Box 9

Scope and Contents The initial form of this catalog was compiled by Doctor Theo West and put into use on 10 July 1874, although there may have been additions by the time it was copied by the directors of the library company into its current form. It was intended for publication, but was later advertised as merely being available at the librarian’s desk. It was therefore organized with the aim of finding books by title, like a printed catalog, rather than by number like the manuscript catalogs from before the...

Scope and Contents This catalog contains a relisting of the contents of the 1815 catalog and supplement sorted by the first letter of the alphabet with pamphlets listed separately as well as books added between April 1833 and the suspension of library operations after 1848 listed by subject. Although its initial form was compiled by George Drinker some time earlier, it does not appear to gone into effect until sometime after 1834 where there is a gap in circulation records. Because the numbering up to 1,725...

Scope and Contents As noted in its introduction, the 300 copies of the 1856 catalog were created not as “a model catalog but such a one as would be practically useful to the readers of the library.” It serves as a guide to the collection as contemporary subscribers would have known it, covering the first 4,473 volume numbers for this period. For looking up numbers from the circulation records, it is easier to use the searchable catalog of surviving books or the online version. For later acquisitions, one may...

Scope and Contents This catalog was implemented sometime in the fall of 1858 as an “amendment” to the catalog of 1856 and was likely expanded on an ongoing basis up to the Civil War. Since the 1856 catalog was presumably still in use by subscribers, the two contain largely the same information apart from three key differences. Firstly, the 1858 added accretions to the book collection, extending the book numbers from 4,473 to 5,063. The second difference is that it lists the books by number, to assist the...

Scope and Contents

This typescript contains a listing of “old magazines” by title and volume that were in the collection in 1933. It also includes some notes on their condition, such as whether they were bound and missing covers, pages, and volumes.

Scope and Contents The 1898 catalog provides the earliest record of the library’s collection after its reestablishment by the Alexandria Library Association, including numbers of volumes and publications dates for each title. The subject classification allows a simple method of gauging the balance of the collection between different areas, particularly in comparison with the publications of 1906 and 1912. Handwritten notes seem to indicate additions and shelf locations, although the date and provenance of...

Scope and Contents

A complete update to the 1898 catalog, the 1906 retained the same basic classification system apart from the addition of 3 new sub-classes. It also includes a chart of subscription prices for the library at the front giving lengths of time and numbers of books and a large number of advertisements from local businesses.

For the new subclasses see arrangement note.

Scope and Contents

The 1912 supplement to the catalog includes additions to the library collection since 1906 as well as a listing of old magazines, which were not mentioned in the 1906 catalog. Most classification numbers were therefore unneeded. The bulk of the entries appear to be fiction and old magazines.

Scope and Contents

This listing of “R” titles is largely the same as that copied by the directors for the 1876 catalog, but appears to be in a different hand (most noticeably the number 8). The listing for “S” appears to be the same hand as “R.” Also included are two pieces of paper with additional titles, and notes in blue asking that additional space be left for new titles to be added. That feature of the main 1876 catalog is absent here and may be the reason it was not included in a complete volume.