His enterprise and ambition for success led him to bold and sometimes extensive purchases. He bought about 1865, the library of Baron von Humboldt, and this and other large ventures embarrassed him much in later years. He became the owner of the Franklin manuscripts, left in London by the great man's grandson, and collected during many years a library of Frankliniana, which came to the Library of Congress when the Franklin manuscripts were purchased for the State Department in 1881.
He was proud of his country and his State, always signing himself "Henry Stevens, of Vermont." His book-plate had engraved beneath his name, the titles, "G. M. B.: F. S. A." The last, of course, designated him as Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, but the first puzzled even his friends, until it was interpreted as signifying "Green Mountain Boy." His brother used jocosely to assure me that it really meant "Grubber of Musty Books."
As to his prices for books, while some collectors complained of them as "very stiff," they appear, when compared with recent sales of Americana, at auction and in sale catalogues, to be quite moderate. The late historian Motley told me that Mr. Stevens charged more than any one for Dutch books relating to America; but Mr. Motley's measure of values was gauged by the low prices of Dutch booksellers which prevailed during his residence in the Netherlands, for years before the keen demand from America had rendered the numerous Dutch tracts of the West India Company, etc., more scarce and of greater commercial value than they bore at the middle of this century.
As treating of books by American authors, though not so much a complete bibliography of their works, as a critical history, with specimens selected from each writer, Duyckinck's "Cyclopaedia of American Literature" deserves special mention. The last edition appeared at Philadelphia, in 1875, in two large quarto volumes. Equally worthy of note is the compilation by E. C. Stedman and Ellen M. Hutchinson, in eleven volumes, entitled "Library of American Literature," New York, 1887-90. A most convenient hand-book of bibliographical reference is Oscar F. Adams's "Dictionary of American Authors," Boston, 1897, which gives in a compact duodecimo volume, the name and period of nearly every American writer, with a brief list of his principal works, and their date of publication, in one alphabet.
Of notable catalogues of books relating to America, rather than of American publications, should be named White Kennet's "Bibliotheca Americana primordia," the earliest known catalogue devoted to American bibliography, London, 1713; O. Rich, Catalogue of Books relating to America, 1500-1700, London, 1832; Rich, "Bibliotheca Americana nova," books printed between 1700 and 1844, two volumes, London, 1835-46; H. Harrisse, "Bibliotheca Americana vetustissima," New York, 1866, and its supplement, Paris, 1872, both embracing rare early Americana, published from 1492 to 1551. This is a critically edited bibliography of the rarest books concerning America that appeared in the first half century after its discovery.
The important field of American local history has given birth to many bibliographies. The earliest to be noted is H. E. Ludewig's "Literature of American Local History," New York, 1846. Thirty years later came F. B. Perkins's "Check List for American Local History," Boston, 1876; followed by A. P. C. Griffin's "Index of articles upon American Local History in historical collections," Boston, 1889, and by his "Index of the literature of American local history in collections published in 1890-95," Boston, 1896. Closely allied to the catalogues of city, town, and county histories, come the bibliographies of genealogies and family histories, of which the last or 4th edition of D. S. Durrie's "Bibliographia genealogica Americana; an alphabetical index to American genealogies in county and town histories, printed genealogies, and kindred works," Albany, 1895, is the most comprehensive and indispensable. This work gives us an alphabet of family names, under each of which are grouped the titles of books in which that special name is treated, with citation of the page. It also gives the name and date of publication of the special family genealogies which are separately printed, whether book or pamphlet, with number of pages in each. The work is by a librarian, to whose laborious diligence Americans are deeply indebted.
Among other bibliographies of genealogy are Munsell's "American Genealogist: a catalogue of family histories," Albany, 1897. This work aims to give the titles of all separately printed American genealogies, in an alphabet of family names, giving titles in full, with place and year of publication, name of publisher, and collation, or number of pages.
For the multitudinous public documents of the United States, consult B. P. Poore's "Descriptive catalogue of the government publications of the United States, 1775-1881," Washington, 1885, and F. A. Crandall, Check list of public documents, debates and proceedings from 1st to 53d Congress (1789-1895), Washington, 1895; also,
Comprehensive index to the publications of the United States government, 1889-1893. The same—United States Catalogue of Public Documents, 1893 to 1895, Washington, 1896. Several biennial or annual lists of United States Documents have followed.
As supplementing these extensive catalogues, we have in the Appendix to the "American Catalogue" of 1885 a List of United States Government publications from 1880 to 1884; in that of 1891 a List from 1884 to 1890; and in that of 1896 a List covering the years 1891 to 1895.