Between 1907 and 1920, Lydia Beckman Hibbard (1834-1920), who was a faithful Episcopalian in Chicago, gave about $23,000 to the Hibbard Egyptian Library at Western Theological Seminary, then located in Chicago. Two professors at the seminary were responsible for the intitial development of this library whose rich holdings encompassed the fields of Egyptology, Semitic languages and literature, and Near Eastern archaeology. Olaf Toffteen, Professor of Semitic Languages and Literature from 1907-1910 and Samuel A. B. Mercer, Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament Literature from 1910-1922, worked closely with Mrs. Hibbard. Holdings include Description de l'Egypte (Paris, 1809-28), Rosellini's I monumenti dell'egitto e della Nubia (Pisa, 1832-44), and Lepsius's Denkmaeler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien (Berlin, 1849-54), and Botta's Monument de Ninive (Paris, 1849-50). The Hibbard Room is located on the third floor of The United Library at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. Visitation by appointment only. Contact Newland Smith.