subscribers are desired to call on Mr. Craig on or before the above
date, and pay their subscriptions, that their names may be inserted
with the rest.

Signed by order

JAMES KENNEDY, Librarian.

That the Alexandria Library Company merited and met with cordial and
generous support is shown by the fact of its perpetuation to this day
within the structure of the Alexandria library system. The Library
Company has been called one of the "time-honored heirlooms of the
town."[192]

The Alexandria Library has had a nomadic existence from the time it was
called into existence in 1794 until it was moved into its new home on
Queen Street in 1937. At least five buildings other than the lyceum have
doubled for home during this period; but the lyceum is the first
location mentioned in the extant minutes of the company. The author
nostalgically hopes the lyceum may know a renaissance and that it may
again serve as the city's library and a historical museum.

Hallowell tells us that the books were housed on the first floor. His
autobiography also contributes an interesting note on the busts of
Cicero and Seneca which stood in the lecture room upstairs: "The marble
busts spoken of above," he added, "were purchased in Italy in the time
of Cromwell by one of the Fairfax family; they were brought to this
country by Lord Fairfax, and had come into the possession of Daniel
Herbert, whose mother was a Fairfax. I purchased them of him for the
price he asked (one hundred and twenty-five dollars), but permitted them
to remain in the Lyceum while it continued in operation." Benjamin
Hallowell served as president of the lyceum until 1842.

After the War Between the States, the lyceum was abandoned, the society
dissolved. The town was rife with rumors that a Negro organization was
making plans to acquire the building. By order of the court in 1867, the
stockholders of the Alexandria Lyceum Company were compelled to sell the
property. Advertisements were set up in the _Gazette_. W. Arthur Taylor
and Reuben Johnston were appointed commissioners, and having given
thirty days' notice of the time and place of sale, the building was
offered at public auction in front of the mayor's office on May 16, 1868
and "struck off" to John B. Daingerfield for the sum of $6,800.00, being
the highest bid. The sale was confirmed by the court and the deed
ordered executed, describing the lot of ground with buildings and
im