480 Mr. Charles Welch [Jan. 25, 



Present Extent of the Library. 



As a library grows, there is a great danger that its choicest acqui- 

 sitions by purchase or gift may become to a certain extent buried and 

 unknown to those to whom they would prove of special value. No 

 catalogue, I am convinced, constitutes a sufficient help in making the 

 special treasures of a library properly known. If the catalogue is 

 alphabetical, collections of books on particular subjects are scattered 

 all over its pages, and individual works of unique interest and value 

 only appear in the general list under the author's name, distinguished 

 by a longer title, or the addition of a special note. 



A great need of the present day is the preparation of a catalogue 

 of " notabilia " of our public and private libraries, which would place 

 at the disposal of students much valual)le information at present 

 hidden, and for practical purposes almost non-existent. For this use- 

 ful work we shall probably have to wait, but meanwhile, if librarians 

 would give an account of the principal treasures under their charge, 

 in prefaces to their catalogues, or in addresses on special occasions, the 

 studious public would, I am sure, be very grateful. I make no apology 

 therefore for bringing under your notice a few of the rarities pos- 

 sessed by the Corporation in their Library at the Guildhall. It has 

 been a practice for many years at that Library, when receiving visits 

 from literary institutions and societies, to tell them briefly the story 

 of the Library, and to exhibit examples of its treasures most suitable 

 to the occasion. 



Besides the collections and items of special interest already alluded 

 to, the following deserve particular mention. The Library is par- 

 ticularly rich in early London newspapers and directories, genealogical 

 and heraldic works, including parish registers ; broadsides and tracts 

 of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries ; clock and watch-making ; 

 archaeology and costume ; sixteenth and seventeenth century Divinity 

 and Classics ; pamphlets (mostly contemporary) on the tractarian move- 

 ment ; British topography ; British history and biography ; and the 

 publications of learned Societies. Among the manuscripts are the 

 ' Chronica Franciae,' written in 1899, and beautifully illuminated ; it 

 contains the history of the kings of France from the earliest times, 

 and was known to John StoAV, the historian, as " the great French 

 book" : a Dutch Bible, dated 1360, composed of vellum and paper : 

 a copy of the Koran, from which Sale made his English translation : 

 ' Liber Fleetwood,' a collection of City laws and customs, compiled 

 by William Fleetwood, Recorder of London in 157G ; it contains the 

 arms of the Aldermen of that time beautifully painted : a small 

 Latin Bible on vellum, of the fourteenth century, exquisitely written : 

 Oliver and Mills's ' Survey of London,' after the Great Fire of 1666 : 

 ' Proceedings of the Court of Pie Powder,' held for deciding disputes 

 and granting licences at Bartholomew Fair, 1790-1854. 



