"For out of the olde feldes, as men saythe, Cometh al this newe corne fro yere to yere, And out of olde bokes, in good faythe, Cometh al this newe science that men lere." -CHAUCER, Parlement of Foules.

OOK collectors share a common passion but attain different ends. All are spurred by the desire to capture prizes, but few have learned how to use them for the public benefit. Even the most philanthropic, knowing that unique books or fragile il luminated manuscripts would soon be ruined by such handling as the inexpensive volumes of public libraries receive, often feel compelled to hoard their treasures. The very generous, such as Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan, have opened their collections to competent students and provided for their permanent maintenance. But the most liberal disposition known to me of a great library is that of Mr. Henry E. Huntington, who in 1919 transferred his collections to a board of trustees for the public benefit, and has now made provision for a large staff of the ablest scholars to study their contents and publish the results in a series of technical and popular articles and books. By this means, and by opening the Library to competent students, he has assured the widest distribution of facsimiles, translations, commentaries, and the cumulative results of organized research.

For information regarding the contents of the Huntington Library I am chiefly indebted to Doctor George Watson Cole, former Librarian, Mr. Leslie E. Bliss, Librarian, Captain R. B. Haselden, Keeper of the Manuscripts, and Mrs. Milbank Johnson, who is making a study of the Larpent

collection.

Mr. Huntington has been fortunate in his opportunities, for never before in modern times have so many valuable libraries come upon the market. One by one, or sometimes in large lots, he has acquired such masterpieces as the Ellesmere Chaucer, a vellum Gutenberg Bible, Reynolds's "Tragic Muse" and Gainsborough's "Blue Boy," the manuscript of Franklin's autobiography, the original signed documents of the Pizarros and the royal decrees relating to the conquest of Peru; the archives of the house of Stowe, comprising a great collection of manuscripts coming down from the twelfth century; the papers of the Earls of Huntingdon, containing royal charters, great seals, hundreds of royal letters and other historical correspondence from 1105 to 1745; and a collection of the first and intermediate editions of Shakespeare equalling that of the British Museum itself.

USE OF THE HUNTINGTON LIBRARY

In a trust indenture dated August 30, 1919, Mr. Huntington expressed his desire, "in his lifetime, to promote and advance learning, the arts and sciences, and to promote the public welfare by founding, endowing, and having maintained a library, art gallery, museum, and park." He accordingly transferred to a board of five trustees the library building he had previously erected on his large estate at San Marino, California (adjoining Pasadena), with all its contents. In subsequent gifts he also transferred to his trustees his residence near the library, with all its pictures, statuary, tapestries, and other works of art; his estate of over 200

acres, to be permanently maintained for the purposes of the Library and Art Gallery; and a large adjoining tract of land, to be ultimately sold for residence purposes, and the proceeds added to the bonds and other securities also provided as a nucleus of a permanent endowment fund. In the trust indenture Mr. Huntington elected to perform during his life the duties of the trustees and stipulated that the residence, which contains his art collection, be retained for the use of himself and Mrs. Huntington until their deaths. Similar powers were reserved to Mrs. Huntington in case she should survive him.

Since that time the deaths of Mrs. Huntington and of two members of the original board of trustees, Messrs. Howard E. Huntington and William E. Dunn, have materially altered the conditions existing in 1919.* Mr. Huntington has made large additions to his collections, and in 1926 he executed a supplemental trust indenture, enlarging the powers of the trustees and defining the institution

as:

...

"A free public research library, art gallery, museum, and botanical garden, . . . which library shall be for reference and research only.

"Its object shall be the advancement of learning, the arts and sciences, and to promote the public welfare; . . . to render the books, manuscripts, and other contents available, under suitable regulations and restrictions, . . . to scholars and other persons engaged in research or creative work in history, literature, art, science, and kindred subjects, ... to prosecute and encourage study and research in original sources of history, literature, art, science, and kindred subjects, etc.

...

A GENERAL PLAN OF RESEARCH

Mr. Huntington and his trustees, in seeking to make the best possible use of the Library and Art Gallery, have endeavored to take all of the significant facts into consideration. They recognize that the acquirement of unique or extremely rare books, manuscripts, and works of art carries with it a heavy reThe present trustees are George S. Patton, Henry M.

Robinson, Archer M. Huntington, Robert A. Millikan, and the writer.

sponsibility. Many of these, it is true, have remained hidden for centuries in the private archives of old families in Europe and America, or stored in English country houses where scholars have had little or no access to them. But now that these documents have come to light, the obligation of providing for their ready accessibility and effective service is obvious. They are too expensive and easily injured for the daily wear and tear of an ordinary public library, and it is clear that their use must be restricted to competent scholars. But in every possible way their contents should be made useful to a much wider public than has ever profited by their existence in the past. How can this be done?

An obvious suggestion is offered by the organization of laboratories and observatories dealing with various branches of science. These are designed for research purposes and equipped with the best of instruments, which are intrusted to a staff of competent investigators for the study of various problems. To supplement the efforts of the permanent staff, and to keep in constant touch with developments in various parts of the world, Research Associates and Fellows are appointed, who come for stated periods from other institutions. The Research Associates are chosen from the most eminent and productive leaders in their fields, while the Fellows are generally younger men, who have shown exceptional ability in research at universities in this country and abroad.

The provision of a similar research organization by the Huntington Library and Art Gallery will assure competent and continuous use of the collections, instead of depending solely upon the chance visits of scholars. It will also make them of the greatest service to distant scholars and to the public by a wide dissemination of their contents and of the results of research, both in the form of technical books and articles and in more popular treatment for the general reader. It is hoped, of course, that visiting scholars will come in increasing numbers as the research value of the collections and the facilities offered for their use become more widely known. Such visitors will naturally be encouraged to undertake any special in

vestigations for which the contents of the Library are adapted. As for the permanent staff, this will be selected in accordance with the needs of a large general scheme of research.

It may be asked what broad research problem can be conceived for the Huntington Library and Art Gallery. Mr. Huntington's policy in building up his collections provides an excellent answer to this question. From the beginning he has specialized in the work of British and American authors, and as his purchases have been very extensive, he is

rapidly acquiring the material needed for a comprehensive investigation of the history of civilization in Great Britain and America, especially in its intellectual aspects, but with due regard to its other phases. Thus the general subject of research

possesses much material in its numerous incunabula and other early books. and manuscripts from various European

chosen last year by Mr. Huntington and his trustees is the rise and evolution of Anglo-American thought and its application in the organization and development of the British Commonwealth and the United States. As our civilization is naturally an international product, the origin of ideas will not be neglected, and for this purpose the Library already VOL. LXXXII.-3

see other requirements prehensive scheme.

sources. For example, Italian and French writers from whom Chaucer, Shakespeare, and other English authors often derived the framework of their tales and plays are well represented.

Like the research plan of a laboratory or observatory, the policy of the Huntington Library must be

very broad and flexible. It must provide favorable opportunities for investigators of widely different needs; assure the growth of the collections in harmony with the requirements of the general plan; render possible visits for research to various American and European libraries, museums, and other sources of original materials; assure suitable means of publication; and foreinherent in a com

THE DEVELOPMENT OF CIVILIZATION IN GREAT BRITAIN AND AMERICA

The general plan just outlined was prepared in 1925 by the trustees at the request of Mr. Huntington and formally approved by him in October of that year.

tion in the Commonwealth Fund, was then requested to visit the Library as the first Research Associate, to study its contents and possibilities, and to prepare an effective scheme of procedure. Some extracts from his report, which has recently been presented and approved, will best express his views.

After stating his conviction that the collections are admirably adapted "for the study of the manifold aspects of the growth of civilization in Great Britain and America," he points out that the subject is too complex for a single mind and should not be left to isolated individuals. As a tentative working plan he then groups the chief lines of approach in three

velopment, involving the application of science to human needs and culminating in the complex industrial and financial structure of modern times. In this economic and social investigation habits, customs, manners, etc., must be taken into account, and for this purpose such unworked manuscript material as is found in the Battle Abbey, Stowe, and Huntingdon collections will be invaluable.

The intellectual and spiritual phase of civilization begins with religion and continues with education and the development of science. "The invention of printing opened the realm of learning to the multitude, and is perhaps the greatest factor in the rise of democracy. Its only

In the field of literature and the drama, the Library is admirably equipped to begin immediate and extensive research. This incidentally offers one of the most effective means of studying the transfer of civilization to the New World. In the realm of the fine arts the Huntington collections of paintings, statuary, tapestries, prints, illuminated manuscripts, and seals will also serve for investigations on another aspect of intellectual and spiritual progress.

"The third group includes the whole series of interests and activities manifested in government, law, and politics, and in international relations.

side the collections range from the Pizarro papers and the records of the Dutch West India Company through every phase of national activity until the end of the nineteenth century, including a remarkable Civil War library.

"The conventional histories of the past have devoted themselves rather exclusively to governmental and political history, but students are learning to recognize that economic and social activities, that spiritual and intellectual interests, are controlling factors in the actions of the individuals who make up the State. The Huntington Library is now placing itself in the forefront of the new move