0.15 Appendixes

It is suggested that no further additions, except as relating to New York State, be made to this collection.

14. biographies of national importance

Our collection of biographies is unusually good in the field of American history. In general, these are biographies of national figures: political, military, etc. We have also acquired biographies of persons prominent in New York City and New York State who may not, necessarily, have achieved national prominence.

This is a working reference collection which supplements our other material.

• It is suggested that important biographies of persons nationally prominent before 1865 be added to this collection. It is suggested that only biographies of figures of outstanding national importance after 1865 be purchased.
• It is also suggested that biographies of New Yorkers after 1865 be added to the collection. It is further suggested that these purchases be based on selec­tive book reviews in scholarly historical journals.

15. latin american collection

This collection consists of general histories of the Spanish exploration period. We do not add to it with any regularity since there are strong collections in the city. It is suggested that no further material be added to this collection.

16. travels in the united states, colonial era to present

This collection consists of an unusual group of American travel accounts with emphasis on early American travels. Included in these printed books are descriptions of localities and events which are invaluable records of history as it happened. Only relatively outstanding accounts of contemporary travels are purchased since this field is crowded with innumerable superficial or 'picture-book' volumes of little worth.

It is suggested that we continue to buy accounts of travel in America under­taken prior to 1850. For the period 1850 to 1900 it is suggested that secondary material be purchased only selectively on the basis of reviews in the outstanding historical journals.

17. trials in the united states up to 1860

Our collection of early trials—the majority prior to 1850—is unusually strong. These reports of trials range from crudely printed pamphlets and leaflets to more detailed legal accounts. The emphasis, however, is on the social aspect of Amer­ican history, rather than on the legal history of the period before 1850. These tri­als were often not reported in the press of the time because of the absence of newspapers in the vicinity of the trials.

The collection, which is well known, has been in the library and added to when possible, for many years. Additions to it are fairly uncommon, however, since this material is rare and does not often appear for sale.

It is suggested that we do not purchase accounts of trials after 1850.

18. drama

This collection represents American drama up to 1860, with emphasis on late 18th and early 19th century drama. We do not purchase late 19th or 20th century drama, a field adequately covered by the larger university libraries. (As a supple­ment to this collection we have some special material relating to artists such as Jenny Lind and the concert singer Emma Thursby.)