ALL books of necessity have prefaces, and catalogues of 

 importance are not an exception to this rule, and whilst 

 dry and uninteresting to the average reader, well repay 

 the specialist and those to whom the subjects are of interest. 



Whilst the library of Mr. B. M. Everhart covers every 

 department of literature and science, and the following list 

 Avanders over a wide range of subjects, here and there are 

 islands in this ocean of learning, some large, some small, but 

 overshadowing all the rest is the collection of books on Fungi, 

 Mycology and the Flowerless Plants. Mr. Everhart was a 

 man of large means and was able to gratify his hobby which 

 with long years of research developed him into a world-wide 

 authority on the subject of Fungi, and the greatest in the 

 United States, for 'twas he that arranged the Arctic Fungi in 

 the Smithsonian Institution. 



The library not only contains the English books, both old 

 and new, on Fungi, but also most of those published in foreign 

 tongues and many handsomely illustrated in colors. 



In connection with these might be mentioned North 

 American Pyrenomycetes, by Messrs. Ellis and Everhart, the 

 greatest and best book on the subject; Ellis and Everhart 

 North American Fungi and Fungi Columbiana, limited to 

 forty-five sets and published in two editions. 53 volumes, illus- 

 trating by Natural Specimens, 100 different Fungi in each 

 volume or a total of 5300, and published at a cost of over 

 $400.00 per set. 



The Le Conte Scrap Books, with their thousands of 

 Specimens of Natural History Subjects, hand colored from 

 life, and others bearing directly or indirectly on the same sub- 

 ject, costing Mr. Everhart thousands of dollars, and if time 

 and labor are to be taken into consideration their value is be- 

 yond computation. 



There are besides these many notable works, among 

 < >tliers may be named Michaux & Nuttall's Trees of America, 

 Wilson and Bonaparte's Ornithology, Audobon's Quadrupeds 



