PHOTOGRAPHS.

Photographs to the number of 805 have been purchased and 278 received by gift. The collection now numbers 15,127 photographs, 320 colored photographs, and 5,956 process pictures.

To the special collections used for exhibitions at the branches and schools, have been added 429 pictures.

CATALOGUES.

The work of filing under one alphabet the catalogues of the Special Libraries in the Barton gallery has been continued, and also the entering in the Fine arts catalogue of the titles of the printed catalogue of books on Architecture. About 7,900 cards have been prepared for the combined shelf and accession list of photographs and 500 process pictures. The catalogue of book illustrations is kept up to date. The printing of the cards for the Allen A. Brown music library has reached the letter N. All important articles on the Fine arts in sixty-three different periodicals are indexed by the assistants in charge of the Periodical Room and the Music Library. The titles in eight additional periodicals are to be found in the American Library Association Coöperative Index.

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS.

The use of the Barton-Ticknor library continues to increase, for the year attaining to the number of 10,984 books and 604 maps. The average number of volumes issued daily was thirty-two. The Allen A. Brown Library of Music contains 9,189 volumes. Among the interesting recent additions are the Songs of Hugo Wolf; also the Songs of Richard Strauss, all of whose works the Library now possesses, except those written for the piano-forte alone. Of manuscript scores of early Italian operas, 285 volumes have been purchased. These include sixteen operas by Cimarosa, twenty by Mayer, three by Mercadante, fifteen by Paer, fourteen by Paisiello, two by Bellini, one by Meyerbeer, and fourteen by Rossini.

As heretofore, many collections of books have been reserved for the use of classes and schools.

A collection of books for the blind has been placed on tables and shelves convenient for use. Current numbers of periodicals for the blind have been given by a committee of the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union.

ExHIBITIONs.

There have been the following exhibitions of photographs: Pictures to illustrate the development of domestic architecture (with a lecture by Mr. R. Clipston Sturgis); Photographs of Germany, with portraits (at the time of the visit of Prince Henry of Prussia); Photographs of portraits of women (at the time of the exhibition in Copley Hall of Portraits of fair women); The Sistine Chapel; Photographs of bridges (to illustrate a lecture by Mr. Edmund M. Wheelwright); Illustrations of open-air statuary (at the time of a lecture by Mr. F. W. Ruckstuhl); Photographs of Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand (loan by the Woman's Education Association); Photographs of Normandy and Brittany; Photographs, colored plates, etc., at the time of the coronation of Edward VII. ; Photographs of Germany (new); Venice; Parks and gardens (at the time of the meeting of the American Park and Outdoor Art Association); Landscape painting ; Egyptian architecture; The Parthenon (to accompany Mr. Edward Robinson's Lowell Institute lectures); Reproductions of drawings of the Masters; Roman architecture; The Nativity; Thirtyseven photographs of the works of George Frederick Watts; Colored reproductions of costumes (at the time of the festival of the Copley Society) ; France, architecture, painting, and sculpture; Early Christian, Byzantine, and Moslem architecture.

There have been exhibitions of pictures at the branches and reading rooms, changed monthly.

LECTUIRES.

Under the auspices of the Unity Art Club the following lectures, illustrated by the stereopticon, have been given :

Development of domestic architecture, by Mr. R. Clipston Sturgis; The Grand Cañon of Arizona, by Mr. Arthur K. Peck; The Holy Grail, by Rev. William Lloyd; France, her people and her art, by Miss Anna Seaton Schmidt.

Two lectures, on Story-telling for children, and Fairy tales from Hans Andersen, were given by Miss Marie Shedlock.

VISITS OF CILASSES.

Schools and clubs in classes have made frequent visits to the Library for study and lectures, as follows:

Schools, 78 visits, 1,054 members.
Clubs, 52 visits, 824 members.
Private classes, 88 visits; 1,639 members.

To schools and clubs 303 portfolios of pictures have been Sent.

Miss Grace A. Hitchcock, the chief assistant of the department, resigned August 6. Mrs. Marian L. Chamberlain was advanced to her place, and Mr. Walter G. Forsyth was transferred from the Catalogue Department. Miss Louise Prouty was placed in charge of the Barton-Ticknor room, in place of Miss Helen R. Keller, resigned.

DEPARTMENT OF DOCUMENTS AND STATISTICS.

Mr. Worthington C. Ford resigned as chief of the Department of Documents and Statistics on September 1, 1902. Mr. Horace L. Wheeler, the first assistant, was in charge until the end of the Library year. The following statements are taken from his report: The crowded condition of the gallery assigned to this department has seriously interfered, as heretofore, with orderly and systematic work. By a rearrangement of the shelves and the removal of duplicates some room was obtained, and a distinct gain made in orderliness and therefore in the facility with which the wants of inquirers could be satisfied. The working force of the department, reduced from three to two persons, was found to be inadequate to the demands made upon it. According to the preceding annual report, the department contained 8,541 volumes, exclusive of the collection of documents in the Special Libraries. During the year 1,144 volumes were added, partly new accessions and partly transfers from the stacks. The reception by gift, through the American Statistical Association, amounted to 1,611 volumes and parts, and these have been of the same character as those heretofore received. Therefore, the collection, exclusive of documents in the Special Libraries, is now a statistical, economic, and sociological library of almost ten thousand volumes. The Department has also received 1,072 pieces which have been placed in the Main Library. The material which came from the American Statistical Association, four years and a half ago, has now been practically incorporated in the statistical collection, The value of the Department of Documents and Statistics cannot be estimated by the mere number of those who visit it. This number is not inconsiderable now, but is certain to be much larger when adequate accommodations for work are provided. The importance of the department depends upon its resources and the character of the public which it serves. Some inquiries are trivial and some are for unobtainable knowledge, but the majority of visitors are intelligent people, often experts in some field.

With the increase of space will come greater facility in the use of the collection and its more systematic development, together with a consideration of the scope it shall henceforth have.

On February 1, 1903, Mr. James L. Whitney was appointed Chief of the Department.

MANUSCRIPTS.

Among the interesting manuscripts recently received by the Library is an Orderly Book, kept by Colonel Thomas Grosvenor, of the Troops of the Connecticut Line, from June 30, 1779, to October 25, 1782. It is in nine volumes, and its great value consists in the fact that it is a consecutive record, without a gap, covering doings of a division of the American army for the period of time mentioned. g A manuscript note book of Thomas Prince has been given to the Prince Collection by Miss Susan E. Daggett, of New Haven, through the Rev. Dr. George A. Gordon. It is called “My 5th Writing Book,” and begins May 25, 1718, ending June 3, 1722. To the anti-slavery manuscripts in the Library, two collections have been added, including many letters to Lysander Spooner and David Lee Child. Mr. Charles P. Greenough has given, a collection of deeds and other legal documents on parchment (sixty-eight English and eight American), chiefly of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. At the sale of the Library of John S. Dwight interesting autograph letters were purchased, relating to Brook Farm. These include letters by Christopher Cranch, George W. Curtis, Charles A. Dana, Margaret Fuller, Horace Greeley, and Elizabeth P. Peabody. The Library obtained the original manuscript found in the grasshopper vane on Faneuil Hall, dated May 25, 1742, “To My Brethren & Fellow Grasshoppers,” etc. From Dr. Samuel A. Green about 300 sermons in manuscript, by the Rev. Dr. Abiel Holmes, have been received. Work on the author index of the Chamberlain manuscripts was continued by Mr. Worthington C. Ford, and many manuscripts have been mounted. Since September 1, 1902, until the end of the Library year, the department has been under the charge of Mr. Horace L. Wheeler.

The publication in the Monthly Bulletin of inedited manuscripts in the Library has been continued.

THE CHILDREN's ROOMs.

In May, Mrs. Gertrude P. Sheffield, who had been in charge of the Children's Rooms since 1896, resigned. Miss Alice M. Jordan, who was appointed Custodian, has continued the work of the department under the same general methods as her predecessor. The report of this officer shows that the growth of the spirit of coöperation, which has been noticed in other departments of the Library, is seen also here. Through the year talks have been given to classes coming with their teachers from the public schools, on the use of the Library and its catalogues and reference books. Arrangements have been made for classes wishing to consult books on special subjects. Visits to the schools by the Custodian have been helpful. Many teachers come to the Library asking for lists of books, and children walk long distances to study subjects on which they are required to write compositions. While encouraging the use of this collection of books by the young, it is recognized that for children on whom the demands of school work are pressing there must be a carefully guarded limit. Many children are allowed only one book at a time during term time, others do not take any, one boy saying recently, “Reading has injured me enough already in my school life.” No effort is made to urge such children to use the Library, otherwise than in connection with their school work. The systematic making of picture bulletins has been a new feature. The purpose is to call attention to interesting books, not fiction, in order that the large issue of stories may give way to what is of greater value. In the words of the Custodian, “The Children’s Room at the Library touches at some point all the work for children in Boston. There is no other place which belongs equally to children of every nationality, belief, section, and position; consequently the problems which arise wherever children are in the city are of interest as affecting the work here.” The number of books issued to applicants in the room has been 63,993, as against 64,686 the preceding year. The number of books issued from the room to the branches was 12,797, as against 9,511 the preceding year.