18 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 



armor," by Nanteuil; a portfolio of prints from the old Italian masters, comprising 

 many that are extremely rare ; and another from the old German masters, containing 

 about one hundred prints, many of them scarce and of great beauty. There are, 

 besides, five portfolios of sheet engravings, including very choice prints. Among 

 them are thirty-one which are valued by Longhi at fifteen hundred dollars. 



Among the galleries and published collections, are the " Musee Royal," in two 

 volumes folio, proofs before the letter, a superb copy ; Denon's " Monumens des 

 Arts du Dessin," in four volumes folio, of which only two hundred and fifty copies 

 were published ; Baillie's Works, one hundred plates, folio ; Thorwaldsen's 

 Works, four volumes, folio ; Hogarth's Works, folio, and the German edition in 

 quarto ; The Boydell Gallery, two volumes, folio ; Boydell's " Shakspeare Gal- 

 lery," a remarkably good copy, containing many proofs before the letter, numerous 

 etchings and several progressive plates ; Claude's " Liber Veritatis," an original 

 copy, three volumes, folio; The Houghton Gallery, two volumes, folio; Cham- 

 berlain's Drawings in the Royal Collection, one volume, folio; Rembrandt's 

 Drawings, one volume, quarto; Da Vinci's Drawings, one volume, quarto; 

 " Galerie de Florence ;" Angerstein Gallery ; Ancient Sculpture, by the Dilet- 

 tanti Society ; Perrault's '•' Hommes Illustres ;" Sadeler^s Hermits ; " Theuer- 

 dank," a fine copy of the very rare edition of 1519 ; Meyrick's Armor ; Hope's 

 Ancient Costumes, and more than one hundred volumes besides, mostly in folio 

 or quarto, either composed entirely of valuable engravings, or in which the text is 

 published for the sake of the illustrations of fine or decorative art. 



The collection of critical and historical works, in the various departments of 

 the fine arts, comprises several hundred volumes of the best works in the English, 

 French, German, and Italian languages, including whatever is mostly needed by 

 the student of art in all its branches. 



The Library is open to the public from 9 a. m. to 5 p. m. daily, except Sunday. 



The busts in the Library represent the Hon. Roger B. Taney, Chief Justice 

 of the United States and Chancellor of the Institution ; Robert Fulton, Com- 

 modore Decatur, Joel Barlow, Thomas Jefferson, Daniel Webster, Milton, Thor- 

 walsden, and Benjamin Hallowell. 



Il)e 1^e[|c)ii]C) ^ooti\. 



The visitor will find in the Reading-room, which adjoins the Library, the 

 leading periodicals, and particularly the scientific journals published in the world. 



In this room may be seen a portrait of Smithson, representing him in the 

 costume of a student of Oxford, which was probably painted when he was not 

 more than twenty years of age. This portrait was purchased for thirty guineas, 

 for the Institution, by the Hon. Abbot Lawrence, from the widow of John Fitall, 

 a servant of Smithson mentioned in his will. There is also in possession of the 

 Institution a medallion of Smithson, in copper, taken in after life. 



On the west porch, adjoining the Reading-room, are several idols from Central 

 America, presented to the Institution by E. G. Squier, late United States Minis- 



