Art and Handcraft in the Woman's Building
of the World's Columbian Exposition

THE LIBRARY. ONE of the most important features of the Woman’s Building is the library, which contains the writings of American and foreign women. The work of collecting the American books was done by committees in the different States. Various plans were pursued in making these collections. Massachusetts held that quality, rather than quantity, was to be sought. A high standard of excellence was required, and in most cases the authors were only invited to send one of their works. The chairman of this com- mittee, Margaret Deland, herself our leading woman novelist, pre- pared a very excellent catalogue, which accompanied Massachusetts’ small and valuable exhibit. This catalogue includes 2,000 books, written by Massachusetts women between, the years of 1612 and 1893. It will therefore be seen that while the Bay State might have sent 2,000 books, she con- tented herself with sending one hundred. As New York has made the largest collection, a statement of PAINTING —“A SELLREIN WOMAN.” the plan pursued by its literary baroness Marianne eschenburg. committee has been prepared by Austria. the chairman. The library is an exhibit rather than a working library, and the catalogue, which has been very carefully prepared, will prove one of its most interesting features. The arrangement of the shelves shows the ntimber of books sent by the different States and countries, so that, at a glance, the visitor may see that Belgium is well represented, and that France, Germany, and Great Britain lead among the foreign collections; that New Hampshire has given itself very little trouble, and New York a great deal. The cata- (109)