On the night of Sunday 8 October 1871, a fire began in Chicago that would change the face of the city. … The fire, which raged unchecked through all of Monday, swept all of this away, along with 17,450 homes, rendering 95,000 people homeless. Almost incidental to this enormous human suffering were the losses to the libraries: contemporary estimates, incorporating fifty fine private libraries, suggested losses of up to 3 million volumes, and this may be conservative.

Andrew Pettegree, Arthur der Weduwen, The Library- A Fragile Hist…, loc. 869