, opens a new window(Rare Books & Manuscripts) The Boston Public Library was a major purchaser of books from the February 1890 sale of the library of Samuel Latham Mitchill Barlow.
Among other highlights, the Barlow Collection contains the first Latin edition of the Columbus Letter, opens a new window; the first edition of Richard Hakluyt’s Principal navigations, Nicolas Bautista Monardes’ Joyfull newes out of the newfound world; Ann Bradstreet’s Tenth muse; George Mourt’s A relation…of the English Plantation, opens a new window; and rare works of the 15th through the 16th centuries in Dutch, French, and Spanish. It also includes The True Copie of the Court booke of the Governor and Society of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, opens a new window, written between 1640 and 1646, which documents the pre-migration business of the Massachusetts Bay Company beginning in 1629, along with rulings of the General Court and the Court of Assistant of the Massachusetts Bay Colony through 1646.
Online access
Those items in the collection that have been electronically cataloged are retrievable through either of the online catalogs, opens a new window via an author search for "Barlow, Samuel L.M. (Samuel Latham Mitchill), 1826-1889, former owner."
A description of the Barlow library and a list of the Library's purchases at his sale may be found in the BPL Bulletin, vol.IX (1890, p. 206-208), opens a new window and IX (1890, p. 359-376), opens a new window.
A copy of the Barlow sale catalog, annotated by Mellen Chamberlain with prices paid by the BPL, is available at Internet Archive, opens a new window.
