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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK
LOUBAT QUINQUENNIAL PRIZES FOR 1898

The Hon. Seth Low, LL.D.,
President of Columbia University.

Sir:

The undersigned, a Committee appointed in 1895 to examine and report upon the various monographs submitted in competition for the Loubat Prizes to be awarded in 1898, beg leave to report that they have carefully considered the different works received, and have also, in accordance with the rules governing the competition, examined such other works relating to American Archaeology as have been published in the English language during the three years ending with the first day of April, 1898.  In their consideration of these monographs the Committee have taken into account not only the scientific value of the work but also the importance of the subjects treated, the methods of investigation pursued by the authors, and the artistic and literary excellence of the presentation.

The monographs that were formally submitted for examination were the productions of eight different authors.  Of these the Committee have selected, as being the most meritorious and as most fully complying with the conditions prescribed for the competition, the treatise offered by Mr. William Henry [[underline]] Holmes [[/underline]], Curator of the Department of Anthropology in the National Museum at Washington.  The Title of this treatise is "Stone Implements of the Potomac-Chesapeake Tide-Water Provinces."

This volume may be held to mark an epoch in American archaeological research, by interpreting the remarkably abundant artifacts of a typical region in the light of precious studies of actual aboriginal handiwork, and thus establishing a basis for the classification of the stone art of the entire Western Hemisphere. It is the result of many years of personal study, numerous experiments, and close typological analysis, and is supplied with a wealth of illustrative material that gives it most exceptional interest and value.  The Committee, therefore, recommend that the first prize of [[underline]] $1,000 [[/underline]] be awarded to Mr. William Henry Holmes.