A GIFT OF PECULIAR VALUE 



PRESENTED BY PROFESSOR ALBERT S. HI( KMoKK, WHO HAS I)E\()TKI) THIRTY- 

 SIX Y'EARS TO EDICATIOXAI, W'DHK FOR THE AMFRICAX MUSEUM 



Bij G('or(jc II. Shcnrood 



OXE of the most vahial)le and important acquisitions that the 

 ^[useum has recently received is the personal lil)rary and superb 

 collection of lantern slides of Professor Albert S. Biekmore, the 

 orj^anizer and first Curator of the Department of Public Education. These 

 are })resented jointly by Professor Biekmore and his wife, Charlotte B. 

 Biekmore. The collection comprises more than twenty thousand lantern 

 slides of which nioi'c than twelve thousand are colored. They were acc{uired 

 by Professor Biekmore during his connection with the State Department of 

 Education and represent the results of his extensive travels. In view of the 

 ios.-^, in the disastrous capitol fire at Albany last winter, not only of the 

 original negatives but also of the supply of lantern slides owned by the 

 State, this collection of slides, which has now no duplicate, is become greatly 

 increased in value. 



For many years Professor Biekmore gave at the American Museum 

 lectures to the school teachers of the city and his office was always a rendez- 

 vous for teachers, where they were at liberty to consult his library and 

 study the slides at their leisure. More recently his slides have been exten- 

 sively used in lectures to school children, which have annually been given at 

 the Museum for the purpose of supplementing the class room work in geog- 

 raphy and history, and now that the whole series of .slides has been made 

 availal)le, these lectures will Ix- unusiiallv instructive and broad in scope. 



189 



