University of Virginia Library

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.

Virginians, alumni, and other friends of the University have, during
this two-year period, increased its manuscript collections to a total figure
in excess of two million pieces. To donors, to depositors, to those who
have lent their family papers for photographing, as well as to those who
have preferred to sell their historical materials within the state of their
origin, the University has no means to express adequately its gratitude—
except to assure them that their talent shall not be buried. Space does
not permit individual acknowledgment, but a list of these generous
friends is appended at the end of this report. A second appendix and
the section headed "Newspapers" acknowledge the indispensable assistance
of individual editors and publishers in the state-wide program
for the preservation of Virginia's newspapers (the most essential to the
historian of all printed records).

In a later report an effort will be made to sketch in some detail the
history of the historical collections. The present one must be concerned
primarily with recent developments. The disastrous fire of 1895, which
destroyed four-fifths of our books, left intact the Lee Papers, the Jefferson
Papers, and the University Archives. These today form the nucleus
of the historical collections. James Madison's library, except for his
pamphlet collection and a few volumes, was consumed in the flames,
but his signature appears often in the earlier archives, along with those

of Jefferson, Monroe, Joseph C. Cabell, and the other co-founders.

The systematic and continuous assembling of a great research collection
around the nucleus groups just mentioned was initiated on its
present scale soon after the appointment of the present Librarian in
1927. Three years later a Virginia Collection was established in a separate
wing of the library, and the first archivist began his work. The
ambitious collecting program that followed did much to check the
flow of Virginia historical materials to other states. By 1938 nearly a
quarter of a million manuscripts had been assembled, and made available
to researchers almost as rapidly as they were acquired. Following
the erection of the Alderman Library in that year, the Division of
Rare Books and Manuscripts was organied to house and administer
the principal historical materials, including the two collections of Virginiana
which memorialize the late Elizabeth Cocke Coles and Alfred
Henry Byrd. This, coinciding with the gift of the Tracy W. McGregor
Library, with its distinguished holdings in southeastern American history,
made possible a broadening of the scope of the historical collections.
The rate of acquisition was also rapidly accelerated by the drawing
power of a modern fireproof repository, and stimulated by the
formation in 1940, with the active cooperation of the library, of the
Albemarle County Historical Society.

The collections described in the following pages were acquired between
June 30, 1945, and June 30, 1947. The librarian's statistical
report for the first of these dates showed a total figure for manuscripts
of 1,591,984 pieces. That number has now increased to 2,109,700. The
growth of the collections of broadsides, maps, newspapers, and prints
and pictures has also been striking. Descriptions and statistics for these
appear later in the report. The historical, literary, and bibliographical
significance of many of these materials gives assurance that current
growth has not been entirely quantitative.

During the war years the library had the privilege of housing not
only the Union Catalogue, but also an extensive deposit of manuscripts
from the Library of Congress, placed here for safekeeping. Even
at our present rate of growth, it will doubtless be some time before we
can recover the proud sense of custodianship which we then enjoyed.

War conditions and post-war readjustments have caused some delay
in the printing of the Division's publications, as well as in the archival
field work, which was considerably restricted until the war ended. In
August 1945 the fourteenth annual report, for the year 1943-44, was
issued. Normally the fifteenth and sixteenth reports would have been
issued together the following year to bring the reports up to date. At
the end of 1945, however, the library had the misfortune to lose the

services of the Archivist, who resigned to accept another post. The
fifteenth report, covering his final year, was therefore issued separately
in 1946. A cumulative index to the fifteen reports covering his period
of distinguished service has recently been issued. In future reports,
pagination will be continuous for five-year periods, with an index in
every fifth report. The other principal publications of the Division of
Rare Books and Manuscripts for the two-year period have been the two
McGregor publications: Iron Works at Tuball, edited by Lester J.
Cappon, and A Proclamation for Setling the Plantation of Virginia,
edited by Thomas Cary Johnson, Jr. Two others are pending, one in
press and another in process of editing. Two stimulating post-war developments
which center in the Division are the McGregor Room
Seminars in Contemporary Prose and Poetry and the University of
Virginia Bibliographical Society.

Upon the return to the staff of war-time absentees in December, 1945,
the Division was partially reorganized to facilitate the administration
of its expanded holdings. The photographic laboratory was placed
under the supervision of the Acquisitions Librarian; responsibility for
the map collections, as well as for the collections of prints and pictures,
was assumed by the Curator of Rare Books; with the archives and
manuscripts, the newspaper and broadside collections, and the major
portion of the field work, assigned to the Curator of Manuscripts. A
final word as to this report. It is prepared by various members of the
staff, and its introduction is signed by the Curator of Manuscripts, who
is responsible for its shortcomings.