84 Mis. No. 48. 



REPORT OF TFIE ASSISTANT srXRETARY RELATIVE TO THE LIERARV — 



PRESENTED DECEMBER 13, 184S. 



To the Secretary of the, SmitJisonian Institution : 



Sir: At the last meetino-of the Board of Regents the followuig duties 

 Avere assigned to me (in- the year which is about to close, viz: 



1. " The preparation of catalogues of books suitable for the commence- 

 ment of the library, in accordance with the plan of organization adopted 

 by the Board of Regents. 



2. " The purchase of the more necessary works on bibliograpliy. 



•3. '^ The collection and systematic arrangement for purposes ofcomparison 

 of the printed catalogues of the principjd libraries throughout the United 

 States, together with information with regard to the expenditures, plans of 

 increase, and other particulars relating to said libraries. 



4. '' The collection of works to which the institution may be entided 

 under the tenth section of the act establishing the Institution." 



The first of these duties which demanded my attention after the ad- 

 journment of the Board of Regents, was the collection of the works to 

 which the institution is entiUed by the tenth section of the charter. After 

 examining the subject carefully, 1 made a special report thereon to the Sec- 

 retary and Library Committee, a copy of which is herewith submitted. 



The next subject to which I devoted my attention was the gathering of 

 information respeeting public libraries in the United States. It is a singu-^ 

 lav, and to us a mortifying fact, that the most accurate account of American 

 libraries was published in Germany, and has never been translated into 

 English. In 1845, ..'G there appeared in the " Serapeum,*" a journal 

 published at Leipzig, a series of articles upon bibliography and libraries in 

 the United States. These articles, forming about ninety pages octavo^ 

 were written by Hermann E. Ludewig, formerly of Dresden, at pres- 

 ent a lawyer in the city of New York. Having a strong predilec- 

 tion for bibliographical pursuits, he collected, during a journey which he 

 performed through the United States, all the information within his reach 

 respecting the librai-ies, public and private, the book trade, and the bibli- 

 ography of the general and local history of thecountry. The results of his 

 researches have been given to the public in the articles to which I have 

 already referred, and in an 8vo. volume of ISO pages, published for private 

 distribution, entitled " The Literature of American Local History; a Bibli- 

 ographical Essay, New York, IS40." The fullness and accuracy of the 

 details which he has given are remarkable. I have made free use of them, 

 and have found my labors much facilitated by so doing. 



I have, besides, visited and examined many of the principal libraries. 

 I have also prepared, for the purpose of eliciting further information, a cir- 

 cular letter to librarians, a copy of which accompanies this report. 

 This letter was distributed together with the first volume of our '- Contri- 



*Serapeum. Zeitschriftfiir Bibliothekwissenschaft, HandsRhrifienkunde,undaeltere Literatur. 

 Heraus. von Dr. Robert Naumann, Leipz g, T. 0. Weigel, 1840 ff. (See 184S, pp. 209— 2;54, and 

 184C, pp. 113—172, 177—190; 190— 1D2, 204—206.) 



