Barnes Reference Library records and correspondence

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: 13-6-587

Scope and content

This collection contains records and correspondence documenting Alfred C. Barnes Reference Library, dating 1889-1970.It includes receipted bills (1892-1904) for books from dealers and publishing houses, for compiling and indexing the catalog and shelf list from Reverend G.F. Danforth, and for printing the catalog from Andrus & Church; a bound copy of the catalog (1898); unbound pages containing alphabetical and numerical classification of books; lists of books suggested or ordered (1889-1893); lists of books missing (1921-1928); and pamphlets advertising The Palestine Pilgrims Text Translations, Palestine Exploration Fund, and The Bible and Its Transmission; acknowledgements from various college and public libraries of receipt of copies of the catalog. The collection also contains correspondence including letters from Scribner's and the University of Chicago Press to Professor George W. Harris concerning bookbinding and a subscription to the periodical The Biblical World, from Alfred C. Barnes to Andrew C. White (1898-1904) concerning White's assumption of the post of librarian and the selection of and payment for books, and from Professor Wheeler to White concerning the records and bills of lading, as well as correspondence concerning the “Theological Library” in Barnes Hall, 1963-1970, and general correspondence concerning book purchases. In addition, the collection includes notes and reports on the Barnes Reference Library by University Librarian Otto Kinkeldey and others (1919-1966); reports to Felix Reichmann suggesting improvements to the collection; and typewritten histories of the Barnes Reference Library.

Dates

1889-1970.

Creator

no primary creator (Person)
Barnes, Alfred C. (Person)
Harris, George William, 1849-1917. (Person)
White, Andrew C. (Andrew Curtis), 1854-1936. (Person)
Kinkeldey, Otto, 1878-1966. (Person)
Reichmann, Felix, 1899-1987. (Person)
Danforth, G. F. (Person)
Andrus & Church (Firm) (Organization)

Language of Material

In English.

Biographical / Historical

The Alfred C. Barnes Reference Library was set up in the fall of 1889, building on a small collection of books that had been assembled by the Cornell University Christian Association in its headquarters, supplemented by books on religion and related subjects from Andrew Dickson White's library. The Barnes Library was intended as a Biblical reference library to be placed in Barnes Hall (a building donated by Barnes's father). Alfred C. Barnes fitted up one of the rooms of Barnes Hall as a library, furnished the room with shelves, and ordered the purchase of books selected at his request by two Cornell faculty members. After Anabel Taylor Hall was built in 1952, Barnes Library was moved there, at the far end of the first floor hallway.

Andrus & Church was a publishing firm in Ithaca, New York. George William Harris was the University Librarian at Cornell University at the turn of the 20th century. Andrew C. White was the Assistant Librarian of the University at Cornell from 1889-1923. He also served as the curator of the Barnes Hall Library at Cornell from about 1897-1928. Andrew Dickson White was a co-founder and the first president of Cornell University, as well as a major book collector. Felix Reichmann served as Assistant Director for Development of Collections in the Cornell Library in the 1950s-1960s.