| | 1 | Author: | University of Virginia.
Library | Add | | | Title: | Annual report on historical collections University of Virginia Library  | | | | Published: | 2006 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | | | | Description: | THE GIFT of the Richard Henry Lee Papers to Mr. Jefferson's
uncompleted University Library one hundred and twenty-two
years ago was the first of the many gifts which in the second
quarter of the twentieth century have resulted in making the University
a center for historical studies. In that first session of the University, the
Founder was occupied in assembling for the library a collection of books
which, though not the largest in America, would he hoped be second
to none in value. Under his exacting supervision, funds for the original
library were doled out only for the choicest editions; and even before
his appropriation was fully spent, he began issuing in the newspapers
appeals for library gifts. Acknowledging donations of books from
"public spirited citizens" of Boston and London, as well as of Virginia,
he assured prospective donors, in a notice of April 28, 1825, that "their
talent shall not be hidden in the earth". It is to such public spirited
citizens that the University owes the rapid expansion of its historical
collections during the two years covered by this report. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
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