When Houghton Library opened, three months after Pearl Harbor, it was described as "fireproof, earthquake-proof, and reasonably protected against the incendiary bomb." The fire inspector looked the place over and classified it in the same category as a bank vault. And now, the staff at its parvenu neighbor Lamont, (which the Houghton people refer to as "Uncle Tom's Cabin"), call it the "Jewel Box." For, besides being the University's most sumptuous bookshelf, Houghton acts as show case and safe deposit vault for one of the world's finest collections of rare books and documents.

The library has its historical curios: among them, Harvard's first character (1650), the one surviving book from John Harvard's library, and Edwin Booth's last cigar. But its more significant treasures are the great numbers of early printed books, many of them dating from before 1500, and its "author" collections. Quite a number of books are on view. (behind glass) in the Library's lobby or in the lavish exhibition room.

Author collections may contain anything, from a writer's first editions to his private diary--letters, manuscripts, and critical works about him. Houghton's most famous is the Keats' collection, the world's best, much of which is one exhibit in the Library's special Keats room. The collection has many of the poet's letters and the manuscripts of a number of his poems, notably "The Eve of St. Agnes" and "To Autumn." Other collections range from John Donne and George Herbert to E. A. Robinson and Thomas Wolfe. Philip Hofer's Graphic Arts Collection is another prize feature of the Library--a summary of the best in book design from Babylonian cuneiform tablets to the latest printing innovations.

One of Houghton's oddest and choicest possessions is its theater collection, a diverse conglomeration of play manuscripts, autographs, playbills--even a clipping file on contemporary screen and stage stars. The collection's size and completeness make it a valuable source of theatrical information: Cornelia Otis Skinner did research for her book "Family Circle" there; queries along the lines of "should Macbeth be played in kilts" are always coming in. A movie company once called up from Hollywood to find out whether Jenny Lind had ever sung in some saloon in Tombstone, Arizona. (She hadn't.)

Houghton, when it was built, was described as "the present ultimate in builder's and airconditioner's art." The gift of Arthur A. Houghton, Jr. '29, the Library owes much of its up-to-dateness to the efforts of the director, Professor William A. Jackson. There are ticking devices that look like seismographs to keep tabs on the temperature and humidity, ultra-violet equipment and a comparison microscope for scrutinizing documents, and microfilm scope for scrutinizing documents, and microfilm viewers in the reading room for use with the Library's 1000 microfilms.

Book thievery at Houghton has been non-existent in spite of the apparent temptations. The only access to books not encased in glass is in the reading room--its door is kept locked at all times except when released by a switch from the circulation desk. If a thief should manage to slip a book out of the reading room, he would still have to get it past Mr. Matthews at the outside door. Matthews, a virtuoso bartender in his spare time, is a doorman in the grandest manner, complete with English accent. Since the Library's opening, he says he has only had to stop one person--a freshman who wandered out absentmindedly with a rare book in his hand.