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Standing Committee on the Library for 1850:

MR. PRUYN,

THE LIEUT. GOVERNOR,

MR. BUEL,

MR. RANKIN,

MR. VAN RENSSELAER.

T. ROMEYN BECK, Secretary of the Regents, acts as Secretary of the Library Committee, and conducts the correspondence on the part of the Trustees.

ALFRED B. STREET, Librarian.

ELISHA W. SKINNER, Assis't Librarian.
JOHN H. HICKCOX, Messenger.

REPORT.

TO THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK.

The Trustees of the State Library,

RESPECTFULLY REPORT

That they have continued, throughout the last year, to make all the additions within their ability to the law and miscellaneous departments of the State library. The works procured, are, in their opinion, well deserving of a place in any public collection, but their value, if not their number, has been equalled by the numerous and important donations received during the same period of time.

The government of Austria, through its Minister, has presented magnificent works on botany and oriental literature, with some remarkable specimens of printing in all the known languages. His majesty, the King of Prussia, has continued his kindness in forwarding the initial volumes of the government edition of the works of Frederick the Great. France, through its Legislature, the chiefs of the various departments of its government, and the magistracy of its principal cities, has continued to manifest its sense of the importance of the system of international exchanges, and their confidence in the integrity of M. Vattemare, its chief promoter, by continuing to offer numerous donations.

The trustees also acknowledge, with sincere pleasure, the receipt of valuable works from the government of the United States, from no less than twenty-two States and one Territory in the Union, from most of the Literary and Scientific Societies in the United States, and from many individuals.

All of these are gratefully recorded in the long list of donations which accompanies this report. It is almost invidious to discriminate, but the Regents cannot avoid referring to the valuable donations of the Misses Rutherford, of New-Jersey, of Mr. James Lenox, of New-York, of Mr. Shattuck and Dr. Jarvis, of Massachusetts, and General Houghton of Vermont, and in particular to the manuscripts presented by Mr. Onderdonk, of Jamaica, and Gen. Cooper and Dr. Hun, of Albany.

Gen. Van Rensselaer has also been kind enough to promise to the State Library the ancient manuscripts relating to the manor of Rensselaerwyck, which have so long formed part of the colonial history of New York.

The Trustees rely on the well known and highly appreciated liberality of the constituted authorities, to enable them to carry out the noble object of making the New-York State Library a place of satisfactory resort for the student in law, in history, and indeed in every department of literature and science. They will only recur to the limited space and the insecurity of the rooms now containing the collection, and to the fact that the donations have been so unexpectedly large, that the appropriations for binding have again been exceeded by about four hundred dollars. Beyond this, they are content to receive and disburse the appropriations of the State, although at the same time aware that various departments of investigation, and particularly those relating to the civil law, and those giving the specification of foreign patents, will need appropriations to have them meet the wants of the present day.

The documents accompanying this report are as follows, marked

A. A catalogue of all the books, maps, engravings, medals and manuscripts added to the Library from January 1, 1850, to January 1, 1851.

B. Catalogue of books missing during 1850.

C. A catalogue of the donations received during the same

D. Account current of the Secretary of the Regents, ex officio Treasurer of the Library fund.

E. Sundry literary memoranda, and which it is intended to increase in future reports, by exhibiting in succession all the publications in the library relative to the colony and State of New York, and subsequently those treating of the other States of the Union.

By order of the Regents of the University, ex officio Trustees of the State Library.

T. ROMEYN BECK, Secretary.

G. Y. LANSING, Chancellor.

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