74 THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART 



be a curator of the national art, and that this function has 

 never been forgotten, though often in abeyance. 



"In 1849, your first Secretary, Joseph Henry, in pursuance 

 of this function of an Institution which, in his own words, ex- 

 isted for ' the true, the beautiful, as well as for the immediately 

 practical,' purchased of the Hon. George P. Marsh a collection 

 of works of art — chiefly engravings — for the sum of $3,000, un- 

 derstood then to be but a fraction of its cost, and which, owing 

 to the great rise in the market value of such things in the last 

 fifty years, does not in the least represent its value to-day. It 

 is impossible to state what the present value of the collection 

 is, without an examination of the engravings and etchings, but 

 experts that I have consulted say that the rise in all good speci- 

 mens of engraving and etching during the forty-seven years 

 which have elapsed since the purchase has been so great that 

 if these had then the value attributed to them they must be 

 worth from five to ten times that amount now, or even more. 



"Immediately after the fire at the Institution, in 1865, doubt 

 was felt that the building was a place of safety, and a portion 

 of the collection was transferred to the Library of Congress, 

 and in 1874 and 1879 other portions were lent to the newly 

 founded Corcoran Art Gallery. The transfer was with the 

 express understanding that they were there for deposit only, 

 and to be reclaimed by the Regents at any time. 



"A portion of the collection is identified by Mr. Spofford as 

 in the charge of the Library at the Capitol, except a few volumes 

 and engravings which he hopes to find at the time of the com- 

 ing transfer to the new building. There is no question made 

 by the Corcoran Gallery about the fact of the engravings and 

 etchings which they have on deposit. 



"In view of the fact of the coming occupancy of the New 

 Congressional Library, in which it is expected that special quar- 

 ters will be assigned to the Smithsonian deposit, both for stor- 

 ing in the 'East Stack' of its now over 300,000 titles, and of a 

 suitable room for their consultation, and of the further fact 

 that the Corcoran Gallery will also shortly move into a new 

 building, I have thought it might be desirable for the Regents 

 to take action looking to the reclamation of the engravings, 

 etchings, and other works of art. 



