552 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1903. 



of the Bibles (said to be second only to the Bible collection of the Brit- 

 ish Museum). Further, the collection of Aldines (over 800) is under- 

 stood to be the most complete; and a collection of the earliest and 

 rarest books relating" to America and the early explorations in general 

 should be mentioned. It is used very little as a purely scientilic library 

 in the great commercial city, and mostly by clerg-yiuen. It is open 

 on week days from 10 a. m. to 6 p. m., Tuesdays and Fridays also from 

 a. m. to 9 p. m., Saturdays only until 2 p. m., and is closed on Sun- 

 days and on ten week days during the 3^ear. A 8-volume printed 

 catalogue (1899) and various printed section catalogues have appeared. 

 In England, as in America, organizations, societies, etc., are much 

 more privileged than with us in visiting public institutions and in 

 being shown through them. So it happened that on the da}" of my 

 visit a societv of young men and women with religious tendencies 

 called or was invited on Saturday afternoon at 8 o'clock, at a time 

 when the librar}' is ordinarily closed. Several hundred persons pre- 

 sented themselves. They assembled in the large, elegant, paneled lec- 

 ture room, and the director made an address in which he explained to 

 them something concerning the history and the contents of the library 

 and instructed them in the use of the books. All that he could say, 

 however, in this connection was that, since the library was a scientific 

 one, they would iind help and encouragement for their religious 

 interests only in the large collection of Bibles, and he advised them 

 to use this section. The society was then permitted to wander at 

 will about the large library. The visitors were attended by the 

 director and other officials, and the noteworth}" and valuable things 

 were pointed out. All parts of the building were well lighted with 

 electricity. This has assuredly the advantage of broadening the 

 horizon of a class of people who have no conception of such a magnifi- 

 cent installation as a good library, and of inspiring one or another of 

 them to go into the subject more profoundly. 



27. P^REE REFERENCE LIBRARY. 



There were in Manchester also many other things to learn and to 

 report upon,*^' but ni}" time was limited and the sojourn in this factor^' 

 town but little pleasing. 



So I did not visit the Free Reference Lil^rary in King street, 

 which has been housed since 1878 in the old town hall (constructed 

 in 1823-1825), which contains 124:,591 volumes, and in which during 

 the last year 360,176 readers have consulted 4-1:1,074 volumes. The 

 city would long ago have undertaken the establishment of a new 

 up-to-date librar}', since ever3"thing is overcrowded, were it not for the 

 fact that a debt of $25,000,000 was assumed in the construction of the 



«SeeC. W. Sutton: Some of the inytitution.s of Manchester and Salfonl, Library 

 Associalion licconl, I, 1S99, jtp. 550-56o. 



