26 S. Mis. 53. 



with certainty, and abridgment of labor, to produce the best specimens 

 of" typography. 



The system of catalogues described in previous reports, though future 

 experiencr may suggest other improvements, is now apparently perfect 

 in all its details. A stereotyping office has been estabhshed in the 

 basement of the west wing of the Smithsonian building, and the Insti- 

 tution is ready to commence the formation of a general catalogue 

 of the principal libraries of the United States. The commission to 

 which the catalogue system was referred, recommended that meas- 

 ures be taken to procure the preparation and printing of the cata- 

 logue of the Library of Congress. The cost of the first collection 

 of stereotype titles can be best borne by this library, and it will be 

 the first to reap the benefit of this invention. The stereotype blocks 

 of the titles can be preserved in the Institution, and a new catalogue 

 annually furnished at a small expense, with all the additions inserted 

 in their proper places. The same titles will be employed in printing 

 the catalogues of other libraries, and the new titles which may be pre- 

 pared for these will, in turn, be used for the Library of Congress. 



I beg leave to commend this subject to the immediate consideration 

 of the Board of Regents. The whole plan is in perfect harmony with 

 the active operations, and has always received my cordial commenda- 

 tion. The Institution has incurred the expense of reducing it to prac- 

 tice so far as it depends on mechanical arrnngements, and it now only 

 requires to be applied, to realize all the benefits which have been 

 anticipated in regard to it, to do honor to the Institution and to confer 

 deserved reputation on its author.* 



Library . — During the last year the library has received important 

 additions from the books presented in exchange for the volumes of the 

 Smithsonian Contributions and other publications. The whole value 

 of the works thus received during the year, according to the estimate 

 of Professor Baird, is not less than from four to five thousand dollars. 

 From this source alone a highly interesting and valuable collection of 

 books, pertaining to all branches of positive knowledge, will, in time, 

 be obtained. The reputation which the publications of the Institution 

 have given it abroad, has induced individuals to present quite a number 

 of valuable works to the library. For an account of the whole, I must 

 refer to the report of Prof. Jewett, herewith submitted. The library 

 has also been increased by the purchase of such books as were required 

 in the operations of the Institution, and with a series of scientific and 

 other periodicals. 



The copyright law is still in existence, and the library has received, 

 during the past year, the usual number of articles from this source. 

 The remark, however, may again be made with truth, that the action 

 of this law, as it now exists, imposes a burden on the Institution from 

 which it should be relieved. 



The whole number of articles, according to the report of Professor 

 Jewett, now in the library, is twenty-one thousand seven hundred. 



*NoTE. — Since this report was presented to the Board of Regents, Congress has appro- 

 priated three thousand dollars to commence the catalogue of its library on the stereotype 

 plan, under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution. 



