twenty-five Memoirs of the Geological Survey relating to the Eastern Counties.
In 1890 the late Alderman James Freeman, who was Chairman of the Public Library Committee for several years, bequeathed £20 for some special purpose in connection with the Library, which enabled the Committee to commence a Shakespeare Collection, now comprising over 600 books and pamphlets.
Mr. Russell J. Colman, J.P., D.L., made a handsome donation to the Reference Library in 1900, when he presented a set of Parliamentary Debates in 511 volumes, in half calf, comprising Cobbett’s “Parliamentary History,” continued by Hansard, 1066-1803, Hansard’s “Parliamentary Debates,” 1803-1890, and the “Official Parliamentary Debates” to 1897. Since that date the following members of Parliament for Norwich have partly kept the set up to date: Mr. Louis J. Tillett, Sir George White, Sir Frederick Low and Lieut. E. Hilton Young.
The firm of Messrs. J. and J. Colman, Ltd., of Norwich, presented 3,500 Parliamentary Papers, Blue Books, etc. in 1900 which Mr. J. J. Colman had accumulated.
Mr. T. R. Kemp, K.C., Recorder of Norwich, 1892-1905, who had made a study of the Letters of Junius, bequeathed his collection of various editions of the Letters and works relating to them, numbering altogether 128 volumes.
Mr. Henry F. Euren, a member of the Library Committee since 1880, gave 160 volumes on agriculture and other subjects in 1907, before and after which date he made other donations.
The Reference Library was largely increased in 1914 by a bequest of Mr. Bosworth W. Harcourt, an esteemed co-opted member of the Committee who had taken an active interest in the Library for over 27 years. The bequest, comprising about 2,250 books and pamphlets, was made on condition that such books and pamphlets should be known as the “Bosworth Harcourt Bequest” and that the same should not be placed in circulation, but only read or consulted in the Library. Miss C. M. Nichols, R.E., S.M., N.B.A., designed a suitable book-plate for the books, and a book-case, surmounted by the testator’s name was provided. Mr. Harcourt’s library naturally reflected his tastes: works of and about the chief poets and dramatists, well-illustrated volumes, and books on the
graphic arts preponderate, and there are many volumes dealing with the history and antiquities of Norfolk and Norwich.
The munificent bequest of Mrs. Elizabeth Russell Hillen, by which the Library will receive £500 for the advancement of local archæology, is mentioned in more detail on page 79.
The chief benefactor to the Library is Mr. Walter Rye, who has been a member of the Committee since 1904. In addition to his many and valuable gifts to the Local Collection, which are described on pages 78-79, he has given a large number of reference books, chiefly relating to heraldry and history, but also including a collection of books and tracts on the Civil War, and a number of calendars of patent rolls, and other official publications.