Page:The librarians of Harvard College 1667-1877.djvu/36

 30 LIBRARIANS OF HARVARD COLLEGE. office long, however, for he died the 13th of July of that year.

AUTHORITIES: Miller, ''Hist. sketches of Hudson'', 1862, pp. 18, 115. Whitmore, ''Mass. civil list'', 1870, p. 117. Winthrop's interleaved triennial.

1772-1787.

James Winthrop, born 28 March, 1752, was the son of John Winthrop, Hollis professor of mathematics and natural philosophy, and his first wife Rebecca Townsend. Graduating in 1769, he began, in the year in which he took his second degree, his Librarianship, destined to be nearly twice as long as that of any of his predecessors. From the vote by which the Library was given to his care, 1 May, 1772, we learn that he had acted as substitute for Mayhew for over two years. He did not, however, sign the formal agreement as Librarian until the following December. His salary was fixed at ₤60 per annum. The next year he issued the second printed catalogue of the Library under the following title: -

"Catalogue Librorum in Bibliotheca Cantabrigiensi selectus, frequentiorem in usum Harvardinatum qui Gradu Baccalaurei in Artibus nondum sunt donati. Bostoniae : Nov. Ang. Typis Edes & Gill. M,DCC,LXXIII."

This catalogue of twenty-seven pages is an alphabetical list containing perhaps about a thousand titles. It aims to omit books " supra Captum Juniorum Studentium," and, in general, books in foreign languages (excepting the classics) and medical and legal works. Two years later, when the College buildings were occupied by the con- tinental army, it became necessary to remove the Library to a place of safety. The Provincial Congress voted, 15 June, 1775, " that the Library apparatus and other valuables of Harvard College be removed as soon as may be to the town of Andover, that Mr. Samuel Phillips, Mr. Daniel Hopkins, and Dummer Jewett Esq. be a committee to consult with the Revd. the President, the Honble Mr. Winthrop, and the Librarian or such of them as may be conveniently obtained and with them to engage some suitable Person or persons in said town to transport, receive and take the charge of the above mentioned effects, that said Committee join with other gentlemen in employing proper persons in packing said Library apparatus and such other articles as they shall judge expedient and take all due care that it be done with the greatest safety and despatch." The work of re- moval was begun at once. On the 17th, Samuel Phillips, jr., wrote " Amid all the terrors of battle I was so busily engaged in Harvard Library that I never even heard of the engagement (I mean the siege) until it was completed." While the books were being thus packed up, the Librarian, who was an ardent patriot, was taking part in the battle of Bunker Hill, where he received a wound in the neck. Among the receipts for moving the books is one ' ' for carting one load of Books ... to the house of George Abbot, Esq. in Andover, 17 miles, 0. 17," signed by John L. Abbot, the father of the Librarian of the same name. A sub- sequent vote of the Congress authorized the re- moval of some of the books to such other places besides Andover as might seem best. Many books had thus been taken to Concord, and there it was decided the following fall to open the College. The authority of the Provincial Congress for this and for the removal of the books to that town from Andover was obtained, and the Corporation voted, 24 October, 1775, that the boxes of books be opened there for the use of the students ' ' as soon as the Librarian can remove to Concord & attend to the duties of his office." Although by the following June, the students had returned to Cambridge, it was May, 1778, before the whole of the Library was restored to the College halls. In the spring of 1775, Winthrop had been appointed postmaster at Cambridge ; but after six weeks he felt obliged to resign. In a letter (5 July, 1775) to the president of the Provincial Congress, he says : " As the office will not furnish the single article of victuals, as the establishment is at pres- ent, I shall be constrained to quit the place of business and seek for a sustenance somewhere else. All the money 1 have received since the oath was administered on the 25th of May, amounts to 7 7s. lOd. ; 15 per cent, of it is my pay for six weeks, that is at [the rate] of 6d. a day nearly. Judge then, sir, whether this be sufficient to fur- nish one, who has no other support, with a suste- nance." At this time, it should be noted, the College finances were at the lowest ebb, partly on account of the hard times occasioned by the war, and partly because the Treasurer, John Hancock, was too engrossed in public affairs to attend to the business of the College. Winthrop, for these reasons, was probably receiving no salary. In September, he was appointed register of probate, an office he held for forty-two years. Indeed, it was this position that led to his resignation from the Library in 1787; for the Corporation had passed a law (aimed directly at him) that no officer of the College should hold any civil or judicial office. He was also for some time a justice of the court of common pleas. Winthrop died unmarried, 26 September, 1821. By his will, he left his library to the then recently established Allegheny College, which a few years before had granted him an LL.D. James Winthrop was a scholar of ability both in science and languages. He contributed a number