Miscellaneous Volumes of the Virginia State Library, 1828-1928

Access and use

Location of collection:
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Archives Reference Services
Phone: (804) 692-3888
Restrictions:

There are no restrictions.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Miscellaneous volumes of the Virginia State Library, [Cite specific item, date and accession used]. State government records collection. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.

Summary

Extent:
77 Volumes
Creator:
The Library of Virginia
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Miscellaneous volumes of the Virginia State Library, [Cite specific item, date and accession used]. State government records collection. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains Miscellaneous Volumes, 1828-1928, documenting the actions of the early Virginia State Library. Includes account books, catalogs, circulation records, patron and visitor registers, and publication lists. When volume numbers were available, they have been added to the finding aid.

Includes cash account books, catalogs, and purchase lists.

Cash account books, 1874-1900, (4 v.) record cash receipt and expenditure transactions. Entries include date, to whom paid or from who received, and amount of the transaction. Includes the following volumes: 1874-1876 (154 p.); 1877-1881 (184 p.); 1884-1893 (226 p.); and 1894-1900 (148 p.).

Catalog supplements, undated, (15 v.) document books received by the Virginia State Library. The volumes are arranged alphabetically by letter, and thereunder each volume is arranged alphabetically by last name of the author. Entries include author, title, publication location and date of publication.

Catalogs of books received, 1904-1906, (2 v.) list books purchased by the library in chronological order by date received. Entries include date received, author, title, publisher, date published, and number of pages. Includes the following volumes: v. 1, 1904 Nov-1905 Mar; v. 2, 1905 Mar-1906 Jan.

Catalog of law books at the State Library at Lewisburg, 1860, (1 v.) consists of a list of laws books compiled in 1860 July. The list includes book title and number of volumes for each title. The volume is divided into the following sections: General, Criminal, Va. Reports, Va. Statutes, Miscellaneous, Statutes and laws of the U.S. and other states, and Folios and quartos. Also includes a list of duplicate volumes and a list of missing volumes.

Check list of books in stack by alcove, undated, (1 v.) is arranged by Library of Congress classification letter and lists the call letter, subject and the location of books under that topic in the stacks.

The general alphabetical catalog, undated, (2 v.) is a shelf list of books at the Virginia State Library. The volumes are arranged alphabetically by title and entries also include the number of volumes of the title, and section and shelf location. One volume (128 p.) is both handwritten and typescript and seems to be earlier than the other volume as it contains fewer titles. The other volume (152 p.) is entirely typescript.

Purchase lists, 1872-1886, (2 v.) include books purchased by the Virginia State Library. Books are organized chronologically as well as separately by publisher, and list author, title, date published, number of copies purchased and purchase price.

Catalog of books, 1828-1853, includes lists of books at the state library. The first section of the volume contains miscellaneous books, listed by year, that include number of volumes, title and cost. The remainder of the volume is arranged alphabetically then by year and lists number of volumes, title and cost.

Includes Catalog of law books, 1828-1853; Catalog of law books taken at Lewisburg Court of Appeals, 1860; and Index to catalog of law books in the Library, undate.

Orders, 1885-1894, are arranged by year and then by publisher, and include title and cost.

List of books wanted, undated [18--], is arranged alphabetically by title.

List of books wanted and persons who have received Act of Assembly (1860), 1862, includes a list of books arranted in alphabetcal order, as well as a list of Acts recipients alphabetical by surname.

List of law books wanted, undated, includes two small volumes bound together. Both v. 7 and v. 9 are arranged alphabetically by title.

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Registers of visitors, 1876-1896, are arranged chronologically by date and list the visitor's name and place of residence. These registers cover the dates 1876-1877, 1883-1888, and 1894-1896.

Includes various ledgers and lists.

Circulation records, 1830-1902, include lists of books borrowed, with date, name of book and name of borrower.

Ledger, 1869-1873, includes accounts with vendors for publication purchases, and accounts with U.S. states, Canada, U.S. Navy, Smithsonian Institution, as well as internal accounts for expenses, freight, historical manuscripts, insurance, law library, printing, state librarian, and subscriptions.

Ledger, 1873-1880, includes accounts with vendors, as well as internal accounts for expenses, freight, historical manuscripts, insurance, law library, printing, state librarian, and subscriptions.

Ledger, 1903-1920 c., includes entries of bonds held by the Treasurer under the provision of an Act for the maintenance and management of the State Library approved May 15, 1903. Includes information on various funds (Library, Manuscript, Traveling Library) and incidental expenses.

List of documents and reports from state agencies, 1873, includes items received and distributed such as House and Senate journals, Acts of Assembly, Board of Public Works reports, statutes, and Gratton's Reports, among others.

List of donated and exchange publications, 1871-1903, include books and state publications donated by other state governments, federal agencies, and other entities, such as museums, often in exchange for similar publications from the state of Virginia. Include date, entity donating, title and number of copies.

Patron registers, 1917-1928, include date, name, official position, residence, and classificiation of material used.

Biographical / historical:

For many years, The Library of Virginia had no definitive home. Valuable early records were kept at Jamestown as early as 1676 and were then moved to the College of William and Mary for a brief period at the century's end. By 1780, extant records were moved to the Capitol in Richmond.

Coincidentally, in 1779, the Virginia General Assembly was presented among its legislation, "A Bill for Establishing a Public Library" drawn up by Thomas Jefferson. The Bill provided for 2000 pounds yearly to be expended to maintain a State Library in Richmond. The facility was to be a reference library only without books being lent for home use. Perhaps ahead of its time, the bill failed to pass.

The Virginia State Library was created by an act passed by the General Assembly on January 23, 1823, to establish a public library with funds derived from the sale of William W. Hening's THE STATUTES AT LARGE. From 1823 to 1828, the Library was under the control of the governor and council. In 1828, the General Assembly created a joint committee on the library (located in a room in the southeastern corner of the Capitol) to oversee its administration. Use of the State Library was restricted to members of the state government in a policy that continued until at least 1856. The Secretary of the Commonwealth served ex officio as state librarian from 1832 to 1903.

The growth of the State Library was somewhat erratic. Book holdings increased from 1,313 in 1828 to 17,480 in 1856. Lack of funds and politics frequently intermingled to slow library development. General W. H. Richardson, State Librarian in 1852, became embroiled in an effort to remove him "to make way for some politician of democratic principles." At the close of Reconstruction, Dr. George William Bagby, then State Librarian, was terminated and his position abolished at the hands of Readjusters.

Eventually, on May 15, 1903, the General Assembly passed an act that created a library board to administer the library, authorized the deposit of public records in the library, provided for the publication of historical records by the library, and established a library fund for the purchase of books and private papers. The Library Board, which was responsible for naming the State Librarian, was itself appointed by the Board of Education. The General Assembly passed an act on March 29, 1944, transferring the power to appoint the Library Board to the governor.

While many public records somehow survived the Commonswealth's early years, many losses occurred due to fires, the ravages of war and negligence. When the library was moved, for example, in 1895 to a building separate from the Capitol, "chutes were constructed from the upper story of the Capitol to facilitate the delivery of books to the wagons of the junk dealer who had bought them." The move was poorly planned and the library's contents suffered great loss at the hands of those very authorities assigned to protect them.

The new facility quickly was found to be inadequate and efforts were made both in 1910 and 1920 to construct a proper building for the State Library and its collections. Ground was broken for a new facility on December 7, 1938. At last, on December 23, 1940, the newly completed Virginia State Library was opened to the public.

The Virginia State Library adopted the name, the Virginia State Library and Archives, in early 1987 to more adequately reflect its mission and purpose. On July 1, 1994 the name was changed to The Library of Virginia, evocative of the Library of Congress. In 1997 the library moved to, it's fourth and current location, the 800 block of East Broad Street.

The title of State Librarian has been held by: John Pendleton Kennedy (1903-1906), Henry Read McIlwaine (1907-1934), Wilmer L. Hall (1935-1947), Randolph W. Church (1948-1970), Donald R. Haynes (1971-1984), Ella Gaines Yates (1985-1990), Dr. John C. Tyson (1991-1994), Nolan T. Yelich (1995-2007), the current State Librarian, Sandra Gioia Treadway, took office July 1, 2007.

Acquisition information:
No acquisition information available.
Arrangement:

Arranged by accession number and then alphabetically by title.