THE LIBRARY When taking thought of our function as acquisitors and conservators of the fragments which accumulate to make up a storehouse for the scholar, and of what the year has brought in, we are reminded of the parable of the talents, which ends with the seemingly unjust truism "... for unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance...." It is true that any item or collection finding a permanent home in a library, acts as a nest-egg, drawing to it other pertinent pieces, a process which is as it should be, and quite in line with current formal cooperative efforts to concentrate special materials, thus lessening the labors of searchers and curators alike. We reported last year the gift of a large group of Livingston family papers, and trust that this will act as a nucleus for a constantly growing mass of materials relating to this family and its connections and locale. Already Mrs. Robert L. Hollis, through the courtesy of Miss Angelica Livingston, has given us three letters, 1776, of Henry Beekman Livingston to his brother, Robert R. Livingston, and one, 1799, of Robert R. to Henry B. In the Society's galleries is shown the most nearly complete set of John Roger's sculptured groups of the mid-nineteenth century, so it is fitting that materials essential to their study be convenient, and Miss Katherine R. Rogers has kindly guided them, and other interesting memorabilia, into our keeping. This gift is detailed in the Quarterly for October 1955 and for January 1956. In connection with our holdings of the papers of the American Fur Company, it is pleasing to report the gift by Mr. John T. Lequier of thirteen letters, 1826-1831, from John Jacob Astor to Alderman Jacob B. Taylor, great-grandfather of the donor. To add to other unique pieces by Clement Clark Moore in our manuscript files, his great-granddaughter, Mrs. Richard C. Hunt, gave us five poems in his own hand, and two childhood letters. Our unusual collection of books and music connected with Jenny Lind