Arts in St. Louis 1864 Book Cover   Often in the world of early resident artists in St. Louis, those wishing to advertise their skills, paintings were deposited for viewing, only to be reclaimed again a few days or even years later, and sent on to an eventual buyer. Many special exhibitions were presented by the Library in its earliest days, some to raise funds for various causes. Library leaders, such as James Yeatman and Henry Bacon, were deeply interested in the fine arts, and distinguished Western connoisseurs and patrons in their time, and these individuals infused the Mercantile with their art-loving spirit. The Library, in promoting the culture of the fine arts, was advertising the worth of the varied array of painters and sculptors, engravers and other artisans who passed through its doors. The Mercantile was often the recipient of a gift of art, or of a long term loan which was never recalled (this was an age far in advance of a modern museum registrar's files) and almost by default the founders frequently saw to it that paintings of great merit were preserved which otherwise would have been lost to subsequent generations. Western and literary subjects provided suitable emblems for the book collections, fine symbols which graced these halls and still grace them, for generations in the past, present, and future.