'^W' :^^'':^^: rm ■5 .tit.. "Sc^.- ass / / Class 2Z Book i^^ Education Department Bulletin Pubfished fortnightly by the University of the State of New York Entered as second-class matter June 24, 1908, at the Post Office at Albany, N. V., under the act of July 16, 1894 No. 462 ALBANY, N. Y. . .^uary i, 1910 New York State Library Bibliography 46 THE TRANSLATION AND PUBLICATION MANUSCRIPT DUTCH RECORDS OF NEW NETHERLAND WITH AN ACCOUNT OF PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS AT TRANSLATION L356r-Ng-i3oo ALBANY UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK I910 fc.Aiii OF nHW VURK EDUCATION DEPARTMENT Rtgcnlf of the Uoivertity With ye«r« when terms eipire 191J WniTELAW Reid M.A. LL.D. D.C.L. Chancellor Xcw Yo 1917 St Clair McKelway M.A. LL.D. Vice Chancellor Brookly 1919 Daniel Beach Ph.D. LL.D. _____ Watkim 1914 Pliny T. Sexton LL.B. LL.D. ----- Palmyra 1912 T. Guilford S.mith M.A. C.E. LL.D. - - - Buflalo 1918 William Nottingham M.A. Ph.D. LL.D. - - Syracus« 1910 Chester S. Lord M.A. LL.D. - - - _ _ NewYor 191 5 Albert Vander Veer M.D. M.A. Ph.D. LL.D. Albany iQii Edward Lauterbach M.A. LL.D. - - - _ New Yo 1920 Eugene A. Philbin LL.B. LL.D. - - _ - New Yo 1916 LuciAN L. Shedden LL.B. LL.D. - - - - Plattsbu 1921 Francis M. Carpenter ------- Mount I« Commissioner of Education Andrew S. Draper LL.B. LL.D. Assistant Commissioners Augustus S. Downing M.A. Pd.D. LL.D. First Assistant Frank Rollins Ph.D. Second Assistant Thomas E. Finegan M.A. Pd.D. Third Assistant Director of State Library James L Wver, Jr, M.L.S. Director of Science and State Museum John M. Clarke Ph.D. Sc.D. LL.D. Chiefs of Divisions Administration, Harlan II. Horner B.A. Attendance, James D. Sullivan Educational Extension, William R. Eastman M.A. M.L.! Examinations, Charles F. Wheelock B.S. LL.D. Inspections, Frank H. Wood M.A. Law, Frank B. Gilbert B.A. School Libraries, Charles E. Fitch L.H.D. vStatistics, Hiram C. Case Trades Schools, Arthur D. Dean B.S. Visual Instruction, Alfred W. Abrams Ph.B. r Neiv York State Education Department New York State Library, November 27, 1909 Hon. Andrezv S. Draper Commissioner of Education Dear sir : I have the honor to transmit herewith and to recom- mend for publication as BibHography bulletin 46, a report pre- pared by Mr A. J. F. van Laer, touching the present condition of the manuscript Dutch records of the government of New Nether- land, 1638-74, and dwelling especially upon the inadequate and wholly unsatisfactory nature of previous partial translations of these, the earliest official documents of what is now the State of New York. Through age and frequent use the condition of these documents is each year less favorable for translation. None of the earlier partial translations have any value for exact historical work with- out competent comparison with the originals. The matter has en- listed the interest and concern of such men as Aaron Burr, De Witt ainton and John V. L. Pruyn, and the meager and untrust- worthy results of the several enterprises inaugurated by them are due to the fact that in the past no translator was found who was at once a competent Dutch scholar, a master of correct and easy English, thoroughly acquainted with the history of the period, and experienced in work with its manuscript memorials. These qualifications must be combined in one man before the work may be begun with assurance of creditable and final performance. After having vainly sought him for more than a century, and after spend- ing $40,000 for poor work, such a man is now in the State's em- ploy. It would seem that he should be invited to do this work. This report is sent to you with the hope that its publication may help to secure suitable interest in and appropriation for the purpose. Very respectfully James I. Wver, Jr Director State of New York Education Department ( OMMISSIONERS ROOM 1 liis report of Mr A. J. F. va;i Lacr, the State Archivist, upt)n the condition and dangers of the Dutch records of the State, sug- gests very convincingly the desirahiHty of perfect and complete translations and of the i)ul)lication of all such records. Publication is approved in order to make the same available to the I^gisk;- ture and the Governor, in the hoi)e that such work may be ai; thorized. CoDimissioHi-r of liducatioi December 23, 1909 D. OF D. FEB 6 1910 Education Department Bulletin Published fortnightly by the University of the State of New York Entered as second-class matter June 24, 1908, at the Post Office at Albany, N. Y., under the act of July 16, 1894 No. 462 ALBANY, N. Y. January i, 1910 New York State Library Bibliography 46 THE TRANSLATION AND PUBLICATION OF THE MANUSCRIPT DUTCH RECORDS OF NEW NETHERLAND WITH AN ACCOUNT OF PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS AT TRANSLATION , To the Director of the State Library At your request, I submit the following report on the nature and extent of the Dutch records preserved in the manuscript section of the State Library, the history, relative extent and value of the existing translations, the advisability of retranslating and publish- ing part or the whole of the said records, and the probable extent of such publication in octavo volumes. The records in question embrace all that has been preserved of the archives of the government established by the Dutch West India Company over the province of New Netherland, which ex- tended from Cape Cod to the Delaware river. They accumulated for a period of over 30 years in the office of the provincial secre- tary and were turned over to the British on the capture of New Netherland in 1664; they were restored to Governor Colve on the reoccupancy of the province by the Dutch in 1673 ^"<^'' ^^i^^ the papers of Colve's administration, were again delivered to the British in 1674. The records remained in the office of the secre- tary of the colony of New York till the outbreak of the Revolution, when they were removed to the house of Nicholas Bayard, alder- man of the out ward of the city of New York. In June 1776, by order of the Provincial Congress, the records were removed to Kingston and after the war they were deposited in the office of 6 NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY the Secretary of State, first located at New York and later at Albany. They remained in the custody of the Secretary of State till 1 88 1 when, under authority of chapter 120 of the laws of 1881, they were transferred to the State Library. The Dutch records were originally bound in 48 volumes, lettered A-Z and AA-PP, but about 1850 they were rearranged by Dr E. B. O'Callaghan and, with the exception of two volumes of land patents which retained their former lettering, rebound in 20 volumes as part of the series of A'Czv York colonial manuscripts, as follows: Register of the Provincial Secretary, containing contracts, leases, deeds, wills, bonds, powers of attorney and other private instru- ments, bearing the autograph signatures of the contracting par- ties and witnesses. 3V. V.I Apr. 19, 1638-Nov. 30, 164 1. 282P. V.2 Jan. 7, 1642-Sept. 30, 1647. 526p. V.3 Aug. 17, 1648-Aug. 28, 1657. 395p. Council minutes, containing the executive, legislative and judicial proceedings of the Director General and Council of New Nether- land. 7v. V.4 Apr. 8, 1638-Aug. 2, 1649. 46SP. v.s Jan. 1652-Dec. 31, 1654. 469P. V.6 Jan. 6, i6s5-Apr. 29, 1656. 389P. V.7 Mar. 2, T65S-Sept. 19, 1656. About 7oop. (largely duplicates of en- tries in v.6 and 8). V.8 May i, 1656-Dec. 26, 1658. ic9rp. V.9 Jan. 15, 1660-Dec. 22, 1661. 964P. v.io (pti) Jan. I, 1662-Dec. 28, 1662. 3i5p. (pt2) Jan. 4, 1663-Dec. 31, 1663. 472p. (pt3) Jan. 3, 1664-Dec. 21, 1664. 332p. Correspondence, containing the correspondence of Director Gen- eral Stuyvesant with the directors of the West India Company, the governors of neighboring colonies and the subordinate officers in New Netherland. 5v. V.I I 16^6-Dcc. 2y, 1653. 336p. V.12 Mar. 12, 1654-N0V. 27, 1658. 349p. V.13 Feb. 13, i6s9^Dec. 24, 1660. 485P. V.14 Jan. 12, r66i-Dec. 7, 1662. 333p. V.15 Jan. 8, 1663-Sept. 8, 1664. 475p. Ordinances, for the internal government of the province. Part of v. 16. V.16 fpt i) May 31, 1647-Mar. 4, 1657. 138P. Fort Orange records. 2 parts of v. 16. V.16 (pt2) Oct. 4, 1656-Dec. II, 1657. \ (pt3) Jan. 13, 1660-Dec. 30, 1660. j •^■^^' Writs of appeal. Part of v. 16. V.16 (pt4) 1658-Oct. I, 1663. 33p. Curasao papers, containing resolutions, letters and instructions re- lating to the administration of the island of Curasao, W. I. iv. V.17 Aug. 15, 1640-JuIy 12, 1665. 339p. Delaware papers. 2v. .. V.18 Sept. 22, T646-Dec. 24, 1660. 434P- V.19 Jan. 14, i66i-Jan. 12, 1664. 2i8p. THE TRANSLATION OF MANUSCRIPT DUTCH RECORDS 7 Records of the administration of Governor Colve. iv. V.23 Aug. 12, 1673-N0V. 3, 1674. 638P. Land patents and deeds. 2v. GG Patents. July 12, 1630-Sept. 20, 1651. 2igp. HH (pt I, formerly marked II) Deeds. Sept. 5, 1652-Oct. 15, 1653, 63p. (pt 2, formerly marked HH) Patents. Feb. 26, 1654-Apr. 5, 1664. I28p. Together these records contain 10,121 written folio pages, with an average of over 200 words per page, or a total of at least 2,024,200 words. They constitute the oldest public documents of the State and form the most important source of material for the history of organized society on this continent under Dutch regime. Unfortunately, they do not embrace all the records of the govern- ment established by the Dutch West India Company. The most important gaps are as follows : Council minutes, prior to 1638; Aug. 2, 1649-Jan. 1652; June lo- Sept. 2, 1652 ; May 30-Nov. 1653 with the exception of a few entries in August; June 19, 1657- Jan. i, 1658; the whole of the year 1659. Correspondence, prior to 1646. Accounts, 1626-64. Report of Director Stuyvesant's voyage to, and transactions in, the West Indies, submitted to the Council, July 14, 1655. Letters and papers respecting the negotiations at Hartford with the English, preliminary to the boundasy treaty of 1650. Various letter books and a record of petitions, to which reference is made in the Council minutes. The honor of having first appreciated the value of the existing records for an accurate history of the State from its first settle- ment seems to belong to the Rev. Samuel Miller D.D., for many years pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in New York city and from 1813 to 1849 professor of ecclesiastical history and church government at Princeton. Dr Miller began collecting material for a history of the State of New York in 1797 and on January 4, 1798 petitioned the Legislature for leave to inspect the records in the various public offices of the State without" the payment of the fees prescribed by law.^ His petition w^as referred to a committee and favorably reported on January 6, when the committee brought in a bill entitled An act to encourage the zvriting a history of this ^ Assembly Journal, 1798, 21 123. 8 NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY State.^ The bill received the support of De Witt Clinton,- then a member of the Assembly, and became a law on January 19, 1798/^ Dr Miller availed himself of the privilege granted by the act, but soon found that a large number of important documents were writ- ten in the Dutch language, which, from his ignorance of that lan- guage, he could not peruse. At the next session of the Legislature he presented therefore another petition,'* dated January 22, 1800, praying that a " Gentleman of highly respectable character and worthy of the most entire confidence," who had offered to make translations from the records, be permitted to take the records in succession to his own dwelling in Albany for the purpose of mak- ing translations and extracts. The petition was read in the As- sembly on February i,^ and February 6-7 the Assembly and Senate passed a joint resolution,^ authorizing James Van Ingen, clerk of the Assembly, to take the Dutch records in succession from the Secretary's office to his own dwelling for the purpose of making the required translations. So far the question of transla- tion was entirely a private matter. It soon developed, however, that the translation involved a degree of labor and of consequent expense which it was not convenient for Dr Miller to incur, and January 22, 1801 he drew up a third petition or memorial,'^ which read in part as follows : Your memorialist is so deeply convinced of the importance of the Records in question, in order to a complete elucidation of the early part of our history, that he is persuaded it v/ould be extreme injustice to the State, and to himself, to think of proceeding in his plan, without becoming acquainted with their contents. Your memorialist, therefore, respectfully prays your Honorable Body, to take such measures as to your wisdom may seem proper, for the purpose of causing a translation to be made of the above- mentioned Records, in the Dutch language, or of such parts of them as may be judged useful, at the expence of the State: — which translation, after being completed, to be considered the propertv of the State, and subject to its disposal alone. To the ac- complishment of this object, your memorialist believes the appro- priation of a small sum would be abundantly adequate ; and he would, with all deference, submit to your Honorable Body, whether a moderate public expenditure might not with propriety be devoted to the placing an important body of Records in such a situation 1 Assembly Journal, 1798, 21 :30. 2 Life of Samuel Miller, by Samuel Miller, Phil. 1869, 1:109. 3 Laws of 1798, ch. 2. '' "Assembly Papers," 5:107. 5 Assembly Journal, 1800, 23:39. 6 Assembly Journal, 1800, 23 :52 ; Senate Journal, 1800, 23 :22, ; "Assembly Paoers," 5:105. ""Assembly Papers," 5:283. THE TRANSLATION OF MANUSCRIPT DUTCH RECORDS 9 as would render them subservient to the mterests of the State, in Other respects, than that for which the measure is immediately re- quested. The petition was read in the Assembly on January 30,^ and Feb- ruary 19 Mr Aaron Burr, from the committee to whom it was re- ferred, reported : That in their opinion immediate measures ought to be taken to procure a translation of the records of this State, now in the Secretary's office, which are written in the Dutch language ; and that in order to encourage the said Samuel Miller in the prosecu- tion of his laudable undertaking, and to facilitate his researches, the translation to be made, ought, under suitable caution, and for a limited time to be entrusted to his care for perusal. Resolved, That this House do agree with the committee in their said report. Ordered, That the said committee, with the exception of Mr Burr, and the addition of Mr Thompson, do prepare and bring in a bill, agreeable to said report.^ March 23, iSoi^ Mr Thompson brought in the following resolu- tion : Resolved, (if the Hon. Senate concur herein) That the Secre- tary of this state be authorized to permit James Van Ingen to take certain volumes of the records of this state, written in the Dutch language, in succession, from the Secretary's office to his own dwell- ing-house, in the city of Albany, for the purpose of making such translations as in the opinion of the Comptroller, Surveyor-General, and the said James Van Ingen, shall be deemed useful in aiding the Rev. Samuel Miller in collecting materials for his history of New- York, and that legislative provision shall be hereafter made for paying the expences attending such translations ; and that the same shall be entrusted to the care of the said Samuel Miller for the term of two years, in order to aid him in compleating the his- tory aforesaid ; which translations shall immediately hereafter be deposited in the Secretary's office for the use of this state.^ The Senate concurred in this resolution the same day,'* thereby making the first legislative provision for the translation of portions of the Dutch records at public expense. As far as can be ascer- tained no translations were made under this resolution and Febru- ary 14, 1805 the matter came again before the Legislature, in the form of sections 5, 6 and 7 of a bill entitled An act appointing the ^Assembly Journal, 1800-1, 24:36. 'Assembly Journal, 1800-1, 24:98. '^ Assembly Journal, 1800-1, 24:221. * Senate journal, i8co-i, 24:94. 10 NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY Deputy-Secretary of this State, clerk of the Commissioners of the Land-OMcc, and for other purposes} which passed on April 9. 1805.^ The sections named, which have no direct connection with the rest of the act, read as follows: V. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the secretary of this state, and he is hereby directed as soon as may be after the passing of this act, to cause such of the rec- ords in his ofilice which are written in the Dutch language, and which shall be designated by the person administering the govern- ment of this state, to be translated into English, and to be trans- scribed in proper books to be provided for that purpose, which translations when so transcribed, shall be deposited in the office of the secretary of this state as part of the public records thereof. VI. And be it further enacted, That the translator to be em- ployed by virtue of this act, shall before he proceeds to execute his trust, take and subscribe an oath before the chancellor or chief justice, well, truly and faithfully according to the best of his abil- ity to make the said translations, which oath certified by the said chancellor or chief justice, shall be filed in the secretary's office. VII. And be it further enacted, That the comptroller shall de- termine the amount of compensation, to which such translator may be reasonably entitled for his services, and thereupon to draw his warrant on the treasurer for the same. In accordance with the above provisions, James Van Ingen was chosen as translator and in April and November 1805 he gave re- ceipts for the following Dutch records^ from the secretary's office : A Council minutes, Apr. 8, 1638-Mar. 11, 1647 B '' May 27, 1647-Aug. 2, 1649 W Secretary's records \ ^ ^ W << } 1642-63 CC " Apr. 19, 1638-Oct. 20, 1641 EE War with the Esopus Indians, 1663 GG Patents, July 12, 1630-July 20, 1649 HH " Apr,: 16, 1654-June 17, 1661 ; also proceedings of Council, Feb. 18, 1651-July 11, 1655 II Deeds, 1652-53, 1664, 1673-74 These records remained in the hands of James Van Ingen for a number of years, but no translations were made. In 1813, the pro- visions of the law of 1805 were reenacted as sections 8, 9 and 10 1 Senate Journal, 1804-5, 28:38, 56, 57, 128, 129. Assembly Jaurnal, 1804-5, 28:329, 352, 354. 2 Laws of 1805, ch. 96, Webster's ed. 4:250. 'John V. N. Yates, Annalium Thesaurus, p. 9. In office of Secretary of State. THE TRANSLATION OF MANUSCRIPT DUTCH RECORDS II of an act entitled An act concerning the Surveyor-General and the Secretary of State, passed April 6, 1813.^ Even then James Van Ingen appears to have made no beginning with the work of trans- lation and it may partly be due to his delay that the history of the State planned by Dr Miller and on which he labored in a desul- tory way for a number of years, was never finished.^ In 1817, De Witt Clinton became Governor and took steps to have the Dutch records translated, a matter in which from the first he had been greatly interested. Realizing the need of another trans- lator, he addressed himself to Francis Adrian van der Kemp, a former Dutch minister, then 65 years of age and living in quiet retirement at Olden Barneveld, now Barneveld, in Oneida county. Van der Kemp was a man of considerable attainments, who had come to this country from Holland in 1788 as a political refugee, in consequence of the leading part which he had taken in the strug- gle of the Patriots against the adherents of the House of Orange, which struggle ended in 1787 in the defeat of the Patriots by an army of 20,000 men sent to the aid of the Prince of Orange by the King of Prussia. He was well received in this country and enjoyed the friendship of many prominent men of the day owing to his former association with Baron Johan Derk van der Capellen, the bold liberal who first advocated the recognition of the United States by the States General of Holland. When the proposition to translate the Dutch records was made, van der Kemp so doubted his own ability that he accepted the task only upon a second ofifer and provided that the initial volume of his work should be critically examined by the Albany authorities and await their ap- proval. This followed and he deemed it a duty " to run the risk " though he " dared not answer for the issue. "-^ He began the laborious task of translating in February 1818 and finished it at his home in Olden Barneveld. during the second term of the ad- ministration of Gov. De Witt Clinton, on September 14, 1822.* These translations, which are commonly referred to as Albany Records, are at present contained in 24 folio volumes, including a total of 10,206 written pages, with an average of 180 words to the 1 Revised laws, 1813, i :48i. 2 A " Discourse designed to commemorate the discovery of New-York by Henry Hudson," was delivered by Rev. Samuel Miller before the New York Historical Society, Sept. 4, 1809; see New York Historical Society, Collections, 1809, 1:17-45. ^Francis Adrian van der Kemp, an autobiography, ed. by Helen Lincklaen Fairchild, N. Y. 1903, p.178-79, 181. ^ Van der Kemp's translations, 23:406. 12 NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY page, or a total of 1,837,080 words. They comprise, with frecjuent omissions, translations of the entire series of Dutch records, with the exception of the two volumes of Dutch patents, which were retained by James Van Ingen ; the other volumes of Dutch records which were taken out of the Secretary's office by Van Ingen in 1805 were turned over to van der Kemp between December 1818 and January i, 1820, when Van Ingen deposited a few loose sheets of translations.^ The cost of the translations to the State was $7553.25 for com- pensation to van der Kemp, $140.37 for stationery and binding, and $1450.58 paid to John F. Bacon and Edward Livingston, clerks of the Senate and Assembly, for indexing the translations, amount- ing in all to $9144.20.^ As to the value of the translations, it may be stated that they have long since been regarded by competent students as absolutely worthless for critical historical work. Owing to the difficulties under which van der Kemp labored, consisting chiefly in an im- perfect knowledge of the English language, impaired eyesight and the urgency to complete the task during Governor Clinton's ad- ministration, the translations are filled with mistakes that destroy their value as an historical source. They are not only grossly inaccurate as to the transcription of proper names — as shown by the specimens given below — but they are also utterly misleading as regards the contents of the original documents. Not infre- quently entire clauses have been omitted and others inserted which are not found in the Dutch text, in such a way as to substitute a free and often erroneous interpretation for the actual wording of the documents. Moreover, the English is crude and ungram- matical and fails to do justice to the businesslike and forceful char- acter of many of the originals. As stated in a recent letter by Mr John H. Innes, the author of Nciv Amsterdam and its people, who is familiar with the translations, van der Kemp, " from a sort of fatal- ity, so to speak, seems to have been led almost constantly to the use of unusual forms of expression and of antiquated and obsolete words, even where the forms in common use approach far more closelv to the Dutch idiom itself. It is true that the words he uses 1 John V. N. Yates, Annalium Thesaurus, p.9. Report of the Secretary of State, relative to the records, &c. in his office, Senate Documents, 1820, no.2, p.6, 13. 2 Comptroller's report. Assembly Journal, 1820, 43:279; Assembly Journal, 1820-21, 44:189; Assembly Journal, 1822, 45:398; Assembly Journal, 1823, 46:119; Assembly Journal, 1824, 47th session, 1:210. THE TRANSLATION OF MANUSCRIPT DUTCH RECORDS I3 are such that in most cases one can guess tolerably well at his meaning, but their unusual form gives them a constantly odd and quaint, and sometimes highly ludicrous sense." If in addition it is stated that van der Kemp invariably omits the parts that are hard to decipher, it will readily be seen that the translations are in every sense unsatisfactory and a constant source of error and annoyance to the historical investigator. Instances of inaccuracy could be cited by the thousand, but the following, chosen at random, will suffice. Van der Kemp, i :34-35 ; translated from TV. Y. col. mss, i :32-33 : This day appeared before me Andries Hudde, who acknowledge to owe Gerrit Wolphertsen the sum of fifty two gl. Holland cur- rency — further to me its lawful half for a gift to Gerrit Wolphert- sen of 50 morgen in the district of Achtervelt — which lot I con- vey to him with all the right and title which the Company can pretend to possess on this lot, engaging to consider valid, whatever disposition said Wolphertsen may make about the same lot, for all which Andries Hudde submits his person and property, without any exception to any court of justice. Done in the Island of Manhattan 26 July 1638. A.Hudde Translation should read : This day, date underwritten, before me, [Cornelis van Tienhoven, secretary of New Netherland], appeared Andries Hudden, who acknowledged that he was well and truly indebted to Gerrit Wol- phertsen in the sum of fifty two guilders Holland currency, and also in 50 morgens of land out of his just half share in the dis- trict of Achtervelt, given to Gerrit Wolphertsen, which said 50 morgens of land he hereby conveys and transfers to him, renounc- ing all claim which the grantor (Comparant, literally appearer) has to the aforesaid land and promising to hold valid whatever he may do with the aforesaid land. For all that is written above Andries Hudden pledges his person and property, real and per- sonal, without any exception, all in good faith. Thus done on the island of Manhates, this 26th of July 1638. [signed] A. Hudde Van der Kemp, i :34-35 ; translated from A/'. F. col. mss, i :32-33 : This day appeared before me Cornelius van Tienhoven, secre- tary in behalf the general privileged West-Indian Company in New- Netherland Symon janssen of Newendam, who acknowledged in 14 NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY the presence of witnesses, to have purchased from WiUiam Claes- sen. skipper of the ship, named the arms of Muscovy, two ankers of double anise. . . Symen lanssen Quylenliver Styvelemslog Evert Evertsen ~1 Jillis Petersen | -witnesses Translation should read : This day, date underwritten, before me, Cornelis van Tienhouen, secretary in New Netherland by authority of the General Char- tered West India Company, appeared Si j men Jansen van munneke- dam. who in the presence of the underwritten witnesses acknowl- edged that he had bought of Willem claesen, skipper of the ship called " t" Wapen van Notorwegen " (Arms of Norway), two an- kers of double anisette. . . [signed] Symon Jansen Kuylenburch Wyellem claes^ Evert Evertsen biisschop 1 T.„. . > as witnesses Jilhs pietersz j As shown above, the records translated by van der Kemp in- cluded all but the two volumes of land patents, GG and HH, which, on account of their legal importance as the basis of real estate titles in the State, it may not have seemed advisable to send to Olden Barneveld. These two volumes remained temporarily in the custody of James Van Ingen, who at last on October i8, 1822 de- posited in the Secretary's office a translation of the second part of HH covering 154 folio pages, and on September 8, 1826 a transla- tion of the first part of HH, then marked H, consisting of 63 folio pages. The amount of compensation which Van Ingen received for this work does not appear from the Comptroller's reports, but in 1826 an item of $8.50 was paid for a Book for the translation of Dutch records- which probablv refers to these translations. The only volume which then remained untranslated was that of land patents, GG, and May 7, 1839 ^ special act was passed for its translation, as f oUows : ■" Canceled in original. 2 Comptroller's report, Assembly Journal, 1827, 50lh session, i -.228. THE TRANSLATION OF MANUSCRIPT DUTCH RECORDS Ij CHAP. 366. An act concerning a book of Dutch records in the office of the secretary of state. Passed May 7, 1839. The People of the State of Nezv-York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follozvs: § I. The secretary of state shall, as soon as con- Secretary veniently may be, cause the book of record of patents '°ransTatcfr ^ in the Dutch language marked GG, remaining in his office, to be translated into English by a competent trans- lator, and to deliver the said book to such translator for that purpose ; and when such translation shall be made, the same shall be transcribed in a book to be provided for that purpose, and shall with the original be de- posited in the office of the secretary of state, and shall be a part of the public records of this state. § 2. The translator to be employed as aforesaid, be- fore he proceeds to execute his trust, shall take and subscribe an oath before the secretary of state, well and ^to^take"^ faithfully, according to the best of his ability, to make an oath the said translation, which oath shall be filed in the said secretary's office. § 3. The treasurer shall pay on the warrant of the comptroller to the said translator, such sum as shall be certified by the secretary of state to be a reasonable ^°"^3^^^* compensation for his services in making and transcrib- ing the said translation, and also for so much stationary as shall be necessary for the purpose aforesaid. § 4. This act shall take efifect immediately. The translator chosen was Rev. C. D. Westbrook ; he deposited a complete translation of volume GG in the Secretary's office on July 23, 1841 and was paid $787.90 for the work.^ The translations of both volumes of land patents by Van Ingen and Westbrook are kept in the office of the Secretary of State. They are creditable pieces of work, though by no means free from errors in the description of the land conveyed. These errors, how- ever are due less to lack of knowledge on the part of the trans- lators than to a certain ambiguity in the language of the original instruments and they can be detected only by comparing the de- scriptions of adjoining pieces of property in the corresponding pat- ents and deeds of later date. These errors have apparently not 1 Comptroller's report, Assembly Documents, 1842, no.is, p.103. lO NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY always been realized and grave mistakes in the location of early landmarks have been the consequence. In 1839, acting upon suggestions made by Dc Witt Clinton in 1814, the New York Historical Society presented to the Legis- lature a memoriaP urging the importance of an investigation of European archives, for the purpose of procuring those materials for the illustration of the history of the State which the State's own records could not furnish, and as a result of this memorial an -act was passed on May 2, 1839, entitled An act to appoint an agent to procure and transcribe documents in Europe relative to the colonial history of this State." Under this act John Romeyn Brodhead was commissioned as agent on January 20, 1841. He sailed for Europe the same year and after having successively vis- ited the archives of Holland, England and France returned to this country in the summer of 1844, with 80 volumes of transcripts which were deposited in the office of the Secretary of State. Under the authority of an act entitled An act to provide for the publica- tion of certain documents relating to the colonial history of the State, passed March 30, 1849,^ E)'' E. B. O'Callaghan, who- in 1848 had been employed by Secretary of State Christopher Morgan to prepare for publication the first volume of the Documentary history of Nezv York, was engaged to translate such of the tran- scripts as were in foreign languages and to edit the entire collec- tion. The publication was begun in 1853 under the title Docu- ments relative to the colonial history of the State of Nezv York, and April 12, 1856, the Legislature passed an act for its completion under the direction of the Regents of the University.* The set was completed in 10 quarto volumes in 1858 and in 1861 a gen- eral index was issued as volume 11. The undertaking was followed immediately by the publication in 1861, also under the editorship of Dr O'Callaghan, of two vol- umes of the Journal of the legislative council of New York, 1691- 1743, while between 1861 and 1863, Dr O'Callaghan prepared a Calendar of Nezv York colonial manuscripts, indorsed Land papers, 1643-1803, and a Calendar of historical manuscripts, 1630-1801, 500 copies of each of which were ordered to be printed by reso- 1 Documents relative to the colonial history of New York, General intro- duction, i:X-XIII; Assembly Journal, 1839, 62:267, 391; Assembly Docu- ments, 1839, no. 153. 2 Laws of 1839, ch.3is. 3 Laws of 1849, ch.175. * Laws of 1856, ch.i68. THE TRANSLATION OF MANUSCRIPT DUTCH RECORDS 1/ lution of the Senate, dated April 23, 1863.^ This second calendar v^as published in 1865-68. It consists of four volumes, of which the first contains a list of the documents and entries in the Dutch records, mentioned at the beginning of the present report, the sec- ond volume a list of English manuscripts from 1664 to 1776, and volumes 3 and 4 transcripts of papers relating to the American Revolution. In the preface to the first volume of this calendar, O'Callaghan took occasion to point out the great value of the Dutch records, the unreliability and incompleteness of van der Kemp's translations, and the need of an entirely new translation. Acting probably upon these suggestions, Mr William H. Gleason on January 10, 1865 S^^^ notice in the Assembly that he would at an early day ask leave to introduce a bill relative to the original laws and historical manuscripts and records in the office of the Secretary of State.^ The bill was introduced on January 11 and on January 19 and 27 and March 10 petitions in favor of its pass- ing were received from the Buffalo Historical Society, the New York Historical Society and Union College,^ which petitions un- fortunately are no longer among the legislative files. The bill passed on April 22, 1865, and reads in part as follows : CHAP. 539. An act relative to the original laws and historical manuscripts and records in the ofiice of the Secretarv of State. Passed April 22, 1865 ; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section i. The secretary of state is hereby authorised to employ a competent person to translate into the English language the Dutch manuscript records in the office of the said secretary ; and to transcribe such trans- ^"^eta/ lations into books to be provided for that purpose, and of state carefully to index the same ; which books, with the said \ranTia\7r original records shall be deposited in said office, and form "^ "'^^'^^ , r j1 11- t c 1 • , . • - tnanuscript part of the public records of this state, and the said records in person thus appointed shall discharge such other duties '"^ °*" in re'gard to the care, preservation and arrangement of the historical records in the said secretary's office, as the said secretary shall, from time to time prescribe. ********* 1 Senate Journal, 1863, 86:762. 2 Assembly Journal. 1865, 88 149. 3 Assembly Journal, 1865, 88:60,88,104,153.576. 2 i8 NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY Oath of translator, &c. § 3. The translator and person so employed for the purpose aforesaid, before he proceeds to execute his trust, shall take and subscribe an oath before the secre- tary or deputy secretary of state, well and faithfully, ac- cording to the best of his ability, to discharge the duties imposed upon him by virtue of this act, which oath shall be filed in the said secretary's office. § 4. This act shall take efifect immediately. Under the authority of this act Dr O'Callaghan was employed in the ofifice of the Secretary of State as translator, or archivist, as he is sometimes styled, at a salary of $1500 a year till October i, 1872, when the office of translator was abolished by law.^ Dr O'Callaghan set immediately to work preparing translations of a series of Laws and ordinances of Nezv Netherlands 1638-1674, of which 500 copies were printed in 1868 at a cost of $5280.75^ by resolution of the Senate of April 20, 1867.^ He then undertook to make new translations of the Dutch records in regular order, beginning with the Register of the Provincial Secretary. Four manuscript volumes of translations were completed, which are en- titled as follows : Records of Nezv Netherland, translated by au- thority of chapter 539, of the laws of 1865, from the original Dutch manuscripts in the office of the Secretary of State, by E. B. O'Cal- laghan. V. I Register of the Provincial Secretary, 1638-41." 326p. V. 2 Register of the Provincial Secretary, 1642-47. 432p- V. 3 Register of the Provincial Secretary, 1648-57. 409P- V. 4 Council minutes, 1638-49. 21 ip. bound !^ as one volume To the first three volumes there exists a printed index published in 1870; to the fourth volume there is a manuscript index, which with the translations was transferred to the State Library under chapter 120, of the laws of 1881. 1 Laws of 1872, ch.541. From the appropriation act of 1873. laws of 1873, p. 1 133 it appears that O'Callaghan was actually employed till October 22, 1872, and received a compensation of $126.56 for his services from the ist of October to that date. The Comptroller's reports show that in addition to his annual salary O'Callaghan received at different times extra compensation for special work. i 2 Comptroller's report, Assembly Documents, 1869, no.3, p. 71. 3 Senate Journal, 1867, 90:1126. THE TRANSLATION OF MANUSCRIPT DUTCH RECORDS I9 The first two volumes of translations were completed in 1868 and 1869, the third volume apparently in 1870, and the fourth vol- ume probably not till October 22, 1872. Their cost to the State may be put down approximately at four years' salary of Dr O'Cal- laghan, or $6000. These translations, both of the laws and ordinances and of the four volumes of New York colonial manuscripts, are a vast im- provement on the translations of van der Kemp. They represent some of the latest work of Dr O'Callaghan, made more than 20 years after he wrote his History of New Netherland, and are there- fore the result of ripe experience. Nevertheless, they are not free from errors, both of omission and commission, and possess a seri- ous defect in that they do not strictly adhere to the spelling of proper names. Furthermore, Dr O'Callaghan has invariably sub- stituted English equivalents for Dutch given names and names of ships, a practice which in the translation of historical documents is no longer considered admissible. The language on the whole is good, but at times unnecessarily strained, and in case of publication a complete and careful revision with the originals would be nec- essary.^ In the early part of 1876 Mr Berthold Fernow was attached to the office of the Secretary of State as translator and custodian of archives, and preparations were made for the translation and pub- lications of other portions of the Dutch records. Mr Fernow plan- ned a publication along the lines of local history and selected from the Dutch and English records material for three quarto volumes, respectively illustrating the history of early settlements on the Dela- 1 To show how much such revision is needed, it is sufticient to examine the first page of the manuscripts translations of Dr O'Callaghan setting forth the terms of a lease by Director General Kieft to Jan Jansen Damen of two parcels of land on the island of Manhattan, which Dr O'Callaghan describes as follows : " the largest of which has thus far been cultivated by the Blacks, and situate on the East of the Road, on the North of said Jan Damen, South the esplanade of the Fort, and to the East of Philip de Truy, and the smallest, situate to the North of the Company's Garden, and on the South of said Jan Damen, extending from the Road to the River," with the following note : " On the 25 April 1644, Jan Damen obtained a Patent for the above mentioned two lots of land. Book of patents GG. p.91," whereas the correct translation, agreeing with the well known location of these parcels of land, should read: "the larger of which has thus far been used by the blacks and is situated on the east of the road [Broadway], [being bounded] on the north by the said Jan Damen. on the south by the esplanade of the fort, and on the east by Philip de Truy ; and the smaller situated to the north of the company's garden and to the south of the said Jan Damen, extending from the road to the river;" while the patent re- corder in Book of patents GG, p.91, does not relate to the above mentioned two parcels of land, but to two other pieces of land, lying north of the first. 20 NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY ware and Hudson rivers and on Long Island. The volumes were issued in 1877, 1881 and 1883 as volumes 12-14 of the series of Documents relative to the colonial history of New York, at a cost of $7909 for printing and binding of volume 12/ of $4593.59 for volume 14,- and probably not less than $4000 for volume 13, the exact amount not being given in the Comptroller's report, but in- cluded in a general item for legislative printing. Mr Fernow was paid at first on the basis of an annual salary of $1200, then of $1600 and later of $1000, but appears to have been employed at irregular intervals and to have received $800 for eight months' services in 1876; $1466.66 for services in 1877; $626.67 ^^r ser- vices in 1878; nothing in 1879; $666.66 in 1880; $1083.34 in 1881 ; and $250 in 1882,^ in which year, in consequence of the transfer of the records to the State Library, he accepted a position under the Regents of the University of the State of New York. In these volumes 12-14 the parts that are translated from the Dutch records contain respectively 455, 394 and 556 pages, with an average of 500 words to the page or a total of 702,500 words. They may therefore be said to represent about one third of the ma- terial contained in the Dutch records. The documents selected are naturally among the most important, but by no means include everything that is historically important or necessary for a com- plete understanding of the events set forth. Indeed, the selections may be said to have been made somewhat at random and interesting papers that are referred to in the printed text have been omitted, even though in the manuscript volumes they are found side by side with the documents selected for publication. As an instance of this may be mentioned a letter from the directors of the West India Company to Stuyvesant, dated May 26, 1655, found in Neiu York colonial manuscripts, volume 12, page 22, and printed on -pages 321-24 of volume 14 of Documents relative to the colonial history of Neiu York in which it is stated that the burgomasters and almshouse authorities at Amsterdam are " again sending by this ship a party of boys and girls as per enclosed list." This list is found in Nezv York colonial manuscripts, volume 12, page 25 and contains the names of 17 children sent over, but it is not 1 Comptroller's report, Assembly Documents, 1879, no.3, p.54. 2 Comptroller's report, Assembly Documents, 1885, no.3, P-64- 3 Comptroller's reports, 1877-83. THE TRANSLATION OF MANUSCRIPT DUTCH RECORDS 21 printed by Mr Fernow in connection with the letter. Another drawback of the publication is the topographical arrangement, which has led to the breaking up of a majority of the documents into several parts, which are distributed over the three volumes. The result is a series of fraginents which, when pieced together, in some cases represent the entire document and in other cases do not, and which leave the person who does not have the original before him constantly in doubt as to whether he gets all there is in the document or not. The translations read smoothly and as a rule are fairly accurate, though Mr Fernow occasionally makes bad mistakes. Mr Fernow was a native of Prussian Poland ; to him therefore both the Dutch and the English were acquired languages and, notwithstanding his great linguistic abilities, his knowledge is apt to fail him when it comes to anything particularly involved or technical. As an instance of remarkable inaccuracy in this last respect may be cited a ship's invoice of 1663, printed on pages 428-29 of volume 12 of Documents relative to the colonial history of Nezv York, in which Mr Fernow gives the following items : TRANSLATION SHOULD DUTCH READ I cask with soap i vat met zeegens i cask with drag nets I package of wheels i pack met fuyclaen i pack of hoop nets 22 powderbags 22 Cruyzuagens (mis- 22 wheelbarrows read Cruytzvageiis) I small cask of Spanish i kasge spaense Seep i small case of Spanish wine (Castile) soap 3 packages of soap 3 packjes sceven 3 packages of sieves I half radishes I liulf radijzer (mis- i half tire iron read radijzen) Other instances of error, which have been noticed incidentally but which could be greatly multiplied in number by careful com- parison of the translations with the originals, are as follows : On page 273 of the above mentioned volume 12, in a letter from Jacob Alrichs, director of the colony of New Amstel on the Dela- ware, Mr Fernow translates : " Yes, we know it for sure to be the opinion of our Lords Patroons, that the military should not med- dle, when a certain nimiber of citizens should be in this Colony able to protect themselves," instead of " that the military should be gradually removed when there is a sufficient number of citizens in this Colony to protect themselves." 22 NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY On page 309, *' I ordered to have the transmitted commands dis- patched," instead of " I had the transmitted mandamus served." On page 381, Cornelis Marssen Factor for Cornelis Marssen, factor. Jacob de Bommer, surgeon for Jacob de Commer, surgeon. Pieter Jansen Teschett for Pyeter aerssen tesselt. On page 153 of voknne 14 of Documents relative to the colonial history of Nezv York, " common welfare in important land matters," instead of " common welfare in important affairs of state " ; and " may well in time ruin this blessed and fruitful country or bring it to a sorry condition and turn the laws into public nuisances," in- stead of " may well in time ruin this blessed and fruitful country, or at least reduce it to a sorry condition and an object of great scandal to the heathen." And on page 168 of the same volume, in relation to Cornelis ]\Ielyn's patroonship on Staten Island, " It seems now, that Baron Hendrick and Alexander van der Capelle have negotiated with this fellow and bought from him one half of the island without previously informing us," instead of " It seems now, that Messrs Hendrick and Alexander van der Capelle have negotiated with this patroon and bought from him a part of the island without previ- ously informing us."^ 1 In order that the citation of the above errors may not give the impres- sion that the State was especially unfortunate in the selection of its trans- lators, it may be well to point out that equally bad mistakes are found in private publications which are generally looked upon as scholarly. In New York Historical Society, Collections, 1857, volume 8, page 17, the late Hon. Henry C. Murphy, to whom historical students are indebted for several excellent monographs and the publication of a number of rare and valuable Fources of history, translates from the voyages of De Vries as follows : '' we grounded upon the large shoal before Dunkirk. We fired a shot, so that our companion came to anchor. My yacht came under my lee ; but we could not bear the expense of its returning . . . All of us pushing and pulling we got into four fathoms of water." This should read: "we grounded upon the Breebanck before Dunkirk. We fired a shot, so that our companion came to anchor. My yacht came under my lee, but could not stand it there on account of the surf. . . Bumping and tossing along, we got into four fathoms of water." Again, in the Vertoogh van Nieu Ncderland, New York, 1854, page 78, Mr Murphy translates, speaking of the prosecuting officer, Hendrick van Dyck, " What shall we say of a man whose head is troubled, and has a screiv loose, and who is powerful at home; especially as it often happens that it is hushed up, if there be any sap in the zvood to close it up," which Dr O'Callaghan, in JDocuments relative to the colonial history of New York, volume i, page 308, has amended as follows: "What shall we say of one whose head is a trouble to him and whose screw is loose, especially when it is surrounded by a little sap in the wood, which is no rare occurrence, as he is master at home." The correct translation, however, reads: "What shall we say of a man whose head troub'es him and who is much given to rashness, especially, as not rarely happens, when he has been drinking." THE TRANSLATION OF MANUSCRIPT DUTCH RECORDS 23 Summing up the character and extent of the translations, we find that there is a translation of the greater part of the Dutch records by van der Kemp, which is so poor that it need not be considered at all ; that there are manuscript translations of two volumes of land patents which fail in their most essential particu- lar, namely correctness in the description of the land conveyed ; that there is a fairly satisfactory printed translation of about 300 laws and ordinances selected from various volumes of the records ; that there are manuscript translations of volumes 1-4 of the rec- ords which with comparatively little labor could be prepared for publication ; and that there are printed tra/.slations in volumes 12-14 of Documents relative to the colonial history of Nezu York which in an unsatisfactory way make available about one third of the entire material in the records. The question arises, what is to be done with the collection as a whole, or at least with the parts that at present remain untrans- lated. There is no question about the value of the records and the ob- ligation to do everything possible that will help to preserve if not the originals, at least the contents of the documents. As Dr O'Cal- laghan expresses it in the preface to his calendar, " the Records of a government which thus introduced civilization, and founded Courts, Churches, Schools and similar institutions in our State, are, few will be bold enough to deny, deserving of every care and worthy of particular preservation. They are the ground work, the foundation stones of the History of the State of New York, and, if destro3^ed, the record evidence of its antiquity will be irrep- arably lost." Many records are at present in such a fragile con- dition that even the most careful handling may injure them and render it impossible to make a perfect copy, while through fire or otherwise they are liable to be destroyed at any time. The con- stant flow of inquiries relating to the Dutch records and the re- quests for copies and translations, which take up a good share of the archivist's time, show that there is considerable interest in the papers. Therefore, for reasons of public interest and economy, as well as safety, there is good ground for undertaking the publication of the records at the earliest moment. The only question is, how shall it be done? Three ways suggest themselves : ( i ) to publish translations of the documents which heretofore have not been printed by the State, with references in their proper chronologic place to the existing 24 NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY printed translation of the other documents; (2) to publish new translations of the entire body of records, without reference to the existing translations; (3) to publish all the material in Dutch, with translations on opposite pages. The first plan is the least expensive. The publication would take about five octavo volumes of 800 pages each, which, with the pres- ent facilities in the archivist's ofifice, might be issued in about 10 years. Owing however to the unreliability and the scattered con- dition of the existing translations, such a publication would leave much to be desired. It would fail to give the records the neces- sary continuity and oblige students to resort to several earlier State publications, which are unsatisfactory and in some cases hard to procure. In short, it would be little more than a makeshift, which would be considered unworthy of the value of the earliest public records of the State and very soon require their republication in more connected form. The second plan allows for more systematic treatment of the records and for the correction of the errors which are found in the existing translations. It is a great improvement on the first plan, but after all, with considerable outlay, fails to give the origi- nal text and substitutes an interpretation, which is not all that scholars have a right to expect. The third plan has all the advantages of the second and in addi- tion, by giving the Dutch text, makes it more worth while to re- print in the way of translation so much material that in less satis- factory form is already available. The State under the direction of the present State Historian has undertaken or is about to undertake the publication of two import- ant series of public records, covering the proceedings of the English Colonial Council from 1668 and of the State Legislature from 1777, which will be issued in accordance with the best practice in histori- cal editing. It is important that the publication of the correspond- ing records for the Dutch period, if undertaken by the State Li- brary, shall not suffer by comparison, but set equally high stand- ards as regards accuracy and scientific arrangement. Modern scholarship regards the translation of historical docu- ments as merely editorial work and demands that the original text be given as well as the translation, in order that competent persons may critically study the records for themselves. There are in and outside of the State many persons who can read and understand a printed Dutch text, but who are not sufficiently expert in the gram- THE TRANSLATION OF MANUSCRIPT DUTCH RECORDS 25 matical forms of the language and in the handwriting and con- tractions of the period to make much out of the original manu- script. In the interest of such persons the Dutch text should be given as well as the translation. Moreover, the publication of the Van Rensselaer Bozvier manuscripts has in Holland attracted attention to the fact that the early Dutch settlements in this coun- try are worthy of careful study. For the sake of the benefit which the elucidation of the early history of the State may derive from the study of the records by Dutch historians — who look at events from a different point of view and who have the advantage of a detailed knowledge of the contemporary history of their own coun- try — it seems important to give such scholars the necessary ma- terial in its original form and in their own language, instead of through the medium of a foreign tongue. Finally, and this is per- haps the most important reason for printing the Dutch text as well as the translation, the printing of the documents in their origin.-al form is, properly speaking, the only means of preserving for all time the authentic information contained in them. There is no denying that the editing of the entire body of Dutch records in the original language and in translation is a big under- taking, which needs to be carefully planned if the work is to pro- ceed with proper speed. The publication would make about 15 volumes of 800 pages each. With the help of an expert copyist, enough material could probably be prepared for one volume a year, so that the undertaking would be completed in 15 years. In consideration of the advantages set forth above, I earnestly recommend that the plan of printing the entire Dutch text as well as the translation be adopted. Respectfully yours A. J. F. VAN Laer ArcJiiznst Albany, N. Y. March 25, 1909 INDEX Accounts, 7 Albany Records, ii Appeal, writs of, 6 Bacon, John F., amount paid to for indexing translations, 12 Brodhead, John Rome3'n, commis- sioned as agent to procure docu- ments relating to colonial history, i6 Burr, Aaron, report on petition of Rev. Samuel Miller, 9 Clinton, De Witt, support of bill concerning a history of state, 8; efforts to secure translation of Dutch records, 11 Colve, Gov. Anthony, records of ad- ministration of, 7 Correspondence, 6; gaps in, 7 Cost, of van der Kemp's transla- tions, 12; of Westbrook's trans- lation of land patents, 15; of O'Callaghan's translations, 18-19; of Fernow's translations, 20 Council minutes, 6; gaps in, 7 Curagao papers, 6 Delaware papers, 6 Fernow, Berthold, translations, 19- 22 ; in ofifice of Secretary of State, 19; acceptance of position under Regents, 20; compensation, 20; inaccuracies in translations, 21-22 Fort Orange records, 6 Gleason, William H., bill intro- duced by, relative to translation of manuscripts, 17 Hartford, negotiations vvitli English, letters and papers respecting, 7 Innes, John H., on van der Kemp's translations, 12 Land patents and deeds, 7 ; transla- tion, 14 ; errors in, 15 ; translations fail in description of land con- ve3-ed, 23 Legislative provision for translation of Dutch records, g, 15, 17 Livingston, Edward, amount paid to for indexing translations, 12 Miller, Samuel, plan for history of state, 7-1 1 ; history never finished, II Murphy, Henry C, errors in trans- lations, 22 New York Historical Society, memorial to the Legislature, 16 O'Callaghan, E. B., publications, 16; translations, 16; employed in office of Secretary of State as trans- lator, 18; salary, 18; defects in translations, 19; translations an improvement on van der Kemp's, 19 Ordinances, 6 Provincial Secretary, register, 6 Stuyvesant, Director General, cor- respondence, 6 ; report of voyage to the West Indies, 7 Thompson, Smith, resolution pre- sented by, 9 Translations, legislative provision for, 9, 15, 17; of land patents, 14-15; bill introduced by Mr Gleason relative to, 17; summary of character and extent, 23 ; methods of publication proposed, 23-25 ; [27] 28 INDEX TO TRANSLATION OF MANUSCRIPT DUTCH RECORDS Translations (continued) Van Ingen's, 8; delaj- in, 9, 10- 11; of land patents, 14; Van der Kemp's, 11; cost, 12; unreliability and incompleteness, 12, 17; John H. Innes on, 12; instances of inaccuracy, 13; Westbrook's, of land patents, is; O'Callaghan's, 16, 18; an im- provement on van der Kemp's translations, 19; defects in, iq; Fernow's, 19-22; inaccuracies, 21-22; Murphy's errors in translation from voyages of De Vries, 22 Van der Kemp, Francis Adrian, translations of Dutch records, 11; unreliability and incompleteness of translations, 12, 17; amount paid to, 12; specimens of inaccurate translations, 13 Van Ingen, James, translation of Dutch records authorized, 8; de- lay in work, 9, lo-i i ; records taken from Secretary's office, 10; translation of land patents, 14 Westbrook, C. D., translation of land patents, 15 Writs of appeal, 6 NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY BIBLIOGRAPHIES Bibliography bulletins. Mostly original bibliographies presented by Library School students as a condition of graduation. Suggestions of subjects on which bibliographies or reading lists are specially needed and contributions of available material are invited. Bound volumes include numbers out of orint except no. 5. ^ Volume I, cloth $1.50; unbound $1.25 Bbl Guide to the study of J. A. M. Whistler. i6p. May 1895. o.J>. Bb2-4 Colonial New England; Travel in North America; History of the 17th Century. Sop. July 1897. i^c. Bb5 Reference books for use of cataloguers in finding full names. 2 2p. Jan. 1898. o.J>. Stiperseded by no. 36. Bb6-8 Japan; Venice; Out-of-door books. 64P. Feb. 1898. zoc. Bb9-II Netherlands; Renaissance art; History of latter half of 15th century. i28p. Apr. 1898. i^c. Bbl2 Best books of 1897. 28p. June 1898. 0. p. Bbl3 Fairy tales for children. 3op. June 1898. o. p. Bbl4 Index to subject bibliographies in library bulletins to Dec. 31, 1897. 62p. Aug. 1898. IOC. Bbl5-I7 Russia; Nature study in primary schools; Biography of musicians. i5op. Jan. 1899. o.p. Bbl8 Eest bcoks of 1898. 28p. May 1899. 5<^- Bbl9 College libraries in the United States. 52p. Dec. 1899. loc. Bb20 House decoration and furnishing. 2op. Dec. 1899. ^c. 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Bb38 Ethics. 36p. Apr. 1905. loc. Bb39 Best books of 1904. 46p. Aug. 1905. 10c. Bb40 Best books of 1905. 44p. Aug. 1906. o.p. Volume 4 Bb4I Florence. 44p. Sept. 1906. loc. Bb42 Scotland. 36p. Apr. 1907. loc. Bb43 Best books of 1906. 48p. Aug. 1907. loc. Bb44 Best books of 1907. 56p. Sept. 1908. loc. Bb45 Best books of 1908. 5op. Aug. 1909. loc. Bb46 Translation and publication of manuscript Dutch records of New Netherland in the State Library. 3op. Jan. 1910. loe. Manuscript bibliographies. A complete list of Library School graduation 1. jli- ograpliies through April 1902 was printed in the second edition of the Kei^isfer of the Ljbrarv School .** )