His will states: "That whereas I have been many years collecting a number of books, pamphlets, maps, prints and manuscripts, either published in New England or pertaining to its history and public affairs, to which collection I have given the name of 'Ye New England Library,' and have deposited in the steeple of the Old South Church; and as I made this collection from a public view and desire that many important transactions might be remembered, which otherwise would be lost, I hereby bequeath the collection to the Old South Church forever, to the end that this collection may be kept entire. I desire that this collection be kept in a different department from the other books, and that it may be so made that no person shall borrow any book or paper therefrom, but that any person whom the pastors and deacons of the church for the time being shall approve, may have access thereto, and take copies therefrom." The Prince catalogue states that, "at his death, the New England Library was the most extensive of the kind that had ever been formed. It contains, in its depleted state, not less than 1,500 books and tracts relating to America during the period of our colonial history." The Mather family and Gov. Hutchinson are alone to be compared with Mr. Prince as collectors of books, and theirs avail little, as they have been scattered and destroyed. It is a matter of congratulation that the greater portion of Mr. Prince's books have been preserved, each of which had been carefully selected, "many bearing name, date of purchase, cost, and place where it was acquired." He frequently noted contemporaneous events of public importance on fly-leaf. A great number were purchased during a seven-years' residence in Europe, and some one says, "By means of this memoranda, we can easily trace the stages of his sojourn abroad." He invented a very quaint book-plate, with flowered border, in which he inscribed his name.