Relation of the Federal Government to Research 



239 



where the project is within its proi)er field and abili- 

 ties, but to do for American scholarijhip and cultiva- 

 tion what is not lilcely to be done by other agencies — ■ 

 a policy expressed in the choice of specialized material 

 (courting fields not covered by other libraries) and in 

 the use of its collections, wliich it especially promotes, 

 in special facilities for the resident and visiting in- 

 vestigator, and in the loan at a distance of "the unusual 

 book for the unusual need.'' 



The Gertrude Clarke Whittall Foundation. — The 

 gift from Mrs. Wliittall of a quintet of Stradivari 

 stringed instruments and also Tourte bows for use in 

 programs of music within the Library in which these 

 instruments will be used, is of far reaching importance 

 in the development of musicology and music 

 appreciation. 



The Sonneck Memonal Fund. — This fund was pro- 

 vided by The Beethoven Association for the aid and 

 advancement of research in musicology and is in honor 

 of the late Oscar G. Sonneck, its Secretary and His- 

 torian, who was, for many years, the Chief of tlie Di- 

 vision of Music in the Library of Congress. 



The Division of Fine Arts. 



The collections of this Division number approxi- 

 mately 540,851 pieces, including prints, photographs, 

 photographic negatives, original drawings, stamp 

 proofs, bookplates, posters, and other illustrative mate- 

 rial. Its fonds, the material of real distinction (fine 

 European and American prints, Whistleriana, Pennel- 

 liana, Japanese prints, etc.) secured almost entirely by 

 gift, establishes the dominant character of the collec- 

 tion. To this is added the basic increment of material 

 received by copju'ight and the representation of con- 

 temporary world production secured by purchase (ac- 

 cessions for 1937, 11.042 pieces). The collections are 

 preeminent in certain fields (Whistleriana, Pennel- 

 liana), well equipped in others (Japanese prints, fine 

 European and American prints, Persian and Armenian 

 arts, modern bookplates, American portraits) and no 

 less than representative in all. Among the most im- 

 portant of the separate collections are : 



George Lothrop Bradley Collection — 1,980 items. 



Charles L. Freer Collection — 1,000 prints — etchings and 

 engravings. 



Gardiner Greene Hubbard Collection — 2,707 prints — engrav- 

 ings (old masters). 



Frederick Macmillan Collection — 159 pieces — etchings and 

 drawings by Joseph Pennell. 



Kirkor Minassian Collection — 360 items — examples of oriental 

 bookmaking and graphic arts. 



Pennell Collections of Whistleriana — The most complete ex- 

 tant collections of Whistleriana and Pennelliana. 



Ruthven Deane Collection of Bookplates — 13,493 contem- 

 porary American bookplates. 



The Cabinet of American Illustration is comprised 

 of the original drawings of important American illus- 

 trators, chiefly in the period 1880-1910. It has now 

 some 3,000 drawings, chiefly in large collections of the 

 work of individual artists. 



The Pictorial Archives of Early American Archi- 

 tecture include (1) a collection of 6,265 negatives of 

 early American buildings, and (2) the records of the 

 Historic American Building Survey carried out under 

 the Civil Works Administration and Works Progress 

 Administration (as of February 1st, 1938, 16,000 meas- 

 ured drawings, 17,480 photographic negatives of 3,860 

 noteworthy structures of the United States). 



The collection of books in the fine arts numbers 

 70,100 volumes, and includes, in addition to a good 

 working collection, much that is of especial interest 

 and rarity (accessions for 1937, 2,042 pieces). 



A Bureau of Chalcography is one of the objects in- 

 tended by the bequest of Joseph and Elizabeth Robins 

 Pennell. Like similar foundations at Rome, Madrid, 

 and Paris, it would repi'oduce (from plates in its pos- 

 session) notable engravings, etchings and other prints, 

 for sale at cost. At the present time the plates of 

 Joseph Pennell constitute a foundation upon which 

 such a bureau may later be erected. 



This division was enriched by the bequest of Joseph 

 and Elizabeth Robins Pennell. The sole purpose of 

 the bequest was to i^romote the collections and service 

 of the Division; to perfect the matchless collection 

 of Whistleriana already in the Library; to complete 

 the collection of the works of Joseph Pennell. It was 

 the conviction of Joseph Pennell that the United States 

 Government through the Library of Congress would 

 prove a competent agency for the promotion of the 

 arts. 



The Carnegie Corporation said : 



In considering the means by which interest in the fine arts 

 may be developed in the United States, the trustees of the 

 Carnegie Corporation recognize that the Division of Prints 

 (which includes also the Department of the Fine Arts) of 

 the Library of Congress may exercise a considerable influence 

 in promoting an appreciation and understanding of the fine 

 arts in this country * * *. 



The Law Library of Congress 



The Law Library of Congress originated as the first 

 specialized department of the Library of Congress and 

 since 1832 has developed and maintained a collection 

 of source materials and treatises covering the legisla- 

 tion of the world. Originally intended to meet the 

 needs of the Congress and the Supreme Court, gradu- 

 ally the Law Library has grown into a national 

 repository of legal literature. 



With this aim in view and as part of the Library 

 of Congress, the Law Library is rapidly growing in 



