The following statement shows the investment of the various funds, giving the par and market value of the stocks and bonds April 1, 1886, also the amount of cash on hand.

The undersigned, Auditors of the American Antiquarian Society, hereby certify that we have examined the report of the Treasurer, made up to April 1, 1886, and find the same to be correct and properly. vouched; that the securities held by him are as stated and that the balance of cash, stated to be on hand, is accounted for.

WORCESTER, April 15, 1886.

CHARLES A. CHASE.
WILLIAM A. SMITH.

REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN.

THE present report contains a statement of some of the more important work done in connection with the library since the last meeting, an acknowledgment of certain gifts of special value either in themselves or for what they suggest, the library statistics, a few references which may be pertinent to the occasion, and the usual list of donors and donations.

In the report of the Council of April 25, 1866, Mr. Paine says: "The Council would also suggest that at as early a date as possible, measures be taken to have classified, arranged and catalogued the very valuable manuscripts and autograph letters now in the library of this Society. There are many of great value and rarity; but at present they are not in an available condition for the purposes of study and reference." It is my privilege to announce that at the charge of the Alden Fund this work, so much and so long desired, has been practically accomplished by Miss Webb, of the library staff, under the more immediate supervision of Mr. Colton, assistant-librarian, and the general oversight of the library committee. Thus Mr. Paine has not only as treasurer dispensed the income of the fund so wisely given, but as a member of the library committee has assisted in carrying out the recommendation of the Council as penned by himself just twenty years ago. On the twenty-second day of March, 1884, the Council authorized the library committee to dispose of our perishable material, including Indian, Icelandic and Hawaiian apparel, etc., and on the eighth of January, 1886, its transfer was made to the Peabody Museum of American Archæology and Ethnology,

after a few selections had been made by the Worcester Society of Antiquity. The imperishable articles having been placed in the south lobby, the northeast lobby was at once fitted with drawers and shelves, as recommended in the librarian's report of last April. It will hereafter be known as the Manuscript-room, although it also now contains the regular series of government publications which formerly occupied the northwest alcove in the main hall.

We have lately been appealed to for collections of early business account books and papers, by persons who not only desired to study early methods of business but to learn the prices for which goods were bought and sold before the condition of the markets was so faithfully reported in print. In alluding to this call we will make another which shall be so broad as to include every written thing which ought to be preserved. Even the single autograph letter may throw just the light needed by the searcher after facts. For instance, we have recently found among our Joseph Lancaster papers, controversial and otherwise, a short but kindly letter addressed to him by Thackeray which proves to be the only autograph we have of that distinguished novelist and satirist. From this letter it appears that while Thackeray was interested in some of Lancaster's educational work in England, he did not wholly approve what one of our members has quite recently called "the tomfoolery of the Lancasterian system."

It seems a peculiarly fitting time to make an earnest plea for the better preservation of city, town, parish, family and other manuscript records, and to consider what we can do to further that end. In our important mission of preserving American history we have occasionally received deposits subject to recall, a right which, it should be said, has seldom been exercised. May we not expect to become the temporary or permanent custodians of much valuable material when our willingness to receive such material-so often stated by Council and Librarian-is more generally known?

In this connection the following paragraphs from a letter addressed to Samuel F. Haven, Librarian, March 18, 1857, by Rev. Edward E. Hale, are suggestive: "Only think of this! Mr. Ridgway [Edward W.], who gave to Mr. Jennison the Hull Letter-book, tells me that there was a large quantity of those old papers in his attic; that his family was kindling fires, etc., with them, when he lighted on that book which he carried to Mr. Jennison, and that if he had supposed Mr. Jennison wished for more he could have had all the rest. But since that time the roof of that attic has been cleared out, and they have all been destroyed. Is not that a little too provoking?" To the lesson to be drawn from this quotation, I will add that not only the Hull Letter-book which was so useful in the preparation of the Diaries of Hull published in our Transactions, but also the valuable Note-book of Thomas Lechford which we issued last year, came from the Ridgway attic in Worcester. new mission of preservation which has recently been taken up under our auspices, is that of repairing records not the property of the Society which have been injured by long or careless usage. Miss Webb has thus, during extra hours and at the expense of the town, prepared for re-binding several volumes of the early records of the town of Leicester, Massachusetts.

A

The accessions for six months ending the fifteenth instant have been as follows: By gift, twenty-one hundred and eleven books, seven thousand six hundred and four pamphlets, six bound and one hundred and ninety-nine volumes of unbound newspapers, ninety-five volumes of bound and a collection of unbound manuscripts, one hundred and twenty-nine framed and eighty unframed engravings and photographs, one hundred and six maps, thirty-one coins, eleven specimens of the currency of the rebellion, eighteen Indian and other relics and a collection of postage stamps. By exchange, two hundred and forty-eight books, nine hundred and thirty-eight pamphlets, five volumes of newspapers