Identifier: picturesquewas00moor (find matches)
Title: Picturesque Washington: pen and pencil sketches of its scenery, history, traditions, public and social life, with graphic descriptions of the Capitol and Congress, the White House, and the government departments ..
Year: 1884 (1880s)
Authors: Moore, Joseph West
Subjects: Washington (D.C.)
Publisher: Providence : J.A. & R.A. Reid
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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^ ofCongress. In 1851 there were 55,000 volumes on hand, but in De-cember of that year nearly 35,000 were destroyed by a fire in thelibrary hall. The fire also consumed a number of valuable paintings,including Gilbert Stuarts portraits of the first five Presidents. Themain hall was soon restored, after designs by Walter, and the twoextensions added, the work costing $280,500. Congress yearly ap-propriated large sums of money for the purchase of books. Throughthe eflbrts of ex-President Hayes, then a member of Congress, andchairman of the Committee on the Library, the invaluable historicalcollections belonging to Peter Force, of Washington, were purchased ja KJ lij a !a y a a a ai(
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HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. 105 for $100,000, and deposited in the library. These collections ofbooks, pamphlets, prints, etc., pertaining to early American history,have no equal in the world. They were accumulated during manyyears of earnest and enthusiastic antiquarian labor. In 1866 thelibrary of the Smithsonian Institution was added to the Library ofCongress. The law department contains nearly 60,000 volumes, and is con-sidered very complete. Every volume of American, English, Irish,and Scotch court reports is to be found here, together with the stat-utes of all countries, from 1649 to the present time. From 4,000 to5,000 volumes are added yearly.

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