Copyright, 1906, by Charles L. Freer 
“TWILIGHT IN MAY" (PAINTED BY D. W. TRYON) 
the late Stanford White, who had turned 
to this recreation in his leisure hours. 
The building which, with this collec¬ 
tion, will be Mr. Freer’s gift to the na¬ 
tion, is to be planned in detail during 
his life-time, and will be erected under 
the direct supervision of his executors. 
It is still merely a vision, but as such is 
taking definite form. It will not be a 
large building, and while it will amply 
accommodate the collection, it will not 
permit the exhibition of the whole at any 
one time. This is part of the purpose; 
for Mr. Freer feels that in this way the 
collection will be best preserved and the 
interest in it best sustained. To stu¬ 
dents, and others especially interested, 
however, the entire collection will al¬ 
ways be accessible, and particular pro¬ 
vision will be made for the comfort and 
convenience of such persons. 
To avoid confusion, and to encourage 
research, Mr. Freer purposes to pro¬ 
vide individual rooms adjacent to the 
storage vaults or stacks for the use of 
copyists, casual visitors desiring to see 
other works than those on exhibition, and 
special students who may require privacy. 
He is also having an elaborate catalogue 
compiled by experts which will furnish 
minute descriptions of the exhibits and give 
much additional data of scholastic value. 
This all points to the possibility of 
obtaining from the collection the maxi¬ 
mum return—of insuring not so much its 
celebrity as its perpetual usefulness, 
which is, after all, the thing most to be 
desired—the true measure of beneficence. 
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