Excerpt from Seventh Annual Report of the President of Harvard University to the Overseers of the State of the Institution: 1831-32 The number of its volumes, now exceeding forty thousand, - its completeness, selectness, ' and extent, (it being in these respects altogether unrivalled in this country, and especially in maps, charts, and works belonging to the department of American history.) the connexion of its preservation with the state of intelligence and the progress of science in the Commonwealth (of which it is virtually the property, and a most precious inheritance), have been the repeated topics of statement in these Annual Reports; at the same time, its constant exposure to fire, the im possibility of obtaining indemnity for its loss, by any insor ance, the absolute irretrievableness of such loss, should it occur, the inconvenience as it respects its use, and its liability to injury, in consequence of the inadequacy of the only apartments which can now be devoted to it, have been also brought before the Overseers and the public, with all the particularity and urgency, that the extreme importance of the subject demands Hitherto without success. The library annually increases, and with it increases also the greatness of the interest of the Commonwealth in its preservation. This library is strictly a public interest, and one, also, of the most impressive character. Harvard University is, in truth, only the trustee of it, for the benefit of the whole literature of the Commonwealth. It is a concern connected intimately with the prosperity of the present and all future times. The most common of all calamities, to which property is subject, and to which, as has been repeatedly explained, this library is most peculiarly ex posed, may deprive Massachusetts of it in an hour. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.