Books, Maps, and Politics: A Cultural History of the Library of Congress, 1783-1861

Chapter Three. Thomas Jefferson, George Watterston, and the Library, 1814–1829

73 CHAPTER THREE g Thomas Jefferson, George Watterston, and the Library, 1814–1829 An attack on the Capitol in Washington by British troops in 1814 resulted in the nearly complete destruction of the Library of Congress . The subsequent purchase of Thomas Jefferson’s library to become a new Library of Congress in 1815 has been treated byLibraryofCongress historians as the start of a new era for the institution, which in some ways it was. The suggestion that the Library should function as something like a national library emerged after this purchase, and collections in the new Library were more comprehensive than in its predecessor. But debate over the purchase also revived arguments against government ownership of a library which were inherited from an earlier age. Moreover, the expenditure of so much money for books in 1815 was a convenient excuse for Congress not to spend much money on Libraryappropriations in the years that followed. For these reasons, the effect of the purchase was not unequivocal and should not be overestimated. The Library of Congress became linked in a new way with thenation’s literary culture through the appointment of author George Watterston to the Librarianship in 1815. Putting a novelist instead of a clerk in charge of the Library set a precedent for later patronage positions for professional authors in the United States. It also imbued the post withacultural authority it had not before possessed. Watterston’s appointment and the 74 chapter three purchase of Jefferson’s library suggested to some commentators that the Library would step into a new role, as a symbol of American literary achievement. But these observers—as well as like-minded members of the Joint Library Committee—found that although congressmen enjoyed the opportunities for light reading and social interaction that the Library and its rooms in the Capitol provided, Congress continued to hold a limited conception of the function of its Library and had little interest in promoting the cause of American arts and letters. Despite the expansion and democratization of the print culture of the1820sand1830s, which opened up new avenues of information and expanded access to books for most people, Congress held to a narrow view of the Library consistent with the classical republican ideology that had shaped its foundation and its growth since 1800. Purchase of Jefferson’s Library British soldiers marched into Washington on 24, August 1814 and, in retaliation for a similar attack on public buildings by Americans in York (Toronto), set fire to the Capitol building. The conflagration destroyed most of the books in the Library of Congress. On hearing of the destruction , Thomas Jefferson, who had fostered development of the Library during his presidency by recommending book purchases, wrote from Monticello to his friend Samuel Harrison Smith in Washington and offered to sell his private collection to Congress as a replacement.1 This offer was read by the Joint Committee on the Library to the Senate and accepted there immediately, in October 1814. But Jefferson’s wide learning and instinct for book collecting made his library somewhat different in its collections from the one Congress had lost. Jefferson’s library held six thousand volumes, about twice the size of the library it was being offered to replace, and covered subjects that had not previously been collected by Congress. Debate over the purchase ensued, therefore, both in the House of Representatives and in the press. When the debate began in the House in October, amendments were offered to give the Joint Committee authority to exclude certain books from the library or to impose a price ceiling. These were rejected, however , and the committee was instructed to negotiate the purchase. Appraisal of the books at $24,000 was reported in November to the Senate, which approved the purchase and again passed the issue to the House. Here it was taken up anew and vigorously debated in January 1815. jefferson, watterston, and the library, 1814–1829 75 Despite objections, the Republican majority carried the day, and the final vote in the House was eighty-one to seventy-one in favor. On 30 January 1815 an act authorizing the purchase at a cost of $23,950 was approved. While it is true that the final vote fell largely alongparty lines,theepisode is not, as it has been described, “little more than a lesson in partisan politics...