University of Virginia Library

XXI. The Library

Jefferson manifested as much solicitude about the acquisition
of a carefully chosen library as he did about the
employment of competent professors; and he foresaw,
from the start, that the books, like the men, would have
to be imported from foreign countries. He spoke of the

imposing building which occupied the centre of the northern
line more often as the Library than as the Rotunda;
and certainly among all the apartments to be found in the
numerous structures of the University group, the handsomest
and most spacious was the circular room, reaching
to the spreading dome, where, in alcove after alcove,
gallery upon gallery, the large collection of volumes was
to be arranged after his death. It was completed, in all
essential details, in time for his eyes to take in its noble
proportions; but he did not live to superintend the storage
of the books in cases and on shelves, within the
round of its lofty walls.

As far back as 1814, when Central College itself had
not been founded, he, in the confident expectation that a
great university would yet be built and equipped at the
expense of the State, remarked to Cooper that, when this
institution was set up, it might become a bidder for the
varied assortment of volumes belonging to Dr. Priestley,
in which Cooper was interested as Priestley's literary executor.
And this well selected store, he said, might be
further swelled in number and increased in value, by the
addition of the books at Monticello. The library belonging
to that mansion consisted of at least seven thousand
volumes; and Jefferson, perhaps, was not shooting
beyond the mark in describing it as the "best chosen collection
probably in America." It was singularly rich in
works relating to American history,—such works as could
only be gathered up elsewhere after a long and expensive
search; and he exhibited characteristic liberality when he
announced that he would be satisfied for the institution,
so soon as incorporated, to acquire the entire number on
such terms as should fall well within its ability to purchase.
After the building began, Jefferson caused notices
to be inserted in the Enquirer and Central Gazette, of

Richmond, in which it was stated that the University had
already received gifts of books from several munificent
citizens, such as Mr. Hansford, of King George county,
Bernard Moore Carter, a native of Virginia, but now a
resident of London, and Mr. Coolidge, of Boston. The
volumes presented by them, running up to five or six hundred
titles, contained sets of the choicest stamp. The
example offered by these men of benevolent temper, he
hoped, would be imitated by others, who were in a position
of equal ability to confer benefit upon the recently
established seat of learning.

During the winter of 1823–24, the General Assembly
authorized a conditional appropriation of fifty thousand
dollars for the purchase of a library and scientific apparatus.
Unfortunately, this appropriation was but another
form of the claim advanced by Virginia against
the Federal Government for interest on the amount borrowed
for local defense during the war of 1812–15, and,
therefore, could not be drawn upon until Congress had
passed favorably upon that claim and ordered its payment.
How necessary was economy in the expenditures
for the library was clearly brought out in Jefferson's letter
to Richard Rush in April, 1824, in which he stated
that the University could deposit in the hands of Gilmer,
—just about to set out for England,—only a moderate
sum; and that this had to be restricted to the purchase of
text-books, and such apparatus as was imperatively
called for at the start. As it was, the amount was obtained
only by diverting the larger part of the annuity
to this purpose, and deferring, until a later period, the
last touches to the internal finishing of the Rotunda.
Rush recommended Lockington to Jefferson as the stationer
most competent to supply the volumes needed, and
in his turn, Jefferson recommended Lockington to Gilmer.

Not long after his arrival in London, in June,
1824, Gilmer visited the shop occupied by Lockington's
successors, and impressed upon them the importance of
low prices in contracting for the books; but he finally decided
to enter into no specific arrangements with them
until he was assured of success in engaging professors.

It was about this time that he probably received Jefferson's
letter of June 5 informing him that the University
had failed to get "the contingent donation of fifty
thousand dollars" made by the last Assembly, since
Congress had passed by the claim, and as a consequence,
there was nothing more to be anticipated during the present
year for the purchase of either books or apparatus.
This, however, did not touch the sum which Gilmer then
had at disposal on deposit in London for that purpose.
He made good use of his brief visit to Dr. Parr, at Hatton,
during the following month, to obtain his assistance
in arranging a catalogue of classical works. In August,
Parr offered his library, but the sale was not to be consummated
until his death had occurred. The price set
upon the collection was so high that Gilmer was unwilling
to agree to the purchase, although the volumes were of
the rarest classical stamp, and their possession would have
been a badge of scholarly distinction for the infant university.

Major Cartwright, Jefferson's correspondent, a man
of superior literary attainments, showed his good will
by aiding Gilmer in the selection of books. At his request,
Mr. Harris, the former secretary of the Royal
Institution, submitted a list of editions suitable for the
proposed library and also obtained for him a catalogue
of Bentham's works. Gilmer had been looking forward
to the assistance of the newly chosen professors in buying
the books for their respective departments, but as the

hour for his sailing drew near, without his having an
opportunity to make use of their special knowledge, he
wrote down a list of such volumes as could not be dispensed
with, and placed the order for them, as well as
for the instruments also needed, in the hands of his
agent in London. This agent was Bohn, who was assisted
by Marx, the banker, whose firm had the keeping
of the University funds.

In the purchase of the theological works, a catalogue
drawn up by Madison was followed. He was not as
eminent an authority on that subject as he was on all the
great questions of constitutional interpretation, but his
Presbyterian training had probably familiarized him
with books of that general character.

Many of the volumes bought through Bohn arrived at
their destination by wagon in January, 1825. There
were eight large boxes, weighing nearly nine thousand
pounds, delivered during this month. During the session
of the General Assembly, in the winter of 1824–5, fifty
thousand dollars was appropriated for the University's
benefit at once; and of this sum, the proctor was, in May,
instructed to deposit eighteen thousand dollars in the
United States Bank in Philadelphia, subject to the order
of Hilliard, of Boston, who had been appointed the University's
agent in the purchase of books. Hilliard had
already paid out this amount on a large number of
volumes obtained directly from England, France, and
Germany. The Board of Visitors, at their meeting on
October 3, approved, not only this expenditure, but also
the deposit of $6,300 in the hands of Rufus King, in
London, for the acquisition of philosophical instruments,
and $3,157.50 for the purchase of the articles required
for use in the anatomical course. Five hundred dollars
was also set aside for the purchase of Dr. Emmet's chemical

utensils and collection of minerals. Including an appropriation
of six thousand dollars for finishing off the
library room, the cost of books and apparatus purchased
by Gilmer,—amounting to $7,677.81,—and also the
charges for transportation, the total expenditure reached
the sum of $41,980.50, which left unemployed a balance
of only $8,019.50 of the fifty thousand dollars advanced
by the General Assembly. Another large sum was still
required to complete the purchase of the original list of
volumes.

The anticipation that this would be appropriated by
the General Assembly in the winter of 1825–26, proved
to be delusive. "The vote of the House of Delegates,"
wrote Jefferson, in reply to a letter from Cabell, of the
date of February, 1826, "was too decisive to leave any
further expectation from that quarter, or doubt of the
necessity of winding up our affairs, and ascertaining their
ground. I went immediately to the University and advised
the proctor ... to reserve all his funds for the
book-room of the Rotunda and the anatomical theatre.
... We have now five boxes (of volumes) on hand
from Paris unopened; five more from the same place are
supposed to be arrived in Richmond; seven from London
are arrived at Boston; and a part of those from Germany
are now in Boston. All these and others still to
arrive, must remain unopened until the room is ready,
which, unfortunately, cannot be till the season will admit
of plastering, and the joiners' work goes on so slowly that
it is doubtful if that will be ready as soon. The arresting
of all avoidable expense is the more necessary as our
application to Congress for a remission of the interest
has passed the Committee of Claims by a majority of a
single vote only, and has still a long gauntlet to run."

The end of that gauntlet was not reached in the lifetime

of Jefferson, who died in July of the year in which
this letter was written. In the beginning, the first
pavilion erected for Central College seems to have been
used, in part at least, for the storage of the earliest
books to arrive; and it was largely Jefferson's interest in
their assortment which brought about his last visit to the
precincts. They remained under this roof until the
autumn of the same year.