value.
Many people would not sell their papers
'to any other Institution or person, but
but being poor, they are willing to take
what the government thinks it can give,
which is always much less than the same
manuscript would bring at a prlvato
sal-."
Price ot Mnnuscrlpta.
"Can you give me any Idoa of the
prices of manuscripts?' f
"There is no such thing as a market
pries;" said Mr. Hunt 'The price de
pends upon the temper of the buyer.
There may be four or five rich men in
the market buying certain kinds ot auto
graphs, and if you should havo an auto
graph document that 'is along the line
they want It Is worth as much as they
are willing to give for it if only ono of
them wants, It, it is not worth much.
If they all want it the price is fabulous.
The library does not pay a high price
and it could not do so undor any circum
stances. If It did a person having family
letters that were really worth little
might get an Idea that they wero of fab
ulous value."
"What Is tua highest price ever paid
for an American manuscript?"
"I do not know. Havemeyer paid II, too
for the draft of Washington's famwoll
Dn.BcnjF Bailk ,
Sanatorium
This Institution 1b the only ono
In the central west with separate
buildings situated in their own
ample grounds, yot entirely dis
tinct, and rendering it possible to
clisslfy cases. The one building
being fitted for and devoted to the
treatment of non-contagious and
non-mental diseases, no others be
ing admitted; the other Rest Cot
tage being designed for and dn
voted to the exclusive treatment
ot select mental cases requiring
for a time watchful care and spe
cial nursing.
I address. At the same sale a manuscript
ot Washington sold for fc00, and a letter
I of his sold for $S Tou con get no Ulvn
of prices by tho publication!) concerning
the sales. The newspapers mention only
tho highest prices paid, and nothing is
said ot the letters which go for little.
At the same sate whero the Washington
address brought n letter of Henry
Clay may have sold for Jt.50."
Dors Not tiny Antoarnpli.
"I would say, also," Mr. Hunt con
tinued, "that the library does not buy
nutocranhs. It does not enre for iuc-
I natures, pure and simple, norNdoes It
want single tatters without thoy .no of
historical value. We buy only collections.
It would bo rather absurd for us ta pav
for single letters ot Washington, whon
our collection of Washington lotti-ra sl
ready numbers over lKt.000.
"And then," Mr. Hunt continued "tako
the extravagant Ideas some peoplt have
concerning such papers. Not Ion i;o
n man offered us a set of revolutionary
roll books. Ho considered thorn Vary val
uable and he nsked K(X) for tin lor-tt
In his collection. I calculated the valua
of the number of such books wo Ivid on
hand, and at the price he asUd our col
lection would' havo been worth WiS.tHo for
those books nlono."
'Then yonr collcotlpn is historical
rather than autographic?"
"Yes, the atltographlo Interest ot tho
papers Is the least Import tut. This
lection might be called the raw nmttrlal
of American history, nnd as to ut htw
valuablo it is I can give on no ;tilc"te
conception. I would sny Hint thor l
not a single Important iMrlo.l of Ameri
can history that hns been titilv written,
and that thero Is not a slnglo incident rt
importance of which tho manuscript
here In tho library do nut disturb tho ac
cepted version of It. Kven such a story as
that ot tho making of the Declaration of,
Independence Is wrong. The library hns
Information in these manuscript as to
who actunlly wrote It nnd us to tho cir
cumstances under which it was sent out
Tho story Is different from any published
and it is yet to be told. Another thing
is the framing of tho Constitution of the
United' States. Wo havo manuscripts In
the Madison papers and tn other records
OMAHA BEE
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required. COUPONS OF ANY DATE
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offer is confined to our readers only.
Look for the Coupon
which throw new llRht upon that subject
About two yours nno n monumental
work entitled "the Records of tho Con
stitutional Convention," was printed In
three large volumes by cotiRre!!. and It
was suppose! to contain all the new mat.
ter. Within a week after tlmt publica
tion was Issued tho library received, by
way of Philadelphia, four or five, other
very vnlunblo records relating to the
framing of the. Constitution. This makes
tho congressional work Incomplete, and
so I might say wo havo no history which
Is a complete history as. yet. George
Washington hns been more written about
than any other nmn In our history, nnd
yet not one-tenth of his papers havo ovvr
been printed."
Colon In I Dn),
"Have you many documents relating to
our colonial days?"
"Wo have tho papers ot the revolu.
tlon, and those of the continental con
gress. Tho latter begins with tho First
congress In 1774, and they extend to
March 2, 1K79, when congress died.
After that wo have the congress as un
der the constitution of the UnlUd Stutos.
None of those papers havo ever been
pilnted. indeed, It Is nut of the ques
tion for any mnn to write about matters
relating to American history without
coming here. , Tho Information Is not no
.ccsslble elsewhere, ami we have our
manuscripts now so arranged tlmt we
can toll studonts where to go without
waste of time.
"The dooumenta cannot be tuken away
from the library. Indeed, n great many
havo been given only on. tho specific
agreement tlmt they would never go out
side our hands. They can, however, be
examined here nnd copied or photo
graphed. This is, of course, for hlstbrle
purposes. It Is not for sensational writ
ing, and not as to the publication, at
letters relating to persons now llvinit.
Many of the papers have been given to
the library on tho condition thnt they
should not be put to any scnsntIon.il
use. Tho Inter papers, such as those of
John Shnrmnn nnd othor men of recent
data, might. If published, Involve many
men still In public life. Wo havo to re
strict tlmt. Indeed, ot all the papers
after tho tlmo of Jnmei K Polk wo
havo to adopt more or less restrictions."'
FRANK O. CARPENTER.
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