207 SAMUEL GARDNER DRAKE. HIS LIFE-WORK AND HIS LIBRARY. "That place that does contain My Books, the best companions, is to me With the old sages and philosophers.”—Fletcher. THE library which is here offered to the public is that of the late Samuel Gardner Drake, of Boston, who died June 14th, 1875. It was his wish that it might become the property of some institution, and thus attest the care he had bestowed in forming and perfecting it. Mr. Drake began business in Boston, as a bookseller, in 1828, and, except about a year and a half passed in Europe, continued to be identified with that business until the day of his last illness. There is, in his library, an antiquated and much used duodecimo having the following memorandum written on a fly-leaf: "Bought in 1828. In 1830 the first Antiquarian Book-store was established by me in Cornhill, and the letters on my sign were fashioned from those in this book." He affixed this sign in Cornhill, where for nearly a quarter of a century it was familiar to the passer-by as first to announce the establishment of an antiquarian book-store in the United States. The "Antiquarian Book-store" became the resort of men who made the literature of that day, and in not a few instances for all time. Of this company, Bancroft, Prescott, Hildreth, Sparks, and Hillard, Revs. Wm. Jenks, Thad. M. Harris, Starr King, and E. H. Chapin, Edward Everett, O. A. Brownson, J. T. Buckingham, W. J. Snelling, Geo. Lunt, and Nathan Hale, are best remembered. Macdonald Clarke and Peter Force were always to be found there when in Boston. Brownson occupied himself in ferreting among theological tomes; and O. W. Holmes, then a student of medicine, in searching for books on the healing art. Good Dr. Jenks, whose smile was a benediction, and whose black small-clothes were the latest seen in Boston, was an almost daily visitor. Time and occasion do not permit the further indulgence of memories awakened from long slumber at mention of these names. The book-store was not then what it has since become, the casual resort of bookish men, but a kind of literary exchange, frequented quite as much for congenial companionship as for mere buying and selling. Authors and books, coming literary events, or the current news of the day were freely discussed. The bookseller was expected to know something of the merits of his wares, and to occupy as far as he might, the neutral ground of an impartial critic. Booksellers and authors had borne the most intimate relations since Shakspeare's day, and we can seldom turn the pages of the great masters of English literature without finding the virtues or vices of the merchant celebrated or condemned. Nothing that his pen had produced gave Mr. Drake greater pride than to add his name to the roll which already included those of John Foster, Phillips, John Dunton, Thos. Hancock, Henry Knox, Isaiah Thomas, and Saml. T. Armstrong,—the old Boston booksellers. In 1825, before he located in Cornhill, Mr. Drake had issued a reprint, at moderate cost, of Church's "King Philip's War." The enterprise proved successful, and another edition was soon called for. The preface and appendix to the original edition were his first literary productions for the public eye. "Philip's War" was followed, in 1832, by the "Indian Biography" which became merged in a fuller work, in 1833, called the "Book of the Indians." In 1851, when eleven editions had been exhausted, the author's interest in it ceased. The "Old Indian Chronicle" (1836) and "Indian Captivities" (1844) enlarged his labors in this department of American History,—that in which he took the deepest interest, and for which he had made a collection believed to be unrivalled. His annotations of fresh editions of "Hubbard's Narrative," of "Mather's Philip's War," of "Mather's Relation," and of the "Old Indian Chronicle," his "French and Indian War" (1744-47), have supplemented and enriched a compact collection of Indian annals, prepared with scrupulous fidelity to fact. Had he lived, Mr. Drake would have continued usefully to employ the materials he had constantly been accumulating. Next to the "Book of the Indians," though far exceeding it in the labor exacted of the author, is the "History and Antiquities of Boston." It was four years in passing through the press: the first number having appeared in September, 1852, and the completed work in 1856. Mr. Drake had been applied to by the literary executor of Dr. Caleb Snow, an earlier historian, who had built upon the modest yet useful work of Shaw, to edit a new edition of "Snow's History." He at first consented to undertake the task; yet, upon consideration, declined it, for reasons expressed in the preface to his own history. He then resolved to employ the large store of materials that he had gathered upon a work of his own. As a local chronicle, the "History of Boston more fully realized the author's aim than, perhaps, usually happens; but it far exceeded the limits originally prescribed. The writer thinks he had greater pride in it than in any other of his productions. He who had built atom upon atom alone realized the magnitude of the completed structure. No official patronage was bestowed upon it. The business management was inefficient; yet the book would have eventually proved a not unprofitable venture had not the stereotype plates been destroyed. The author's greatest reward was the knowledge that his work had stood the test of time and criticism, had steadily grown in public esteem, and occupied a permanent niche in American literature. It is his legacy to the people of Boston. During the twenty years which elapsed since the "History" appeared, Mr. Drake's interest in his subject never flagged, nor had he intermitted the search for materials to complete it. Three years before his death, some friends, who were impressed with the magnitude of his preparation, and who knew that his heart was in the work, obtained from the City Government an agreement to defray the cost of the mechanical execution of a new volume, completing the "History" to 1822, the year in which Boston became a city. The volume would have embraced fifty years crowded with History, - the periods of the Revolution and the War of 1812. It was a task which any man in the meridian of life might hesitate to attempt. The then venerable author, over-persuaded by the arguments of those friends, unwilling to leave an uncompleted work behind him, prepared to engage upon the new volume; but increasing infirmity admonished him that he was no longer capable of such unremitting mental application as would be necessary to complete the work within the allotted time. Laying down his pen, he remarked to the writer, "The time may come when Boston will recognize the magnitude of her history in a manner worthy the dignity of her past and present. My work must now end." Although the works mentioned are those by which Mr. Drake is best known as an author, they by no means render the catalogue complete. He believed his literary mission to be the rescue of every memorial of the founders of New England, and his devotion to the work was boundless. To reach the source whence the earliest testimony might be drawn, he visited England in 1858; and, putting aside the temptation to explore her memorable historic places, at once busied himself among the archives of the British Museum, the State Paper and Rolls Offices. His volume entitled the "Founders of New England" was the result of unwearied research for the antecedents of early emigrants to New England. It has recently been before the public in connection with a more elaborate work of the same character, issued by the successors of John Camden Hotten. The comparison instituted by an eminent anti quary between the modest quarto of Mr. Drake and the royal octavo of the English publishers was highly favorable to the more unassuming work, as having first occupied the ground, and as giving all of importance that the later work contained. Mr. Drake meditated another edition of the "Founders." He was desirous of correcting the errors of the first issue, and had made large additions to his materials. While still a very young man, the casual perusal of a life of Sir Francis Drake had excited an interest which he himself characterizes as intense. It induced him to begin a collection designed for a future biography of the navigator. Among the printed authorities secured for the purpose are several rare and perfect editions of the "World Encompassed," and "Sir F. Drake Revived." He now availed himself of the opportunity to pursue his investigations not only among mouldy documents of Elizabeth's time, but on scenes familiar to the early life of the renowned seaman. The famous old West-of-England and Channel seaports possessed great interest for him, not only with respect to the man who boasted that he had "singed the Spanish King's beard,” but for their association with American discovery. Five manuscript volumes, closely written, embody the results of a research for the biography of Drake extending over more than forty years. It is appropriate to mention Mr. Drake's connection with a periodical with which he was closely identified as publisher and editor for fifteen years. In 1844, five gentlemen, one of whom was Mr. Drake, originated the New England Historic, Genealogical Society. Charles Ewer, an old Boston bookseller, was its first president. Perceiving the importance of a literary organ, the founders of the society projected the publication since known throughout the greater part of its existence, as the "New England, Historical and Genealogical Register." To begin its literary life the society had little influence, no very liberal share of public sympathy, and no money. Only one man could be found who was willing to accept the pecuniary risk of its publication. He also assumed the payment of a salary to its first editor, Rev. Wm. Cogswell, and in January, 1847, the first number appeared. A constituency numerous enough to support a publication exclusively designed to promote "genealogical and antiquarian researches" did not then exist on this side the Atlantic. It was found impracticable to employ a paid editor after the first year. The publisher struggled with increasing financial perplexities for thirteen years, during the greater part of which he also filled the post of editor. Wearied with the incessant and thankless labor of his undertaking, Mr. Drake, at the close of the year 1861, retired from active management of the "Register." Besides the gentlemen mentioned, the "Register," has had a number of editors, many of whom deserve the gratitude of all who sympathize with its objects. But Mr. Drake was the father of the "Register"; he presided at its birth, nursed its puny life; protected it from the malice of some, the indifference of others. His name appears as editor upon the title-leaf of six volumes; though he actually edited it for nine and a half of the thirteen years he was publisher. These labors in behalf of the "Register," were performed between the years 1847 and 1861, while Mr. Drake was engaged upon some of his most arduous literary tasks. It will readily be imagined that his hours for leisure were few; yet like Southey, he was never quite happy unless engrossed with some appalling undertaking. Through the possession of some important manuscripts, such as the original" Examination of Hugh Parsons," in 1651; Increase Mather's "Cases of Conscience," with other documents relative to the Salem outbreak, Mr. Drake's attention was directed quite early to the development of witchcraft phenomena in New England. In 1866, he brought out carefully annotated editions of Mather's "Wonders of the Invisible World," and Calef's "More Wonders." In 1869, he added the "Annals of Witchcraft," in which were enumerated the cases in New England from the beginning. These, with the work of Mr. Upham, constitute a group of standard authorities on the subject. As it is impracticable to continue here the detail of our author's undertakings, the reader is referred to the nearly complete list which is comprised in the catalogue. He maintained an extensive correspondence, and kept a daily journal in which were jotted down events of personal or public interest. He had carved out new tasks, which were destined never to be accomplished. It is not too much to say that he, with a few other men, created an active sympathy in antiquarian research, of which scores of town histories, family memorials, and genealogies are the fruit. It was, at first, like laying down a railway in a country destitute of population; but these pioneers lived to see a numerous and intelligent class arise to push the spirit of inquiry into the deepest and darkest recesses of the past; to witness a growing veneration for its visible relics, a sympathy with its invisible influence, to which the greatest disciples of literary art have been most susceptible. The writer feels the task of arranging and exhibiting as merchandise what have so long been regarded as old and trusty friends, much as he would a sale of human chattels. The books had become so familiar to their late owner that he knew them by their outward dress. Many had been exchanged three and four times for better editions, broader margins, or firmer bindings. Many a time-stained tract had been restored from a bundle of tattered rags to be a decent and useful member of society. Only a genuine bibliophile can realize the solicitude he feels for a rare edition or scarce legible manuscript. His touch is more a caress than a touch, and he at last acquires a degree of affection for his treasures according to the virtues, merits, or traits of their authors. |