Charleston Library Society

Charleston Library Society
The "Seventeen Young Gentlemen"

Alexander Baron, schoolmaster from Scotland

Morton Brailsford, merchant

Samuel Brailsford, merchant

Robert Brisbane, merchant

John Cooper, merchant and distiller

James Grindlay, lawyer

William Logan, merchant

Alexander McCauley, peruke (wig) maker

Dr. Patrick McKie, physican

Thomas Middleton, planter

John Neufville, merchant

Thomas Sacheverell, planter

John Sinclair, merchant

Charles Stevenson, merchant

Peter Timothy, printer

Joseph Wragg, merchant

Samuel Wragg, merchant

The Charleston Library Society owes its origin to seventeen young gentleman who, in the year 1748, associated for the purpose of raising a small fund to "collect such new pamphlets" and magazines as should occasionally be published in Great Britain. They advanced and remitted to London ten pounds sterling, as fund to purchase such pamphlets as had appeared during the current year, acting at first under a mere verbal agreement, and without a name. Before the close of the year their views became more extensive, and on the 28th December they were organized under the name of a Library Society, and arrangements were made for the acquisition of books as well as of pamphlets.
Officers were first elected on the 1st April, 1749 and a few members were added during the Spring and Summer of that year. But as soon as the benefits of such an association were better understood, the Society became popular; and before the close of the year 1750, numbered more than one hundred and sixty members. Efforts were early made to obtain an Act of Incorporation. A Bill for that purpose passed both Houses of Assembly in 1751, but was defeated by the refusal of the Governor to give his assent. Another effort made in 1752, met with the same fate; thereupon the friends of the Society made an effort through the Colonial Agent in London, to obtain a charter from the Privy Council; or, if not, to cause instructions to be sent to the Governor to approve that granted by the Colonial Legislature. The proposition was rejected by the Board of Trade, because it was unprecedented to ratify in England a Bill to which a Provincial Governor had refused his assent.
We cannot now ascertain why Gov. Glenn should have twice refused to incorporate an association so unlikely to be obnoxious to the government as a Library Society. In 1754 his opposition was withdrawn, and he gave his assent to the charter, which, on the 24th June, 1755, was confirmed by the Crown.
From this time the Society made rapid progress. The number of books on its shelves increased steadily and rapidly; and the books themselves, comprising a large proportion of the ancient classical authors, reflected the enlightened character of the Society. This was the palmy period of its existence. It was, in a large measure, a social club, and admission into it was eagerly sought by those who were leaders of the society of the town. At an early period it became an understood thing that the Governor of the Province should be the President of the Society. Gov. Lyttelton was the first of these royal Presidents. After his departure from the Colony, Lieut.-Gov. Wm. Bull succeeded him, and was continued by successive elections until the arrival of Lord Charles Montague. The latter was elected in 1766, and held the office until 1768, when he retired from the Province, and Lieut-Gov. Bull was again elected and served until 1778. The disturbed condition of the Province, and the ill feelings with the royal Governors had come to be regarded, may account for the absence of the mane of Lord Wm. Campbell from the list of Presidents; but we cannot ascertain why Gov. Boone's name does not appear. He was very unpopular; but between him and the Library Society there were interchanges of good will.

It was a favorite project of the Society to establish, in connection with it, a High School or College; and to this end, as well as to provide a permanent fund, a portion of the income of the Society was regularly funded. In 1762 estimates of the cost of the proposed School were made: but as they called for an immediate outlay of about fifteen thousand dollars, together with an annual additional expenditure of upwards of two thousand dollars, the project was suspended as being beyond the means of the Society; and subsequent events caused it to be entirely abandoned.
The Revolutionary war, of course, suspended all schemes of improvement. The debts due the Society could with difficulty be collected; and it was even more difficult to invest the money when collected. A large sum was deposited in the Treasury, the certificates for which, through long unproductive, became ultimately valuable, and . In fact, furnished the germ of the present Library. In the great fire of 1778, the Library was almost entirely destroyed. Out of more than five thousand volumes only one hundred and eighty-five were saved. The loss was at the time irreparable. This great loss will explain the otherwise unaccountable absences from the Library of the numerous pamphlets which preceded the outbreak of the war. Nothing is transitory than such a literature, and by the time the Society was in a condition to resume operations, these pamphlets had been taken out of circulation, and were to be found only by the curious, and doubtless did not possess the same interest for the members as they would now us.
With the return of peace the Society was reorganized. But its funds were in ruinous condition. The accidents of war had dispersed its members - many were dead; and few or none were left who, in the general desolation, could render effectual aid to its treasury. The work of collection went on so slowly that in 1790 its catalogue showed only three hundred and forty-two volumes. In that year the Legislature made provision for funding the money which, at the beginning of the war, had been deposited in the Treasury, and the Society realized from its certificates about eleven thousand dollars; of this amount six thousand four hundred dollars was subscribed to the Bank of the United States, to be the nucleus of permanent fund, and the rest appropriated to the purchase of books. In 1792 the books purchased with this appropriation reached the city, and may be considered the foundation of the present collection. From that time. Except during the last war the increase has been moderate, but steady. In 1808 the catalogue showed about four thousand five hundred volumes; in 1811 seven thousand, andin1826 nearly twelve thousand. The number indicated in the present catalogue is about fifteen thousand five hundred volumes.
The Library was kept first at the house or store of John Sinclair, the first Librarian. When Mr. Sinclair left the Province, Mr. Will. Henderson was appointed Librarian, and the books were kept at his house. The places of abode of these gentleman are not known. In 1765 Mr. Will. Carwithen was appointed Librarian, and the Library was removed to his residence in Elliott Street, "a central part of the city very convenient to the members." In1764 Gov. Boone offered the Society a room "which had been the Council Chamber," but it was ascertained that the building belonged to the Crown and that neither the Governor nor the Legislature could give the Society a tenure which would justify the expense that the removal would occasion. Gabriel Manigault, Esq., who had been President or Vice-President of the Society for many years, gave it a lease for twenty-one years, of a convenient building in or, near Kinloch Court, a cul de sac running out of the Northern part of Union (now State) Street, and prepared the rooms at his own expense, for the use of the Library. This was destroyed by the fire of 1778. From that time to 1792, the Library had no permanent abiding place, but was frequently removed from place to place. In the latter year, the new State House having been completed, the upper rooms were put at the disposal of the Library Society, and the books were carried thither, and there kept until 1836, when they were removed to the building at present owned by the Society.

When, in 1835, the South Carolina Bank removed to more convenient quarters, and offered for sale their building at the corner of Broad and Church Streets, it was thought advisiable that the Society should have a permanent resting place, and negotiations were set on foot, which resulted in the purchase of the property. The funds of the Society were insufficient to meet the price, and the cost of removal. An appeal, therefore, was made to the people. To every subscriber of one hundred dollars was offered, free forever from all contributions, all the privileges of the Library, except the right of voting and of holding office; and the subscribers became with the Society joint tenants of the building. Ninety-six gentleman responded to the appeal. The purchase was made, and the Library opened in the new hall in May,1836.
This seemed to be a successful financial operation; but it proved to be a blow at the prosperity of the Society, from which it never recovered. It created a secondary class of members, who, paying no contributions, unconsciously tempted persons desirous of joining the Society, to purchase their shares in preference to those which the Society had to offer. It was an early and a favorite project of the Society to extinguish those shares, by purchasing them as they came upon the market. But the needs of the Library called for the money at its disposal. In spite of every effort to prevent it, the roll of contributing members became every year smaller. Then came the war, with its desolating influences; and when peace was restored the Society seemed on the verge of ruin.
In the year 1870, the Apprentices' Library Society, which had lost its books and its building in the great fire of 1861, having converted into cash some property which belonged to it, was reorganized and in a condition to purchase books. Application was made to the Charleston Library Society for the use of its shelves, and an agreement was entered into by which the members of the two Societies might use each others books. The arrangement seemed to be mutually beneficial. The Charleston Library had the building and its valuable collection of books, and the Apprentices' Library Society had the money to purchase new books. But it was soon found that the smaller and younger Society was absorbing the older; and that the old Society, with its building, its books, and its traditions, was incapable of sustaining itself against its junior associate, which had unconsciously and unintentionally become a rival. It was, therefore, proposed to unite the two Societies. The negotiations occupied upwards of a year. An Act of Legislature was obtained to sanction the union, and in 1874 the younger Society merged itself into the older; and it is hoped that with the new life a new era of prosperity is before both. The building shares still continue to constitute a class of privileged members, but the reduced price of subscription, and the increased facilities of becoming subscribers, do not permit these privileged shares to exercise an injurious influence on the prosperity of the Society.

When war threatened the city with invasion, a portion of the collection of the Society, its files of newspapers, and its large and valuable collection of prints, engravings, were sent into the interior. In 1863, when the city was threaten with destruction, about half the books of the Society (the selection being made by a committee appointed for the purpose,) were sent to Columbia. A member of the Society went with the books, and saw them safely deposited in one of the rooms belonging to the College. Unfortunately the demand for hospital accommodations occasioned the removal of the books without the superintendance of an agent of the Library. A new demand for hospital room occasioned a new removal; and when the books were restored to the Library in 1867, they gave sad indication of the rough handling to which they had been subjected. The books which remained in Charleston were removed to the College Library.
The Apprentices' Library Society was formed in 1824, chiefly with a view to the benefit of apprentices and minors. Dr. Joseph Johnson was the first President and Thomas S. Grimke, Vice-President. The city Council lent a room in the old Market Hall for the accommodation of their books; and the Librarian, Ebenezer Thayer, opened the Library two evenings of each week. From small beginnings it grew, though the zealous, persevering, and disinterested exertion of its founders and friends, to be an institution of widely extended usefulness. In 1840, it had acquired the means of purchasing a lot in Meeting Street, and erecting a hall, which was destroyed by the great fire of 1861. The corner stones of the foundation were disinterred after the sale of the lot in 1876, and delivered to the Charleston Library Society. They are now encased in the wall on either side of the landing place of the ladies' entrance into the Library. We have already narrated how the Society became incorporated with the older Society.
Several catalogues have been printed. The one in 1808 was a classification of the books according to the subjects of which they treated. In 1811, another catalogue was printed; and supplements were printed in 1816 and 1818. In 1823, the Society appointed a committee, of which their President, Hon. Stephen Elliott, was chairman, to compile a new catalogue. This work devolved principally on the chairman. He continued the system of classifying books, but did it on a new and more philosophical principle. It was prefaced with an essay on the principle of classification, and an exposition of that adopted in the work. Without stopping to discuss the subject, it will be sufficient to say that according to the principle laid down by Mr. Elliott, all literature is regarded as treating -
1. Of man in his intellectual capacity - treatises on the philosophy and description of the human mind.
2. Of man in his relation to the deity - theology.
3. Of man in relation to his fellows - ethics.
4. Of man in relation to society - government, jurisprudence, and politics.
5.Of the pursuits, the improvements, and the discoveries of man in society - science and literature.
6. Of the history of man in society - history and biography.
From this exhaustive view of subjects, the books in the catalogue were arranged under six divisions, in each were several sections. To this was added an alphabetical catalogue in the form of an index. In consequence of his other professional engagements, Mr. Elliott did not complete the work until 1826. It was, when finished, very creditable to the compiler, and an able contribution of the Society to the department of analytical literature. Since that time, the general sense of literary men has determined that the most practically useful catalogue is that which, disclaiming all attempts at classification, confines itself to the alphabetical order.

In 1845, a second volume was printed. As that was left to the Librarian, he restored the old classification which had been set aside by Mr. Elliott. He would have done better to have followed the alphabetical order, as was done in the case of the supplements which from time to time were printed.
The arrangement of the books in a Library is a task of no little difficulty, and when executed, is always liable to the censure of critics. It is obviously proper that books which treat of the same or kindred subjects should be near each other. But even where an unexceptionable arrangement has been made, the accommodation of the Library is limited, while the number of books is indefinitely increasing. It follows necessarily that the most perfect original arrangement must become confused; so that, in order to keep the order perfect, the whole work must be done over again. In 1854, on the death of Mr. Logan, a member of the Society undertook the office until a new Librarian should be elected. He determined to re-arrange the books without, however, rigorously adopting any definite method. He took Mr. Elliott's catalogue as his general guide, and the books in the hall were arranged according to that plan; beginning on the left with theology and metaphysics, and terminating on the right with biography. Each case was lettered, as well as each shelf, and every book was labelled to designate the case and the self which it belonged. These labels were inserted on the catalogue against the titles of the books. As soon, therefore, as a book is found in the catalogue, its place in the Library is at once ascertained; and on the return of a book to the Library, the label at once designates the place it should occupy. An alphabetical catalogue in double entry, that is a place for the author and one for the title of the book, with labels of the books inserted in the catalogue, seems to be the most perfect plan yet discovered of aiding the Librarian in his search after books. The insertion of the labels, for obvious reasons, is left for the Librarian to add on his manual.
In 1848, the Society celebrated its hundredth anniversay. An address on the occasion was delivered by the Hon. James Louis Petigru, and religious services conducted by Rev. John Bachman, D.D. A hymn was performed on the occasion, composed for it by a lady of Charleston.
It is noteworthy, that during the most prosperous periods of the Society's existence, a dinner at least once a year was a regular incident, and the annual cost of dining was several hundred dollars. After the removal of the Society into their own rooms, the dinners have been discontinued. It seems an obvious truth, that the money which is subscribed for the purchase of books ought not to be spent in dinners; but it is a singular fact, that with the discontinuance of the dinners, the purchasing power of the Society has steadily diminished.
During its long corporate existence, the Society has to record the name of only one benefactor. In 1770, Benj. Smith died, leaving by his will one thousand pounds currency, (six hundred dollars), to the Society. Occasional donations of books, etc., have from time to time been made, but generally the Society has had to depend upon its own resources.
Found a list of the Presidents and the Librarians, with the dates of their elections.
PRESIDENTS.
1749 - John Cooper.
1750 - John Lining.
1751 - Charles Pinckney.
1752 - James Michie.
1753 - Gabriel Manigault.
1756 - Thomas Smith.
1757 - Daniel Crawford.
1758 - His. Ex. Henry Lyttleton.
1760 - The Hon. William Bull.
1767 - Ld. Charles Gr. Montague.
1770 - The Hon. William Bull.
1778 - Gabriel Manigault.
1779 - Col. Charles Pinckney.
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1783 - Thomas Bee.
1792 - Gen. Charles C. Pinckney.
1797 - Ralph Izard.

1798 - Gen. Charles C. Pinckney.
1807 - Henry Wn. DeSaussure.
1812 - John Julius Pringle.
1816 - Stephen Elliott.
1826 - Timothy Ford.
1831 - Elias Horry.
1835 - Joel R. Poinsett.
1937 - John S. Cocdell.
1840 - Charles Fraser.
1842 - Thos. Y. Simons, M.D.
1849 - Henry A. DeSaussure.
1858 - Frederick A. Porcher.
1861 - T. Leger Hutchinson.
1867 - Wm. T. Wragg, M.D.
1868 - Thos. Y. Simons.
1871 - J. Berkley Grimball.
1875 - Wm. D. Porter.
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LIBRARIANS.

1740 - John Sinclair.
1755 - Will. Henderson.
1756 - Will. Carwithen.
1770 - Will. Hort.
1771 - Thos. Powell.
1772 - Samuel Price.
1779 - John Fanan.
1783 - John McCall.

1787 - Philip Prioleau.
1790 - Will. Blamyer.
1797 - John Davidson.
1813 - Benjamin Leefe.
1815 - William Logan.
1854 - Alexander H. Mazyck.
1865 - William G. Mazyck.
1869 - Arthur Mazyck.

Cronologia Ornitologica