PREFACE. 



The present catalogue embraces all the articles published by the Smith- 

 sonian Institution from its organization in 1846 to the first of July, 1882, a 

 period of thirty-six years. 



At the beginning nothing was issued but pamphlets explanatory of the 

 plan of the Institution and brief annual reports of the proceedings of the 

 Board of Regents, indicated in the catalogue by the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, 

 G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, Q. An elaborate work, (P in the catalogue), by 

 Robert Dale Owen, on public architecture, with special reference to the 

 plans of the Smithsonian Institution* prepared on behalf of the Building 

 Committee, was printed at the expense of the Institution in 1849, but did 

 not form part of the regular series organized by the Secretary of the Institu- 

 tion, Prof Henry. 



1. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. 



The series entitled " Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge," in quarto 

 form, was commenced in 1848 by the publication of Squier and Davis' 

 Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley. The following "Advertise- 

 ment" of the first volume, prepared by Prof Henry, has been inserted in 

 every succeeding volume to indicate the character and design of the series: 



" This volume is intended to form the first of a series of volumes, consist- 

 ing of original memoirs on different branches of knowledge published at the 

 expense and under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution. The publi- 

 cation of this series forms part of a general plan adopted for carrying into 

 effect the benevolent intentions of James Smithsou, Esq., of England. This 

 gentleman left his property in trust to the United States of America to found 

 at Washington an institution which should bear his own name, and have for 

 its objects ' the mcrease and diffusion of knowledge among men.' This trust 

 was accepted by the Government of the United States, and an act of Con- 

 gress was passed August 10, 1846, constituting the President and the other 

 principal executive officers of the General Government, the Chief Justice of 

 the Supreme Court, the Mayor of Washington, and such other persons as 

 they might elect honorary members, an establishment under the name of the 

 * Smithsonian Institution, for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 



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