General 445 The foundation of the new department it is hoped will be of special value to competitors for the degree of B. Litt. (the " research degree ") intend- ing to devote themselves to colonial history. The new foundation is of added interest at a time when the scheme of the Rhodes trustees is at- tracting to Oxford large numbers of colonial and American students. To the students of Spanish and Portuguese culture in the Iberian peninsula, in Latin America, and in other parts of the world the opening, in April, of the library and museum of " The Hispanic Society of Amer- ica " will be a matter of rare interest. Founded in July, 1904, by Mr. Archer M. Huntington, as a means to encourage the study of Spanish and Portuguese literature, philology, history, archaeology, art, science, and philosophy, the Hispanic Society, though American in origin, is inter- national in character, membership, and activity. By correspondence and by publication the society may be expected to perform a great ser- vice to scholarship, especially since the generosity of Mr. Huntington has made it the possessor of his magnificent collection of books, manu- scripts, paintings, coins, and archaeological specimens. The library now contains about 50,000 volumes. Of this number at least twenty thou- sand treat of historical subjects and include official publications and collections of documents. For the housing of the collection, to which additions are constantly being made, Mr. Huntington has provided a handsome and appropriate building situated in Audubon Park. 156th street near Broadway, New York. Membership in the Hispanic So- ciety is limited to one hundred persons whose contributions to the knowl- edge of Hispanic culture are such as to indicate their peculiar usefulness for the prosecution of the great purpose to which Mr. Huntington has devoted his life and his fortune. With the exception, however, of cer- tain rare works and objects of special value, access to which is restricted to members and to persons duly accredited by them, the contents of the library and museum will be open freely to the public. The literary remains of Theodor Mommsen have recently been put into the possession of the Royal Library in Berlin. Of chief interest among these papers are four large chests of letters, which Mommsen declared should not be published till thirty years after his death. To these letters received by Mommsen the library will try to add as many as possible of the thousands which he himself wrote. In the series of his Gesammelte Schriften (Berlin, Weidmann) the first volume of the historical writings has now appeared, Band IV. of the series, its three predecessors being juristic pieces. Part I. of a Grundriss der Geschichtsivisscnscliaft has been published by Aloys Meistcr (Leipzig. Teubner, pp. 319). The editor contributes an introductory Gnindziigc dcr historischcn Mcthodc, B. Bretholz Palco- graphic, Thommen Diploinatik (in general) and Kaiscntrkitndcn, Schmitz-Kaltenberg Papstuvknndcn. Steinacker Pvivatitrkundcn, Grote- fend Chronologic.
