 | A survey of research materials in Virginia libraries, 1936-37 |  |
2. PART TWO — SPECIAL SUBJECTS
I. HUMANITIES
Section A. General Humanities.
In addition to the sets listed in the section on general
periodicals and society publications,[1]
the University of Virginia
Library contains the Altnordische Sagabibliothek, the Handbuch
der Literaturwissenschaft, Notes and Queries, and the speech
atlases of Germany and Italy and Southern Switzerland; Arkiv für
Nordisk Filologi, Acta Philologica Scandinavica, American Journal
of Philology, American Philological Association Transactions and
Proceedings, Archiv für das Studium der Neueren Sprachen und
Literaturen, Indogermanische Forschungen, Journal of English and
Germanic Philology, Language, Le Maître Phonetique, Modern Language
Review, Modern Philology, Palaestra, Philologische Wochenschrift,
Publications of the Modern Language Association, Revue
de Littérature Comparée, and Studies in Philology. Several of
these are duplicated in other university or college libraries,
notably at the College of William and Mary, Hollins, Randolph-Macon,
Randolph-Macon Woman's College, the State Teachers
Colleges at East Radford and Farmville, Sweet Briar, University of
Richmond, Virginia Military Institute, Virginia Polytechnic Institute,
and Washington and Lee.
The student in paleography would find some material at the
libraries of the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Alexandria and
of the Union Theological Seminary in Richmond. Attention has been
given to this subject at two of the women's colleges also: Randolph-Macon
Woman's College and Sweet Briar. At the University of
Virginia there is moderate opportunity for work in classics on
epigraphy and in English on facsimiles of Chaucer manuscripts and
on Elizabethan handwriting.
Section B. Language and Literature.
In CLASSICAL LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES the University of Virginia
Library has 9,164 volumes and a pamphlet collection of about
equal extent. The majority of the standard periodicals are subscribed
to; namely, Classical Journal, Classical Philology, Classical
Quarterly, Classical Review, Classical Weekly, Hermes, Hesperia,
Jahresbericht über die Fortschritte der Klassischen Altertumswissenschaft,
Journal of Hellenic Studies, Revue des Études
Grecques, Revue des Études Latines, and Romania. There are also
such sets as the Inscriptiones Latinae, the Thesaurus Linguae
Latinae, the Loeb Classical Library, and its French counterpart,
the Collection des Universités de France.
The Washington and Lee Library has an excellent general
collection of classical literature numbering about 3,300 volumes
and notable for collected and critical works. Smaller
but live collections of the `dead' languages are at William
and Mary, Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Sweet Briar, and
the University of Richmond. It is an interesting fact that
the classical works in the State Library apparently form the
third largest collection in the libraries of the State. It is
also interesting to note how many available library sets there
are of Loeb's Classical Library.
What emphasis there is in the collections of AMERICAN
LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE is on the South. The set of books
which one can most confidently count on finding is the Library
of Southern Literature; and many collections contain runs of
the Southern Literary Messenger. The University of Richmond
Library affords a fairly typical example in that it is definitely
collecting the works of John Esten Cooke, Marion Harland,
Mary Johnston, Thomas Nelson Page, Amélie Rives, and Paul
Laurence Dunbar, J. P. Kennedy, William Gilmore Simms, and similar
regional authors. The achievements of the State Library in
such quests are indicated in Dr. Earl G. Swem's invaluable
guide, A Bibliography of Virginia.[2]
The collections at the
State Library, at William and Mary, and at the University of
Virginia are likely to gladden research seekers with obscure
works of minor authors. Another local collecting activity
that is not uncommon is illustrated by the material on Southern
folk-songs at Sweet Briar College.
Apart from this natural emphasis, the collections of American
language and literature tend to be general and standard.
Many of the larger public and college libraries have the
Dictionary of American English; the Cambridge History of American
Literature, Duyckinck's Cyclopaedia of American Literature,
and Stedman and Hutchinson's Library of American Literature;
the works of Charles Brockden Brown, James Fenimore Cooper,
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Eugene Field, Benjamin Franklin, Bret Harte,
Nathaniel Hawthorne, Washington Irving, Mark Twain, and Henry D.
Thoreau - to choose ten of the most popular names. The largest
collection, that at the University of Virginia, numbered 8,079
when the count was made for this survey. Other fairly extensive
collections are at the State Library, Virginia Polytechnic
Institute, Randolph-Macon Woman's College, the College of William
The examination of the material on ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND
LITERATURE in Virginia has resulted in no unexpected or startling
conclusions. There are a score of good collections available
for the general reader, and six or eight with at least
some material on the research level. Of course size of collections
may mean little for research purposes, except in so far
as it indicates the presence of the foundation materials. But
as reported, the largest collections, omitting public libraries,
are as follows: University of Virginia, 13,429 volumes; Sweet
Briar, 6,703 volumes; Randolph-Macon Woman's College, 4,633
volumes; State Library, approximately 3,800 or 4,000 volumes;
William and Mary, about 3,500 volumes; Hampton Institute, 3,465
volumes; Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 3,017 volumes, University
of Richmond, about 3,000 volumes.
A different approach to an estimate of the research value
of the collections may be obtained by consideration of the holdings
of certain representative titles. To publish the results
of such a test is, of course, highly dangerous when, as in this
case, the findings were obtained rather casually. But with a
caveat as to undoubted inaccuracies, the results (which once
more demonstrate the scattered condition of research materials
in Virginia) may be indicated as follows:-
Anglia. At University of Virginia.
Anglistische Forschungen. At University of Virginia (incomplete
set)
Cambridge History of English Literature. At College of William
and Mary, Hollins College, Petersburg Public Library, Randolph-Macon
Woman's College, Richmond Public Library, State Teachers
Colleges at Farmville and Fredericksburg, Sweet Briar, University
of Richmond, University of Virginia, Virginia Polytechnic
Institute, and Virginia State Library.
Camden Society. At Randolph-Macon Woman's College, University
of Virginia, Virginia State Library.
Chaucer Society. At University of Virginia, Virginia State
Library.
Deutsche Shakespeare Gesellschaft Jahrbuch. At University of
Virginia.
Early English Text Society. At College of William and Mary,
Hollins, Randolph-Macon Woman's College, University of Richmond,
University of Virginia.
Englische Studien. At University of Virginia.
English Dialect Society. At University of Virginia.
English Journal. At Hampton Institute, Randolph-Macon Woman's
College, Richmond Public Library, State Teachers College at
Farmville, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, University of
Virginia.
Facsimile Text Society. At Sweet Briar, University of Virginia.
Grosart's Reprints. At University of Virginia.
Harleian Miscellany. At Union Theological Seminary, University
of Virginia, Virginia State Library.
Review of English Studies. At College of William and Mary,
Hollins, Sweet Briar, University of Virginia.
Scottish Text Society. At University of Virginia.
Shakespeare Society Publications. At College of William and
Mary, Randolph-Macon, Sweet Briar, University of Richmond,
University of Virginia, Virginia State Library.
Studien zur Englischen Philologie. At University of Virginia.
These location records are for large holdings, though not necessarily
complete ones. Furthermore, frankness demands the admission
that for several titles on this test list (Malone Society
and Spenser Society for example) there seemed to be no holdings
whatever in these libraries.
A note or two should be added to this consideration of
English language and literature collections in Virginia. At
the Alexandria Public Library, which has inherited books which
belonged to the old Alexandria Library and Free Reading Room
founded in 1794, there is a small group of English and American
volumes dating from the beginning of the nineteenth century. At
the College of William and Mary some emphasis has been laid on
the assemblage of critical material of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. At Sweet Briar there is an outstanding
collection of material on George Meredith. Blake and Leigh
Hunt are subjects of attention at the University of Richmond.
At Washington and Lee University there are two collections of
standard works in English and sundry interesting eighteenth
century items in the Franklin Society Library. The University
of Virginia is a subscriber to the film collection of books
printed in English prior to 1550.
The collections in Virginia of books in GERMANIC LANGUAGES
AND LITERATURES are chiefly of a scope for undergraduate instruction
in colleges. In several of the libraries, however,
systematic plans are in operation for increase in sets of
standard authors, in critical works, and in appropriate periodicals.
The most extensive collections seem to be at the Randolph-Macon
Woman's College and at the University of Virginia,
both of these totaling slightly under 3,000 volumes. Other
good working collections are at the Virginia Military Institute,
Sweet Briar, and William and Mary.
At the Randolph-Macon Woman's College there are complete
sets of the works of Auerbach, Börne, Chamisso, Feuerbach,
Fontane, Görres, Goethe, Grillparzer, Gutzkow, Hauptmann, Hauff,
Heyse, Hoffmann, Keller, Klinger, Laube, Lenz, Lessing, Liliencron,
Ludwig, Mörike, Nietzsche, Schiller, Scheffel, Seidel,
Stifter, Storm, Sudermann, Tieck, Vernhagen von Ense, Wagner,
Wedekind, and Wieland.
The University of Virginia Library, in addition to sets
Edda, the Codex of the Flateyjahrbòk, Lüdike and Mackensen's
Deutscher Kulturatlas, the Sammlung Kurzer Grammatiken Deutscher
Mundarten, and Wilhelm's Corpus der Altdeutschen
Originalurkunden; also the Beiträge zur Geschichte der Deutschen
Sprache und Literatur, Jahrbuch and Schriften der Goethe
Gesellschaft, Neue Rundschau, Wörter und Sachen, Zeitschrift
für Deutsche Mundarten, Zeitschrift für Deutsche Philologie,
and Zeitschrift für Deutsches Altertum.
The general statement made with respect to the Germanic
field can be repeated for ROMANIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES;
namely, that the present collections in Virginia are mainly
suitable for undergraduate instruction. But there is promise
that several of the collections will, in the not distant future,
afford attractive opportunity for research. The most obvious
deficiency seems to be in the periodical and society publications.
The brief and rather staccato notes which follow include
only the largest collections in the various languages. It will
be noted that the women's colleges are well and favourably
represented.
In FRENCH the Randolph-Macon Woman's College has 2,469
volumes, with emphasis on the so-called classical writers. The
collection contains a goodly number of sets of complete works,
some historical and critical material, and such works on the
language as Brunot's Histoire de la Langue Francaise des
Origines à 1900, Nyrop's Grammaire Historique de la Langue
Francaise, and Plattner's Ausführliche Grammatik der Franzosischen
Sprache.
The Mary Helen Cochran Library at Sweet Briar College has
2,192 volumes in French. The emphasis follows the curriculum
courses and is mainly on the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth
centuries; but material on the French theatre has been
assembled from the origins to the present. There are some
notable items on the bibliography and on the history of the
literature.
The collection of French books at the College of William
and Mary numbers about 1,850 volumes. The greatest stress has
been laid on the classical period and on types of literature;
and there are approximately 150 volumes of critical works.
The library which serves both the University of Richmond
and Westhampton College has a well chosen collection of the
works of the principal French writers, with some emphasis on
the modern French drama.
At the University of Virginia there are 1,611 volumes in
the French collection. A start has been made in the acquisition
of material on linguistics and of periodicals; and there
may be found such works as Godefroy's Dictionnaire de l'Ancienne
Langue Francaise, Meyer-Lübke's Grammatik der Romanischen
Sprachen, and the collections of the Classiques Francais de
Moyen Âge and of the Société des Anciens Textes Francais.
The library at Washington and Lee University also contains
a set of the Société des Anciens Textes Francais and a good
collection of standard authors. There are approximately 1,500
French works in this library.
The Walter Hines Page Library at Randolph-Macon College
has been enriched by the John Marvin Burton Collection of Romance
Languages and Literatures, the French section including
general and critical works numbering 1,013.
In ITALIAN the University of Virginia Library has 923 volumes.
The periodicals include the Archivio Glottolozico Italiano
and the Giornale Storico della Letteratura Italiana, and
there are sets of the Scrittori d'Italia and the Storia Letteraria
d'Italia. Some special attention has been given to the
assemblage of editions and criticisms of Dante.
At Sweet Briar College the collection in Italian numbers
432 volumes. It is well adapted to the present needs of undergraduate
work, the main emphasis being on `the golden age' and
the nineteenth century.
Similar statements can be made concerning the collection of
250 Italian volumes at the College of William and Mary and the
collection of 243 volumes at Randolph-Macon Woman's College.
Of SPANISH books the University of Virginia has 2,140 volumes.
The periodicals include the Bulletin Hispanique, the Bulletin
of Spanish Studies, Hispania, the Revista de Filologia Española,
and the Revue Hispanique; there are several general sets,
such as the Biblioteca de Autores Españoles, the Clasicos Castel
lanos, and the Grandes Escritores Argentinos; and sundry historical
and critical writings, as for example the Historia de la
Lengua y Literatura Castellana by Cajador y Franca and Roxlo's
Historia Critica de la Literatura Uruguaya. Emphasis has to
some degree been centered on Cervantes.
At the College of William and Mary there are approximately
800 volumes of Spanish. These include files of Hispania and of
the Revue Hispanique and such important sets as Nueva Bibliotheca
de Autores Españoles and Poetas Liricos Castellanos.
Smaller collections, chosen chiefly for undergraduate studies,
are located at Sweet Briar College, at Virginia Military Institute,
at the University of Richmond, and at Randolph-Macon Woman's
College. There is a file of the Bulletin of Hispanic Studies at
Sweet Briar College. Sweet Briar and the Randolph-Macon Woman's
College subscribe to Hispania. Sets of the Bibliotheca de
Autores Españoles are at Virginia Military Institute and at the
University of Richmond; and of the Clasicos Castellanos at Virginia
Military Institute and Randolph-Macon Woman's College.
Material in OTHER LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES is scattered and
small in amount with the exception of the collections of Semitic
and related languages at the Union Theological Seminary in Richmond
and at the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Alexandria.
Some mention of this will be made in Section E, Religion.
In FOLKLORE the University of Virginia Library has 386 volumes,
which include runs of Folklore (London Folklore Society),
Folklore Society Publications, Journal of American Folklore, and
Transactions of the Folklore Society. Folklore of the South,
particularly of Virginia, and Negro folklore are emphasized. This
collection has been assembled in part to supplement the activities
of the Virginia Folklore Society and of Prof. A. K. Davis, Jr.,
author of `Traditional Ballads of Virginia.' The collection of
American, English, and Scottish ballads is fairly good.
Negro folklore and negro folk-songs are emphasized at the
Collis P. Huntington Memorial Library of Hampton Institute.
This collection contains about 200 volumes.
Four other institutional collections of folklore material
may be mentioned for Virginia, each numbering from 150 to 200
volumes. At the Richmond Public Library and at the State Teachers
College in Farmville special attention has been given to ballads;
at the University of Richmond the emphasis is on negro folklore;
and at the College of William and Mary the collection is general
in interest.
Swem, Earl G. A Bibliography of Virginia ... Richmond,
Bottom, 1916-17. Two volumes. (In Virginia. State Library.
Bulletin: VIII, 2-4; X, 1-4). Part one. Titles of books in
the Virginia State Library which relate to Virginia and Virginians;
titles of books written by Virginians and of those printed
in Virginia; with index.
Section C. Fine Arts.
On the general subject of the history of fine arts the
libraries at the College of William and Mary and at the University
of Virginia have about 300 volumes each.
The College of William and Mary receives the following
general art periodicals: American Magazine of Art, Antiquarian,
Antiquity, Apollo, Art and Archaeology, Art Bulletin, Art Digest,
Art in America, Arts and Decoration, Connoisseur, Deutsche Kunst
London Studio, Parnassus, and School Arts Magazine. Somewhat
similar lists of periodicals are recorded by Hollins College,
the Richmond Public Library, Sweet Briar, the State Teachers
College at Farmville, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, the University
of Virginia, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and the Virginia
State Library.
Carnegie collections on fine arts have been located at
Hampton Institute, Hollins College, Randolph-Macon Woman's
College, Sweet Briar, University of Virginia, Washington and Lee,
William and Mary, and probably at other institutional libraries.
Of the publications of art galleries and institutions and
museums the University of Virginia currently receives the following
bulletins:- Beaux Art Institute of Design, Boston Museum of
Fine Arts, Allied Architects of Los Angeles, Minneapolis Museum
of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of
Design, Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, and Worcester Art
Museum. Similar groups of publications of this character can be
found at the Norfolk Public Library, the Richmond Public Library,
the State Library, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and William
and Mary.
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond is developing
an important reference collection which is available to the
museum staff, the museum membership, and to duly accredited art
research workers. This at present contains approximately 2,000
volumes. The collection embraces both decorative and fine arts.
Certain collections of prints, slides, and photographs have
already been recorded under Part One, Section J, Illustrations.[4]
The notes which follow supplement but do not duplicate that
record.
Collections of prints are accessible at the College of
William and Mary, at Sweet Briar, at the State Teachers College
at Harrisonburg, and at Washington and Lee University. As
slides are usually a part of the teaching materials of the
Carnegie sets, they are likely to be accessible at the libraries
which are so fortunate as to possess these sets. In addition,
the library at Randolph-Macon College owns 715 slides, chiefly
of classical architecture. Sweet Briar has approximately 2,000
slides on various art subjects. Hampton Institute has a collection
of 15,000 mounted pictures for lending purposes. The Norfolk
Public Library also has an extensive loan collection of
pictures and photographs. At Roanoke College, in Salem, the
Davis F. Bittle Memorial Library possesses 7,000 pictures
illustrative of art through the ages. And at the Union Theological
Seminary there is a steadily growing collection of photographs
The decades of severe depression following the War between
the States tended to eliminate the study and practice of
MUSIC from the primary and secondary school systems, and thereby
retarded emphasis in college curricula and in library collections.
At present, however, there are a number of collections
in musicology of fair size scattered through Virginia; several
interesting special subjects are being emphasized; and the
Carnegie collections and the Foster Hall reproductions of the
songs of Stephen Foster have evidently been eagerly welcomed.
Brief notes concerning a dozen or so of the larger collections
in the State are given herewith.
The material on music at the University of Virginia consists
of well over 500 volumes of musicology in the general
library and of 23,103 volumes and pieces in a special music
library, a total of approximately 23,600 items. The section in
the general library includes biography, history, theory and
technique, and works on musical instruments; and there are files
of thirteen serials. The section in the special music library
is composed of the following groups:-
| Bound | Unbound | Total | |
| Books about music | 21 | 63 | 84 |
| Full orchestral and ensemble scores | 20 | 269 | 289 |
| Orchestral parts, without scores | 156 | 156 | |
| Ensemble | 21 | 274 | 295 |
| Piano music | 95 | 1,528 | 1,623 |
| Vocal music | 134 | 18,639 | 18,773 |
| Grand opera | 73 | 88 | 161 |
| Light opera | 19 | 41 | 60 |
| Flute music | 3 | 3 | |
| Organ music | 27 | 27 | |
| Violin music | 12 | 12 | |
| Phonograph records (discs) | 1,164 | ||
| Boston Symphony Orchestra programmes | 380 | 380 | |
| Periodicals | 2 | 49 | 51 |
| Total in special library | 388 | 21,551 | 23,103 |
The library at Hampton Institute contains 1,146 volumes and
pieces on music, including the Carnegie and Stephen Foster collections
and several periodicals. As is fitting for an Institute
so widely and favourably known for its singers, the emphasis is
on negro music and the work of negro composers.
At the Mary Helen Cochran Library at Sweet Briar College
there are 1,005 volumes and pieces of music. These include the
standard biographies, histories of music, and texts on theory,
and the standard collections. Of special interest are the first
madrigals composed by John Wilbye, fifty compositions of Dufay
and his contemporaries ranging from A.D. 1400 to 1440, and such
works as Beck's Les Chansonniers des Troubadours et des Trouvères
and Arnold Schering's Geschichte der Musik in Beispielen.
The Cocke Memorial Library at Hollins College subscribes
to several periodicals in music, and it has the Carnegie collection
with an extensive assortment of phonograph records. There
are sixty-seven volumes on theory and technique, 140 volumes of
biographies of musicians, and forty volumes on the history of
music. The collection contains altogether 639 volumes.
In the library at the Randolph-Macon Woman's College there
are 434 volumes and pieces, including dictionaries and encyclopaedias
and runs of five periodicals.
The library at the University of Richmond has a total of
736 volumes and pieces on music. Of these 112 volumes on
musicology are in the main library and seventy-nine volumes on
musicology are in the Margaret James Memorial Room. In the
latter special collection there are the following musical scores:
| Organ | 39 | pieces |
| Piano | 235 | pieces |
| Violin | 2 | volumes |
| Vocal | 45 | pieces |
| Exercise and teaching books | 25 | volumes |
| Galbraith organ collection | 110 | pieces |
| Watson collection | 89 | pieces |
At the College of William and Mary there is a collection of
about 3,000 scores in the custody of the Music Department. The
library itself has a good collection on musicology, twenty-six
volumes of song scores and spirituals, and an interesting old
collection of fifty bound volumes of English and American scores
dated before 1820.
Let who will make either the laws or the songs of the State,
the Virginia State Library has proved its readiness to collect
both. It contains a good selection of works on musicology and
has files of several music serials, the total number of volumes
and pieces being about 850. There are also fifty pieces of Virginia
music, and approximately 100 pieces of Confederate music.
Many of the public libraries contain a useful selection of
books on musicology. Somewhat specially notable in this respect
are the public libraries in Richmond, in Petersburg, and in
Hopewell.
Both the Packard-Laird Memorial Library of the Virginia
Union Theological Seminary have made very good beginnings on
collections of hymnology.
Of general materials on the THEATRE the State Library has
about 300 volumes, these being scattered through the various
topics in this field. Of somewhat special note are a group of
the monumental works on costume, a good selection of the
histories of the theatre and of the stage, and a collection of
early Virginia playbills.
The University of Virginia Library contains approximately
200 volumes on this subject, with some emphasis on the history
of the stage, on costume, and on scenery, stage decoration, and
lighting. In addition there is an extension drama collection
which numbers well over 10,000 printed copies of plays, mostly
modern.
In the library at the State Teachers College at Farmville
there are 152 volumes on theatre history, technique, costume,
dancing, pageantry, and allied subjects which have been so
admirably chosen as to make this well nigh a model collection
of its size.
At Hollins College, Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Sweet
Briar, and William and Mary there are also collections on the
theatre which are well selected both for present curriculum use
and also as foundations for possible future expansion.
Of material on ARCHITECTURE the University of Virginia Fine
Arts Library contains 1250 volumes. The attempt has been made
to cover the general field. The works on the history of architecture
are considerable in number, and there is some stress on
the more modern periods, particularly the Renaissance. Current
numbers of the following periodicals are received: American Architect
and Architecture, American Builder and Building Age, American
Home, Architectural Concrete, Architectural Forum, Architectural
Record, Architectural Review, Architecture, L'Architecture
d'aujourd'hui, California Arts and Architecture, House Beautiful,
Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Landscape
Architecture, Moderne Bauformen, and Pencil Points.
At the library of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg
there are about 600 volumes on architecture. This collection
includes fifty-five volumes on the history of architecture
and a dozen or more current periodicals. Emphasis has been placed
on architectural engineering.
About 500 volumes on architecture are to be found at the
of periodicals, and offers material for study of types of
architecture. The period most stressed is that of colonial days
in America.
At the library of Hampton Institute there are over 400 volumes
on this subject and sets of Architectural Forum, Architectural
Record, Architecture and Building, and House Beautiful.
The emphasis is on residences and public buildings.
In PAINTING AND SCULPTURE combined there are a few more than
1,000 volumes at the University of Virginia Library. In sculpture
(584 volumes) the Greek and Roman phases of the ancient period
are stressed; in painting (422 volumes) the division is by schools,
the English, Italian, and Spanish predominating. But these
collections are well balanced, and the works have been selected
with care.
The State Library has 300 volumes on painting and seventy-five
on sculpture. The material covers the whole field but the
emphasis is on American artists.
At Hampton Institute the library collection includes 334
volumes on painting and twenty-eight on sculpture. The number of
works on individual painters is comparatively large.
Sweet Briar College has 356 volumes on these two subjects
combined. This collection is strong in historical works.
Material on OTHER FINE ARTS is not extensive in amount and is
scattered through the State. For example there are fair collections
on drawing and handicrafts at Hampton Institute; on interior
decoration at the Petersburg Public Library, at the State Teachers
College at Farmville and at Fredericksburg, and at the University
of Virginia; on furniture at Randolph-Macon Woman's College and
at the Richmond Public Library; on landscape gardening at the
Farmville State Teachers College, at the Virginia Polytechnic
Institute, and at the University of Virginia; on engraving at the
Roanoke Public Library and at the State Library; on photography
at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, the State Library, and the
University of Virginia; and from the Virginia Military Institute
is reported a library interest in sporting as a fine art!
Section D. Philosophy.
At the University of Virginia Library there are somewhat over
6,000 volumes on philosophy, the special field of interest being
the philosophic systems, ethics, and logic. Esthetics is also
Aristotle, Bacon, Spencer are among the philosophers largely
represented by works and critical commentaries. The files of
periodicals include the Aristotelian Society Proceedings, Erkenntnis,
Hibbert Journal, International Journal of Ethics, Journal
of Philosophical Studies, Journal of Philosophy, Journal of
Speculative Philosophy, Journal of Symbolic Logic, Mind, Monist,
Philosophical Review, Philosophy, and Revue Philosophique.
The collections in philosophy at the College of William and
Mary and at the Episcopal Theological Seminary both number approximately
1,500 volumes. At William and Mary ethics is the
strongest section, and the modern period is most emphasized. At
the Episcopal Theological Seminary there are some valuable sets
of the classical and mediaeval philosophers, with emphasis merging
into the philosophy of religion.
The library at the Randolph-Macon Woman's College has about
1,400 volumes in philosophy, with stress on Aristotle and other
classical philosophers. Berkeley is also featured in this collection.
Among the periodicals are the Hibbert Journal, International
Journal of Ethics, Journal of Philosophy, Journal of Symbolic
Logic, Mind, Personalist, Philosophical Review, Philosophische
Studien, Philosophy, and Philosophy of Science.
Washington and Lee University has about 1,000 volumes in
philosophy, this being a general collection.
Section E. Religion.
In the field of religion there are two collections in Virginia
which are outstanding for purposes of research. These are
at the Spence Library of the Union Theological Seminary in Richmond
and at the Packard-Laird Memorial Library of the Virginia
Theological Seminary at Alexandria.
The Spence Library has a total collection of about 55,000
volumes, of which at least 20,000 may be classed as specifically
on the subject of religion. There is an excellent equipment of
general encyclopaedias and reference sets, and adequate reference
and periodical materials are available in each subdivision of the
subject. The works on primitve religion include basic sets
such as Creuzer's Symbolik und Mythologie der Alten Völker,
Frazer's Golden Bough, and Gray and Moore's Mythology of all
Races. The non-Christian religions are represented by their
sacred writings and by treatises thereon. On the history and
culture of Israel there 292 volumes exclusive of archaeology, and
there are thirty-one volumes on contemporary Judaism. The Talmud,
Targums, Mischna, and other Rabbinical writings appear in Hebrew
and also in Latin, French, and English translations. Of the Old
volumes of editions in Greek and of critical works on the Greek
Old Testament, and thirty editions in English. There are 686
volumes of commentaries dealing with the Old Testament, 260 volumes
dealing specifically with Old Testament criticism, and 120
volumes concerned with such related subjects as the transmission
of the Bible, the canon and text of the Bible, and the Bible as
literature.
It is in its collection on the New Testament, however, that
the Spence Library offers one of its more important fields for
research; and of this section there is available a somewhat
elaborate catalogue.[5]
The collection includes facsimile copies
of all the major uncial manuscripts except Vaticanus or Codex B,
with collations of about seventy cursive manuscripts and texts of
various ostraca; copies of all the notable printed editions of
the Greek New Testament with the exception of the Complutensian
or 1514 Ximenes, of which the Library owns the Plantin reprint of
1584; sets of commentaries to the number of sixty and single volume
commentaries on the New Testament to the number of 800; and
files of such periodicals as the Harvard Theological Review,
Journal of Biblical Literature, Journal of Theological Studies,
and Zeitschrift für die Neuetestamentliche Wissenschaft.
On the history of the early Christian Church the Spence
Library contains about 600 volumes including such massive early
sets as those by Baronius Soranus, Basnage de Flottermanville,
William Cave, Eusebius Pamphilus, and James Saurin. On the
Reformation there is a valuable group of seventeenth and
eighteenth century treatises and approximately 250 modern works;
and about fifty volumes, some early, deal with the various
Councils. The material on the Church of England is small in
amount (seventy-five volumes) but includes several seventeenth
century titles; and a similar collection deals with the Catholic
Church. Contemporary Christian Theology is represented by about
100 volumes specifically concerned with the conflict of science
and religion and about 100 volumes specifically concerned with
the current restatement of Christian thought; and there are
sizeable collections on Systematic and Dogmatic Theology and on
Practical Theology.
With reference to Christianity in America there are some
400 volumes dealing with the history of denominations, and a considerable
amount of material on the organization and activities
of missionary societies. But the most important and significant
Seminary is its large collection of manuscript and printed
records of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. The
manuscript section has already been briefly described in Part One,
Section F., Manuscripts.[6] In addition there are complete files
of printed minutes and reports of various organizations, large
and small, within the jurisdiction of that Church; and there are
bound volumes of seventeen Presbyterian church papers and of
twenty-one theological reviews and journals under Presbyterian
editorship or control. This material is accessible for research
purposes, and there is steady continuation in collecting
activities.
The Packard-Laird Memorial Library of the Virginia Theological
Seminary has a total collection of approximately 32,000 volumes,
of which somewhat over half are on the specific subject of
religion. As in the case of the Spence Library, this special
collection is located in what is in effect a general collection
— a situation which of course often proves convenient for research
scholars. In both of these libraries, for example, there
may be found material dealing with Aramaic, Assyrian, and
Chaldean languages and with Semitic languages in general. There
are also the essential encyclopaedias and reference works, and
good background material in history, literature, and philosophy.
The Packard-Laird Library also has a special association collection
of books from the Lee library (Richard Henry Lee and Thomas
Ludwell Lee) at Stratford.
The quality of this library may be perhaps indicated by a
casual and unsystematic and of course very incomplete list of
works which appear on the shelves; namely, the Apostolic Fathers,
the Babylonian Talmud, the Consilia Ecclesiae, the Egypt Exploration
Fund Publications, Frazer's Golden Bough, the History of the
Popes, Hook's Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury, the International
Critical Commentary, the Library of Anglo-Catholic
Theology (eighty-two volumes), Migne's Patrologie, the three sets
of the works of the Nicene Fathers, Picart's Religious Memories
of the World, the Sacred Books of the East, the works of Cocceius,
Erasmus, Hieronymous, Servanus, and files of the American Biblical
Repository, the American Journal of Theology, the Jahrbuch für
Deutsche Theologie, and the Journal of Sacred Literature.
By a more statistical analysis, there are in round numbers
400 volumes on non-Christian religions, 800 on the Old Testament,
700 on the New Testament, 600 on primitive Christianity, 150 on
Christianity in the Roman Empire, 300 on the Reformation, 500 on
the history of the Church of England, 1,000 on Christian theology,
250 on American church history, and 400 on missions. The pamphlet
collection is extensive, and the large task of arrangement
and filing is likely to yield material of value. Some notice
One, Section F., Manuscripts.[7]
Other large collections of books on religion can be found
at the University of Virginia (over 8,000 volumes), at the Virginia
State Library (approximately 5,500 volumes), and at the
College of William and Mary (between 3,000 and 3,500 volumes).
All three collections are well organized, but do not include any
considerable proportion of rare items. At the University of Virginia
there is some emphasis on contemporary Christian theology.
The State Library is well supplied with the collected works of
outstanding preachers, such as Phillips Brooks, Thomas Chalmers,
Myles Coverdale, Henry Drummond, John Foxe, Tyndale, John Wesley,
and George Whitfield. In the extensive collection of Virginiana
which the library at William and Mary possesses there are many
individual church histories of Virginia.
In most of the libraries which have been so frequently
named in this survey report for Virginia the collections on
religion are comparatively large. It is evident that credit is
due to clergymen as a class for their notable generosity as
donators of books.
Bitzer, David Rolston. Materials available in the Library
of Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia, for the Study
of the Text and Canon of the New Testament ... May 1933. 374 pp. (Dissertation. Typewritten.)
II. SOCIAL SCIENCES
Section A. General Social Science.
What has been found to be generally true in this survey of
Virginia libraries proves to be specifically true with regard to
the general classes in social science; namely, that there are a
score or so of collections in which a good start has been made in
the gathering of the essential materials. The keenest interest
is obviously in current publications and in types associated with
local problems or persons. For example, sets of the Encyclopedia
of the Social Sciences are to be found at the College of William
and Mary, Hampton Institute, Hollins College, Randolph-Macon
College and Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Richmond Public Library,
the State Teachers Colleges at Farmville and at Harrisonburg,
Sweet Briar, Union Theological Seminary, University of Richmond,
University of Virginia, Virginia Military Institute, Virginia
Polytechnic Institute, Virginia State Library, Washington and Lee
University, and doubtless in a number of other libraries. Almost
the same list of locations could be repeated for the Annals of the
American Academy of Political and Social Science. The collection
of works of statesmen has not at all been limited to sectional
boundaries. Yet the sets that are found most generally in Virginia
are those of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Woodrow
Wilson, Patrick Henry, and Jefferson Davis. The simpler items
these libraries there are few of the important foreign publications
on the subject of statistics.
Section B. Anthropology and Ethnology.
The largest collection in Virginia of material on anthropology
and ethnology is in the State Library. This collection deals
largely with the American Indian and the American Negro. The
files of periodicals (some incomplete) include the American
Anthropologist, the Transactions of the American Ethnology Society,
the Transactions of the Anthropological Society of Washington,
the Journal of Race Development, the Annual Reports and the Bulletins
of the United States Bureau of American Ethnology, and
the Washington University Publications on Anthropology. Altogether
there are in the State Library approximately 1,000 volumes
on these subjects.
A somewhat smaller collection which contains a considerable
amount of recent material is to be found at the University of
Virginia. Another collection, convenient for the laboratory
type of study, is located in a departmental library at the Virginia
Military Institute.
Section C. Sociology.
Thanks to Francis Bacon, every schoolboy knows that jesting
Pilate asked what is Truth and did not stay for an answer. But
library classifiers, without benefit of publicity, have long
sought to ascertain what exactly is sociology, and they still seem
to be seeking. At least this appears to be the situation as one
undertakes to isolate and count the volumes on this subject. We
are consequently not attempting to give numerical totals for the
collections in Virginia; though we realize that such a stand
handicaps the General Editor of this Southern Survey when he undertakes
to compare quantitatively the collections, say, in Sweet
Briar and Sewanee on sociology. On the other hand it is obvious
that this sociology is regarded as an exceedingly live subject
and that it has resulted in the general enrichment of libraries;
and most of the libraries which have received frequent mention in
the Virginia summary report fairly good working collections. The
largest, possibly, are at the State Library, at the College of
William and Mary, at the University of Virginia, at Randolph-Macon
Woman's College, at Washington and Lee, at the University
of Richmond, and at Hampton Institute.
The collection at the State Library is general, with some
emphasis on race relations. The files of periodicals and society
publications include American Child, American Journal of Sociology,
Charities and the Commons, Journal of Social Science, New York
School of Social Work Bulletin, New York State Conference on
Social Work Quarterly Bulletin, Ohio Welfare Bulletin, Pennsylvania
Department of Welfare Monthly Bulletin, Pennsylvania
School of Social Work General Bulletin, Social Forces, Social
Studies, Social Work Year Book, Southern Progress, Southern
Sociological Congress Publications, Survey and Survey Graphic,
Virginia Department of Public Welfare Public Welfare, Washington
University Publications in Social Sciences, and Wisconsin University
Studies in the Social Sciences and History.
At the College of William and Mary the enphasis is on
modern community social problems. There is an excellent selection
of works on the history and theory of sociology.
Methodology, rural sociology, community life, and the Negro
are among the subjects stressed at the University of Virginia.
This library and of course the library at Hampton Institute have
fairly extensive collections of books on the Negro. The Hampton
Institute library emphasizes race relations and rural sociology.
There is a good general collection in sociology at the
Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Some effort has been made here
to acquire the reports of various foundations and of hospitals
and charitable organizations.
In the collections at Washington and Lee University family
and community life, criminology, and juvenile delinquency have
been emphasized; and thse subjects and urban sociology and
social psychology have been stressed in the collection at the
University of Richmond.
Section D. Economics and Commerce.
Of books on the subjects of commerce and economics the Virginia
State Library has a general collection of approximately
20,000 volumes. There are files of eighty periodicals dealing
with or indirectly related to these subjects; there are also sets
of Moody's and Poor's service publications and of Thomas's commercial
directory. The collection of corporation reports is
chiefly limited to the Commonwealth of Virginia, including its
railroads. Emphasis has not been sought in any special field;
but as the collection has so far developed the subject of taxation
is perhaps most adequately represented.
At the library of Washington and Lee University there are
about 11,500 books on these subjects. The standard journals are
subscribed to, as are also the commercial services bearing the
names of Babson, Moody, and Poor. As in the case of the State
The collection at the University of Virginia Library numbers
almost exactly 5,600 volumes, in addition to which there
is a sizable accumulation of pamphlets. There are sundry
early publications relating to economics; and economic history,
banking, and taxation are given some emphasis.
At the College of William and Mary there is a total of
3,300 volumes in commerce and economics. Here too can be
found a number of the earlier publications. The materials on
labour and finance are perhaps the most important sections of
this collection.
A somewhat smaller collection (2,684 volumes) at the Virginia
Polytechnic Institute is notable for its effectiveness.
There are forty-seven current periodicals, some good runs of
corporation reports, and commercial directories by Hendricks,
by Kelly, and by MacRae. The emphasis in this collection is
on the subjects of rural economics and of business management.
In Richmond there are three specialized financial collections
that are worthy of notice. The Federal Reserve Bank
Library contains about 3,100 volumes dealing with corporations,
banking, auditing, accounting, and taxation. It is well
organized and has a full-time librarian, but it is commonly
accessible only to employees of the Federal Reserve Bank. The
Scott and Stringfellow Library, on the other hand, is open to
the public. This contains a useful collection of statistical
manuals and financial periodicals, and its records of bond
issues local, national, and foreign are extensive. The State
Corporation Commission Library contains 3,000 or more volumes,
chiefly dealing with corporations.
Section E. Political Science.
The political science material at the Virginia State
Library amounts to about 18,000 volumes. On the history and
theory of government (mostly in the United States) there are
1,000 volumes; on state government the number is approximately
2,000; and there are perhaps 250 on foreign governments.
Public finance, with about 3,000 volumes, and public health,
with about 1,500, are emphasized. Of periodicals there are
files, some being incomplete, of twenty-five varieties. On
international relations there is no extensive amount of book
material; but the library possesses ten periodicals which
deal with international relations.
The General Library and the Bureau of Public Administration
Library at the University of Virginia have a combined
science, this being exclusive of federal and state documents.
Stress is laid on such subjects as public administration, public
finance, and government, with some special relation to municipalities.
Current numbers of 145 serials are being received, the
majority being government and municipal journals which are on
the exchange lists of the Bureau of Public Administration. Contrary
to the usual condition in this and in many other Virginia
libraries, the pamphlet collection on public administration is
strong in European materials.
Several other libraries have fair sized working collections,
the emphasis varying considerably according to location. For
example, at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute there are 2,229
volumes in political science with the emphasis on local government
and city planning. At the College of William and Mary
there are 1,925 volumes of which fully one quarter deal with
constitutional theory and history. At the University of Richmond
there are over 1,500 volumes, not including periodicals; and here
the stress is on such subjects as public finance and social work.
At the Randolph-Macon Woman's College there are 1,364 volumes
with additional pamphlet material, at Hampton Institute there are
1,272 volumes, and at Washington and Lee University there are approximately
1,200 volumes, no particular emphasis being recorded.
The collection of 1,034 volumes at Sweet Briar College includes
one of the most extensive files of League of Nations publications
in the State. Full sets of these publications seem surprisingly
hard to locate. At the Union Theological Seminary
there has been affort to collect material on `war and peace' and
5,170 items are reported on these and other political science
topics.
Section F. Education.
The Heck Memorial Library of Education at the University of
Virginia contains 13,729 volumes. Secondary, higher, and adult
education are the major divisions emphasized, and among the
fields of special strength are curriculum construction, educational
psychology, educational statistics, and the history of
education. There is a fairly large group of administrative
reports of colleges and universities, and some attention has
been given to the assembling of early textbooks as illustrations
of textbook trends and school subject developments. The
current periodical material includes the American School Board
Journal, California Journal of Secondary Education, Education,
Educational Administration and Supervision, Educational Record,
Educational Review, Educational Screen, Elementary School
Journal, English Journal, Journal of Education, Journal of
Educational Method, Journal of Educational Psychology, Journal
of Educational Research, Journal of Higher Education, Journal of
Clearing House, Mathematics Teacher, Nation's Schools, Pedagogical
Seminary, Progressive Education, Review of Educational
Research, School and Society, School Review, Teachers' College
Record, Virginia Journal of Education, Virginia Teacher.
The education section in the State Library numbers 7,560
volumes not including periodicals. This is a general collection
without special emphasis. But considerable strength may be
noted in the publications of educational societies and of state
and city departments of education. In the latter group thirty-five
states are represented, the sets being fullest for the
southern and eastern sections of the country.
At the College of William and Mary there are 4,400 volumes
on educational subjects, the major emphasis being laid on elementary
education, with especial strength in curriculum study
and development. Eighteen educational periodicals and twenty-nine
fraternity publications are currently received. There is a
collection of about 600 early textbooks, the main objective being
to throw light on curriculum development in William and Mary and
other colleges.
In the library at Hampton Institute there are 3,856 volumes
in education, and twenty-one current serials are received. The
emphasis in this collection is on industrial education, physical
education, educational sociology, curriculum construction, and
tests and measurements.
The Virginia Polytechnic Institute, which has 3,600 volumes
in education, is, like the State Library, strong in the publications
of associations and institutions. The emphasis is general,
but some stress has been placed on industrial education and educational
psychology.
Of the four State Teachers' Colleges, the institution at
Farmville has 2,396 volumes in education, the institution at
Fredericksburg has 1,825, the institution at East Radford has
1,434, and the institution at Harrisonburg has 1,365. In all
four cases elementary and secondary education are emphasized.
Farmville and East Radford have fairly extensive collections of
educational journals and of society publications and yearbooks.
Fredericksburg has an interesting assortment of early school
texts, mainly in English language and literature.
Section G. Law.
The most extensive law collections in Virginia are at the
State Law Library in Richmond, numbering approximately 45,000
volumes, and at the Law Library of the University of Virginia,
The State Law Library is administered as a department of
the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. It is a general library
with no particular emphasis on special fields. The collection
of reports for the Supreme Court of the United States, for the
Circuit and District Courts of the United States, for the
regional groups of the states, and for the individual states is
fairly complete. The sets of the session laws of the United
States and of the individual states are complete for about a
hundred years; and there are the majority of the official codes,
digests, and statutes. Of legal texts and treatises there are
approximately 3,000 volumes; and the library receives twenty-six
legal periodicals. THe reports of attorneys-general and of
bar associations cover the federal and the Virginia publications
in both cases. In foreign law the emphasis is on English
material. There is a selection of famous trials of former years
and several histories of law.
The Law Library at the University of Virginia is also
general in content. The reports of the Supreme Court and of the
Circuit and District Courts of the United States, of the seven
or eight regional groups of states, and of the individual states
are full, numbering 4,806 volumes. Of the session laws, codes,
and digests of statutes there are 200 volumes for the United
States and 845 volumes of statutes for the separate states.
There are 485 briefs of the United States Supreme Court. The
legal texts and treatises number 3,450, and there are received
about 100 legal periodicals, the bound volumes numbering 1,673.
The material on foreign law is notably strong, the majority of
the 4,368 volumes being in the John Bassett Moore collection of
works on international law. Another special collection, in memory
of Raleigh C. Minor, has enriched the collection with quasilegal
materials, which amount to 1,227 volumes, and include legal
anecdotes, records of famous trials, histories of law, and legal
fiction.
The library of the T. C. Williams School of Law at the
University of Richmond contains approximately 15,000 volumes.
The sets of law reports are extensive, and the session laws and
codes of Virginia are complete. The collection of legal briefs
and treatises is full, numbering about 4,000; and over twenty
legal periodicals are received. There are full sets of the
American and of the Virginia Bar Associations, and considerable
material on English law.
There is a total of 11,250 volumes in the law library at
the College of William and Mary. The emphasis in this collection
is on constitutional law. Of law reports, national and state,
there is a total of 5,534 volumes; and of statutes, codes, and
digests there are 1,310 volumes. At the time this survey was
The more important of the legal periodicals are currently received.
As in the other law collections in this state, the
Virginia items tend to be most numerous; and there are sixty-eight
volumes of the reports of the Virginia Attorney-General
and ninety-two volumes of reports from the Virginia Bar Association.
As in the other collections also, the majority of the
works on foreign law deal with England, there being in this case
a total of 1,476 volumes. Of the quasi-legal materials there
are about 250 volumes.
There is a fifth effective collection in the law library
of Washington and Lee University. This contains the reports of
the United States Supreme Court, of the lower federal courts, and
of the large majority of the state courts of last resort. The
collection of codes and digests is also fairly full. There are
complete files of twenty-four legal periodicals, and incomplete
files of twenty others. Of foreign law there is a considerable
amount, mostly dealing with the British Isles and with Canada.
Section H. History.
Of books and periodicals in history which may be listed as
GENERAL there are 1,100 volumes at the State Library, 1,000 at
the University of Virginia, and 800 at the College of William
and Mary.
A census of general historical periodicals and society
publications at the State Library is as follows: American Catholic
Historical Society Records, 1907-date (incomplete); American
Historical Association Papers, 1886-91; American Historical
Record, 1872-74 (continued as Potter's American Monthly); American
Historical Review; American-Irish Historical Society Journal,
1898-1900, 1906-07, 1909-15, 1918-32; Americana (American Historical
Magazine) 1927-date; California University Publications in
History, volumes 1-23 (incomplete); Carnegie Institution of Washington,
Report of the Department of Historical Research, 1912,
1919-35; Catholic Historical Review, 1915-22; Current History;
English Historical Review, 1904-10; Historical Magazine and Notes
and Queries Concerning the Antiquities, History, and Biography
of America, 1857-75 (incomplete); Historical Magazine of the
Protestant Episcopal Church; History Reference Bulletin, 1933date;
Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political
Science, Journal of American History, 1877-93; Magazine of
History, 1905-13; Potter's American Monthly, 1875-77 (formerly
American Historical Record); Quarterly Review, 1809-67; Royal
Historical Society Publications, third series, volumes 8-53
(incomplete); Royal Historical Society Transactions, new series,
volumes 19-20, third series, volumes 1-11, fourth series, volumes
1-date. Other general history serials at the State Library
1758-1872; the Edinburgh Annual Register, 1808-26; eight
or ten general almanacs, and about twenty-five local American
almanacs published since 1850.
There are also fairly extensive sets of general historical
periodicals at the University of Virginia and at the College of
William and Mary. Both of these collections have full runs of
the Annual Register. At William and Mary there are thirty volumes
of later eighteenth and early nineteenth century American
almanacs; and at the University of Virginia there are a few
scattering examples of foreign almanacs.
Smaller but noteworthy collections of general historical
material may be found at the Coast Artillery School, at the
University of Richmond, and at Sweet Briar College. Each collection
numbers about 500 volumes.
A mild form of ARCHAEOLOGY is prevalent in college curricula,
with symptomatic evidence in library collections. But acquisition
of such material is likely to develop rapidly into an expensive
stage which requires shelf filling folios; and collections
of even moderate size are likely to yield resources for
research. Combining the archaeology and ancient history of
Europe, the Mediterranean regions, and the Orient, there are
at least seven libraries in Virginia which possess 500 or more
volumes; namely, the University of Virginia (1,677), the College
of William and Mary (1,050), Randolph-Macon Woman's College (969),
Union Theological Seminary (850), the State Library (650), Sweet
Briar (522), and the University of Richmond (500 plus).
In the collection at the University of Virginia, as is true
in the majority of these collections, the emphasis is on Greece
and Rome. but there is already a fair beginning of Egyptian
material. Reports are included from the American Academy at
Rome, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, the
American School of Oriental Research, the Archaeological Institute
of America, the Archaeologisches Institut des Deutschen
Reichs, the British School of Archaeology in Egypt, the British
Schools in Athens and in Rome, the Deutschen Archaeologischen
Instituts, and the Oriental Institute. There are complete files
of L'Acropole, American Journal of Archaeology, Antiquity, Archaeological
Journal, Athenische Mitteilungen, Greece and Rome,
Hesperia, Journal of Hellenic Studies, Journal of Roman Studies;
there are also incomplete but current files of the Bulletin de
Correspondence Hellénique, Notizie degli Scavi, Revue Archaeologique,
Römische Mitteilungen, and Zeitschrift für die Altertumswissenschaft.
In this collection are full accounts of the excavations
at Corinth, Ephesus, Knossos, Mallia, Mycenae, Olynthus,
Priene, Sparta, Stratos, Tiryns, and partial information relating
to other excavated sites. For Greek inscriptions there are such
Dittenberger's Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum, and Collitz's
Sammlung der Griechischen Dialekt-Inscriften; for Latin inscriptions
there is the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum and its
supplement, the Ephemeria Epigraphica. Material on ceramics is
found in sundry illustrative works such as the Corpus Vasorum
Antiquorum, Pfuhl's Malerei und Zeichnung, and Beazley's individual
studies. The subjects of sculpture and portraiture have
been fairly well developed for archaeology as well as for fine
arts;[8] but little effort has been made to build up under archaeology
a separate group of works on architecture; and no particular
attention has as yet been given to numismatics.
The collections in archaeology and ancient history in the
other libraries which have been listed have a similar character
and emphasis, with the exception of the one at the Spence
Library in the Union Theological Seminary. In this case particular
attention is given to the excavations and the ancient
records of Palestine, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, and there are included
various reports and other publications from the associations
and exploration funds (such as the Egypt Exploration Fund,
the Expedition Scientifique en Mesopotamie, the Harvard excavations
at Samaria, the Palestine Exploration Fund, and the
Society of Biblical Archaeology) which have been organized for
these regions.
There seem at present to be no very significant collections
in MEDIAEVAL HISTORY among these libraries. Possibly the nearest
approach to significance for research is in the material on
ecclesiastical history in the Episcopal and Union Theological
Seminaries. This material, however, has already been recorded in
Part Two, Humanities, Section E, Religion,[9]
For example, about
500 volumes of the collection at the Union Theological Seminary
might appropriately be classed as mediaeval history.
The University of Virginia has 300 volumes on this subject,
and the College of William and Mary and the University of Richmond
about 250 volumes each. At the University of Richmond there
is some material on nearly all phases of mediaeval civilization
and history. At William and Mary the most emphasis, perhaps, is
on the crusades, art, and culture. At the University of Virginia
among the subjects which have the more adequate treatment is the
Byzantine Empire. The Cambridge Mediaeval History and the periodical
Speculum seem to be in the majority of the collections.
There are several sets also of Migne's Patrologiae. The University
of Virginia has the Chronicles and Memorials of Great
Britain, the Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinei, and the
Monumenta Germaniae Historica.
In MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY there is a fair amount of general
material in Virginia libraries, but not a great deal that
is outstanding for purposes of research. It has already been
noted that these collections are weak in foreign documents and
monumental sets. Where such material does appear, it is most
likely to be found in connection with the backgrounds of American
colonial history or with the recent World War.
On the subject of the World War, however, there is one
specialized collection in Virginia that is of considerable importance;
this is comprised of the military material at the
library of the Coast Artillery School. A large part of this
might possibly be classed as American military history, since it
is the record of participation by the United States. But the
terrain is largely European. The general material includes
8,555 items and the material dealing with specific countries of
6,149 items, a combined total of 14,484. The historical background
and sundry printed reports are in book form, but the
collection is primarily composed of military archives.
At the University of Virginia, on the other hand, the
approach to the World War is largely through diplomatic history,
and this collection includes a considerable part of the documentary
publications issued by the Belgian, British, French,
German, and Russian governments. In addition to world war
material, the University of Virginia has sundry sets, more or
less complete, such as the publications of the British Historical
Manuscripts Commission, the Documents Inédits sur l'Histoire
de France and Le Moniteur Universel, and the Spanish Coleccion
de Documentos Ineditos, this last set relating to colonial
possessions. There is a considerable amount of material on
Napoleon and on Mazzini and the period of the Risorgimento in
Italy. Combining the general European material with the material
dealing with special countries there are 6,834 volumes in
modern European history at the University of Virginia.
A similar combination at the State Library gives a total of
5,235 volumes. A valuable part of this collection consists of
material of various forms relating to the American colonial
possessions of Great Britain, France, and Spain.
This statement may be repeated for the collection on modern
European history at the College of William and Mary, which
totals 2,859 volumes. This includes the colonial material in
the Calendar of State Papers, the Journal of the Commissioners
for Foreign Trade and Plantations, the Reports of the Historical
Manuscripts Commission, Hansard's Debates (down to 1830),
and the Harleian Society Publications.
At the Randolph-Macon Woman's College there are 2,174 volumes
of modern history relating to Europe and its countries.
of the collection deals with Great Britain.
In ASIATIC HISTORY the State Library has a collection of
875 volumes, subdivided as follows: general material, fifty
volumes; southwestern Asia, 300 (including Palestine and the
Jews, 180); minor Asiatic regions, 100; India, 230, China, 110,
and Japan and Korea, eighty-five volumes.
The library at the University of Richmond has over 400 volumes
in Asiatic history, the countries most largely represented
being China with 150 volumes, Japan with 125, and India with
about 100.
At the Coast Artillery School there are about 300 volumes
in Asiatic history. Here, too, China with ninety-four volumes
and Japan with seventy-seven afford the largest amount of
material.
The Collis P. Huntington Memorial Library at Hampton Institute
contains what is probably the largest collection in Virginia
of material on AFRICAN HISTORY. This is a general collection
amounting to 481 volumes, and includes a file of the
periodical, Africa.
Other collections, all of them general in character, include
one of 240 volumes at the State Library, one of over 125
volumes at the University of Richmond, and one of about 120 volumes
at the Coast Artillery School. In the last of these libraries,
however, there is some emphasis on Egypt.
The materials on the history of OCEANICA show still further
shrinkage. The library at the Mariners' Museum contains about
200 volumes for those far-flung islands, the State Library has
190, and the library at the Coast Artillery School has over 100.
The Philippines and Hawaii tend to figure most prominently.
For LATIN-AMERICAN HISTORY the largest collection in Virginia
is at the State Library, comprising 770 volumes. This
includes sundry documentary publications, such as Blanco's
Documentos para la Historia de la Vida Publica del Libertador
de Colombia and Manning's Diplomatic Correspondence of the
United States, both the set on Inter-American Affairs and the
set Concerning the Independence of the Latin-American Nations.
There are also runs of the Boletin Historico de Puerto Rico,
the Hispanic American Historical Review, and the Pan American
Union Bulletin.
Smaller collections on Latin-America, each numbering between
200 and 250 volumes, are at Hampton Institute and at the
University of Virginia.
Among the Virginia libraries there are some fairly extensive
collections of material on UNITED STATES HISTORY, both
general and local; and a dozen or so of the other libraries
which have been frequently named in this report have made commendable
beginnings in this field. For general material the
State Library, the College of William and Mary, the Coast Artillery
School, and the University of Virginia have the largest
aggregation of volumes; and in state and local history the
State Library, William and Mary, the Virginia Historical
Society, the University of Richmond, and the University of Virginia
can at present claim numerical priority.
At the State Library there are some 500 volumes classified
as history of the Indians and of aboriginal America.
These include the United States government publications issued
by the Bureau of American Ethnology, the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs, and the Smithsonian Institution; and also Bancroft's
Works, the Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, and a considerable
number of early books of description and travel.
Material of very similar character may be found at the University
of Virginia to the amount of about 750 volumes and at the
College of William and Mary to the amount of about 300 volumes;
and the Virginia Historical Society contains a considerable
number of individual works on the Indian.
The collection at the State Library on discovery, exploration,
and the colonial period numbers about 730 volumes of
history and 400 volumes of descriptive works. Among these may
be named the American Antiquarian Society's Archaeologica Americana;
C. L. Andrews' Narratives of the Insurrections, 1675-1698;
Bristol and America, a Record of the First Settlers in the Colonies
of North America, 1654-1685; Edmond Burke's Account of the
European Settlements in America, 1758; Champlain's Oeuvres;
Church's Catalogue of Books Relating to the Discovery and Early
History of North and South America; F. G. Davenport's European
Treatises Bearing on the History of the United States and its
Dependencies; B. F. French's Historical Collections of Louisiana,
1846-53; Herrero y Tordesillas, General History of the Vast
Continent and Islands of America, 1725-26; Hotten's Original
Lists of Persons of Quality; Labaree's Royal Instructions to
British Colonial Governors, 1670-1776; Joannis de Laet's Novus
Orbis, 1633; John Ogilby's America; Francis Parkman's Works;
Purchas his Pilgrimage, 1614; and both series of Sherwood's
American Colonists in English Records. At the University of
Virginia there are about 1,000 volumes on these subjects, at
the Coast Artillery School there are 644, and at the College of
of Virginia and at William and Mary contain a considerable
amount of material in historical periodicals.
For the Revolution and the early national period the State
Library has approximately 1,300 volumes, its collection of periodicals
and of society publications being extensive. In the 805
volumes at the Coast Artillery School the military features of
the Revolutionary War are emphasized. A collection of 600 volumes
at the College of William and Mary contains complete sets of
a number of federal and state archival publications. In connection
with the Revolutionary War it may be recalled that film
copies of source material on the War in the South is being rapidly
collected at the Yorktown headquarters of the Colonial
National Historical Park.[10]
On the Civil War and slavery the State Library has about
2,750 volumes - 500 on the period immediately preceding the war,
2,000 on the war itself, and 250 on slavery, these being in
addition to the slavery material classified among the social
sciences. This extensive collect on includes periodical and
society publications, official records, reports of adjutant-generals
of states, rosters of soldiers, histories of military
units, records of later encampments of veterans, and biographical
sketches of military and political leaders. Together with the
smaller but valuable collections at the Virginia Historical
Society, the Confederate Museum Library, and the Confederate Memorial
Institute, this material at the State Library makes Richmond
a favourable center for research on topics developing from the
War Between the States. Outside of Richmond there are good
collections at the College of William and Mary and at the University
of Virginia, each numbering about 1,000 volumes. It may not
be out of place to comment on the frequency with which a browser
in Virginia libraries meets with the 128 volumes of the War of
the Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate
Armies.
For the period of reconstruction, a considerable amount of
the material seems to exist in newspaper files and in pamphlet
and manuscript collections. It is therefore likely to be most
available in libraries where such forms are abundant. Of printed
books dealing with this era the State Library has about 300 volumes
and the College of William and Mary 215.
Some emphasis has been given to recent United States history
at the University of Virginia and its library has rather more
than 800 volumes which may be classified as of this period.
In the field of local and state history the Virginia
specialty has been Virginia. Wherever in the state there is a
The natural result is a large duplication of the more
common items. But a fortunate outcome of this general interest
is the enhanced possibility that the uncommon and perhaps obscure
publication will be recognized and preserved. In the Bibliography
of Virginia History since 1865[11] by the Archivist of the
University of Virginia Library, locations of 6,242 items are
given for twenty-eight libraries, of which ten are in Virginia.
If this plan were to be carried out in the form of a union catalogue
of Virginiana for all Virginia libraries, it is quite
likely that some of the smaller libraries would be found to make
a very creditable showing. In this present report, however, only
five of the largest collections will be mentioned; namely, those
at the State Library, the College of William and Mary, the Virginia
Historical Society, the University of Virginia, and the
University of Richmond.
In this field of local and state history the Virginia State
Library has a collection of 9,100 volumes. The emphasis is on
Virginia and the South, but the New England and other northern
states are also well represented. The collection includes books,
pamphlets, periodicals, maps, and some clippings and pictures;
statements have previously been made[12]
with regard to the Virginia
newspapers, public documents, and manuscripts in this
library. There are files, some incomplete, of seventy-six local
historical periodicals or serial publications. The extent of
the Virginiana has been impressively indicated by the Bibliography
of Virginia[13]
which was issued as a Bulletin of the State
Library twenty years ago, since this was a record of the holdings
of that library. A list of the outstanding items would be too
long for inclusion in this survey report. But it would include
early editions or reprints of most of the Virginia histories and
other important Virginiana, and it would reveal that special
efforts have been made to secure all available publications in
such directions as the literature of early voyages and travels
and the historical records of Virginia counties and towns.
Another Virginia collection significant for research purposes
volumes, of which 1,575 are about Virginia state, county, and town
history. Colonial, Revolutionary, and Civil War accounts, both of
people and places, have been stressed; and the localities spread
from Williamsburg through James City County, Virginia, and the
surrounding southern states. There are long files of thirty-seven
local history periodicals, and each of these is complete from 1920
to date. The Virginia Historical Index,[14] that extraordinary open
sesame to the contents of the most important Virginia historical
magazines, is the product of long years of skilled effort on the
part of the Librarian of William and Mary; and it has made this
and every other similar collection of Virginiana more valuable because
of the increased accessibility of the Virginia periodical
material in those collections.
The importance of the Virginia Historical Society as a depository
for manuscripts has already been pointed out,[15]
and mention
has also been made[16]
of its files of Virginia newspapers. But
the object of the Society has been to collect everything that has
historical interest (there are perhaps 30,000 items in the whole
library), and one or two additional phases of this collecting
activity should be mentioned here. The maps of the state which
belong to the Virginia Historical Society extend in date from 1598
to 1933. Of book material there are well over 800 volumes of
local history, dealing largely with Virginia but also including
Maryland, North Carolina, and the New England States. In Virginia
itself such cities as Alexandria, Fredericksburg, Richmond, Williamsburg,
and Winchester are largely represented.
The library at the University of Richmond is effectively
equipped with material on United States history both in its general
phases and in local Virginia material. There are about 700
Virginia volumes, not including biography, pamphlets, and periodicals.
These cover sectional, county, and town histories and
economic, educational, political, and social development. Of
primary importance for research is the Virginia Baptist Historical
Society Collection on the religious history of the State.
At the University of Virginia some effort has been made to
acquire state histories and the publications of state historical
societies without regional limitations. But for purely local
material the emphasis has been on Virginia. The collection of Virginiana
numbers about 6,000 volumes - though this total includes
Virginia imprints and the writings of Virginians as well as
materials of historical content. The sets of local histories are
church histories, maps, and almanacs are largely represented. As
an example of intensive collecting, there is in this library a
nearly complete set of the editions of Thomas Jefferson's Notes
on the State of Virginia - this early `best seller', untrammeled
by copyright limitations, ran to thirty or more editions. But in
this statement, as in the statements for these four other collections
of local and state history, it has seemed wise to resist the
temptation to include lists of rare items.
The foregoing consideration of the Virginia collections in
United States history by periods and subjects probably affords the
best approach to an estimate of the foundation and resource
materials. It is difficult to arrive at even approximately correct
numerical totals for purposes of comparison, since the practice
varies with regard to inclusion of document, pamphlet, and periodical
items. But it may be safe to state that, in general and local
United States history combined, the State Library has at least
15,000 volumes, the University of Virginia 8,500 volumes, and the
College of William and Mary 6,000 volumes.
Moderately good collections in BIOGRAPHY, not varying greatly
in size, are scattered over the State of Virginia. In material
there is some regional and more national emphasis; but the prevailing
effect is that of general collections. The American and
English dictionaries of biography are quite common. It would
appear that the new Dictionary of American Biography has found a
good market in this State. The monumental foreign dictionaries
are less frequent. But a brief location list may serve to indicate
the situation.
Allegemeine Deutsche Biographie. At Randolph-Macon Woman's
College, State Library, University of Virginia.
Chevalier, Répertoire des Sources Historiques du Moyen Age. At
University of Virginia.
Dictionnaire de Biographie Francaise. At Hollins College, Sweet
Briar, University of Virginia.
Hoefer, Nouvelle Biographie Générale. At University of Virginia.
Michaud, Biographie Universelle, Ancienne et Moderne. At State
Library, University of Virginia.
Saxe, Onomasticon Literarium. At Randolph-Macon Woman's College,
University of Virginia.
Vapereau, Dictionnaire Universel des Contemporains. At Sweet
Briar, University of Virginia.
The collection at the University of Virginia numbers approximately
8,000 volumes. Recent national material is at present
tending to predominate. But Great Britain is also well represented,
there being several of the longer sets such as: Bayle's
General Dictionary, Brougham and Vaux's Historical Sketches of
Lives of the Lords Chancellors, Lives of the Chief Justices of
England, Lives of the British Admirals, Cibber's Lives of the Poets
of Great Britain and Ireland, Foss's Judges of England, Lodge's
Portraits of Illustrious Personages of Great Britain, Strickland's
Lives of the Queens of England, and Wood's Athenae Oxoninses.
At the State Library there are 6,500 volumes under this heading.
Here early biography predominates, and the emphasis is perhaps
on statesmen and military leaders of the United States, particularly
of the South and of Virginia. There are, however, 1,270
volumes of English individual biography.
Of the 4,560 volumes in biography at the College of William
and Mary the majority are of recent publication, and there is no
regional division. Lives of statesmen and of literary figures
are perhaps most largely represented.
The collection of approximately 3,500 volumes at the University
of Richmond is fairly representative for individuals of Virginia
and of the South. The types of subjects which predominate
are political, religious, literary, and educational.
A census, made at the time this survey was taken, of the volumes
of biographical material in some of the other institutional
libraries of the State, gives the following figures - figures
which of course have in every case become too small by the time
this report has emerged:- Washington and Lee University, 3,300
volumes; Hampton Institute, 3,162; Virginia Military Institute,
1,804; Coast Artillery School, 1,750; Sweet Briar College, 1,714;
Union Theological Seminary, 1,600; Episcopal Theological Seminary,
1,500. These last two collections of course are primarily of
religious leaders. The larger public libraries also have collections
comparable in size with those which have been listed.
It is a library maxim that GENEALOGY is the thief of time;
and competition for priority in genealogical collections seems not
to be active. In this subject, however, three Virginia libraries
have moderately full collections concerning local and regional
families, with roots going back to localities in Great Britain.
These are the library at the College of William and Mary, with
1,290 volumes; the State Library, with 1,150 volumes, not counting
periodicals; and the library of the Virginia Historical Society,
with over 1,000 volumes.
Cappon, Lester Jesse. Bibliography of Virginia history
since 1865 ... University, Va., Institute for research in the
social sciences, 1930. xviii, 900 p. (University of Virginia.
Institute for research in the social sciences. Institute monograph
no.5)
Swem, Earl Gregg. A bibliography of Virginia ... Richmond,
Bottom, 1916-17. 2 vol. (In Virginia. State Library. Bulletin,
VIII, 2-4; X, 1-4) Pt.I: Titles of books in the Virginia state
library which relate to Virginia and Virginians; titles of books
written by Virginians, and of those printed in Virginia; with index.
Swem, Earl Gregg. Virginia historical index ... Roanoke,
Va. ... Stone printing and manufacturing company, 1934-36.
2 vol.
III. SCIENCE
Section A. General Science.
There are three libraries in Virginia which contain almost
library of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and the library of
the University of Virginia. Yet these form an excellent illustration
of the fact that differences may exist among collections
numerically equal. The material at the State Library represents
the whole field and includes files of two dozen or more serials,
mainly the publications of American museums and scientific
societies. The collection at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute
contains runs of thirty-eight general science periodicals or
society serials, and there are interesting groups of works on the
history and on the philosophy of science. At the University of
Virginia the serial section of the collection in general science
includes the publications of twenty academies of science, a
number of which are foreign.
Two other Virginia libraries deserve mention in this connection.
At the College of William and Mary there are 1,250 volumes
in general science, which include thirty periodicals and an unusual
number of early works — works, that is, which were published
before 1800. At the Virginia Military Institute the central
library contains 858 volumes in general science, including a
number of American periodicals, and there is a separate departmental
library housing a number of general works.
Section B. Geology.
The collection in geology at the University of Virginia numbers
4,420 volumes and an extensive file of maps and surveys.
The sets of United States state and federal surveys are almost
complete, and Canada, India, and various other countries are well
represented. The library contains geological publications from
Glasgow, Harvard, Stanford, Texas, Toronto, Uppsala, and several
other universities; and among the periodicals and society publications
are American Geologist, Economic Geology, the Field Museum
Geological Series, Geological Magazine, the Geological Society of
America Bulletin and Proceedings, Geological Society of London
Quarterly Journal, Journal of Geology, the publications of the
Lemberg Universytet Instytut Geofizyki i Meteorologji, and the
Pan-American Geologist.
At the State Library there are 2,600 volumes on geology,
atlases and maps for all states covered by the United States Geological
Survey, surveys of twenty-five states, chiefly east of
the Mississippi River, and full sets of nearly all of the federal
publications, such as annual reports, bulletins, monographs, and
professional papers.
The library at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute contains
1,858 volumes and a considerable number of uncatalogued publications,
periodicals, and maps. There is a somewhat similar reference
and teaching collection, of approximately 1,000 volumes, at
Section C. Geography.
For research material in geography the collection at the
Mariners' Museum near Newport News is outstanding among Virginia
libraries. This special library[17]
contains 19,438 books and pamphlets,
which include bibliographical material, society publications,
treatises on maritime law, and historical works (chiefly
naval) of Europe, Asia, Oceanica, and the Americas. But the
collection is particularly strong in geographical subjects and in
naval science (see Technology, Section B., Military and Naval
Science[18]
). In geographical subjects there are, for example, the
works of the cartographers Arnoldus, Blaeu, Danckerts, Delisle,
Dewitt, Homann, Hondius, Janssonius, Linschoten, Lotter, Mercator,
Moll, Ortelius, Ptolemy, Sanson, Speed, and Vaugondy. There are
massive sets of collected voyages and travels such as the Histoire
Générale des Voyages, twenty-five volumes; Le Tour de Monde,
thirty-five volumes; and the collections of Balbi, Churchill,
Grasset de Saint-Sauveur, Hakluyt, Harris, Kemys, Mavor, Phillips,
Pinkerton, Prevost, and Purchas. American and English government
publications are well represented; and among the society publications
are the American Geographical Society Research Papers, the
Boletin de la Sociedad Geographica de Madrid, and the Journal and
the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society.
Several other libraries in the State contain map material
worthy of note. At the State Library the map collection, printed
and manuscript, comprises about 10,000 items, a considerable part
pertaining to Virginia and its divisions. Not a few of these items
are rare. At the Coast Artillery School there is also a large
collection of maps, the emphasis naturally being on material of
direct military import; but there are also complete files of geological
and geodetic and airways maps. A smaller collection at
the University of Virginia includes some early state maps and a
set of photographic reproductions of Virginia maps from the French
archives. Of localities represented in map collections in Virginia,
Williamsburg and the Yorktown peninsula are outstanding,
the collections of local maps at the College of William and Mary,
at Colonial Williamsburg, Incorporated, and at the Colonial
National Historical Park at Yorktown covering this area with
extraordinary completeness.
As for books on discovery, exploration, and travel, they show
a tendency to be nomadic in library classification: for copies of
the same work turn up under history in some libraries and under
geography in others. Here again, therefore, comparison of
of Virginia the trend has apparently been to migrate to geography,
the census of the general book collection under that
subject showing 4,771 volumes when this survey was made. The
Barnard Shipp Collection and other donations have brought a considerable
number of the more important travel books and many
minor works to this library. There is some emphasis on early
American discovery and exploration; and of atlases, gazetteers,
and guide books the number is considerable.
Other noteworthy book collections on geographic subjects,
each totaling approximately 1,000 volumes, are at the library of
the University of Richmond, the library of Washington and Lee
University, and the State Library. Several of the public
libraries contain excellent collections of travel books, the
Petersburg Public Library deserving special recognition among
these.
Section D. Astronomy.
The astronomy library at the University of Virginia comprises
2,541 volumes and an extensive assortment of serial publications.
The standard works are included; and there are such
sets as Albrecht, Resultate des Internationalen Beitendienste;
Andoyer, Cours de Mécanique Céleste; Bessel, Abhandlungen; Dombowski,
Misure Micrometriche di Stelle; Enske, Gesammelte Mathematische
und Astronomische Abhandlungen; Graff, Grundriss der
Astrophysik; Laplace, Méchanique Céleste; and Valentiner, Handwörterbuch
der Astronomie. The monumental Handbuch der Astrophysik
is being received as it appears. Reports and other publications
are on file from 116 astronomical observatories. In a
number of cases these are scattering. But twenty-seven sets,
representing the more important observatories, are complete; and
forty-three are being received currently. Astronomical maps and
atlases form a noteworthy part of the collection, and astrographic
catalogues from nineteen observatories are available.
Another important section is composed of nautical almanacs and
ephemerides, which represent thirteen countries. Of periodicals
and society publications there are forty-seven on file, thirteen
being complete, and twenty-two being received currently. There
are, therefore, about 200 astronomical serials of one sort and
another in this collection, at least forty of the sets being
complete, and some sixty-five to seventy being currently received.
The State Library and the library at the Coast Artillery
School each contains about 350 volumes in astronomy, these collections
being for the most part of a general character.
Section E. Mathematics.
In the library at the Coast Artillery School at Old Point
Comfort there is a collection of 2,649 books in mathematics, including
a moderate number of periodicals. The books are mainly
in English, but some of the earlier works are represented. This
collection forms the basis for various technical studies in
connection with the activities of the School. Mathematical
analysis forms a line of special interest.
At the University of Virginia there are approximately 1,400
volumes in mathematics. There are at present full sets of only
a comparatively few periodicals; but the following mathematical
journals (not including academy publications) are being currently
received:- Acta Mathematica, American Journal of Mathematics,
American Mathematical Monthly, American Mathematical Society
Bulletin, Transactions, and Colloquium Publications, Annals of
Mathematics, Bulletin de Mathematiques et de Physique Pure et
Appliquees, Bulletin des Sciences Mathematiques, California
University Publications in Mathematics and Physical Sciences,
Composito Mathematica, Duke Mathematical Journal, Ergebnisse
der Mathematik, Fundamenta Mathematica, Jahresbericht der Deutschen
Mathematiker-Vereingung, Journal für die Reine und Angewandte
Mathematik, London Mathematical Society Proceedings,
Mathematica, Mathematics News-Letter, Mathematics Teacher, Mathematische
Annalen, Mathematische Zeitschrift, Messenger of Mathematics,
Monatschefte für Mathematik und Physik, Monografje Matematyczae,
Nouvelles Annales de Mathematiques, Quarterly Journal
of Mathematics, Quellen und Studien zur Geschichte de Mathematik,
Rendiconti del Circolo Mathematico di Palermo, School Science
and Mathematics, Tohoku Mathematical Journal, Washington (State)
University Publications in Mathematics, Zentralblatt für Mathematik
und ihre Grenzgebiete.
At the library of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute the
collection in mathematics numbers 714 volumes. This is a general
collection. It includes the French edition of the Encyclopédie
des Sciences Mathematiques Pure et Appliquées.
Section F. Physics.
The collection in physics at the University of Virginia numbers
3,715 volumes, which include the Handbuch der Physik, the
Handbuch der Experimental Physik, full runs of a number of
periodicals, and the current receipt of twenty-two physics journals.
The most notable contribution of this collection to purposes of
research is in the Lomb Collection on Optics. This comprises 819
volumes and several thousand pamphlets, a number of which would
be difficult to duplicate.
The library at the Coast Artillery School contains 2,193
heat, and optics. At the State Library there is a
general collection of approximately 1,300 volumes. The College
of William and Mary, the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and
Washington and Lee University all have from 750 to 800 volumes
in the subject of physics.
Section G. Chemistry.
The collection in chemistry at the University of Virginia
comprises 7,565 volumes, of which about three-fifths are chemical
journals. Of the back sets of journals and of the sixty
varieties currently received, a considerable proportion is made
up of foreign publications. Among the comprehensive works are
those by Beilstein, Gmelin-Kraut, Heilbron, Mellor, and Richter.
The special fields of interest include drugs, food chemistry,
dyes, and bio-chemistry.
At Washington and Lee University there are approximately
3,250 volumes in chemistry. The collection includes a fair proportion
of serial publications; and among the monumental sets
are those by Beilstein, Gmelin-Kraut, Grignard, Heilbron, Mellor,
and Richter. There are no special fields of interest.
The libraries at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and at
the University of Richmond both contain about 1,500 volumes in
chemistry, which include good runs of periodicals and several
of the monumental sets which have been issued in this subject.
At the Virginia Polytechnic Institute the special fields of
interest are agricultural, cellulose, and rayon chemistry.
Considerable emphasis has been given at the University of Richmond
to chemical history and to the biographies of chemists.
The Medical College of Virginia in Richmond has greatly
strengthened its material in medical sciences by acquiring
periodical material in general science and in most of the special
sciences. In chemistry, for example, this library contains runs
of twenty-six chemical journals which total 941 volumes.
Section H. Biological Sciences.
There are approximately 1,100 volumes in GENERAL BIOLOGY
at the University of Virginia. The collection includes some
bibliographical and some biographical material, and there are
twenty-two periodicals currently received.
Five libraries in Virginia are notably close in reported
amount of material in general biology: the College of William
and Mary, 655 volumes; the State Library, 650 volumes; Randolph-Macon
594 volumes; and Hampton Institute, 592 volumes. Of these,
the library at Virginia Polytechnic Institute is comparatively
strong in periodical holdings. Both that library and the library
at Randolph-Macon Woman's College subscribe to the Wistar Institute
Bibliographic Services. Apparently most of the college and
university libraries have been currently receiving Biological
Abstracts.
Of material on BOTANY the library of the Virginia Polytechnic
Institute contains 1,262 volumes. This collection includes
sets of the Index Kewensis Plantarum Phanerogamarum, of the
Natürlichen Pflanzen-Familien, and of the Kryptogamen-Flora by
Rabenhorst; the reports of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, of the
Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg in Java, of the Missouri Botanical
Garden in St. Louis, of the New York Botanical Garden, and of
the United States National Herbarium; and the following serials
(a number, however, being incomplete): American Botanist, American
Fern Journal, American Journal of Botany, Botanical Abstracts,
Botanical Gazette, Botanical Review, Botanische Zeitung, Botanisches
Zentralblatt, Butler University Botanical Studies,
California University Publications in Botany, Deutschen Botanische
Gesellschaft, Dutch East Indies, Instituut voor Plantenziekten,
Mededeelingen, Florida, State Plant Board, Circulars, Monthly
Bulletin, Quarterly Bulletin, Reports, Insecutor Inscitiae Menstruus,
Jahresbericht über die Fortschritte in der Lehre von den
Gärungs-Gebiete der Pflanzenkrankheiten, Journal of Mycology,
Minnesota Botanical Studies, Minnesota Plant Studies, Botanical
Series of the Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota,
Montreal University Contributions du Laboratorie de Botanique,
Mycologia, New Phytologist, North American Flora, Pennsylvania
University Botanical Laboratory Contributions, Phytopathology,
Plant Physiology, Plant World, Revue Général de Botanique, Rhodora,
Royal Botanic Club, Notes, Société Mycologique de France,
Bulletin, Southern Appalachian Botanical Club, Journal, Torrey
Botanical Club, Bulletin, Wyoming University Publications in
Science, Botany, Zeitschrift für Botanik, Zeitschrift für
Pflanzenkrankheiten.
At the University of Virginia Library there are approximately
1,800 volumes in botany, the majority being books, not serials.
Some of the earlier works are represented; there are Engler's
Das Pflanzenreich, the Index Kewensis, the Natürlichen Pflanzen-Familien,
and Rabenhorst's Kryptogamen-Flora; and the publications
of the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University, of the
Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, of the New York Botanical
Garden, of the Jardin Botanico of Rio de Janeiro, and of the
United States National Herbarium are currently received.
A general collection in botany is maintained at the College
the collection consisted of 575 volumes.
Of volumes in ZOOLOGY the University of Virginia has approximately
2,400. This is a general collection with some early
works, such as Buffon's Histoire Naturelle (both in the original
and in translation); with several monumental sets, for example,
Audubon's Birds of America, Bronn's Klassen und Ordnungen der
Thier Reichs, and Lankester's Treatise on Zoology; and with a
fair representation of reports of marine laboratories, zoological
gardens, and zoological serials. For purposes of research the
most significant part of the collection probably consists in the
material — books, periodicals, and pamphlets — on ornithology,
this being largely the gift of J. H. Riley, Esq., of the United
States National Museum.
The Library at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute contains
1,090 volumes in zoology. This also is a general collection.
It includes runs of thirty-eight serial publications, in addition
to which there are the reports (chiefly annual) from twenty-two
government departments or laboratories.
The State Library in Richmond has approximately 1,000 volumes
in zoology, the collection being general but with some
emphasis on popular zoology and birds. About 200 of the volumes
are the publications of state departments of fisheries. Special
sets include Audubon's Birds of America, the Cambridge Natural
History, Cuvier's Animal Kingdom, Jardine's Naturalist's Library,
and Kingsley's Riverside Natural History.
Section I. Psychology.
In psychology there are about 2,400 volumes at the University
of Virginia Library. These include twenty-two periodicals
currently received and two or three which are no longer being
published, the sets being complete in the majority of cases.
The collection deals with general psychology, but there is considerable
emphasis on child psychology and on educational
psychology.
The library at the Randolph-Macon Woman's College contains
a total of 1,042 volumes in psychology. There is a good selection
of the files of the more important journals, American, English,
and German.
There are five libraries in Virginia which have collections
of about 500 volumes in psychology. These are the Mary Helen
Cochran Library at Sweet Briar College, which has 566 volumes,
a good working collection for undergraduate study in the history
psychology; the library of the College of William and Mary, with
520 volumes, showing some special interest in child psychology
and in physiological psychology; the libraries at the University
of Richmond and at Washington and Lee University, each with about
500 volumes; and the library at the Union Theological Seminary,
with 450 volumes, mainly on abnormal psychology, child psychology,
and the psychology of religion.
Section J. Medicine.
There are three medical collections of note in Virginia; the
libraries of the Medical College of Virginia and of the Richmond
Academy of Medicine, which occupy adjacent buildings and supplement
each other; and the library of the medical department of the
University of Virginia. Research workers in these libraries have
the advantage of proximity to the great Army Medical Library in
Washington, which uniformly maintains a high degree of courtesy,
generosity, and effectiveness in inter-library loans.
The research worker at the Medical College of Virginia can
also draw on the science sections of other libraries in Richmond,
this process having been expedited by a union list of
periodical holdings in nine collections in that city. (See Part
One, Section B., Bibliography.[19]
) In the total of 24,472 volumes
recorded for this particular library, however, there are included
2,384 volumes of periodicals in general science (694), physics
(89), chemistry (941), general biology (225), botany (192), and
zoology (243). This collection, therefore, affords a considerable
degree of independence of outside resources. The medical material
itself is well distributed over the various fields of medical
activity. But the subjects that are perhaps most adequately
equipped are general medicine, pathology, practice of medicine,
surgery, ophthalmology, gynecology, and therapeutics. There are
also strong sections in anatomy, physiology, and bacteriology.
Altogether there are files, a fair proportion being complete, of
330 periodicals or society publications, the total number of volumes
of serials being in excess of 14,000.
The Miller Library of the Richmond Academy of Medicine[20]
contains
approximately 3,500 volumes of old medical works (including
some incunabula) in Greek, Italian, German, French, and English.
In time these works range from the tenth century to the early
nineteenth; and in subject they include general medicine, surgery,
dentistry, pharmacy, and such allied sciences as nursing. This
medical journals are transferred to the neighbouring library of
the Medical College of Virginia.
The research worker at the University of Virginia of course
has ready access to the various science collections on the same
campus. The medical collection itself numbers 17,747 volumes,
including files of somewhat over one hundred periodicals. There
is also an extensive and carefully filed accumulation of pamphlets
and reprints. The collection is general in character, but
there is some emphasis on cancer research, dermatology, neurology,
radiology, surgery, pediatrics, pathology, physiology, bacteriology,
and the history of medicine.
In addition to these Richmond and Charlottesville centers
for medical books there is at least an interesting suggestion in
a special collection in Norfolk. This is maintained by the Norfolk
County Medical Society for its members, and consists of
approximately 8,000 volumes in medicine, surgery, medical history,
and medical biography.
The collection at the Richmond Academy of Medicine is
accessible for research work within the library, but the books are
not available for outside loans.
Section K. Allied Medical Sciences.
In HYGIENE AND STATE MEDICINE the Medical College of Virginia
has 2,319 volumes, including government, state, and municipal publications
and runs of fifteen periodicals. There are somewhat
smaller collections at the University of Virginia and at the Virginia
Polytechnic Institute.
In PHARMACY AND MATERIA MEDICA the collection at the Medical
College of Virginia numbers 1,142 volumes, of which 868 are periodicals
representing twenty-four titles. The State Library has a
collection of 1,617 volumes in these subjects, the proportion of
periodicals being, in this case, smaller.
The Medical College of Virginia contains 815 volumes on
DENTISTRY, of which 382 are miscellaneous textbooks and 443 are
serials, nineteen varieties being represented.
On the subject of NURSING both the Medical College of Virginia
and the University of Virginia have collections of about 300
volumes. The library at the University subscribes to seven
periodicals dealing with this subject.
IV. TECHNOLOGY
Section A. Engineering.
There are five fairly extensive collections in Virginia of
material on engineering: at the University of Virginia, 8,437
volumes; at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 6,983 volumes;
at the State Library, 6,020 volumes; at the Coast Artillery
School, 5,701 volumes; and at the specialized Norfolk and Western
Transportation Library, 2,500 books and 3,000 pamphlets, a
total of 5,500. Smaller collections are to be found in Lexington,
at the Virginia Military Institute and at Washington and Lee
University. But as the Engineering School at Washington and Lee
has recently been discontinued, further additions will probably
not be made to that collection.
The Norfolk and Western Railway Transportation Library[21]
at
Roanoke contains material on the economic, geological, and
historical phases of transportation as well as on engineering;
and attention has been given to air, highway, and water transportation
as well as to railways. A considerable part of the
collection, however, deals with railway engineering. The material
is chiefly in the form of books, pamphlets, and railway
reports. There are also a few engineering journals; and there
are sets of the proceedings of the American Railway Association
and of its Freight Claims Division, of the American Railway
Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association, of the American
Railway Master Mechanics' Association, of the Master Car Builders'
Association, and of the Railway Stockkeepers' Association.
In the collection at the Coast Artillery School at Fort
Monroe the emphasis is on electrical, mechanical, and military
engineering. There are runs of eighteen journals, the more complete
files being those of the Journal of the Franklin Institute,
the Military Engineer, the Scientific American, the Transactions
of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Transactions
of the Society of Mechanical Engineers.
At the State Library, city and state reports and United
States serial publications form about two-thirds of the collection.
The points of stress are hydraulic, mining, railway, and
highway engineering. There are sets of twenty journals; several
of these, such as the American Railroad Journal, the Artizan,
the Journal of the Franklin Institute, and the Journal of the
Society of Arts, London, go back to the first half of the
engineering.
The collection at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute covers
practically all types of engineering, as may be seen by an
enumeration of the volumes in each branch: aeronautical engineering,
281 volumes; agricultural engineering, 109; architectural
engineering (including volumes on architecture), 741; ceramic
engineering, 81; chemical engineering (not including theoretical
chemistry), 512; civil engineering, 1,191; electrical engineering,
978; general engineering, 714; graphics, 124; industrial
engineering, 438; mechanical engineering, 1,091; mining engineering,
723; the grand total being 6,983 volumes. Of engineering
periodicals and society proceedings there are 134 different
titles. The collection includes about thirty volumes of engineering
history and about twenty volumes of engineering biography.
There is a complete set of the Transactions of the Newcomen
Society which deal mainly with the history of engineering and of
technology.
At the University of Virginia also the collection covers
all branches; but there is emphasis on civil, electrical, mechanical,
and chemical engineering. There are files of 307 engineering
serials, of which ninety-five are currently received. The
sets of the following are complete: Proceedings of the American
Society of Civil Engineers, the Refrigerating Data Book of the
American Society of Refrigerating Engineers, the Automatic
Electric Review, the Bell System Technical Journal, the Bell Telephone
Quarterly, Civil Engineering, Communication and Broadcast
Engineering, Electrical Maintenance, the Transactions of the
Illuminating Engineering Society, Industrial and Engineering
Chemistry, the Transactions of the Institution of Chemical
Engineers, the Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers, the Engineering Research Bulletin of the Department
of Engineering Research of the University of Michigan, the Contributed
Technical Papers on Stratospheres of the National Geographic
Society, the Bulletin Series of the Engineering Experiment
Station of the Oregon Agricultural College, Television,
published by the R.C.A. Institute, Inc., the Series of Monograms
on Electrical Engineering published in Great Britain, the Strowger
Technical Journal, and the Publications of the School of Engineering
of Yale University.
This collection serves as a centralized source of information
for the railway company's employees. But persons not
connected with the railway are granted opportunity to consult the
material within the library in Roanoke.
Section B. Military and Naval Science.
As is to be expected, the largest collection in Virginia of
books on military science is at the Coast Artillery School at
Fort Monroe, Old Point Comfort. On military and naval science
combined there are 10,469 volumes, but by far the major part
deals with military science, with emphasis on artillery. As an
indication of the research possibilities in the history of
namely, A. Bell's Treatise on the Art of War, 1803; Gaspard
H. Cotty's Encyclopédie Methodique, Dictionnaire de l'Artillerie,
1822; Cugnot's Elemens de l'Art Militaire Ancien et
Moderne, 1766; Etat Actuel de l'Art et de la Science Militaire à
la Chine, 1773; Friedrich II der Grosse, Military Instructions,
1762; Earl Orrery's Treatise on the Art of War, 1677; Préjugés
Militaires, par un Officier Autrichien, 1783; Puysegur's Art de
la Guerre, 1748; Duc de Rohan, Le Parfait Capitaine, 1648;
Maurice Saxe, Mes Reveries, 1757; Comte Turpin's Essai sur l'Art
de la Guerre, 1754; and R. Ward's Animadversions of Warre, 1639.
The plentiful sprinkling of foreign material in this collection
may be noted in this sample list; other evidences appear in the
fact that of eighty-two runs of military periodicals fifty-seven
are foreign, and of eighteen runs of naval periodicals thirteen
are foreign.
As is also to be expected, the collection numbering as a
whole nearly 20,000 volumes (See Part Two, III Science, Section
C., Geography.[22]
) at the Mariners' Museum Library is especially
strong in its section on naval science. In fact here is a high
point in the story of research possibilities in Virginia. Some
suggestion as to the quality of the material may be gained from
a brief list of titles of works published before 1750:-
L'Art de Batir les Vaisseaux, et d'en Perfectionner la Construc-
tion ... Amsterdam, 1719.
Bouguer, Pierre. Traite du Navire, de sa Construction, et de
ses Mouvemens. Paris, 1746.
Dassie. L'Architecture Navale, Contenant la Manière de Construire
les Navires, Galeres, et Chaloupses ... Paris, 1677.
[Dee, John] General and Rare Memorials Pertayning to the Perfect
Arte of Navigation. [London, 1577]
Euler, Leonhard. Scientia Navalis ... St. Petersburg, 1749.
Furtenbach, Joseph. Architectura Navalis. Ulm, 1629.
Hoste, Paul. L'Art des Armees Navalis. Lyon, 1697.
Hoste, Paul. Theorie de la Construction des Vaisseaux ... Lyon,
1697.
Sutherland, William. Britain's Glory; or, Shipbuilding Unvail'd.
London, 1740.
[Torchet de Boismele, Jean Baptiste] Histoire Générale de la
Marine. Paris, 1744.
Witsen, Nicholas. Aeloude en Hedendaegsche Scheepsbouw en Bestier.
Amsterdam, 1671.
Yk, Cornelis van. De Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw-Kunst open Gestelt.
Amsterdam, 1697.
The publications of the United States Navy Department and of the
British Admiralty are fully represented; so are Lloyd's Register
of Shipping, Lloyd's Register of Yachts, and Lloyd's Rules and
Regulations for the Construction and Classification of Steel
as the Record of the American Bureau of Shipping, the
Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, the Bulletin
de Association Technique Maritime, Brassey's Naval and Shipping
Annual, the Transactions of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders
in Scotland, the Transactions of the Institution of
Naval Engineers, the Mariner's Mirror, the Naval Chronicle, the
Navy Records Society, the Journal of the Royal United Service
Institution, and the Transactions of the Society of Naval Architects
and Marine Engineers. This section on naval science is
well supported by bibliographical works and by related material
in various branches of science and technology.
The State Library contains 1,710 volumes on military science
and 1,125 volumes on naval science, a total of 2,835 on these two
subjects. This is a general collection. But there is some emphasis
on military engineering, on naval architecture, shipbuilding,
and navigation, and on medical and sanitary services.
Smaller collections may be found at the Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and at the Virginia Military Institute, the military
material being the more extensive in both cases. Of special
interest at the Virginia Military Institute is a group of about
one hundred books (chiefly in French) from the libraries of
Generals Robert E. Lee and Joseph E. Johnston, occasional volumes
containing autograph notes.
Section C. Agriculture.
There are five libraries in Virginia which contain material
on agriculture in considerable quantity and of some distinction;
namely, the libraries at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, at
Hampton Institute, at the State Library, at the University of Virginia,
and at the College of William and Mary.
There is a very live collection on this subject at the Virginia
Polytechnic Institute. It covers all fields except tropical
agriculture. There are sets of 253 periodicals, eleven of which
reach back before 1850. Of the publications of the United States
Department of Agriculture, of state departments of agriculture,
and of agricultural experiment stations there are 6,500 volumes;
and there are about 400 volumes of foreign agricultural publications.
The biography and the history of agriculture are represented,
and books on travel supplement the historical material.
Works on agricultural biology, agricultural chemistry, and agricultural
physics also support the main collection. Altogether
there are at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute 13,767 volumes
in this subject.
At Hampton Institute also there is a live collection on
being complete, of the publications of the state departments of
agriculture and of the agricultural experiment stations. Of these
the different titles number 260. The collection offers material
on practically all phases of the subject, and numbers altogether
4,794 volumes.
The large collection at the State Library numbers 15,563
volumes, of which about 4,500 are publications of state departments
of agriculture and of agricultural experiment stations and
about 8,700 volumes - practically all that have been issued, in
fact - of the publications of the United States Department of
Agriculture. The foreign publications represent England, Scotland,
France, Italy, and the Philippine Islands. All subjects
are represented, including soils and soil conservation.
At the University of Virginia itself there are 7,799 volumes
on agriculture, and two special libraries located elsewhere
supplement the general material. These two are the laboratory
libraries at the Blandy Experimental Farm in north-west
Virginia, which has several hundred books and over 4,000 pamphlets,
with special stress on genetics; and at the Seward Forest
in south-east Virginia, which has about 300 books and approximately
1,200 pamphlets on forestry. In addition to the supporting
material from the biological sciences, there is, at the University,
a collection of 1,986 volumes on rural social economics.
A smaller collection at the College of William and Mary
affords special interest through a considerable group of eighteenth
and nineteenth century works on gardening which were
known to and used by the colonial settlers and early planters
of America.
Section D. Home Economics.
The most extensive collection of books on home economics is
at Hampton Institute. This contains 674 volumes, including files,
none being complete, of American Cookery, the Journal of Home
Economics, and Practical Home Economics.
At the College of William and Mary there are 395 volumes on
this subject and sets of American Cookery, American Home, Forecast,
Home Economic News, the Journal of Home Economics, the
Parents Magazine, and Vogue. This library has a number of volumes
of early cook-books used in Virginia.
Among other collections in Virginia are those at the University
of Virginia (382 volumes), at the State Teachers College at
Fredericksburg (377 volumes), at the Richmond Public Library (375
volumes), and at the State Library (305 volumes).
Section E. Textiles.
The collections on textiles are still smaller. What is
apparently the largest is at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute,
and consists of seventy-nine volumes, including sets of Kunstseide,
Rayon, and the Textile World. At the Farmville State Teachers
College there are sixty-five volumes, at the State Library sixty-three
volumes including three periodicals), at the Fredericksburg
State Teachers College sixty volumes, and at the Richmond Public
Library forty-three volumes. Sweet Briar College has an historical
collection of sample textiles in its art department.
V. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
The list which follows is of special collections within
libraries. It does not include special libraries such as the
Library of Colonial Williamsburg, Incorporated, the Colonial
National Historical Park Library at Yorktown, the Mariners' Museum
Library, the Library of the Virginia Historical Society, the Transportation
Library of the Norfolk and Western Railway at Roanoke,
or the James Taylor Adams Library at Big Laurel. The collections
are listed with little if any description; and it is altogether
probable that the list is quite incomplete. It will again be
noted that in the bibliothocal lexicon of this Commonwealth a
favourite term is `Virginiana'.
Alexandria
ALEXANDRIA PUBLIC LIBRARY. Alexandriana, including minutes and
records of the Alexandria Library and Free Reading Room back
to 1794.
PACKARD-LAIRD MEMORIAL LIBRARY OF THE VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL THEOLOGICAL
SEMINARY. Books from the library of the Lees at Stratford
(Richard Henry Lee and Thomas Ludwell Lee).
Ashland
WALTER HINES PAGE LIBRARY OF RANDOLPH-MACON COLLEGE. John Marvin
Burton collection of Romance languages and literature; Carleton
reference collection; Darden English collection; Simpson mathematical
collection; Virginiana; Walton classical collection.
The most important collection for research is that on Methodism
and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
Blacksburg
VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE LIBRARY. Alwood collection on
entomology, horticulture, and agriculture in general; Campbell
collection on French and German literatures; Episcopal loan
collection on religion; Walker collection on general literature.
Bridgewater
BRIDGEWATER COLLEGE LIBRARY. There is a collection of material
on the Church of the Brethren.
Bristol
SULLINS COLLEGE LIBRARY. The Baskerville collection, consisting
of the private library of the late William Malone Baskerville.
Charlottesville
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA LIBRARY. Barksdale collections in chemistry
and engineering; Bruce collection in English; Byrd collection
of Virginiana; Heck collection on education; Hertz classical
collection; James collection on the Negro; Lomb collection
on optics; Raleigh C. Minor collection on law; John Bassett
Moore collection on international law; David Schwab collection
on T. S. Eliot; Tunstall collection on poetry; various collections
of manuscripts.
Danville
AVERETT COLLEGE LIBRARY. T. L. Sydnor memorial collection, consisting
of the late Doctor Sydnor's private library.
East Radford
JOHN PRESTON McCONNELL LIBRARY OF EAST RADFORD STATE TEACHERS
COLLEGE. Juvenile collection; Southwest Virginia collection.
Emory
EMORY AND HENRY COLLEGE LIBRARY. Holston Conference records of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
Farmville
LIBRARY OF THE FARMVILLE STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE. Morrison collection
of juvenile books.
Fredericksburg
LIBRARY OF THE FREDERICKSBURG STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE. Collection
of textbooks, including about 600 readers for elementary
grades.
Hampden-Sydney
LIBRARY OF HAMPDEN-SYDNEY COLLEGE. Dickinson collection of Virginiana;
Lewis collection of books on the South; collection of
records of the Presbyterian Church, South; collection of records
of local literary societies.
Hampton
COLLIS P. HUNTINGTON MEMORIAL LIBRARY OF HAMPTON INSTITUTE. The
collection of material on the Negro is especially strong, and
includes the Brooks and the Malone collections on this subject.
Harrisonburg
LIBRARY OF THE HARRISONBURG STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE. Collections
of juvenile literature and of textbooks.
Hollins
CLARLES L. COCKE MEMORIAL LIBRARY OF HOLLINS COLLEGE. Collection
on art and music.
Lexington
LIBRARY OF VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE. Collections on Confederate
military history, Stonewall Jackson, Matthew Fontaine
Maury, and Virginia.
LIBRARY OF WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY. Franklin Society
collection; Howard collection of Greek and Latin classics;
collection on journalism; Robert E. Lee collection; Mercer
collection of standard authors; Thomas H. Hogue Patterson
collection of books in fine bindings.
Lynchburg
JONES MEMORIAL LIBRARY. Newspaper collection; Quaker collection;
Virginiana.
LIBRARY OF RANDOLPH-MACON WOMAN'S COLLEGE. Browsing room collection;
facsimile collection; incunabula; John Randolph manuscripts.
Newport News
NEWPORT NEWS PUBLIC LIBRARY. Collections on history of ships and
shipping, on marine engineering, on Virginia.
Norfolk
NORFOLK PUBLIC LIBRARY. Collection of local newspapers, collection
of Virginiana, Americana, and genealogical books housed
in Sergeant Memorial Room.
Petersburg
PETERSBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY. Petersburg Mechanics Association
collection, including early newspapers; Virginiana.
Richmond
RICHMOND PUBLIC LIBRARY. Collection of Richmond imprints and of
books on Richmond generally; children's collection.
SPENCE MEMORIAL LIBRARY OF THE UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. Collection
of theological and religious journals; collection of Presbyterian
records and manuscripts.
VIRGINIA STATE LIBRARY. Collections of archives and manuscripts,
of books for the blind, of Confederate history, of maps, of
Southern history, of Virginiana.
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND LIBRARY. Margaret James memorial collection
of music; Victor Sharp Metcalf memorial alcove collection;
Howard Osgood collection of church history and German theology;
Virginia Baptist Historical Society collection.
VIRGINIA UNION UNIVERSITY LIBRARY. Maclay collection of books
about the Negro.
Roanoke
ROANOKE PUBLIC LIBRARY. Illuminated manuscript collection;
collections on Roanoke authors and on southwest Virginia.
Salem
DAVID F. BITTLE MEMORIAL LIBRARY OF ROANOKE COLLEGE. Collection
on fine arts.
Sweet Briar
MARY HELEN COCHRAN LIBRARY OF SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE. Estill collection
of books on the South; James Elmer Bailey collection of
material on George Meredith.
Williamsburg
LIBRARY OF THE COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY. William and Mary
collection, including record books, letters, and textbooks;
collections of Bibles, hymnals, and prayer books; family
libraries of Landon Carter of Cleve, of John Hartwell Cocke of
Bremo, and of Francis Jerdone; collection of early American
narratives acquired through the McGregor Fund; John Barton
Payne collection of books of private presses and of rare books;
Virginia collection, including the John Hart collection.
Winchester
THE HANDLEY LIBRARY. Collections of local history, of Virginiana,
of the War between the States; home library of Major Holmes
Conrad.
| A survey of research materials in Virginia libraries, 1936-37 | |