e gentlemen of the vicinity formed a society since known as
the 'Northern Academy.' This society, which was afterwards chartered
and has been continued in different forms until the present time,
early began the formation of a library. While many old books have been
collected, its principal value lies in pamphlets and files of
newspapers, some of which covering a number of years extend back
beyond the Revolution. This collection, now swelled to several
thousand, has always been in connection with the college library,
although for several years a want of shelf room and a greater want of
funds to place it in usable condition, have made it of little
practical value. In 1850, the three libraries having changed little
comparatively, numbered 19,000 volumes. The 'Northern Academy,'
exclusive of the unbound, had over 1,000 volumes, thus making fully
20,000 volumes accessible. A distinction must be made between the
figures given under the different dates (which indicate the number
that were actually in the libraries), and the number according to
catalogues. The latter were made by adding to former lists the books
received during different years, when in fact the additions during
some of these years did not more than make good the losses. It
frequently happened that ten percent of the catalogued number could
not be accounted for. While the society libraries have continued with
nearly the same annual additions--an average actual yearly increase of
over a hundred volumes,--the great growth of the college library has
taken place since 1850. Since that year have been received the
donations of books for the different departments of instruction and
the funds upon which the constant growth of the library depends. Of
these funds the first had its origin in 1846, when Edmund Parker of
Nashua, Isaac Parker of Boston, and Joel Parker of Keene, gave $1,000.
This was subsequently increased by the latter to $7,000, and in his
will (which founded the Law School), provisions were made, that will,
when available, place this fund at $20,000. In 1852, Dr. George C.
Shattuck, whose name is associated with the Observatory, gave $1,000
for the department of Mathematics as applied to Mechanics and
Astronomy. To this during the same year he added $200 for Natural
Philosophy and Astronomy, and $800 for the Latin language and
Literature. At the same time Dr. Roswell Shurtleff, Emeritus
Professor, gave $1,000 for better providing with books the departments