452 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1903. 



bcHjucathed the greater part of his propert}^, after deducting- numerous 

 private and public legacies/' for founding a "fre'e public library" in 

 the southern part of the city, as the northern part was already pro- 

 vided with such an one in the Newberry Library (see p. 459). He 

 desired the erection of a tasteful, solid, fireproof building. Only such 

 books and journals w^ere to be included as might create and sustain a 

 health}^ moral and Christian sentiment in the community; all offensive 

 and immoral works were to be excluded. Concerning such books, he 

 said: 



I do not mean by this that there shall not be anything but hymn books and ser- 

 mons, but I mean that dirty French novels and all skeptical trash and works of 

 (juestionable moral tone shall never be found in this library. I want its atmosphere 

 that of Christian refinement, and its aim and object the building up of character. 



In 1889 the excellent man died. In 1894 the library was incorpo- 

 rated by the State, in 1895 organized, and in 1897 opened. I said 

 above that its history is short, but it nevertheless contains much that 

 is instructive and worth noting. • 



The testator himself had named thirteen of his friends as "direc- 

 tors," two of whom were his executors. They cooperated with the 

 other principal libraries in Chicago so that the Crerar Librar}' was to 

 give special attention to the natural sciences exclusive of medicine, to 

 the social sciences, and technology; the Newberry (see p. 459) to medi- 

 cine, history, art, and the humanities; the university (see p. 491) to 

 philology, and the Public Library (see p. 473) to the whole, more pop- 

 ular literature for household reading. The idea that by a cooperative 

 division of this sort the institutions above named would attain the 

 greatest possible use for the general good is as wise as it is rare, and 

 will certainly be productive of the most excellent results. The exact 

 programme of the Crerar Library is as follows: 



I. General vxirks. — Bibliography, library economy, cyclopedias, 

 general periodicals, general societies, exhibitions and museums, ps}^- 

 chology, logic, historj'^ and geography, cartography. 



II. Social sciences. — Ethics, statistics, political science, political 

 economy, administration (including public documents), associations and 

 institutions, education, commerce and communication, customs, folk- 

 lore, etc. 



III. Physical sciences. — Mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemis- 

 try, and mineralogy. 



IV. Natural sciences. — Geology, paleontology, biology, botan}^, 

 zoology. 



«The last-named legacies amounted to $1,000,000 for ecclesiastical, benevolent, 

 and educational purposes, among which were $100,000 for a Lincoln statue, and 

 $25,000 for the Chicago Historical Society (see p. 439). The will was contested by 

 the relatives, but without result, concerning which a series of papers, some of which 

 were quite extensive, were published in 1892. 



