74 
THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART 
be a curator of the national art, and that this function has 
never been forgotten, though often in abeyance. 
“In 1849, your first Secretary, Joseph Henry, in pursuance 
of this function of an Institution which, in his own words, ex- 
isted for ‘the true, the beautiful, as well as for the immediately 
practical,’ purchased of the Hon. George P. Marsh a collection 
of works of art — chiefly engravings — for the sum of $3,000, un- 
derstood then to be but a fraction of its cost, and which, owing 
to the great rise in the market value of such things in the last 
fifty years, does not in the least represent its value to-day. It 
is impossible to state what the present value of the collection 
is, without an examination of the engravings and etchings, but 
experts that I have consulted say that the rise in all good speci- 
mens of engraving and etching during the forty-seven years 
which have elapsed since the purchase has been so great that 
if these had then the value attributed to them they must be 
worth from five to ten times that amount now, or even more. 
“Immediately after the fire at the Institution, in 1865, doubt 
was felt that the building was a place of safety, and a portion 
of the collection was transferred to the Library of Congress, 
and in 1874 and 1879 other portions were lent to the newly 
founded Corcoran Art Gallery. The transfer was with the 
express understanding that they were there for deposit only, 
and to be reclaimed by the Regents at any time. 
“A portion of the collection is identified by Mr. Spofford as 
in the charge of the Library at the Capitol, except a few volumes 
and engravings which he hopes to find at the time of the com- 
ing transfer to the new building. There is no question made 
by the Corcoran Gallery about the fact of the engravings and 
etchings which they have on deposit. 
“In view of the fact of the coming occupancy of the New 
Congressional Library, in which it is expected that special quar- 
ters will be assigned to the Smithsonian deposit, both for stor- 
ing in the ‘East Stack’ of its now over 300,000 titles, and of a 
suitable room for their consultation, and of the further fact 
that the Corcoran Gallery will also shortly move into a new 
building, I have thought it might be desirable for the Regents 
to take action looking to the reclamation of the engravings, 
etchings, and other works of art. 
