49 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1948 
Since it is a provision of the Ranger bequest that paintings pur- 
chased from the fund and assigned to American art institutions may 
be claimed by the National Collection of Fine Arts during the 5-year 
period beginning 10 years after the death of the artist represented, 
three paintings were recalled for action of the Smithsonian Art Com- 
mission at its meeting December 2, 1947. 
Two Ranger Fund paintings were accepted by the Commission to 
become permanent accessions of the National Collection of Fine Arts 
as listed earlier in this report. 
One Ranger Fund painting, The Harvest Moon, by Charles Melville 
Dewey, N. A. (1849-1937), was returned to the Fine Arts Society of 
San Diego, San Diego, Calif., thus becoming its absolute property. 
THE NATIONAL COLLECTION OF FINE ARTS REFERENCE LIBRARY 
A total of 470 publications (256 volumes and 214 pamphlets) were 
accessioned, bringing the total National Collection of Fine Arts 
library accessions to 11,016, plus the volumes of serials formerly ac- 
cessioned by the Museum library for the “National Gallery of Art,” 
now the National Collection of Fine Arts. 
PRESERVATION 
Plaster busts of Lincoln and Harrison, by Charles Henry Niehaus, 
were bronzed and delivered to The White House for Miss Marie J. 
Niehaus. 
Portraits were cleaned, restored, and revarnished for the following 
departments: State Department—President Madison, by A. G. 
Heaton; William Seward, by Rufus Wright; and Hamilton Fish, by 
Daniel Huntington. Department of Agriculture—Secretary J. M. 
Rusk, by S. Jerome Uhl. Marine Corps of the Navy Department— 
Former Commanders Charles G. McCawley and William P. Biddle, 
by R. N. Brooke; Charles Heywood and John Zeilen, by L. H. Geb- 
hard; and John Harris, by R. LeGrande Johnston. 
Many minor repairs have been made to our own specimens. 
PAINTINGS COPIED 
The portrait of Commodore Stephen Decatur, by Gilbert Stuart, 
was copied by Casimir Gregory Stapko, Washington, D. C., for the 
University of Pennsylvania, ROTC. 
INFORMATION SERVICE 
The large number of requests for information and the volume of 
photographic prints and post cards sold in the office give evidence of 
the importance and value of these services. No detailed account has 
