President, Hon. JOHN BIGELOW. First Vice-President, Rt. Rev. HENRY C. POTTER, D.D. Second Vice-President, JOHN S. KENNEDY, Esq. Secretary, GEORGE L. RIVES, Esq., 32 Nassau Street. Treasurer, EDWARD KING, Esq., Union Trust Company, 80 Broadway. TH REGULATIONS HE Astor Building, 40 Lafayette Place, and the Lenox Building, Fifth Avenue and 70th Street, are open daily, Sundays and legal holidays excepted, from 9 A. M. until 6 P. M. The Reading rooms and the Exhibition rooms are free to all persons; but children under the age of fifteen years must be accompanied by an adult. In the Reading room of each Library Building certain shelves are set apart for books of reference, which readers are allowed to take down and examine at their pleasure. For all other books an application must be made by filling out and signing one of the blanks provided for the purpose. Published monthly by The New York Public Library, No. 40 Lafayette Place, New York City Subscription One Dollar a year, single numbers Ten Cents Entered as second-class matter at the New York, N. Y., Post Office, January 30, 1897 During the month of April there were received at the Library by purchase 1,163 volumes and 702 pamphlets, and by gift 1,160 volumes and 3,889 pamphlets. There were catalogued 6,683 volumes and 5,285 pamphlets, for which purpose 19,412 cards and 1,864 slips for the printer were written. The following table shows the number of readers and the number of volumes consulted in both the Astor and Lenox branches of the Library during the month: Among the important gifts received this month were 82 volumes and 574 pamphlets from the Boston Medical Library; 24 volumes and 501 pamphlets from Miss French; 23 volumes from the University of Ghent; 2 volumes from Harvard University; 75 volumes and 92 pamphlets from Major Henry Hammond; 15 volumes from Indiana University Library; I volume, a book of charms, from J. S. Kennedy; 17 volumes and 53 pamphlets from Lafayette College; 21 volumes of the New York Herald, covering the period of the Rebellion, from Cyrus J. Lawrence; 9 volumes from the Secretary of State of North Dakota; 2 volumes from the New York Labor News; 27 volumes from the Secretary of State of South Carolina; 81 volumes from the St. Louis Public Library; 5 volumes and 2 pamphlets from the South Carolina Railroad Commissioners; 5 volumes and 15 pamphlets of rare South Carolina publications from John Peyre Thomas; 40 volumes from the Wisconsin State Historical Society; 4 volumes from Hawaii, and 16 of the British Colonies have sent in a large number of their recent publications. TWO LETTERS OF JEFFERSON TO JOHN PAGE, 1766-1803. (From the original autographs in the New York Public Library.) ANNAPOLIS, May. 25. 1766. DEAR PAGE I received your last by T. Nelson whom I luckily met on my road hither. surely never did small hero experience greater misadventures than I did on the first two or three days of my travelling. twice did my horse run away with me and greatly endanger the breaking my neck on the first day. on the second I drove two hours through as copious a rain as ever I have seen, without meeting with a single house to which I could repair for shelter. on the third in going through Pamunkey, being unacquainted with the ford, I passed through water so deep as to run over the cushion as I sat on it, and to add to the danger, at that instant one wheel mounted a rock which I am confident was as high as the axle, and rendered it necessary for me to exercise all my skill in the doctrine of gravity, in order to prevent the center of gravity from being left unsupported the consequence of which would according to Bob. Carter's opinion have been the corruition of myself, chair and all into the water. whether that would have been the case or not, let the learned determine: it was not convenient for me to try the experiment at that time, and I therefore threw my whole weight on the mounted wheel and escaped the danger. I confess that on this occasion I was seised with a violent hydrophobia. I had the pleasure of passing two or three days on my way hither at the two Will. Fitzhugh's and Col. Harrison's where were S. Potter, P. Stith, and Ben Harrison, since which time I have seen no face known to me before, except Capt. Mitchell's who is here.but I will now give you some account of what I have seen in this metropolis. the assembly happens to be sitting at this time. their upper and lower house, as they call them, sit in different houses. I went into the lower, sitting in an old courthouse, which, judging from it's form and appearance, was built in the year one. I was surprised on approaching it to hear as great a noise and hubbub as you will usually observe at a publick meeting of the planters in Virginia. the first object which struck me after my entrance was the figure of a little old man dressed but indifferently, with a yellow queüe wig on, and mounted in the judge's chair. this the gentleman who walked with me informed me was the speaker, a man of a very fair character, but who by the bye, has very little the air of a speaker. at one end of the justices' bench stood a man whom in another place I should from his dress and phis have taken for Goodall the lawyer in Williamsburgh, reading a bill then before the house with a schoolboy tone and an abrupt pause at every half dozen words. this I found to be the clerk of the assembly. the mob (for such was their appearance) sat covered on the justices' and lawyers' benches, and were divided into little clubs amusing themselves in the common chit chat way. I was surprised to see them address the speaker without rising from their seats, and three, four, and five at a time without being checked. when a motion was made, the speaker instead of putting the question in the usual form, only asked the gentlemen TWO LETTERS OF JEFFERSON TO JOHN PAGE, 1766-1803 177 whether they chose that such or such a thing should be done, and was answered by a yes sir, or no sir: and tho' the voices appeared frequently to be divided, they never would go to the trouble of dividing the house, but the clerk entered the resolutions, I supposed, as he thought proper. in short everything seems to be carried without the house in general's knowing what was proposed. the situation of this place is extremely beautiful, and very commodious for trade having a most secure port capable of receiving the largest vessels, those of 400 hh'ds being able to brush against the sides of the dock. the houses are in general better than those in Williamsburgh, but the gardens more indifferent. the two towns seem much of a size. they have no publick buildings worth mentioning except a governor's house, the hull of which after being nearly finished, they have suffered to go to ruin. I would give you an account of the rejoicings here on the repeal of the stamp act, but this you will probably see in print before my letter can reach you. I shall proceed tomorrow to Philadelphia where I shall make the stay necessary for inoculation, thence going on to New-York I shall return by water to Williamsburgh, about the middle of July, till which time you have the prayers of Dear Page Your affectionate friend TH: JEFFERSON P. S. I should be glad if you could in some indirect manner, without discovering that it was my desire, let J. Randolph know when I propose to be in the city of Williamsburgh. [Addressed:] To Mr JOHN PAGE jun'r in York Virginia MY DEAR SIR MONTICELLO July 26. 1803. In a former letter from Washington I expressed a wish that the salubrity of our climate here, and the wishes of our antient friends might make it agreeable to mrs Page and yourself to come and pass some time during my stay here which will be to about the 20th of September. from your answer I conceived hopes it would be so. I nourish them still with fondness, and anticipate the pleasure of sweetening the relaxation from business by antient recollections. I have to take a journey to some possessions about 90. miles from hence, which will occupy about ten days. the time of going is absolutely indifferent. I shall not go therefore till I hear from you, lest I might be absent when you should do us the favor asked; but will time my journey entirely to your convenience. Accept my affectionate salutations and assurances of constant and unalterable friendship & respect, & make my compliments acceptable to mrs Page. GOVERNOR PAGE [Addressed:] JOHN PAGE esquire TH: JEFFERSON Governor of Virginia Richmond [Endorsed:] free TH: JEFFERSON Pr. U S. Milton 29 July 1803 DESCRIPTION OF A SYRIAC MANUSCRIPT. Presented to the New York Public Library by John S. Kennedy. Size: 42 x 334 inches. Material: paper. The Manuscript is only a fragment containing 26 leaves. It must originally have contained 40 leaves (4 quinions). The marks of three of the quires are still to be seen. The whole of the first one is gone; the second is complete. In the third, one leaf is missing. In the fourth there remain only seven leaves; one of which has been wrongly placed upside down at the beginning of the little volume when it was rebound. Half of folios 24 and 26 are also missing. It is still in its Oriental binding, which is partly made up of leaves from another manuscript. The Manuscript contains charms and spells against evil spirits, swords and other weapons of war, against the evil eye when it affects either man or beast, against pest, rabid dogs, fire, headache and migrene, evil dreams, wolves and wild beasts, scorpions, evil tongues, winds and storms, nose-bleeding, etc., etc. There seems to be no order in the arrangement of the spells. There are also a few prayers for household peace, for general peace, for people who go on a journey; the mystical names of the ring of Solomon, and a system of reckoning by means of which the exact sickness in a person can be diagnosed, the day upon which it commenced, and the spell to be used in charming it away. This is done by giving a numerical value to the letters comprising the names of the person and the person's father. It is a sort of vademecum, such as is not uncommonly found among the Nestorians around Lake Urmia and the Kurdish mountains to-day. The illustrations are: a. Mār Thomasis Killing an Evil Spirit called “the daughter of the moon." Fol. 26.—b. Various implements of war (battle-axe, hack, scimitar, sword, etc.). Fol. 3b.-c. Various animals which are hunted (goat, dove, fox, bull, hare, etc.). Fol. 56.-d. A number of pistols and matchlocks. Fol. 76.e. The Angel Gabriel Killing the Evil Eye. Fol. 10a.-f. Rabban Hoomizd Killing a Lion. Fol. 12a.-g. Mar Daniel Killing a Wolf. Fol. 16a.-h. Two snakes. Fol. 166.-i. Two scorpions. Fol. 17a.-k. The Ring of King Solomon, with the mysterious names running inside the circumference. Fol. 176.-. Mar Shalita of Reshaina killing a demon called "the Red Wind" or "Spirit." Fol. 196.-m. Enoch and Elijah on either side of the Paradise tree.-n. At the end of the MS. an ornamental cross, such as is often found in Syriac MSS.; with the four words in the four corners, "Pray-for-the sinner-Elia," i. e., the writer of the MS. There was originally a long colophon on what is now folio 26 and the following pages. It commences, "This writing was finished by the hands of the weak sinner, the weak and shameless. . . .", the MS. breaking off just before the name. That, however, is given further on as "Elia." The same is the case in regard to the date. It commences, "This writing was finished in the blessed month of Adar, on a Thursday, the middle of Lent, in the year. .... From the writing it would appear that the MS. was 150 to 200 years old. |