Rockwell Dennis Hunt

“ Bancroft had bought every book - solid or trashy - on his subject. We are assured that "the task of making references as well as of taking out material was equivalent to five times the labor of writing, . .. for example, in taking out the material for California history alone, eight men were employed for six years; for making the references merely, for the History of Mexico, without taking out any of the required information, five men were steadily employed for a period of ten years." ”

“ It would be extremely difficult to find one man who wrote on Bancroft's works whose name would carry the real authority of a history specialist.
There is no way of determining what work was done by individual collaborators, and of course it is impossible to tell just what historical work is from the hand of the chief of staff. The real writers are for most part unknown people, - I will not call them, with one critic, "a horde of hack writers." Yet the editor, who had once owned himself an artisan, with very doubtful mod- esty remarks in another connection ”

“ Given a fireproof building full of books and papers and manuscripts ; given also a man with some means and fair experience in buying and selling books - an artisan, as he early calls himself - the problem is to produce - create, manufacture, write - the complete history of the peoples of one-twelfth of the earth's surface. The heterogeneous mass of raw material must first of all be reduced to homegeneity before it can be utilized. ”

“ No man - I will not say woman - is really in the fittest condition to marry who has not been married before. For obvious reasons, a middle-aged man ought to make a better husband than a very young man." (458)
The historical work of H. H. Bancroft required the best part of the energies of thirty years. After adding to the series of thirty-nine volumes "The Chronicles of the Builders," this indefatigable worker entered upon another literary enterprise, of little pretension to history, but more to art, "The Book of the Fair." This has been followed by still other volumes of later date. ”

“ But one must be pardoned for regretting that he was not able to leave us some such style as that of Parkman, such dignity as that of Oncken or Winsor, such mastery of his splendid subject as is shown by Gibbon ”

“ How unfortunate, then, that persons of no name or literary standing should be intrusted with so important a work. Not that all his assistants were either incapable or untruthful, although I have been informed that certain of them were newspaper reporters who had been discharged for incompetence and lying. Again, when we are made acquainted with Mr. Bancroft's methods of securing family papers, the query becomes pertinent; - is conscience requisite to history writing? ”

“ Neither time, nor money, nor personal attention would be spared. Agents were appointed in all the leading book marts of the world; no book must be lost because of its high price; no opportunity was to be missed to obtain everything in existence on the subject. By buying up at auction in European cities individual collections, and even libraries, the Bancroft Library was enriched beyond measure. In 1869, we are told, Mr. Bancroft found in his possession, including pamphlets, about 16,000 volumes. ”

“ The magnitude of Bancroft's self-imposed task was such as to render ordinary methods of history writing absolutely inadequate. Clearly some co-operative system must be devised. The work must be the joint result of many hands and many brains. It will be well to notice a few of the numerous assistants employed in the library. Of the more responsible laborers there were about twenty, while there were probably 600 in all in the library ”

“ But lifelong application, involving lifelong self-denial, involving constant pressure on the brain, constant tension on the sinews, is not for women, but for male philosophers or - fools. So long since I forswore petticoats in my library; breeches are sometimes bad enough, but when un- befitting they are disposed of somewhat more easily." " I have today nothing to show for thousands of dollars paid out for futile attempts of female writers." (236)
Mr. Bancroft has left us a detailed account of his method of writing history. ”

“ Mr. Bancroft accomplished a herculean labor in bringing to com- pletion the thirty-nine volumes of his Works. To do this required the expenditure of a fortune of money and twenty-five years of such patient devotion and infinite toil as few men can boast. Over- whelmed by the magnitude of his task he had "sat for days and brooded, heart-sick and discouraged."
"If but one copy of Mr. Bancroft's books had been made [it is claimed] the cost of it would be, in time and money, a million of dollars." It was without much doubt the severest labor of its kind ever undertaken by a private individual. ”

“ When the question of State purchase was taken up the Bancroft Library was said to contain from 50,000 to 60,000 volumes of books, pamphlets, maps and manuscripts; Prof. Rowell, Librarian of the State University, after careful personal examination, estimated the number at 40,000 as a total. For many years the collection had been offered for sale, Mr. Bancroft holding it at $250,000 , which is but a fractional part of the original cost and yet doubtless above the then market price, which Prof. Rowell estimated at about $140,000 , if the complete subject index be included. ”

“ The chief experienced much trouble in securing able men, but pro- fessed to use scrupulous care. "Hence, I say, love of truth for truth's sake must be to every one of these men as the apple of his eye." ”

“ Instead of "toiling through a thousand folios in search of possible information," the student finds the title and page and each authority ready. It was found "that by constant application, eight hours a day, it would take 400 years to go through the library in a superficial way.* The index thus prepared has subsequently been found rather seriously defective, and a complete new index has been made since the Collection was acquired by the University of California. However it will be recalled that library science was in its infancy when Bancroft undertook the work. ”

“ After the second marriage he philosophizes in this strain: "It has been elsewhere intimated that no one is competent to write a book who has not already written several books. The same observation might be not inappropriately applied to marriage. ”

“ This offer decided him to enter business in San Francisco; so after establishing credit relations with the leading publishing houses of the East, he returned to California, late in 1856.
Engaging a room near the corner of Montgomery and Merchant Street, he began business under the firm name of H. H. Bancroft & Co. At first he made money slowly; but his store expanded and the magnitude of his business increased. ”

“ The system of note-taking was perfected by Nemos. "The first step for a beginner was to make references, in books given him for that purpose, to the information required, giving the place where found and the nature of the facts therein mentioned ”