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diff --git a/22608.txt b/22608.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0eed59c --- /dev/null +++ b/22608.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16838 @@ +Project Gutenberg's A Book for All Readers, by Ainsworth Rand Spofford + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Book for All Readers + An Aid to the Collection, Use, and Preservation of Books + and the Formation of Public and Private Libraries + +Author: Ainsworth Rand Spofford + +Release Date: September 15, 2007 [EBook #22608] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BOOK FOR ALL READERS *** + + + + +Produced by Michael Ciesielski and the booksmiths at +http://www.eBookForge.net + + + + + +A BOOK FOR ALL READERS + +DESIGNED AS AN AID TO THE + +COLLECTION, USE, AND PRESERVATION + +OF BOOKS + +AND THE + +FORMATION OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIBRARIES + + +BY + +AINSWORTH RAND SPOFFORD + +G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS +NEW YORK & LONDON +1900 + + +COPYRIGHT 1900 + +BY + +A R SPOFFORD + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + + +Chapter Page + 1. THE CHOICE OF BOOKS, 3 + 2. BOOK BUYING, 33 + 3. THE ART OF BOOK BINDING, 50 + 4. PREPARATION FOR THE SHELVES: BOOK PLATES, &C., 88 + 5. THE ENEMIES OF BOOKS, 101 + 6. RESTORATION AND RECLAMATION OF BOOKS, 119 + 7. PAMPHLET LITERATURE, 145 + 8. PERIODICAL LITERATURE, 157 + 9. THE ART OF READING, 171 +10. AIDS TO READERS, 190 +11. ACCESS TO LIBRARY SHELVES, 215 +12. THE FACULTY OF MEMORY, 226 +13. QUALIFICATIONS OF LIBRARIANS, 242 +14. SOME OF THE USES OF LIBRARIES, 275 +15. THE HISTORY OF LIBRARIES, 287 +16. LIBRARY BUILDINGS AND FURNISHINGS, 321 +17. LIBRARY MANAGERS OR TRUSTEES, 333 +18. LIBRARY REGULATIONS, 341 +19. LIBRARY REPORTS AND ADVERTISING, 349 +20. THE FORMATION OF LIBRARIES, 357 +21. CLASSIFICATION, 362 +22. CATALOGUES, 373 +23. COPYRIGHT AND LIBRARIES, 400 +24. POETRY OF THE LIBRARY, 417 +25. HUMORS OF THE LIBRARY, 430 +26. RARE BOOKS, 444 +27. BIBLIOGRAPHY, 459 + INDEX, 501 + + + + +A BOOK FOR ALL READERS + + + + +CHAPTER 1. + +THE CHOICE OF BOOKS. + + +When we survey the really illimitable field of human knowledge, the vast +accumulation of works already printed, and the ever-increasing flood of +new books poured out by the modern press, the first feeling which is apt +to arise in the mind is one of dismay, if not of despair. We ask--who is +sufficient for these things? What life is long enough--what intellect +strong enough, to master even a tithe of the learning which all these +books contain? But the reflection comes to our aid that, after all, the +really important books bear but a small proportion to the mass. Most +books are but repetitions, in a different form, of what has already been +many times written and printed. The rarest of literary qualities is +originality. Most writers are mere echoes, and the greater part of +literature is the pouring out of one bottle into another. If you can get +hold of the few really best books, you can well afford to be ignorant of +all the rest. The reader who has mastered Kames's "Elements of +Criticism," need not spend his time over the multitudinous treatises upon +rhetoric. He who has read Plutarch's Lives thoroughly has before him a +gallery of heroes which will go farther to instruct him in the elements +of character than a whole library of modern biographies. The student of +the best plays of Shakespeare may save his time by letting other and +inferior dramatists alone. He whose imagination has been fed upon Homer, +Dante, Milton, Burns, and Tennyson, with a few of the world's +master-pieces in single poems like Gray's Elegy, may dispense with the +whole race of poetasters. Until you have read the best fictions of +Scott, Thackeray, Dickens, Hawthorne, George Eliot, and Victor Hugo, you +should not be hungry after the last new novel,--sure to be forgotten in a +year, while the former are perennial. The taste which is once formed upon +models such as have been named, will not be satisfied with the trashy +book, or the spasmodic school of writing. + +What kind of books should form the predominant part in the selection of +our reading, is a question admitting of widely differing opinions. Rigid +utilitarians may hold that only books of fact, of history and science, +works crammed full of knowledge, should be encouraged. Others will plead +in behalf of lighter reading, or for a universal range. It must be +admitted that the most attractive reading to the mass of people is not +scientific or philosophical. But there are many very attractive books +outside the field of science, and outside the realm of fiction, books +capable of yielding pleasure as well as instruction. There are few books +that render a more substantial benefit to readers of any age than good +biographies. In them we find those personal experiences and adventures, +those traits of character, that environment of social and domestic life, +which form the chief interest in works of fiction. In fact, the novel, in +its best estate, is only biography amplified by imagination, and +enlivened by dialogue. And the novel is successful only when it succeeds +in depicting the most truly the scenes, circumstances, and characters of +real life. A well written biography, like that of Dr. Johnson, by +Boswell, Walter Scott, by Lockhart, or Charles Dickens, by Forster, gives +the reader an insight into the history of the times they lived in, the +social, political, and literary environment, and the impress of their +famous writings upon their contemporaries. In the autobiography of Dr. +Franklin, one of the most charming narratives ever written, we are taken +into the writer's confidence, sympathize with his early struggles, +mistakes, and successes, and learn how he made himself, from a poor boy +selling ballads on Boston streets, into a leader among men, whom two +worlds have delighted to honor. Another most interesting book of +biography is that of the brothers William and Robert Chambers, the famous +publishers of Edinburgh, who did more to diffuse useful knowledge, and to +educate the people, by their manifold cheap issues of improving and +entertaining literature, than was ever done by the British Useful +Knowledge Society itself. + +The French nation has, of all others, the greatest genius for personal +memoirs, and the past two centuries are brought far more vividly before +us in these free-spoken and often amusing chronicles, than in all the +formal histories. Among the most readable of these (comparatively few +having been translated into English) are the Memoirs of Marmontel, +Rousseau, Madame Remusat, Amiel, and Madame De Stael. The recently +published memoirs by Imbert de St. Amand, of court life in France in the +times of Marie Antoinette, Josephine, Marie Louise, and other periods, +while hastily written and not always accurate, are lively and +entertaining. + +The English people fall far behind the French in biographic skill, and +many of their memoirs are as heavy and dull as the persons whom they +commemorate. But there are bright exceptions, in the lives of literary +men and women, and in some of those of noted public men in church and +state. Thus, there are few books more enjoyable than Sydney Smith's +Memoirs and Letters, or Greville's Journals covering the period including +George IV to Victoria, or the Life and Letters of Macaulay, or Mrs. +Gaskell's Charlotte Bronte, or the memoirs of Harriet Martineau, or +Boswell's Life of Dr. Johnson. Among the briefer biographies worthy of +special mention are the series of English Men of Letters, edited by John +Morley, and written by some of the best of contemporary British writers. +They embrace memoirs of Chaucer, Spenser, Bacon, Sidney, Milton, De Foe, +Swift, Sterne, Fielding, Locke, Dryden, Pope, Johnson, Gray, Addison, +Goldsmith, Burke, Hume, Gibbon, Bunyan, Bentley, Sheridan, Burns, Cowper, +Southey, Scott, Byron, Lamb, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley, Wordsworth, De +Quincey, Macaulay, Landor, Dickens, Thackeray, Hawthorne, and Carlyle. +These biographies, being quite compendious, and in the main very well +written, afford to busy readers a short-hand method of acquainting +themselves with most of the notable writers of Britain, their personal +characteristics, their relation to their contemporaries, and the quality +and influence of their works. Americans have not as yet illustrated the +field of biographic literature by many notably skilful examples. We are +especially deficient in good autobiographies, so that Dr. Franklin's +stands almost alone in singular merit in that class. We have an abundance +of lives of notable generals, professional men, and politicians, in which +indiscriminate eulogy and partisanship too often usurp the place of +actual facts, and the truth of history is distorted to glorify the merits +of the subject of the biography. The great success of General Grant's own +Memoirs, too, has led publishers to tempt many public men in military or +civil life, into the field of personal memoirs, not as yet with +distinguished success. + +It were to be wished that more writers possessed of some literary skill, +who have borne a part in the wonderful drama involving men and events +enacted in this country during the century now drawing to a close, had +given us their sincere personal impressions in autobiographic form. Such +narratives, in proportion as they are truthful, are far more trustworthy +than history written long after the event by authors who were neither +observers nor participants in the scenes which they describe. + +Among American biographies which will help the reader to gain a tolerably +wide acquaintance with the men and affairs of the past century in this +country, are the series of Lives of American Statesmen, of which thirty +volumes have been published. These include Washington, the Adamses, +Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton, Jay, Madison, Marshall, Monroe, Henry, +Gallatin, Morris, Randolph, Jackson, Van Buren, Webster, Clay, Calhoun, +Cass, Benton, Seward, Lincoln, Chase, Stevens, and Sumner. While these +Memoirs are of very unequal merit, they are sufficiently instructive to +be valuable to all students of our national history. + +Another very useful series is that of American Men of Letters, edited by +Charles Dudley Warner, in fifteen volumes, which already includes +Franklin, Bryant, Cooper, Irving, Noah Webster, Simms, Poe, Emerson, +Ripley, Margaret Fuller, Willis, Thoreau, Taylor, and Curtis. + +In the department of history, the best books for learners are not always +the most famous. Any mere synopsis of universal history is necessarily +dry reading, but for a constant help in reference, guiding one to the +best original sources, under each country, and with very readable +extracts from the best writers treating on each period, the late work of +J. N. Larned, "History for Ready Reference," five volumes, will be found +invaluable. Brewer's Historic Note Book, in a single volume, answers many +historic queries in a single glance at the alphabet. For the History of +the United States, either John Fiske's or Eggleston's is an excellent +compend, while for the fullest treatment, Bancroft's covers the period +from the discovery of America up to the adoption of the constitution in +1789, in a style at once full, classical, and picturesque. For +continuations, McMaster's History of the People of the United States +covers the period from 1789 to 1824, and is being continued. James +Schouler has written a History of the United States from 1789 to 1861, in +five volumes, while J. F. Rhodes ably covers the years 1850 to the Civil +War with a much more copious narrative. + +For the annals of England, the Short History of England by J. R. Green is +a most excellent compend. For more elaborate works, the histories of Hume +and Macaulay bring the story of the British Empire down to about 1700. +For the more modern period, Lecky's History of England in the 18th +century is excellent, and for the present century, McCarthy's History of +Our Own Time, and Miss Martineau's History of England, 1815-52, are well +written works. French history is briefly treated in the Student's History +of France, while Guizot's complete History, in eight volumes, gives a +much fuller account, from the beginnings of France in the Roman period, +to the year 1848. Carlyle's French Revolution is a splendid picture of +that wonderful epoch, and Sloane's History of Napoleon gives very full +details of the later period. + +For the history of Germany, Austria, Russia, France, Spain, Italy, +Holland, and other countries, the various works in the "Story of the +Nations" series, are excellent brief histories. + +Motley's Rise of the Dutch Republic and his United Netherlands are highly +important and well written historical works. + +The annals of the ancient world are elaborately and ably set forth in +Grote's History of Greece, Merivale's Rome, and Gibbon's Decline and Fall +of the Roman Empire. + +Another class of books closely allied to biography and history, is the +correspondence of public men, and men of letters, with friends and +contemporaries. These familiar letters frequently give us views of +social, public, and professional life which are of absorbing interest. +Among the best letters of this class may be reckoned the correspondence +of Horace Walpole, Madame de Sevigne, the poets Gray and Cowper, Lord +Macaulay, Lord Byron, and Charles Dickens. Written for the most part with +unstudied ease and unreserve, they entertain the reader with constant +variety of incident and character, while at the same time they throw +innumerable side-lights upon the society and the history of the time. + +Next, we may come to the master-pieces of the essay-writers. You will +often find that the best treatise on any subject is the briefest, because +the writer is put upon condensation and pointed statement, by the very +form and limitations of the essay, or the review or magazine article. +Book-writers are apt to be diffuse and episodical, having so extensive a +canvas to cover with their literary designs. Among the finest of the +essayists are Montaigne, Lord Bacon, Addison, Goldsmith, Macaulay, Sir +James Stephen, Cardinal Newman, De Quincey, Charles Lamb, Washington +Irving, Emerson, Froude, Lowell, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. You may spend +many a delightful hour in the perusal of any one of these authors. + +We come now to poetry, which some people consider very unsubstantial +pabulum, but which forms one of the most precious and inspiring portions +of the literature of the world. In all ages, the true poet has exercised +an influence upon men's minds that is unsurpassed by that of any other +class of writers. And the reason is not far to seek. Poetry deals with +the highest thoughts, in the most expressive language. It gives utterance +to all the sentiments and passions of humanity in rhythmic and harmonious +verse. The poet's lines are remembered long after the finest compositions +of the writers of prose are forgotten. They fasten themselves in the +memory by the very flow and cadence of the verse, and they minister to +that sense of melody that dwells in every human brain. What the world +owes to its great poets can never be fully measured. But some faint idea +of it may be gained from the wondrous stimulus given through them to the +imaginative power, and from the fact that those sentiments of human +sympathy, justice, virtue, and freedom, which inspire the best poetry of +all nations, become sooner or later incarnated in their institutions. +This is the real significance of the oft-quoted saying of Andrew +Fletcher, that stout Scotch republican of two centuries ago, that if one +were permitted to make all the ballads of a nation, he need not care who +should make the laws. + +In the best poetry, the felicity of its expressions of thought, joined +with their rhythmical form, makes it easy for the reader to lay up almost +unconsciously a store in the memory of the noblest poetic sentiments, to +comfort or to divert him in many a weary or troubled hour. Hence time is +well spent in reading over and over again the great poems of the world. +Far better and wiser is this, than to waste it upon the newest trash that +captivates the popular fancy, for the last will only tickle the +intellectual palate for an hour, or a day, and be then forgotten, while +the former will make one better and wiser for all time. + +Nor need one seek to read the works of very many writers in order to fill +his mind with images of truth and beauty which will dwell with him +forever. The really great poets in the English tongue may be counted upon +the fingers. Shakespeare fitly heads the list--a world's classic, +unsurpassed for reach of imagination, variety of scenes and characters, +profound insight, ideal power, lofty eloquence, moral purpose, the most +moving pathos, alternating with the finest humor, and diction unequalled +for strength and beauty of expression. Milton, too, in his minor poems, +has given us some of the noblest verse in the language. There is poetry +enough in his L'Allegro and Il Penseroso to furnish forth a whole galaxy +of poets. + +Spenser and Pope, Gray and Campbell, Goldsmith and Burns, Wordsworth and +the Brownings, Tennyson and Longfellow,--these are among the other +foremost names in the catalogue of poets which none can afford to +neglect. Add to these the best translations of Homer, Virgil, Horace, +Dante, and Goethe, and one need not want for intellectual company and +solace in youth or age. + +Among the books which combine entertainment with information, the best +narratives of travellers and voyagers hold an eminent place. In them the +reader enlarges the bounds of his horizon, and travels in companionship +with his author all over the globe. While many, if not the most, of the +books of modern travellers are filled with petty incidents and personal +observations of no importance, there are some wonderfully good books of +this attractive class. Such are Kinglake's "Eothen, or traces of travel +in the East," Helen Hunt Jackson's "Bits of Travel," a volume of keen and +amusing sketches of German and French experiences, the books of De Amicus +on Holland, Constantinople, and Paris, those on England by Emerson, +Hawthorne, William Winter, and Richard Grant White, Curtis's Nile Notes, +Howell's "Venetian Life," and Taine's "Italy, Rome and Naples." + +The wide domain of science can be but cursorily touched upon. Many +readers get so thorough a distaste for science in early life--mainly from +the fearfully and wonderfully dry text-books in which our schools and +colleges have abounded--that they never open a scientific book in later +years. This is a profound mistake, since no one can afford to remain +ignorant of the world in which we live, with its myriad wonders, its +inexhaustible beauties, and its unsolved problems. And there are now +works produced in every department of scientific research which give in a +popular and often in a fascinating style, the revelations of nature which +have come through the study and investigation of man. Such books are "The +Stars and the Earth," Kingsley's "Glaucus, or Wonders of the Shore," +Clodd's "Story of Creation," (a clear account of the evolution theory) +Figuier's "Vegetable World," and Professor Langley's "New Astronomy." +There are wise specialists whose published labors have illuminated for +the uninformed reader every nook and province of the mysteries of +creation, from the wing of a beetle to the orbits of the planetary +worlds. There are few pursuits more fascinating than those that bring us +acquainted with the secrets of nature, whether dragged up from the depths +of the sea, or demonstrated in the substance and garniture of the green +earth, or wrung from the far-off worlds in the shining heavens. + +A word only can be spared to the wide and attractive realm of fiction. In +this field, those are the best books which have longest kept their hold +upon the public mind. It is a wise plan to neglect the novels of the +year, and to read (or to re-read in many cases) the master-pieces which +have stood the test of time, and criticism, and changing fashions, by the +sure verdict of a call for continually new editions. Ouida and Trilby may +endure for a day, but Thackeray and Walter Scott are perennial. It is +better to read a fine old book through three times, than to read three +new books through once. + +Of books more especially devoted to the history of literature, in times +ancient and modern, and in various nations, the name is legion. I count +up, of histories of English literature alone (leaving out the American) +no less than one hundred and thirty authors on this great field or some +portion of it. To know what ones of these to study, and what to leave +alone, would require critical judgment and time not at my command. I can +only suggest a few known by me to be good. For a succinct yet most +skilfully written summary of English writers, there is no book that can +compare with Stopford A. Brooke's Primer of English Literature. For more +full and detailed treatment, Taine's History of English Literature, or +Chambers' Cyclopaedia of English Literature, two volumes, with specimens +of the writers of every period, are the best. E. C. Stedman's Victorian +Poets is admirable, as is also his Poets of America. For a bird's eye +view of American authors and their works, C. F. Richardson's Primer of +American Literature can be studied to advantage, while for more full +reference to our authors, with specimens of each, Stedman's Library of +American Literature in eleven volumes, should be consulted. M. C. Tyler's +very interesting critical History of the Early American Literature, so +little known, comes down in its fourth volume only to the close of the +revolution in 1783. + +For classical literature, the importance of a good general knowledge of +which can hardly be overrated, J. P. Mahaffy's History of Greek +Literature, two volumes, and G. A. Simcox's Latin Literature, two +volumes, may be commended. On the literature of modern languages, to +refer only to works written in English, Saintsbury's Primer of French +Literature is good, and R. Garnett's History of Italian Literature is +admirable (by the former Keeper of Printed Books in the British Museum +Library). Lublin's Primer of German Literature is excellent for a +condensed survey of the writers of Germany, while W. Scherer's History of +German Literature, two volumes, covers a far wider field. For Spanish +Literature in its full extent, there is no work at all equal to George +Ticknor's three volumes, but for a briefer history, H. B. Clark's +Hand-book of Spanish Literature, London, 1893, may be used. + +I make no allusion here to the many works of reference in the form of +catalogues and bibliographical works, which may be hereafter noted. My +aim has been only to indicate the best and latest treatises covering the +leading literatures of the world, having no space for the Scandinavian, +Dutch, Portuguese, Russian, or any of the Slavonic or oriental tongues. + +Those who find no time for studying the more extended works named, will +find much profit in devoting their hours to the articles in the +Encyclopaedia Britannica upon the literatures of the various countries. +These are within reach of everyone. + +The select list of books named in this chapter does not by any means aim +to cover those which are well worth reading; but only to indicate a few, +a very few, of the best. It is based on the supposition that intelligent +readers will give far less time to fiction than to the more solid food of +history, biography, essays, travels, literary history, and applied +science. The select list of books in the fields already named is designed +to include only the most improving and well-executed works. Many will not +find their favorites in the list, which is purposely kept within narrow +limits, as a suggestion only of a few of the best books for a home +library or for general reading. You will find it wise to own, as early in +life as possible, a few of the choicest productions of the great writers +of the world. Those who can afford only a selection from a selection, can +begin with never so few of the authors most desired, or which they have +not already, putting in practice the advice of Shakespeare: + + "In brief, sir, study what you most affect." + +Says John Ruskin: "I would urge upon every young man to obtain as soon +as he can, by the severest economy, a restricted and steadily increasing +series of books, for use through life; making his little library, of all +his furniture, the most studied and decorative piece." And Henry Ward +Beecher urged it as the most important early ambition for clerks, working +men and women, and all who are struggling up in life, to form gradually a +library of good books. "It is a man's duty," says he, "to have books. A +library is not a luxury, but one of the necessaries of life." + +And says Bishop Hurst, urging the vital importance of wise selection in +choosing our reading: "If two-thirds of the shelves of the typical +domestic library were emptied of their burden, and choice books put in +their stead, there would be reformation in intelligence and thought +throughout the civilized world." + + +SELECTION OF BOOKS FOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES. + +Let us now consider the subject of books fitted for public libraries. At +the outset, it is most important that each selection should be made on a +well considered plan. No hap-hazard, or fitfully, or hastily made +collection can answer the two ends constantly to be aimed at--namely, +first, to select the best and most useful books, and, secondly, to +economize the funds of the library. No money should be wasted upon whims +and experiments, but every dollar should be devoted to the acquisition of +improving books. + +As to the principles that should govern and the limitations to be laid +down, these will depend much upon the scope of the library, and the +amount of its funds. No library of the limited and moderate class +commonly found in our public town libraries can afford to aim at the +universal range of a national library, nor even at the broad selections +proper to a liberally endowed city library. + +But its aims, while modest, should be comprehensive enough to provide a +complete selection of what may be termed standard literature, for the +reading public. If the funds are inadequate to do this in the beginning, +it should be kept constantly in view, as the months and years go on. +Every great and notable book should be in the library sooner or later, +and if possible at its foundation. Thus will its utility and +attractiveness both be well secured. + +Taking first the case of a small public library about to be started, let +us see in a few leading outlines what it will need. + +1. A selection of the best works of reference should be the corner-stone +of every library collection. In choosing these, regard must be had to +secure the latest as well as the best. Never buy the first edition of +Soule's Synonymes because it is cheap, but insist upon the revised and +enlarged edition of 1892. Never acquire an antiquated Lempriere's or +Anthon's Classical Dictionary, because some venerable library director, +who used it in his boyhood, suggests it, when you can get Professor H. T. +Peck's "Dictionary of Classical Antiquities," published in 1897. Never be +tempted to buy an old edition of an encyclopaedia at half or quarter +price, for it will be sure to lack the populations of the last census, +besides being a quarter of a century or more in arrears in its other +information. When consulting sale catalogues to select reference books, +look closely at the dates of publication, and make sure by your American +or English catalogues that no later edition has appeared. It goes without +saying that you will have these essential bibliographies, as well as +Lowndes' Manual of English Literature first of all, whether you are able +to buy Watt and Brunet or not. + +2. Without here stopping to treat of books of reference in detail, which +will appear in another place, let me refer to some other great classes +of literature in which every library should be strong. History stands +fairly at the head, and while a newly established library cannot hope to +possess at once all the noted writers, it should begin by securing a fine +selection, embracing general history, ancient and modern, and the history +of each country, at least of the important nations. For compendious short +histories, the "Story of the Nations" series, by various writers, should +be secured, and the more extensive works of Gibbon, Grote, Mommsen, +Duruy, Fyffe, Green, Macaulay, Froude, McCarthy, Carlyle, Thiers, +Bancroft, Motley, Prescott, Fiske, Schouler, McMaster, Buckle, Guizot, +etc., should be acquired. The copious lists of historical works appended +to Larned's "History for Ready Reference" will be useful here. + +3. Biography stands close to history in interest and importance. For +general reference, or the biography of all nations, Lippincott's +Universal Pronouncing Dictionary of Biography is essential, as well as +Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography, for our own country. For +Great Britain, the "Dictionary of National Biography" is a mine of +information, and should be added if funds are sufficient. Certain sets of +collective biographies which are important are American Statesmen, 26 +vols., Englishmen of Letters, -- vols., Autobiography, 33 vols., Famous +Women series, 21 vols., Heroes of the Nation series, 24 vols., American +Pioneers and Patriots, 12 vols., and Plutarch's Lives. Then of +indispensable single biographies there are Boswell's Johnson, Lockhart's +Scott, Froude's Carlyle, Trevelyan's Macaulay, Froude's Caesar, Lewes' +Goethe, etc. + +4. Of notable essays, a high class of literature in which there are many +names, may be named Addison, Montaigne, Bacon, Goldsmith, Emerson, Lamb, +De Quincey, Holmes, Lowell, etc. + +5. Poetry stands at the head of all the literature of imagination. Some +people of highly utilitarian views decry poetry, and desire to feed all +readers upon facts. But that this is a great mistake will be apparent +when we consider that the highest expressions of moral and intellectual +truth and the most finely wrought examples of literature in every nation +are in poetic form. Take out of the world's literature the works of its +great poets, and you would leave it poor indeed. Poetry is the only great +source for the nurture of imagination, and without imagination man is a +poor creature. I read the other day a dictum of a certain writer, +alleging that Dickens's Christmas Carol is far more effective as a piece +of writing than Milton's noble ode "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity." +Such comparisons are of small value. In point of fact, no library can +spare either of them. I need not repeat the familiar names of the great +poets; they are found in all styles of production, and some of the best +are among the least expensive. + +6. Travels and voyages form a very entertaining as well as highly +instructive part of a library. A good selection of the more notable will +prove a valuable resource to readers of nearly every age. + +7. The wide field of science should be carefully gleaned for a good range +of approved text-books in each department. So progressive is the modern +world that the latest books are apt to be the best in each science, +something which is by no means true in literature. + +8. In law, medicine, theology, political science, sociology, economics, +art, architecture, music, eloquence, and language, the library should be +provided with the leading modern works. + +9. We come now to fiction, which the experience of all libraries shows is +the favorite pabulum of about three readers out of four. The great demand +for this class of reading renders it all the more important to make a +wise and improving selection of that which forms the minds of multitudes, +and especially of the young. This selection presents to every librarian +and library director or trustee some perplexing problems. To buy +indiscriminately the new novels of the day, good, bad, and indifferent +(the last named greatly predominating) would be a very poor discharge of +the duty devolving upon those who are the responsible choosers of the +reading of any community. Conceding, as we must, the vast influence and +untold value of fiction as a vehicle of entertainment and instruction, +the question arises--where can the line be drawn between the good and +improving novels, and novels which are neither good nor improving? This +involves something more than the moral tone and influence of the +fictions: it involves their merits and demerits as literature also. I +hold it to be the bounden duty of those who select the reading of a +community to maintain a standard of good taste, as well as of good +morals. They have no business to fill the library with wretched models of +writing, when there are thousand of good models ready, in numbers far +greater than they have money to purchase. Weak and flabby and silly books +tend to make weak and flabby and silly brains. Why should library guides +put in circulation such stuff as the dime novels, or "Old Sleuth" +stories, or the slip-slop novels of "The Duchess," when the great masters +of romantic fiction have endowed us with so many books replete with +intellectual and moral power? To furnish immature minds with the +miserable trash which does not deserve the name of literature, is as +blameworthy as to put before them books full of feverish excitement, or +stories of successful crime. + +We are told, indeed (and some librarians even have said it) that for +unformed readers to read a bad book is better than to read none at all. +I do not believe it. You might as well say that it is better for one to +swallow poison than not to swallow any thing at all. I hold that library +providers are as much bound to furnish wholesome food for the minds of +the young who resort to them for guidance, as their parents are to +provide wholesome food for their bodies. + +But the question returns upon us--what is wholesome food? In the first +place, it is that great body of fiction which has borne the test, both of +critical judgment, and of popularity with successive generations of +readers. It is the novels of Scott, Austen, Dickens, Thackeray, George +Eliot, Cooper, Hawthorne, Kingsley, Mulock-Craik, and many more, such as +no parents need blush to put into the hands of their daughters. In the +next place, it is such a selection from the myriads of stories that have +poured from the press of this generation as have been approved by the +best readers, and the critical judgment of a responsible press. + +As to books of questionable morality, I am aware that contrary opinions +prevail on the question whether any such books should be allowed in a +public library, or not. The question is a different one for the small +town libraries and for the great reference libraries of the world. The +former are really educational institutions, supported at the people's +expense, like the free schools, and should be held to a responsibility +from which the extensive reference libraries in the city are free. The +latter may and ought to preserve every form of literature, and, if +national libraries, they would be derelict in their duty to posterity if +they did not acquire and preserve the whole literature of the country, +and hand it down complete to future generations. The function of the +public town library is different. It must indispensably make a selection, +since its means are not adequate to buy one-tenth of the annual product +of the press, which amounts in only four nations (England, France, +Germany, and the United States) to more than thirty-five thousand new +volumes a year. Its selection, mainly of American and English books, must +be small, and the smaller it is, the greater is the need of care in +buying. In fact, it is in most cases, compelled to be a selection from a +selection. Therefore, in the many cases of doubt arising as to the fit +character of a book, let the doubt be resolved in favor of the fund, thus +preserving the chance of getting a better book for the money. + +With this careful and limited selection of the best, out of the multitude +of novels that swarm from the press, the reading public will have every +reason to be satisfied. No excuse can be alleged for filling up our +libraries with poor books, while there is no dearth whatever of good +ones. It is not the business of a public library to compete with the news +stands or the daily press in furnishing the latest short stories for +popular consumption; a class of literature whose survival is likely to be +quite as short as the stories themselves. + +Take an object lesson as to the mischiefs of reading the wretched stuff +which some people pretend is "better than no reading at all" from the boy +Jesse Pomeroy, who perpetrated a murder of peculiar atrocity in Boston. +"Pomeroy confessed that he had always been a great reader of 'blood and +thunder' stories, having read probably sixty dime novels, all treating of +scalping and deeds of violence. The boy said that he had no doubt that +the reading of those books had a great deal to do with his course, and he +would advise all boys to leave them alone." + +In some libraries, where the pernicious effect of the lower class of +fiction has been observed, the directors have withdrawn from circulation +a large proportion of the novels, which had been bought by reason of +their popularity. In other newly started libraries only fiction of the +highest grade has been placed in the library from the start, and this is +by far the best course. If readers inquire for inferior or immoral books, +and are told that the library does not have them, although they will +express surprise and disappointment, they will take other and improving +reading, thus fulfilling the true function of the library as an educator. +Librarians and library boards cannot be too careful about what +constitutes the collection which is to form the pabulum of so many of the +rising generation. + +This does not imply that they are to be censors, or prudes, but with the +vast field of literature before them from which to choose, they are bound +to choose the best. + +The American Library Association has had this subject under discussion +repeatedly, and while much difference of opinion has arisen from the +difficulty of finding any absolute standard of excellence, nearly all +have agreed that as to certain books, readers should look elsewhere than +to the public free library for them. At one time a list of authors was +made out, many of whose works were deemed objectionable, either from +their highly sensational character, or their bad style, or their highly +wrought and morbid pictures of human passions, or their immoral tendency. +This list no doubt will surprise many, as including writers whose books +everybody, almost, has read, or has been accustomed to think well of. It +embraces the following popular authors, many of whose novels have had a +wide circulation, and that principally through popular libraries. + +Here follow the names: + +Mary J. Holmes, Mrs. Henry Wood, C. L. Hentz, M. P. Finley, Mrs. A. S. +Stephens, E. D. E. N. Southworth, Mrs. Forrester, Rhoda Broughton, Helen +Mathers, Jessie Fothergill, M. E. Braddon, Florence Marryat, Ouida, +Horatio Alger, Mayne Reid, Oliver Optic, W. H. S. Kingston, E. Kellogg, +G. W. M. Reynolds, C. Fosdick, Edmund Yates, G. A. Lawrence, Grenville +Murray, W. H. Ainsworth, Wilkie Collins, E. L. Bulwer-Lytton, W. H. +Thomes, and Augusta Evans Wilson. + +Bear in mind, that only English and American novels are included, and +those only of the present century: also, that as to many which are +included, no imputation of immorality was made. Such a "black list" is +obviously open to the charge of doing great injustice to the good repute +of writers named, since only a part of the works written by some of them +can properly be objected to, and these are not specially named. +Bulwer-Lytton, for example, whose "Paul Clifford" is a very improper book +to go into the hands of young people, has written at least a dozen other +fictions of noble moral purpose, and high literary merit. + +Out of seventy public libraries to which the list was sent, with inquiry +whether the authors named were admitted as books of circulation, thirty +libraries replied. All of them admitted Bulwer-Lytton and Wilkie Collins, +all but two Oliver Optic's books, and all but six Augusta Evans Wilson's. +Reynolds' novels were excluded by twenty libraries, Mrs. Southworth's by +eleven, "Ouida's" by nine, and Mrs. Stephens's and Mrs. Henry Wood's by +eight. Other details cannot find space for notice here. + +This instance is one among many of endeavors constantly being made by +associated librarians to stem the ever increasing flood of poor fiction +which threatens to submerge the better class of books in our public +libraries. + +That no such wholesome attempt can be wholly successful is evident +enough. The passion for reading fiction is both epidemic and chronic; and +in saying this, do not infer that I reckon it as a disease. A librarian +has no right to banish fiction because the appetite for it is abused. He +is not to set up any ideal and impossible standard of selection. His +most useful and beneficent function is to turn into better channels the +universal hunger for reading which is entertaining. Do readers want an +exciting novel? What can be more exciting than "Les Miserables" of Victor +Hugo, a book of exceptional literary excellence and power? Literature is +full of fascinating stories, admirably told, and there is no excuse for +loading our libraries with trash, going into the slums for models, or +feeding young minds upon the unclean brood of pessimistic novels. If it +is said that people will have trash, let them buy it, and let the +libraries wash their hands of it, and refuse to circulate the stuff which +no boy nor girl can touch without being contaminated. + +Those who claim that we might as well let the libraries down to the level +of the poorest books, because unformed and ignorant minds are capable of +nothing better, should be told that people are never raised by giving +them nothing to look up to. To devour infinite trash is not the road to +learn wisdom, or virtue, or even to attain genuine amusement. To those +who are afraid that if the libraries are purified, the masses will get +nothing that they can read, the answer is, have they not got the entire +world of magazines, the weekly, daily, and Sunday newspapers, which +supply a whole library of fiction almost daily? Add to these plenty of +imaginative literature in fiction and in poetry, on every library's +shelves, which all who can read can comprehend, and what excuse remains +for buying what is neither decent nor improving? + +Take an example of the boundless capacity for improvement that exists in +the human mind and human taste, from the spread of the fine arts among +the people. Thirty years ago, their houses, if having any decoration at +all, exhibited those fearful and wonderful colored lithographs and +chromos in which bad drawing, bad portraiture, and bad coloring vied with +each other to produce pictures which it would be a mild use of terms to +call detestable. Then came the two great international art expositions at +Philadelphia and Chicago, each greatly advancing by the finest models, +the standard of taste in art, and by new economies of reproduction +placing the most beautiful statues and pictures within the reach of the +most moderate purse. What has been the result? An incalculable +improvement in the public taste, educated by the diffusion of the best +models, until even the poor farmer of the backwoods will no longer +tolerate the cheap and nasty horrors that once disfigured his walls. + +The lesson in art is good in literature also. Give the common people good +models, and there is no danger but they will appreciate and understand +them. Never stoop to pander to a depraved taste, no matter what specious +pleas you may hear for tolerating the low in order to lead to the high, +or for making your library contribute to the survival of the unfittest. + +Is it asked, how can the librarian find out, among the world of novels +from which he is to select, what is pure and what is not, what is +wholesome and what unhealthy, what is improving and what is trash? The +answer is--there are some lists which will be most useful in this +discrimination, while there is no list which is infallible. Mr. F. +Leypoldt's little catalogue of "Books for all Time" has nothing that any +library need do without. Another compendious list is published by the +American Library Association. And the more extensive catalogue prepared +for the World's Fair in 1893, and embracing about 5,000 volumes, entitled +"Catalogue of A. L. A. Library: 5,000 vols. for a popular library," while +it has many mistakes and omissions, is a tolerably safe guide in making +up a popular library. I may note that the list of novels in this large +catalogue put forth by the American Library Association has the names of +five only out of the twenty-eight writers of fiction heretofore +pronounced objectionable, and names a select few only of the books of +these five. + +As for the later issues of the press, and especially the new novels, let +him skim them for himself, unless in cases where trustworthy critical +judgments are found in journals. Running through a book to test its style +and moral drift is no difficult task for the practiced eye. + +Let us suppose that you are cursorily perusing a novel which has made a +great sensation, and you come upon the following sentence: "Eighteen +millions of years would level all in one huge, common, shapeless ruin. +Perish the microcosm in the limitless macrocosm! and sink this feeble +earthly segregate in the boundless rushing choral aggregation!" This is +in Augusta J. Evans Wilson's story "Macaria", and many equally +extraordinary examples of "prose run mad" are found in the novels of this +once noted writer. What kind of a model is that to form the style of the +youthful neophyte, to whom one book is as good as another, since it was +found on the shelves of the public library? + +I am not insisting that all books admitted should be models of style; +even a purist must admit that one of the greatest charms of literature is +its infinite variety. But when book after book is filled with such +specimens of literary lunacy as this, one is tempted to believe that +Homer and Shakespeare, to say nothing of Thackeray and Hawthorne, have +lived in vain. + +Never fear criticism of those who find fault with the absence from your +library of books that you know to be nearly worthless; their absence will +be a silent but eloquent protest against them, sure to be vindicated by +the utter oblivion into which they will fall. Many a flaming reputation +has been extinguished after dazzling callow admirers for six months, or +even less. Do not dread the empty sarcasm, that may grow out of the +exclusion of freshly printed trash, that your library is a "back number." +To some poor souls every thing that is great and good in the world's +literature is a "back number"; and the Bible itself, with its immortal +poetry and sublimity, is the oldest back number of all. It is no part of +your business as a librarian to cater to the tastes of those who act as +if the reading of endless novels of sensation were the chief end of man. +As one fed on highly spiced viands and stimulating drinks surely loses +the appetite for wholesome and nourishing food, so one who reads only +exciting and highly wrought fictions loses the taste for the +master-pieces of prose and poetry. + +Let not the fear of making many mistakes be a bug-bear in your path. If +you are told that your library is too exclusive, reply that it has not +means enough to buy all the good books that are wanted, and cannot afford +to spend money on bad or even on doubtful ones. If you have excluded any +highly-sought-for book on insufficient evidence, never fail to revise the +judgment. All that can be expected of any library is approximately just +and wise selection, having regard to merit, interest, and moral tone, +more than to novelty or popularity. + +In the matter of choice, individual opinions are of small value. Never +buy a book simply because some reader extols it as very fine, or +"splendid," or "perfectly lovely." Such praises are commonly to be +distrusted in direct proportion to their extravagance. + +A good lesson to libraries is furnished in the experience of the +Cleveland (Ohio) Public Library. In 1878, out of 16,000 volumes in that +library, no less than 6,000 were novels. The governing board, on the +plea of giving people what they wanted, bought nearly all new books of +fiction, and went so far, even, as to buy of Pinkerton's Detective +stories, fifteen copies each, fifteen of all Mrs. Southworth's novels, +etc. But a change took place in the board, and the librarian was +permitted to stop the growing flood of worthless fiction, and as fast as +the books were worn out, they were replaced by useful reading. It +resulted that four years later, with 40,000 volumes in the library, only +7,000 were novels, or less than one-fifth, instead of more than one-third +of the whole collection, as formerly. In the same time, the percentage of +fiction drawn out was reduced from 69 per cent. of the aggregate books +read, to 50 per cent. + +Libraries are always complaining that they cannot buy many valuable books +from lack of funds. Yet some of them buy a great many that are valueless +in spite of this lack. Can any thing be conceived more valueless than a +set of Sylvanus Cobb's novels, reprinted to the number of thirty-five to +forty, from the New York Ledger? Yet these have been bought for scores of +libraries, which could not afford the latest books in science and art, or +biography, history, or travel. There are libraries in which the latest +books on electricity, or sewerage, or sanitary plumbing, might have saved +many lives, but which must go without them, because the money has been +squandered on vapid and pernicious literature. + +In almost every library, while some branches of knowledge are fairly +represented, others are not represented at all. Nearly all present +glaring deficiencies, and these are often caused by want of systematic +plan in building up the collection. Boards of managers are frequently +changed, and the policy of the library with them. All the more important +is it that the librarian should be so well equipped with a definite aim, +and with knowledge and skill competent to urge that aim consistently, as +to preserve some unity of plan. + +I need not add that a librarian should be always wide awake to the needs +of his library in every direction. It should be taken for granted that +its general aim is to include the best books in the whole range of human +knowledge. With the vast area of book production before him, he should +strengthen every year some department, taking them in order of +importance. + +Some scholarly writers tell us that very few books are essential to a +good education. James Russell Lowell named five, which in his view +embraced all the essentials; namely, Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, +Cervantes, and Goethe's Faust. Prof. Charles E. Norton of Harvard +remarked that this list might even be abridged so as to embrace only +Homer, Dante and Shakespeare. I can only regard such exclusiveness as +misleading, though conceding the many-sidedness of these great writers. +To extend the list is the function of all public libraries, as well as of +most of the private ones. Next after the really essential books, that +library will be doing its public good service which acquires all the +important works that record the history of man. This will include +biography, travels and voyages, science, and much besides, as well as +history. + +Special pains should be taken in every library to have every thing +produced in its own town, county, and State. Not only books, but all +pamphlets, periodicals, newspapers, and even broadsides or circulars, +should be sought for and stored up as memorials of the present age, +tending in large part rapidly to disappear. + +In selecting editions of standard authors, one should always +discriminate, so as to secure for the library, if not the best, at least +good, clear type, sound, thick paper, and durable binding. Cheap and +poor editions wear out quickly, and have to be thrown away for better +ones, which wise economy should have selected in the first place. For +example, a widely circulated edition of Scott's novels, found in most +libraries, has the type so worn and battered by the many large editions +printed from the plates, that many letters and words are wanting, thus +spoiling not only the pleasure but abridging the profit of the reader in +perusing the novels. The same is true of one edition of Cooper. Then +there are many cheap reprints of English novels in the Seaside and other +libraries which abound in typographical errors. A close examination of a +cheap edition of a leading English novelist's works revealed more than +3,000 typographical errors in the one set of books! It would be +unpardonable carelessness to buy such books for general reading because +they are cheap. + +Librarians should avoid what are known as subscription books, as a rule, +though some valid exceptions exist. Most of such books are profusely +illustrated and in gaudy bindings, gotten up to dazzle the eye. If works +of merit, it is better to wait for them, than to subscribe for an +unfinished work, which perhaps may never reach completion. + +A librarian or book collector should be ever observant of what he may +find to enrich his collection. When in a book-store, or a private or +public library, he should make notes of such works seen as are new to +him, with any characteristics which their custodian may remark upon. Such +personal examination is more informing than any catalogue. + +I think each public library should possess, besides a complete set of the +English translations of the Greek and Latin classics, a full set of the +originals, for the benefit of scholarly readers. These classic texts can +be had complete in modern editions for a very moderate price. + +How far duplicate volumes should be bought should depend upon demand, and +the views of the purchasing powers. There is a real need of more than one +copy of almost every standard work, else it will be perpetually out, +giving occasion for numerous complaints from those who use the library. +It would be a good rule to keep one copy always in, and at the service of +readers, of every leading history, standard poet, or popular novel. Then +the duplicate copies for circulation may be one or more, as experience +and ability to provide may determine. A library which caters to the +novel-reading habit as extensively as the New York Mercantile (a +subscription library) has to buy fifty to one hundred copies of "Trilby," +for example, to keep up with the demand. No such obligation exists for +the free public libraries. They, however, often buy half a dozen to a +dozen copies of a very popular story, when new, and sell them out after +the demand has slackened or died away. + +The methods of selection and purchase in public libraries are very +various. In the Worcester (Mass.) Public Library, the librarian makes a +list of desiderata, has it manifolded, and sends a copy to each of the +thirteen members of the Board of directors. This list is reported on by +the members at the next monthly meeting of the Board, and generally, in +the main, approved. Novels and stories are not bought until time has +shown of what value they may be. The aim is mainly educational at the +Worcester library, very special pains being taken to aid all the pupils +and teachers in the public schools, by careful selection, and providing +duplicate or more copies of important works. + +In the Public Library of Cleveland, Ohio, there is appointed out of the +governing Board a book-committee of three. To one of these are referred +English books wanted, to another French, and to the third German books. +This sub-committee approves or amends the Librarian's recommendations, +at its discretion; but expensive works are referred to the whole board +for determination. + +In the New York Mercantile Library, which must keep continually up to +date in its supply of new books, the announcements in all the morning +papers are daily scanned, and books just out secured by immediate order. +Many publishers send in books on approval, which are frequently bought. +An agent in London is required to send on the day of publication all new +books on certain subjects. + +The library boards of management meet weekly in New York and +Philadelphia, but monthly in most country libraries. The selection of +books made by committees introduces often an element of chance, not quite +favorable to the unity of plan in developing the resources of the +library. But with a librarian of large information, discretion, and +skill, there need seldom be any difficulty in securing approval of his +selections, or of most of them. In some libraries the librarian is +authorized to buy at discretion additions of books in certain lines, to +be reported at the next meeting of the board; and to fill up all +deficiencies in periodicals that are taken. This is an important +concession to his judgment, made in the interest of completeness in the +library, saving a delay of days and sometimes weeks in waiting for the +board of directors. + +All orders sent out for accessions should previously be compared with the +alphabeted order-card list, as well as with the general catalogue of the +library, to avoid duplication. After this the titles are to be +incorporated in the alphabet of all outstanding orders, to be withdrawn +only on receipt of the books. + +The library should invite suggestions from all frequenting it, of books +recommended and not found in the collection. A blank record-book for this +purpose, or an equivalent in order-cards, should be always kept on the +counter of the library. + + + + +CHAPTER 2. + +BOOK BUYING. + + +The buying of books is to some men a pastime; to others it is a passion; +but to the librarian and the intelligent book collector it is both a +business and a pleasure. The man who is endowed with a zeal for knowledge +is eager to be continually adding to the stores which will enable him to +acquire and to dispense that knowledge. Hence the perusal of catalogues +is to him an ever fresh and fascinating pursuit. However hampered he may +be by the lack of funds, the zest of being continually in quest of some +coveted volumes gives him an interest in every sale catalogue, whether of +bookseller or of auctioneer. He is led on by the perennial hope that he +may find one or more of the long-wished for and waited-for _desiderata_ +in the thin pamphlet whose solid columns bristle with book-titles in +every variety of abbreviation and arrangement. It is a good plan, if one +can possibly command the time, to read every catalogue of the book +auctions, and of the second-hand book dealers, which comes to hand. You +will thus find a world of books chronicled and offered which you do not +want, because you have got them already: you will find many, also, which +you want, but which you know you cannot have; and you may find some of +the very volumes which you have sought through many years in vain. In any +case, you will have acquired valuable information--whether you acquire +any books or not; since there is hardly a priced catalogue, of any +considerable extent, from which you cannot reap knowledge of some +kind--knowledge of editions, knowledge of prices, and knowledge of the +comparative scarcity or full supply of many books, with a glimpse of +titles which you may never have met before. The value of the study of +catalogues as an education in bibliography can never be over-estimated. + +The large number of active and discriminating book-buyers from America +has for years past awakened the interest and jealousy of collectors +abroad, where it has very largely enhanced the price of all first-class +editions, and rare works. + +No longer, as in the early days of Dibdin and Heber, is the competition +for the curiosities of old English literature confined to a half-score of +native amateurs. True, we have no such omnivorous gatherers of literary +rubbish as that magnificent _helluo librorum_, Richard Heber, who amassed +what was claimed to be the largest collection of books ever formed by a +single individual. Endowed with a princely fortune, and an undying +passion for the possession of books, he spent nearly a million dollars in +their acquisition. His library, variously stated at from 105,000 volumes +(by Dr. Dibdin) to 146,000 volumes (by Dr. Allibone) was brought to the +hammer in 1834. The catalogue filled 13 octavo volumes, and the sale +occupied 216 days. The insatiable owner (who was a brother of Reginald +Heber, Bishop of Calcutta) died while still collecting, at the age of +sixty, leaving his enormous library, which no single house of ordinary +size could hold, scattered in half a dozen mansions in London, Oxford, +Paris, Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent. + +Yet the owner of this vast mass of mingled nonsense and erudition, this +library of the curiosities of literature, was as generous in imparting as +in acquiring his literary treasures. No English scholar but was freely +welcome to the loan of his volumes; and his own taste and critical +knowledge are said to have been of the first order. + +From this, probably the most extensive private library ever gathered, let +us turn to the largest single purchase, in number of volumes, made at one +time for a public library. When Dr. J. G. Cogswell went abroad in 1848, +to lay the foundations of the Astor Library, he took with him credentials +for the expenditure of $100,000; and, what was of even greater +importance, a thoroughly digested catalogue of _desiderata_, embracing +the most important books in every department of literature and science. +No such opportunity of buying the finest books at the lowest prices is +likely ever to occur again, as the fortuitous concourse of events brought +to Dr. Cogswell. It was the year of revolutions--the year when the +thrones were tottering or falling all over Europe, when the wealthy and +privileged classes were trembling for their possessions, and anxious to +turn them into ready money. In every time of panic, political or +financial, the prices of books, as well as of all articles of luxury, are +the first to fall. Many of the choicest collections came to the hammer; +multitudes were eager to sell--but there were few buyers except the book +merchants, who were all ready to sell again. The result was that some +80,000 volumes were gathered for the Astor Library, embracing a very +large share of the best editions and the most expensive works, with many +books strictly denominated rare, and nearly all bound in superior style, +at an average cost of about $1.40 per volume. This extraordinary good +fortune enabled the Astor Library to be opened on a very small endowment, +more splendidly equipped for a library of reference than any new +institution could be today with four or five times the money. + +Compared with such opportunities as these, you may consider the +experiences of the little libraries, and the narrow means of recruitment +generally found, as very literally the day of small things. But a wise +apportionment of small funds, combined with a good knowledge of the +commercial value of books, and perpetual vigilance in using +opportunities, will go very far toward enlarging any collection in the +most desirable directions. + +Compare for a moment with the results stated of the Astor Library's early +purchases, the average prices paid by British Libraries for books +purchased from 1826 to 1854, as published in a parliamentary return. The +average cost per volume varied from 16_s_ or about $4 a volume, for the +University Library of Edinburgh, to 4_s_ 6_d_, or $1.10 a volume for the +Manchester Free Library. The latter, however, were chiefly popular new +books, published at low prices, while the former included many costly old +works, law books, etc. The British Museum Library's average was 8_s_ 5_d_ +or about $2.00 per volume. Those figures represent cloth binding, while +the Astor's purchases were mostly in permanent leather bindings. + +Averages are very uncertain standards of comparison, as a single book +rarity often costs more than a hundred volumes of the new books of the +day; but in a library filled with the best editions of classical and +scientific works, and reference books, I presume that two dollars a +volume is not too high an estimate of average cost, in these days +represented by the last twenty years. For a circulating library, on the +other hand, composed chiefly of what the public most seek to read, half +that average would perhaps express the full commercial value of the +collection. Of its intrinsic value I will not here pause to speak. + +There are many methods of book buying, of which we may indicate the +principal as follows: + + 1. By direct orders from book dealers. + 2. By competition on select lists of wants. + 3. By order from priced catalogues. + 4. By purchase at auction sales. + 5. By personal research among book stocks. + 6. By lists and samples of books sent on approval. + +Each of these methods has its advantages--and, I may add, its +disadvantages likewise. The collector who combines them, as opportunity +presents, is most likely to make his funds go the farthest, and to enrich +his collection the most. Direct orders for purchase are necessary for +most new books wanted, except in the case of the one government library, +which in most countries, receives them under copyright provision. An +advantageous arrangement can usually be made with one or more +book-dealers, to supply all new books at a fairly liberal discount from +retail prices. And it is wise management to distribute purchases where +good terms are made, as thereby the trade will feel an interest in the +library, and a mutuality of interest will secure more opportunities and +better bargains. + +The submission of lists of books wanted, to houses having large stocks or +good facilities, helps to make funds go as far as possible through +competition. By the typewriter such lists can now be manifolded much more +cheaply than they can be written or printed. + +Selection from priced catalogues presents a constantly recurring +opportunity of buying volumes of the greatest consequence, to fill gaps +in any collection, and often at surprisingly low prices. Much as book +values have been enhanced of late years, there are yet catalogues issued +by American, English and continental dealers which quote books both of +the standard and secondary class at very cheap rates. Even now English +books are sold by the Mudie and the W. H. Smith lending libraries in +London, after a very few months, at one-half to one-fourth their original +publishing price. These must usually be rebound, but by instructing your +agent to select copies which are clean within, all the soil of the edges +will disappear with the light trimming of the binder. + +Purchase at auction supplies a means of recruiting libraries both public +and private with many rare works, and with the best editions of the +standard authors, often finely bound. The choice private libraries of the +country, as well as the poor ones, tend to pour themselves sooner or +later into public auctions. The collectors of books, whose early avidity +to amass libraries of fine editions was phenomenal, rarely persist in +cultivating the passion through life. Sometimes they are overtaken by +misfortune--sometimes by indifference--the bibliomania not being a +perennial inspiration, but often an acute and fiery attack, which in a +few years burns out. Even if the library gathered with so much money and +pains descends to the heirs of the collector, the passion for books is +very seldom an inherited one. Thus the public libraries are constantly +recruited by the opportunities of selection furnished by the forced sale +of the private ones. Here, public competition frequently runs up the +price of certain books to an exorbitant degree, while those not wanted +often sell for the merest trifle. One should have a pretty clear idea of +the approximate commercial value of books, before competing for them at +public sale. He may, however, if well persuaded in his own mind as to the +importance or the relative unimportance to his own collection of any +work, regulate his bids by that standard, regardless of commercial value, +except as a limit beyond which he will not go. Few librarians can +personally attend auction sales--nor is it needful, when limits can so +easily be set to orders. It is never safe to send an unlimited bid, as +there may be others without limit, in which case the book is commonly +awarded to the most remote bidder. + +There are many curiosities of the auction room, one of them being the +frequent re-appearance of book rarities which have been through several +auctions, sometimes at intervals of years, keenly competed for by rival +bibliophiles, and carried off in triumph by some ardent collector, who +little thought at the time how soon his own collection would come to the +hammer. + +There are also many curiosities of compilation in auction catalogues. Not +to name errors of commission, like giving the authorship of books to the +wrong name, and errors of omission, like giving no author's name at all, +some catalogues are thickly strewn with the epithets _rare_--and _very +rare_, when the books are sufficiently common in one or the other market. +Do not be misled by these surface indications. Books are often attributed +in catalogues to their editor or translator, and the unwary buyer may +thus find himself saddled with a duplicate already in his own collection. +There has been much improvement in late years in the care with which +auction catalogues are edited, and no important collection at least is +offered, without having first passed through the hands of an expert, +familiar with bibliography. It is the minor book sales where the +catalogues receive no careful editing, and where the dates and editions +are frequently omitted, that it is necessary to guard against. It is well +to refrain from sending any bids out of such lists, because they furnish +no certain identification of the books, and if all would do the same, +thus diminishing the competition and the profit of the auctioneer, he +might learn never to print a catalogue without date, place of +publication, and full name of author of every book offered. + +Never be too eager to acquire an auction book, unless you are very +thoroughly assured that it is one of the kind truly designated +_rarissimus_. An eminent and thoroughly informed book collector, with an +experience of forty years devoted to book auctions and book catalogues, +assured me that it was his experience that almost every book would turn +up on the average about every seven years. Of course there are notable +exceptions--and especially among the class of books known as +_incunabula_, (or cradle-books printed in the infancy of printing) and of +early Americana: but it is not these which the majority of libraries are +most in search of. Remember always, if you lose a coveted volume, that +there will be another chance--perhaps many of them. The private +collector, who carries it off against you, has had no former opportunity +to get the rare volume, and may never have another. He is therefore +justified in paying what is to ordinary judgment an extraordinary price. +Individual collectors die, but public libraries are immortal. + +If you become thoroughly conversant with priced catalogues, you will make +fewer mistakes than most private buyers. Not only catalogues of notable +collections, with the prices obtained at auction, but the large and very +copious catalogues of such London book-dealers as Quaritch and Sotheran, +are accessible in the great city libraries. These are of the highest use +in suggesting the proximate prices at which important books have been or +may be acquired. Since 1895, annual volumes entitled "American Book +Prices Current" have been issued, giving the figures at which books have +been sold at all the principal auction sales of the year. + +There is no word so much abused as the term _rare_, when applied to +books. Librarians know well the unsophisticated citizen who wants to sell +at a high price a "rare" volume of divinity "a hundred and fifty years +old" (worth possibly twenty-five cents to half a dollar,) and the +persistent woman who has the rarest old bible in the country, which she +values anywhere from fifty to five hundred dollars, and which turns out +on inspection to be an imperfect copy of one of Barker's multitudinous +editions of 1612 to '18, which may be picked up at five to eight +shillings in any old London book-shop. The confident assertions so often +paraded, even in catalogues, "only three copies known," and the like, are +to be received with absolute incredulity, and the claims of ignorant +owners of books who fancy that their little pet goose is a fine swan, +because they never saw another, are as ridiculous as the laudation +bestowed by a sapient collector upon two of his most valued nuggets. +"This, sir, is unique, but not so unique as the other." + +Buying books by actual inspection at the book-shops is even more +fascinating employment than buying them through catalogues. You thus come +upon the most unexpected volumes unawares. You open the covers, scan the +title-pages, get a glimpse of the plates, and flit from book to book, +like a bee gathering honey for its hive. It is a good way to recruit your +library economically, to run through the stock of a book-dealer +systematically--neglecting no shelf, but selecting throughout the whole +stock, and laying aside what you think you may want. When this is done, +you will have quite a pile of literature upon which to negotiate with the +proprietor. It is cheaper to buy thus at wholesale than by piecemeal, +because the bookseller will make you a larger discount on a round lot of +which you relieve his shelves. + +Another method of recruiting your library is the examination of books "on +approval." Most book-dealers will be so obliging as to send in parcels of +books for the inspection of a librarian or collector, who can thus +examine them leisurely and with more thoroughness than in a book store, +without leaving his business. + +All books, by whatever course they may be purchased, are indispensably +to be collated before they are accepted and paid for. Neglect of this +will fill any library with imperfections, since second-hand books are +liable to have missing leaves, or plates, or maps, while new books may +lack signatures or plates, or be wrongly bound together. In the case of +new books, or books still in print, the publisher is bound to make good +an imperfection. + +In old books, this is usually impossible, and the only remedy is to +return the imperfect books upon the seller's hands, unless there may be a +reason, such as the rarity of the volume, or its comparative little cost, +or the trifling nature of the imperfection, for retaining it. The +equities in these cases are in favor of the buyer, who is presumed to +have purchased a perfect copy. But the right of reclamation must be +exercised promptly, or it may be forfeited by lapse of time. If an +imperfection in any book you order is noted in the catalogue, it is not +subject to return. I have ever found the book auctioneers most courteous +and considerate in their dealings--and the same can be said of the book +trade generally, among whom instances of liberality to libraries are by +no means rare. + +One of the choicest pleasures of the book collector, whether private +student or librarian, is to visit the second-hand book-shops of any city, +and examine the stock with care. While he may find but few notable +treasures in one collection, a search through several shops will be +almost sure to reward him. Here are found many of the outpourings of the +private libraries, formed by specialists or amateurs, and either +purchased by the second-hand dealer _en bloc_, or bid off by him at some +auction sale. Even rare books are picked up in this way, no copies of +which can be had by order, because long since "out of print." The stock +in these shops is constantly changing, thus adding a piquant and +sometimes exciting element to the book-hunter, who is wise in proportion +as he seizes quickly upon all opportunities of new "finds" by frequent +visits. To mourn over a lost chance in rare books is often more grievous +to the zealous collector, than to lose a large share out of his fortune; +while to exult over a literary nugget long sought and at length found is +a pleasure to which few others can be compared. + +Of the many _bouquinistes_ whose open-air shops line the quays of Paris +along the Seine, numbering once as many as a hundred and fifty dealers in +second-hand books, I have no room to treat; books have been written about +them, and the _litterateurs_ of France, of Europe, and of America have +profited by countless bargains in their learned wares. Nor can I dwell +upon the literary wealth of London book-shops, dark and dingy, but ever +attractive to the hungry scholar, or the devotee of bibliomania. + +Of the many second-hand booksellers (or rather sellers of second-hand +books) in American cities, the more notable have passed from the stage of +action in the last quarter of a century. Old William Gowans, a quaint, +intelligent Scotchman, in shabby clothes and a strong face deeply marked +with small pox, was for many years the dean of this fraternity in New +York. His extensive book-shop in Nassau street, with its dark cellar, was +crowded and packed with books on shelves, on stairways and on the floors, +heaped and piled in enormous masses, amid which the visitor could hardly +find room to move. On one of the piles you might find the proprietor +seated-- + + Books to the right of him, + Books to the left of him, + Books behind him, + Volleyed and tumbled, + +while he answered inquiries for books from clergymen and students, or +gruffly bargained with a boy or an old woman for a dilapidated lot of +old books. He had a curious quizzical way with strangers, who at once set +him down as an oddity, and his impatience with ignoramuses and bores gave +him the repute of crustiness, which was redeemed by suavity enough +whenever he met with people of intelligence. + +Gowans issued scores of catalogues of his stock, in which titles were +often illustrated by notes, always curious and often amusing, credited to +"Western Memorabilia," a work which no bookseller or man of letters had +ever heard of, but which was shrewdly suspected to have been a projected +scrap-book of the observations and opinions of William Gowans. + +There was another eccentric book-dealer's shop in Nassau street kept by +one John Doyle, who aimed so high in his profession as to post over his +door a sign reading "The Moral Centre of the Intellectual Universe." This +establishment was notably full of old editions of books of English +history and controversial theology. + +The most famous second-hand book-shop in Boston was Burnham's, whose +fore-name was Thomas Oliver Hazard Perry, shortened into "Perry Burnham" +by his familiars. He was a little, pale-faced, wiry, nervous man, with +piercing black eyes and very brusque manners. In old and musty books he +lived and moved and had his being, for more than a generation. He +exchanged a stuffy, narrow shop in Cornhill for more spacious quarters in +Washington street, near School street, where he bought and sold books +with an assiduous devotion to business, never trusting to others what he +could do himself. He was proud of his collection and its extent. He +bought books and pamphlets at auction literally by the cart-load, every +thing that nobody else wanted being bid off to Burnham at an +insignificant price, almost nominal. He got a wide reputation for +selling cheaply, but he always knew when to charge a stiff price for a +book, and to stick to it. Once when I was pricing a lot of miscellaneous +books picked out for purchase, mostly under a dollar a volume, we came to +a copy of "The Constitutions of the Several Independent States of +America," 1st edition, Philadelphia, 1781, of which two hundred copies +only were printed, by order of Congress. This copy was in the original +boards, uncut, and with the autograph of Timothy Pickering on the title +page. "If the Congress Library wants that book," said Mr. Burnham, "it +will have to pay eight dollars for it." I took it, well pleased to secure +what years of search had failed to bring. The next year my satisfaction +was enhanced when an inferior copy of the same book was offered at twenty +dollars. + +Burnham died a wealthy man, having amassed a million dollars in trade and +by rise in real estate, as he owned the land on which the Parker House +stands in Boston. + +Among Philadelphia dealers in second-hand books, one John Penington was +recognized as most intelligent and honorable. He was a book-lover and a +scholar, and one instinctively ranked him not as a bookseller, but as a +gentleman who dealt in books. On his shelves one always found books of +science and volumes in foreign languages. + +Another notable dealer was John Campbell, a jolly, hearty Irish-American, +with a taste for good books, and an antipathy to negroes, as keen as the +proverbial hatred of the devil for holy water. Campbell wrote a book +entitled "Negromania," published in 1851, in which his creed was set +forth in strong language. He was a regular bidder at book auctions, where +his burly form and loud voice made him a prominent figure. + +Of notable auction sales of books, and of the extravagant prices obtained +for certain editions by ambitious and eager competition, there is little +room to treat. The oft-told story of the Valdarfer Boccaccio of 1471, +carried off at the Roxburghe sale in 1812, at L2,260 from Earl Spencer by +the Marquis of Blandford, and re-purchased seven years after at another +auction for L918, has been far surpassed in modern bibliomania. "The +sound of that hammer," wrote the melodramatic Dibdin, "echoed through +Europe:" but what would he have said of the Mazarin Bible of Gutenberg +and Fust (1450-55) sold in 1897, at the Ashburnham sale, for four +thousand pounds, or of the Latin Psalter of Fust and Schoeffer, 2d ed. +1459, which brought L4,950 at the Syston Park sale in 1884? This last sum +(about twenty-four thousand dollars) is the largest price ever yet +recorded as received for a single volume. Among books of less rarity, +though always eagerly sought, is the first folio Shakespeare of 1623, a +very fine and perfect copy of which brought L716.2 at Daniel's sale in +1864. Copies warranted perfect have since been sold in London for L415 to +L470. In New York, a perfect but not "tall" copy brought $4,200 in 1891 +at auction. Walton's "Compleat Angler," London, 1st ed. 1653, a little +book of only 250 pages, sold for L310 in 1891. It was published for one +shilling and sixpence. The first edition of Robinson Crusoe brought L75 +at the Crampton sale in 1896. + +The rage for first editions of very modern books reached what might be +called high-water mark some time since, and has been on the decline. +Shelley's "Queen Mab," 1st ed. 1813, was sold at London for L22.10, and +his "Refutation of Deism," 1814, was sold at L33, at a London sale in +1887. In New York, many first editions of Shelley's poems brought the +following enormous prices in 1897. + + Shelley's Adonais, 1st ed. Pisa, Italy, 1821, $335. + Alastor, London, 1816, $130. + The Cenci, Italy, 1819, $65. + Hellas, London, 1822, $13. + +But these were purely adventitious prices, as was clearly shown in the +sale at the same auction rooms, a year or two earlier, of the following: + + Shelley's Adonais, 1st ed. Pisa, 1821, $19. + Alastor, London, 1816, $32. + The Cenci, Italy, 1819, $21. + Hellas, London, 1822, $2. + +The sales occasionally made at auction of certain books at extraordinary +prices, prove nothing whatever as to the real market value, for these +reasons: (1) The auctioneer often has an unlimited bid, and the price is +carried up to an inordinate height. (2) Two or more bidders present, +infatuated by the idea of extreme rarity, bid against one another until +all but one succumb, when the price has reached a figure which it is a +mild use of terms to call absurd. (3) Descriptions in sale catalogues, +though often entirely unfounded, characterising a book as "excessively +rare;" "only -- copies known," "very scarce," "never before offered at +our sales," etc., may carry the bidding on a book up to an unheard-of +price. + +The appeal always lies to the years against the hours; and many a poor +book-mad enthusiast has had to rue his too easy credulity in giving an +extravagant sum for books which he discovers later that he could have +bought for as many shillings as he has paid dollars. Not that the +_rarissimi_ of early printed books can ever be purchased for a trifle; +but it should ever be remembered that even at the sales where a few--a +very few--bring the enormous prices that are bruited abroad, the mass of +the books offered are knocked down at very moderate figures, or are even +sacrificed at rates very far below their cost. The possessor of one of +the books so advertised as sold at some auction for a hundred dollars or +upwards, if he expects to realise a tithe of the figure quoted, will +speedily find himself in the vocative. + +While there are almost priceless rarities not to be found in the market +by any buyer, let the book collector be consoled by the knowledge that +good books, in good editions, were never so easy to come by as now. A +fine library can be gathered by any one with very moderate means, +supplemented by a fair amount of sagacity and common sense. The buyer +with a carefully digested list of books wanted will find that to buy them +wisely takes more time and less money than he had anticipated. The time +is required to acquaint himself with the many competing editions, with +their respective merits and demerits. This involves a comparison of type, +paper, and binding, as well as the comparative prices of various dealers +for the same books. No one who is himself gifted with good perceptions +and good taste, should trust to other hands the selection of his library. +His enjoyment of it will be proportioned to the extent to which it is his +own creation. The passion for nobly written books, handsomely printed, +and clothed in a fitting garb, when it has once dawned, is not to be +defrauded of its satisfaction by hiring a commission merchant to appease +it. What we do for ourselves, in the acquirement of any knowledge, is apt +to be well done: what is done for us by others is of little value. + +We have heard of some uninformed _parvenus_, grown suddenly rich, who +have first ordered a magnificent library room fitted with rose-wood, +marble and gilded trappings, and then ordered it to be filled with +splendidly bound volumes at so much per volume. And it is an authentic +fact, that a bookseller to the Czar of Russia one Klostermann, actually +sold books at fifty to one hundred roubles by the yard, according to the +binding. The force of folly could no farther go, to debase the aims and +degrade the intellect of man. + +In the chapter upon rare books, the reader will find instances in great +variety of the causes that contribute to the scarcity and enhancement of +prices of certain books, without at all affecting their intrinsic value, +which may be of the smallest. + + + + +CHAPTER 3. + +THE ART OF BOOK BINDING. + + +In these suggestions upon the important question of the binding of books, +I shall have nothing to say of the history of the art, and very little of +its aesthetics. The plainest and most practical hints will be aimed at, +and if my experience shall prove of value to any, I shall be well +rewarded for giving it here. For other matters readers will naturally +consult some of the numerous manuals of book-binding in English, French +and German. The sumptuous bindings executed in the sixteenth century, +under the patronage and the eyes of Grolier, the famous tooled +masterpieces of Derome, Le Gascon, Padeloup, Trautz and other French +artists, and the beautiful gems of the binder's art from the hands of +Roger Payne, Lewis, Mackenzie, Hayday and Bedford, are they not +celebrated in the pages of Dibdin, Lacroix, Fournier, Wheatley, and +Robert Hoe? + +There are some professed lovers of books who affect either indifference +or contempt for the style in which their favorites are dressed. A well +known epigram of Burns is sometimes quoted against the fondness for fine +bindings which widely prevails in the present day, as it did in that of +the Scottish Poet. A certain Scottish nobleman, endowed with more wealth +than brains, was vain of his splendidly bound Shakespeare, which, +however, he never read. Burns, on opening the folio, found the leaves +sadly worm-eaten, and wrote these lines on the fly-leaf: + + "Through and through th' inspired leaves, + Ye maggots make your windings; + But O respect his lordship's taste, + And spare the golden bindings!" + +Yet no real book-lover fails to appreciate the neatness and beauty of a +tasteful binding, any more than he is indifferent to the same qualities +in literary style. Slovenly binding is almost as offensive to a +cultivated eye as slovenly composition. No doubt both are "mere +externals," as we are told, and so are the splendors of scenery, the +beauty of flowers, and the comeliness of the human form, or features, or +costume. Talk as men will of the insignificance of dress, it constitutes +a large share of the attractiveness of the world in which we live. + +The two prime requisites of good binding for libraries are neatness and +solidity. It is pleasant to note the steady improvement in American +bindings of late years. As the old style of "Half cloth boards," of half +a century ago, with paper titles pasted on the backs, has given way to +the neat, embossed, full muslin gilt, so the clumsy and homely sheep-skin +binding has been supplanted by the half-roan or morocco, with marble or +muslin sides. Few books are issued, however, either here or abroad, in +what may be called permanent bindings. The cheapness demanded by buyers +of popular books forbids this, while it leaves to the taste and fancy of +every one the selection of the "library style" in which he will have his +collection permanently dressed. + +What is the best style of binding for a select or a public library? is a +question often discussed, with wide discrepancies of opinion. The so +universally prevalent cloth binding is too flimsy for books subjected to +much use--as most volumes in public collections and many in private +libraries are likely to be. The choice of the more substantial bindings +lies between calf and morocco, and between half or full bindings of +either. For nearly all books, half binding, if well executed, and with +cloth sides, is quite as elegant, and very nearly as solid and lasting as +full leather; for if a book is so worn as to need rebinding, it is +generally in a part where the full binding wears out quite as fast as the +other. That is, it gets worn at the hinges and on the back, whether full +or half-bound. The exceptions are the heavy dictionaries, encyclopaedias, +and other works of reference, which are subjected to much wear and tear +at the sides, as well as at the back and corners. Full leather is much +more expensive than half binding, though not doubly so. + +Every librarian or book collector should understand something of +book-binding and its terms, so that he may be able to give clear +directions as to every item involved in binding, repairing, or +re-lettering, and to detect imperfect or slighted work. + +The qualities that we always expect to find in a well-bound book are +solidity, flexibility, and elegance. Special examination should be +directed toward each of these points in revising any lot of books +returned from a binder. Look at each book with regard to:-- + + 1. Flexibility in opening. + + 2. Evenness of the cover, which should lie flat and + smooth--each edge being just parallel with the others + throughout. + + 3. Compactness--see that the volumes are thoroughly + pressed--solid, and not loose or spongy. + + 4. Correct and even lettering of titles, and other tooling. + + 5. Good wide margins. + +A well-bound book always opens out flat, and stays open. It also shuts up +completely, and when closed stays shut. But how many books do we see +always bulging open at the sides, or stiffly resisting being opened by +too great tightness in the back? If the books you have had bound do not +meet all these requirements, it is time to look for another binder. + +The different styles of dressing books may all be summed up in the +following materials: Boards, cloth, vellum, sheep, bock, pig-skin, calf, +Russia, and morocco--to which may be added of recent years, buckram, +duck, linoleum, and the imitations of leather, such as leatherette and +morocco paper, and of parchment. I take no account here of obsolete +styles--as ivory, wood, brass, silver and other metals, nor of velvet, +satin, and other occasional luxuries of the binder's art. These belong to +the domain of the amateur, the antiquary, or the book-fancier--not to +that of the librarian or the ordinary book-collector. + +Roan leather is nothing but sheep-skin, stained or colored; basil or +basan is sheepskin tanned in bark, while roan is tanned in sumac, and +most of the so called moroccos are also sheep, ingeniously grained by a +mechanical process. As all the manufactures in the world are full of +"shoddy," or sham materials, the bookbinder's art affords no exception. +But if the librarian or collector patronises shams, he should at least do +it with his eyes open, and with due counting of the cost. + +Now as to the relative merits and demerits of materials for binding. No +one will choose boards covered with paper for any book which is to be +subjected to perusal, and cloth is too flimsy and shaky in its attachment +to the book, however cheap, for any library volumes which are to be +constantly in use. It is true that since the bulk of the new books coming +into any library are bound in cloth, they may be safely left in it until +well worn; and by this rule, all the books which nobody ever reads may be +expected to last many years, if not for generations. Cloth is a very +durable material, and will outlast some of the leathers, but any wetting +destroys its beauty, and all colors but the darkest soon become soiled +and repulsive, if in constant use. In most libraries, I hold that every +cloth-bound book which is read, must sooner or later come to have a +stout leather jacket. It may go for years, especially if the book is well +sewed, but to rebinding it must come at last; and the larger the volume, +the sooner it becomes shaky, or broken at some weak spot. + +The many beautiful new forms of cloth binding should have a word of +praise, but the many more which we see of gaudy, fantastic, and +meretricious bindings, and frightful combinations of colors must be +viewed with a shudder. + +Vellum, formerly much used for book-bindings, is the modern name for +parchment. Parchment was the only known writing material up to the 12th +century, when paper was first invented. There are two kinds--animal and +vegetable. The vegetable is made from cotton fibre or paper, by dipping +it in a solution of sulphuric acid and [sometimes] gelatine, then +removing the acid by a weak solution of ammonia, and smooth finishing by +rolling the sheets over a heated cylinder. Vegetable parchment is used to +bind many booklets which it is desired to dress in an elegant or dainty +style, but is highly unsuitable for library books. Vellum proper is a +much thicker material, made from the skins of calves, sheep, or lambs, +soaked in lime-water, and smoothed and hardened by burnishing with a hard +instrument, or pumice-stone. The common vellum is made from sheep-skin +splits, or skivers, but the best from whole calf-skins. The hard, strong +texture of vellum is in its favor, but its white color and tendency to +warp are fatal objections to it as a binding material. + +Vellum is wholly unfit for the shelves of a library; the elegant white +binding soils with dust, or the use of the hands, more quickly than any +other; and the vellum warps in a dry climate, or curls up in a heated +room, so as to be unmanageable upon the shelves, and a nuisance in the +eyes of librarian and reader alike. The thin vegetable parchment lately +in vogue for some books and booklets is too unsubstantial for anything +but a lady's boudoir, where it may have its little day--"a thing of +beauty," but by no means "a joy forever." + +Sheepskin--once the full binding for most school-books, and for a large +share of law and miscellaneous works for libraries, is now but little +used, except in its disguised forms. It is too soft a leather for hard +wear and tear, and what with abrasion and breaking at the hinges (termed +by binders the joints), it will give little satisfaction in the long run. +Under the effect of gas and heated atmospheres sheep crumbles and turns +to powder. Its cheapness is about its only merit, and even this is +doubtful economy, since no binding can be called cheap that has to be +rebound or repaired every few years. In the form of half-roan or bock, +colored sheep presents a handsome appearance on the shelf, and in volumes +or sets which are reasonably secure from frequent handling, one is +sometimes justified in adopting it, as it is far less expensive than +morocco. Pig-skin has been recently revived as a binding material, but +though extremely hard and durable, it is found to warp badly on the +shelves. + +Calf bindings have always been great favorites with book-lovers, and +there are few things more beautiful--_prima facie_, than a volume +daintily bound in light French calf, as smooth as glass, as fine as silk, +with elegant gold tooling without and within, gilt edges, and fly-leaves +of finest satin. I said beautiful, _prima facie_--and this calls to mind +the definition of that law term by a learned Vermont jurist, who said: +"Gentlemen of the jury, I must explain to you that a _prima facie_ case +is a case that is very good in front, but may be very bad in the rear." +So of our so much lauded and really lovely calf bindings: they develop +qualities in use which give us pause. Calf is the most brittle of the +leathers--hence it is always breaking at the hinges; it is a very smooth +leather--hence it shows every scratch instantly; it is a light and +delicate leather--hence it shows soils and stains more quickly than any +other. Out of every hundred calf-bound volumes in any well-used library, +there will not remain ten which have not had to be re-bound or repaired +at the end of twenty or thirty years. Heavy volumes bound in calf or +half-calf leather will break by their own weight on the shelves, without +any use at all; and smaller volumes are sure to have their brittle joints +snapped asunder by handling sooner or later--it is only a question of +time. + +Next comes Russia leather, which is very thick and strong, being made of +the hides of cattle, colored, and perfumed by the oil of birch, and made +chiefly in Russia. The objections to this leather are its great cost, its +stiffness and want of elasticity, and its tendency to desiccate and lose +all its tenacity in the dry or heated atmosphere of our libraries. It +will break at the hinges--though not so readily as calf. + +Lastly, we have the morocco leather, so called because it was brought +from Morocco, in Africa, and still we get the best from thence, and from +the Mediterranean ports of the Levant--whence comes another name for the +best of this favorite leather, "Levant morocco," which is the skin of the +mountain goat, and reckoned superior to all other leathers. The +characteristics of the genuine morocco, sometimes called Turkey morocco, +having a pebbled grain, distinguishing it from the smooth morocco, are +its toughness and durability, combined with softness and flexibility. It +has a very tenacious fibre, and I have never found a real morocco binding +broken at the hinges. The old proverb--"there is nothing like +leather"--is pregnant with meaning, and especially applies to the best +morocco. As no material yet discovered in so many ages can take the +place of leather for foot-wear and for harness, such is its tenacity and +elasticity--so for book coverings, to withstand wear and tear, good +leather is indispensable. There are thoroughly-bound books existing which +are five centuries old--representing about the time when leather began to +replace wood and metals for binding. The three great enemies of books are +too great heat, too much moisture, and coal gas, which produces a +sulphurous acid very destructive to bindings, and should never be used in +libraries. From the dangers which destroy calf and Russia leather, +morocco is measurably free. + +As to color, I usually choose red for books which come to binding or +rebinding, for these reasons. The bulk of every library is of dark and +sombre color, being composed of the old-fashioned calf bindings, which +grow darker with age, mingled with the cloth bindings of our own day, in +which dark colors predominate. Now the intermixture of red morocco, in +all or most of the newly bound books, relieves the monotony of so much +blackness, lights up the shelves, and gives a more cheerful aspect to the +whole library. Some there are who insist upon varying the colors of +bindings with the subjects of the books--and the British Museum Library +actually once bound all works on botany in green, poetry in yellow, +history in red, and theology in blue; but this is more fanciful than +important. A second reason for preferring red in moroccos is that, being +dyed with cochineal, it holds its color more permanently than any +other--the moroccos not colored red turning to a dingy, disagreeable +brown after forty or fifty years, while the red are found to be fast +colors. This was first discovered in the National Library of France, and +ever since most books in that great collection have been bound in red. A +celebrated binder having recommended this color to a connoisseur who was +having fine morocco binding done, instanced the example of the Paris +Library, whose books, said he, are "mostly red," to which the amateur +replied that he hoped they were. + +Add to the merits of morocco leather the fact that it is not easily +scratched nor stained, that it is very tough in wear, and resists better +than any other the moisture and soiling of the hands--and we have a +material worthy of all acceptance. + +In half-binding chosen for the great majority of books because it is much +cheaper than full leather, the sides are covered with muslin or with some +kind of colored paper--usually marble. The four corners of every book, +however, should always be protected by leather or, better still, by +vellum, which is a firmer material--otherwise they will rapidly wear off, +and the boards will break easily at their corners. As to the relative +merits of cloth and paper for the sides of books, cloth is far more +durable, though it costs more. Paper becomes quickly frayed at the edges, +or is liable to peel where pasted on, though it may be renewed at small +expense, and may properly be used except upon the much-read portion of +the library. The cloth or paper should always harmonize in color with the +leather to which it is attached. They need not be the same, but they +should be of similar shade. + +One more reason for preferring morocco to other leathers is that you can +always dispense with lettering-pieces or patches in gilding the titles on +the back. All light-colored bindings (including law calf) are open to the +objection that gold lettering is hardly legible upon them. Hence the +necessity of stamping the titles upon darker pieces of leather, which are +fastened to the backs. These lettering-pieces become loose in over-heated +libraries, and tend continually to peel off, entailing the expense of +repairing or re-lettering. Every morocco bound book can be lettered +directly upon the leather. Bock is made of the skin of the Persian sheep, +and is called Persian in London. It is a partially unsuccessful imitation +of morocco, becoming easily abraded, like all the sheep-skin leathers, +and although it is to be had in all colors, and looks fairly handsome for +a time, and is tougher than skiver (or split sheep-skin), the books that +are bound in it will sooner or later become an eyesore upon the shelves. +A skin of Persian leather costs about one-third the price of genuine +morocco, or goat. But the actual saving in binding is in a far less +ratio--the difference being only six to eight cents per volume. It is +really much cheaper to use morocco in the first place, than to undergo +all the risks of deterioration and re-binding. + +Of the various imitations of leather, or substitutes for it, we have +leatherette, leather-cloth, duck, fibrette, feltine, and buckram. Buckram +and duck are strong cotton or linen fabricks, made of different colors, +and sometimes figured or embossed to give them somewhat the look of +leather. Hitherto, they are made mostly in England, and I have learned of +no American experience in their favor except the use of stout duck for +covering blank books and binding newspapers. The use of buckram has been +mostly abandoned by the libraries. Morocco cloth is American, but has no +advantage over plain muslin or book cloth, that I am aware of. +Leatherette, made principally of paper, colored and embossed to simulate +morocco leather, appears to have dropped out of use almost as fast as it +came in, having no quality of permanence, elegance, or even of great +cheapness to commend it. Leatherette tears easily, and lacks both +tenacity and smoothness. + +Both feltine and fibrette are made of paper--tear quickly, and are unfit +for use on any book that is ever likely to be read. All these imitations +of leather are made of paper as their basis, and hence can never be +proper substitutes for leather. + +All torn leaves or plates in books should be at once mended by pasting a +very thin onion-skin paper on both sides of the torn leaf, and pressing +gently between leaves of sized paper until dry. + +Corners made of vellum or parchment are more durable than any leather. +When dry, the parchment becomes as hard almost as iron and resists falls +or abrasion. To use it on books where the backs are of leather is a +departure from the uniformity or harmony of style insisted upon by many, +but in binding books that are to be greatly worn, use should come before +beauty. + +In rebinding, all maps or folded plates should be mounted on thin canvas, +linen, or muslin, strong and fine, to protect them from inevitable +tearing by long use. If a coarse or thick cloth is used, the maps will +not fold or open easily and smoothly. + +The cutting or trimming of the edges of books needs to be watched with +jealous care. Few have reflected that the more margin a binder cuts off, +the greater his profit on any job, white paper shavings having a very +appreciable price by the pound. A strictly uncut book is in many American +libraries a rarity. And of the books which go a second time to the +binder, although at first uncut, how many retain their fair proportions +of margin when they come back? You have all seen books in which the text +has been cut into by the ruthless knife-machine of the binder. This is +called "bleeding" a book, and there are no words strong enough to +denounce this murderous and cold-blooded atrocity. The trimming of all +books should be held within the narrowest limits--for the life of a book +depends largely upon its preserving a good margin. Its only chance of +being able to stand a second rebinding may depend upon its being very +little trimmed at its first. If it must be cut at all, charge your binder +to take off the merest shaving from either edge. + +Every new book or magazine added to the library, if uncut, should be +carefully cut with a paper-knife before it goes into the hands of any +reader. Spoiled or torn or ragged edges will be the penalty of neglecting +this. You have seen people tear open the leaves of books and magazines +with their fingers--a barbarism which renders him who would be guilty of +it worthy of banishment from the resorts of civilization. In cutting +books, the leaves should always be held firmly down--and the knife +pressed evenly through the uncut leaves to the farthest verge of the +back. Books which are cut in the loose fashion which many use are left +with rough or ragged edges always, and often a slice is gouged out of the +margin by the mis-directed knife. Never trust a book to a novice to be +cut, without showing him how to do it, and how not to do it. + +The collation of new books in cloth or _broche_ should be done before +cutting, provided they are issued to readers untrimmed. In collating +books in two or more volumes double watchfulness is needed to guard +against a missing signature, which may have its place filled by the same +pages belonging to another volume--a mixture sometimes made in binderies, +in "gathering" the sheets, and which makes it necessary to see that the +signatures are right as well as the pages. The collator should check off +all plates and maps called for by the table of contents to make sure that +the copy is perfect. Books without pagination are of course to have their +leaves counted, which is done first in detail, one by one, and then +verified by a rapid counting in sections, in the manner used by printers +and binders in counting paper by the quire. + +The binding of books may be divided into two styles or methods, namely, +machine-made book-bindings, and hand-made bindings. Binding by machinery +is wholly a modern art, and is applied to all or nearly all new books +coming from the press. As these are, in more than nine cases out of ten, +bound in cloth covers, and these covers, or cases, are cut out and +stamped by machinery, such books are called "case-made." The distinction +between this method of binding and the hand method is that in the former +the case is made separately from the book, which is then put into it. +After the sheets of any book come pressed and dried from the printing +office, the first step is to fold them from the large flat sheets into +book form. This is sometimes done by hand-folders of bone or some other +hard material, but in large establishments for making books, it is done +by a folding machine. This will fold ten thousand or more sheets in a +day. The folded sheets are next placed in piles or rows, in their +numerical sequence, and "gathered" by hand, _i. e._: a bindery hand picks +up the sheets one by one, with great rapidity, until one whole book is +gathered and collated, and the process is repeated so long as any sheets +remain. Next, the books are thoroughly pressed or "smashed" as it is +called, in a powerful smashing-machine, giving solidity to the book, +which before pressing was loose and spongy. Then the books are sawed or +grooved in the back by another machine, operating a swiftly moving saw, +and sewed on cords by still another machine, at about half the cost of +hand-sewing. Next, they are cut or trimmed on the three edges in a +cutting-machine. The backs of the books are made round by a +rounding-machine, leaving the back convex and the front concave in form, +as seen in all finished books. The books are now ready for the covers. +These consist of binders' board or mill-board, cut out of large sheets +into proper size, with lightning-like rapidity, by another machine +called a rotary board-cutter. The cloth which is to form the back and +sides of the book is cut out, of proper size for the boards, from great +rolls of stamped or ribbed or embossed muslin, by another machine. The +use of cloth, now so universal for book-binding, dates back little more +than half a century. About 1825, Mr. Leighton, of London, introduced it +as a substitute for the drab-colored paper then used on the sides, and +for the printed titles on the backs. The boards are firmly glued to the +cloth, the edges of which are turned over the boards, and fastened on the +inside of the covers. The ornamental stamps or figures seen on the +covers, both at the back and sides are stamped in with a heated die of +brass, or other metal, worked by machinery. The lettering of the title is +done in the same way, only that gold-leaf is applied before the die +falls. Lastly, the book is pasted by its fly leaves or end-leaves, +(sometimes with the addition of a cloth guard) to the inside of the cloth +case or cover, and the book is done, after a final pressing. By these +rapid machine methods a single book-manufacturing house can turn out ten +thousand volumes in a day, with a rapidity which almost takes the breath +away from the beholder. + +There is a kind of binding which dispenses entirely with sewing the +sheets of a book. The backs are soaked with a solution of india-rubber, +and each sheet must be thoroughly agglutinated to the backs, so as to +adhere firmly to its fellows. This requires that all the sheets shall be +folded as single leaves or folios, otherwise the inner leaves of the +sheets, having no sewing, would drop out. This method is employed on +volumes of plates, music, or any books made up of large separate sheets. + +In notable contrast to these rapid methods of binding what are termed +case-made books, comes the hand-made process, where only partial use of +machinery is possible. + +The rebinding process is divided into three branches: preparing, +forwarding, and finishing. The most vital distinction between a +machine-made and a hand-made binding, is that the cloth or case-made book +is not fastened into its cover in a firm and permanent way, as in +leather-backed books. It is simply pasted or glued to its boards--not +interlaced by the cords or bands on which it is sewed. Hence one can +easily tear off the whole cover of a cloth-bound book, by a slight +effort, and such volumes tend to come to pieces early, under constant +wear and tear of library service. + +Let us now turn to the practical steps pursued in the treatment of books +for library use. In re-binding a book, the first step is to take the book +apart, or, as it is sometimes called, to take it to pieces. This is done +by first stripping off its cover, if it has one. Cloth covers easily come +off, as their boards are not tied to the cords on which the book is +sewed, but are simply fastened by paste or glue to the boards by a muslin +guard, or else the cloth is glued to the back of the book. If the book is +leather-covered, or half-bound, _i. e._: with a leather back and +(usually) leather on its four corners, taking it to pieces is a somewhat +slower process. The binder's knife is used to cut the leather at the +joints or hinges of the volume, so that the boards may be removed. The +cords that tie the boards to the volume are cut at the same time. If the +book has a loose or flexible back, the whole cover comes easily off: if +bound with a tight back, the glued leather back must be soaked with a +sponge full of water, till it is soft enough to peel off, and let the +sheets be easily separated. + +The book is now stripped of its former binding, and the next step is to +take it apart, signature by signature. A signature is that number of +leaves which make up one sheet of the book in hand. Thus, an octavo +volume, or a volume printed in eights, as it is called, has eight leaves, +or sixteen pages to a signature; a quarto four leaves; a duodecimo, or 12 +mo. twelve leaves. The term signature (from Lat. _signare_, a sign) is +also applied to a letter or figure printed at the foot of the first page +of each sheet or section of the book. If the letters are used, the +signatures begin with A. and follow in regular sequence of the alphabet. +If the book is a very thick one, (or more than twenty-six signatures) +then after signature Z, it is customary to duplicate the letters--A. +A.--etc., for the remaining signatures. If figures are used instead of +letters, the signatures run on to the last, in order of numbers. These +letters, indicating signatures are an aid to the binder, in folding, +"gathering," and collating the consecutive sheets of any book, saving +constant reference to the "pagination," as it is termed, or the paging of +the volume, which would take much more time. In many books, you find the +signature repeated in the "inset," or the inner leaves of the sheet, with +a star or a figure to mark the sequence. Many books, however, are now +printed without any signature marks whatever. + +To return: in taking apart the sheets or signatures, where they are stuck +together at the back by adhesive glue or paste, the knife is first used +to cut the thread in the grooves, where the book is sewed on cords or +tape. Then the back is again soaked, the sheets are carefully separated, +and the adhering substance removed by the knife or fingers. Care has to +be taken to lay the signatures in strict order or sequence of pages, or +the book may be bound up wrongly. The threads are next to be removed from +the inside of every sheet. The sheets being all separated, the book is +next pressed, to render all the leaves smooth, and the book solid for +binding. Formerly, books were beaten by a powerful hammer, to accomplish +this, but it is much more quickly and effectively done in most binderies +by the ordinary screw press. Every pressing of books should leave them +under pressure at least eight hours. + +After pressing, the next step is to sew the sheets on to cords or twine, +set vertically at proper distances in a frame, called a "sewing bench," +for this purpose. No book can be thoroughly well bound if the sewing is +slighted in any degree. Insist upon strong, honest linen thread--if it +breaks with a slight pull it is not fit to be used in a book. The book is +prepared for the sewer by sawing several grooves across the back with a +common saw. The two end grooves are light and narrow, the central ones +wider and deeper. Into these inner grooves, the cords fit easily, and the +book being taken, sheet by sheet, is firmly sewed around the cords, by +alternate movements of the needle and thread, always along the middle of +the sheet, the thread making a firm knot at each end (called the +"kettle-stitch") as it is returned for sewing on the next sheet. +Sometimes the backs are not sawed at all, but the sheets of the book are +sewed around the cords, which thus project a little from the back, and +form the "bands," seen in raised form on the backs of some books. Books +should be sewed on three to six cords, according to their size. This +raised-band sewing is reckoned by some a feature of excellent binding. +The sunken-band style is apt to give a stiff back, while the raised bands +are usually treated with a flexible back. When sewed, the book is +detached from its fellows, which may have been sewed on the same bench, +by slipping it along the cords, then cutting them apart, so as to leave +some two inches of each cord projecting, as ends to be fastened later to +the board. In careful binding, the thread is sewed "all along," _i. e._: +each sheet by itself, instead of "two on," as it is called. + +The next process is termed "lining up," and consists of putting on the +proper fly-leaves or end-leaves, at the beginning and end of the volume. +These usually consist of four leaves of ordinary white printing paper at +each end, sometimes finished out with two leaves of colored or marbled +paper, to add a touch of beauty to the book when opened. Marbled paper is +more durable in color than the tinted, and does not stain so easily. One +of these end-leaves is pasted down to the inside cover, while the other +is left flying--whence "fly-leaf." + +After this comes the cutting of the book at the edges. This is done by +screwing it firmly in a cutting-machine, which works a sharp knife +rapidly, shaving off the edges successively of the head, front and end, +or "tail" as it is called in book-binding parlance. This trimming used to +be done by hand, with a sharp cutting knife called by binders a "plough." +Now, there are many forms of cutting machines, some of which are called +"guillotines" for an obvious reason. In binding some books, which it is +desired to preserve with wide margins, only a mere shaving is taken off +the head, so as to leave it smooth at the top, letting the front and tail +leaves remain uncut. But in case of re-binding much-used books, the edges +are commonly so much soiled that trimming all around may be required, in +order that they may present a decent appearance. Yet in no case should +the binder be allowed to cut any book deeply, so as to destroy a good, +fair margin. Care must also be taken to cut the margins evenly, at right +angles, avoiding any crooked lines. + +After cutting the book comes "rounding," or giving the back of the book a +curved instead of its flat shape. This process is done with the hand, by +a hammer, or in a rounding press, with a metallic roller. Before +rounding, the back of the book is glued up, that is, receives a coating +of melted glue with a glueing brush, to hold the sections together, and +render the back firm, and a thorough rubbing of the back with hot glue +between the sections gives strength to the volume. + +Next comes the treatment of the edges of the book, hitherto all white, in +order to protect them from showing soil in long use. Sometimes (and this +is the cheaper process) the books are simply sprinkled at the edges with +a brush dipped in a dark fluid made of burnt umber or red ochre, and +shaken with a quick concussion near the edges until they receive a +sprinkle of color from the brush. Other books receive what is called a +solid color on the edges, the books being screwed into a press, and the +color applied with a sponge or brush. + +But a marbled edge presents a far more handsome appearance, and should +harmonize in color and figure with the marbled paper of the end leaves. +Marbling, so called from its imitation of richly veined colored marble, +is staining paper or book edges with variegated colors. The process of +marbling is highly curious, both chemically and aesthetically, and may be +briefly described. A large shallow trough or vat is filled with prepared +gum water (gum-tragacanth being used); on the surface of this gum-water +bright colors, mixed with a little ox-gall, to be used in producing the +composite effect aimed at in the marbling are thrown or sprinkled in +liquid form. Then they are deftly stirred or agitated on the surface of +the water, with an implement shaped to produce a certain pattern. The +most commonly used one is a long metallic comb, which is drawn across the +surface of the combined liquids, leaving its pattern impressed upon the +ductile fluid. The edges of the book to be marbled are then touched or +dipped on the top of the water, on which the coloring matter floats, and +at once withdrawn, exhibiting on the edge the precise pattern of "combed +marble" desired, since the various colors--red, yellow, blue, white, +etc., have adhered to the surface of the book-edges. The serrated and +diversified effect of most comb-marbling is due to stroking the comb in +waved lines over the surface. The spotted effect so much admired in other +forms, is produced by throwing the colors on with a brush, at the fancy +of the skilled workman, or artist, as you may call him. Marbled paper is +made in the same way, by dipping one surface of the white sheet, held in +a curved form, with great care on the surface of the coloring vat. This +is termed shell and wave marbling, as distinguished from comb-marbling. +The paper or the book edges are next finished by sizing and burnishing, +which gives them a bright glistening appearance. + +A still more ornate effect in a book is attained by gilding the edges. +Frequently the head of a book is gilt, leaving the front and tail of an +uncut book without ornament, and this is esteemed a very elegant style by +book connoisseurs, who are, or should be solicitous of wide margins. The +gilding of the top edge is a partial protection from dust falling inside, +to which the other edges are not so liable. To gild a book edge, it is +placed in a press, the edges scraped or smoothed, and coated with a +red-colored fluid, which serves to heighten the effect of the gold. Then +a sizing is applied by a camel's-hair brush, being a sticky substance, +usually the white of an egg, mixed with water (termed by binders +"glaire") and the gold-leaf is laid smoothly over it. When the sizing is +dry, the gold is burnished with a tool, tipped with an agate or +blood-stone, drawn forcibly over the edge until it assumes a glistening +appearance. + +After the edges have been treated by whatever process, there follows what +is termed the "backing" of the book. The volume is pressed between iron +clamps, and the back is hammered or rolled where it joins the sides, so +as to form a groove to hold the boards forming the solid portion of the +cover of every book. A backing-machine is sometimes used for this +process, making by pressure the joint or groove for the boards. Then the +"head-band" is glued on, being a silk braid or colored muslin, fastened +around a cord, which projects a little above the head and the tail, at +the back of the book, giving it a more finished appearance. At the same +time, a book-mark for keeping the place is sometimes inserted and +fastened like the head-band. This is often a narrow ribbon of colored +silk, or satin, and helps to give a finish to the book, as well as to +furnish the reader a trustworthy guide to keep a place--as it will not +fall out like bits of paper inserted for that purpose. + +Next, the mill-boards are applied, cut so as to project about an eighth +to a quarter of an inch from the edges of the book on three sides. The +book is held to the boards by the ends of its cords being interlaced, _i. +e._: passed twice through holes pierced in the boards, the loose ends of +the cords being then wet with paste and hammered down flat to the surface +of the boards. The best tar-boards should be used, which are made of old +rope; no board made of straw is fit to be used on any book. Straw boards +are an abomination--a cheap expedient which costs dearly in the end. The +binder should use heavy boards on the larger and thicker volumes, but +thin ones on all duodecimos and smaller sizes. + +Next, the books are subjected to a second pressing, after which the +lining of the back is in order. Good thick brown paper is generally used +for this, cut to the length of the book, and is firmly glued to the back, +and rubbed down closely with a bone folder. A cloth "joint," or piece of +linen (termed "muslin super,") is often glued to the back, with two +narrow flaps to be pasted to the boards, on each side, thus giving +greater tenacity to the covering. If the book is to be backed so as to +open freely, that is, to have a spring back or elastic back, two +thicknesses of a firm, strong paper, or thin card-board are used, one +thickness of the paper being glued to the back of the book, while the +other--open in the middle, but fastened at the edges, is to be glued to +the leather of which the back is to be made. + +After this, comes putting the book in leather. If full bound a piece of +leather cut full size of the volume, with about half an inch over, is +firmly glued or pasted to the boards and the back, the leather being +turned over the edges of the boards, and nicely glued on their inside +margin. It is of great importance that the edges of the leather should be +smoothly pared down with a sharp knife, so as to present an even edge +where the leather joins the boards, not a protuberance--which makes an +ugly and clumsy piece of work, instead of a neat one. + +For half-binding, a piece of leather is taken large enough to cover the +back lengthwise, and turn in at the head and tail, while the width should +be such as to allow from one to one and a half inches of the leather to +be firmly glued to the boards next the back. The four corners of the +boards are next to be leathered, the edges of the leather being carefully +pared down, to give a smooth surface, even with the boards, when turned +in. The leather is usually wet, preparatory to being manipulated thus, +which renders it more flexible and ductile than in its dry state. The +cloth or marbled paper is afterwards pasted or glued to the sides of the +book, and turned neatly over the edge of the boards. + +It may be added, that the edges of the boards, in binding nice books, are +sometimes ground off on a swiftly revolving emery-wheel, giving the book +a beveled edge, which is regarded as handsomer and more finished than a +straight rectangular edge. + +All the processes hitherto described are called "forwarding" the book: we +now come to what is denominated "finishing." This includes the lettering +of the title, and the embellishing of the back and sides, with or without +gilding, as the case may be. Before this is taken in hand, the leather of +the book must be perfectly dry. For the lettering, copper-faced types are +used to set up the desired sequence of letters and words, and care and +taste should be exercised to have (1) Types neither too large, which +present a clumsy appearance, nor too small, which are difficult to read. +(2) Proper spacing of the words and lines, and "balancing" the component +parts of the lettering on the back, so as to present a neat and +harmonious effect to the eye. A word should never be divided or +hyphenated in lettering, when it can be avoided. In the case of quite +thin volumes, the title may be lettered lengthwise along the back, in +plain, legible type, instead of in very small letters across the back, +which are often illegible. The method of applying gold lettering is as +follows: the back of the book where the title is to go, is first +moistened with a sticky substance, as albumen or glaire, heretofore +mentioned, laid on with a camel's hair brush. The type (or the die as the +case may be) is heated in a binder's charcoal furnace, or gas stove, to +insure the adhesion of the gold leaf. The thin gold leaf (which comes +packed in little square "books," one sheet between every two leaves) is +then cut the proper size by the broad thin knife of the "finisher," and +carefully laid over the sized spot to receive the lettering. Usually, two +thicknesses of gold leaf are laid one above another, which ensures a +brighter and more decided effect in the lettering. The type metal or die +is then pressed firmly and evenly down upon the gold-leaf, and the +surplus shavings of the gold carefully brushed off and husbanded, for +this leaf is worth money. The gold leaf generally in use costs about +$6.50 for 500 little squares or sheets. It is almost inconceivably thin, +the thickness of one gold leaf being estimated at about 1/280000 of an +inch. + +Besides the lettering, many books receive gold ornamentation on the back +or side of a more or less elaborate character. Designs of great artistic +beauty, and in countless variety, have been devised for book ornaments, +and French and English book-binders have vied with each other for +generations in the production of decorative borders, fillets, +centre-pieces, rolls, and the most exquisite gold-tooling, of which the +art is capable. + +These varied patterns of book ornamentation are cut in brass or steel, +and applied by the embossing press with a rapidity far exceeding that of +the hand-work formerly executed by the gilders of books. But for choice +books and select jobs, only the hands are employed, with such fillets, +stamps, pallets, rolls, and polishing irons as may aid in the nice +execution of the work. If a book is to be bound in what is called +"morocco antique," it is to be "blind-tooled," _i. e._: the hot iron +wheels which impress the fillets or rolls, are to be worked in blank, or +without gold-leaf ornamentation. This is a rich and tasteful binding, +especially with carefully beveled boards, and gilded edges. + +On some books, money has been lavished on the binding to an amount +exceeding by many fold the cost of the book itself. Elegant book-binding +has come to be reckoned as a fine art, and why should not "the art +preservative of all other arts"--printing--be preserved in permanent and +sumptuous, if not splendid style, in its environment? Specimens of French +artistic binding from the library of Grolier, that celebrated and +munificent patron of art, who died in 1565, have passed through the hands +of many eager connoisseurs, always at advancing prices. The Grolier +binding was notable for the elegant finish of its interlaced ornaments +in gold-leaf, a delicacy of touch, and an inimitable flowing grace, which +modern binders have struggled after in vain. At the Beckford Library sale +in London, in 1884, there was a great array of fine French bindings of +early date. A book from Grolier's library, the "Toison d'Or," 1563, +brought L405, or over $2,000, and a Heptameron, which had belonged to +Louis XIV, in beautiful brown morocco, with crown, fleur-de-lys, a stag, +a cock, and stars, as ornaments, all exquisitely worked in gold, lined +with vellum, was sold for L400. Following the Grolier patterns, came +another highly decorative style, by the French binders, which was notable +for the very delicate gold tooling, covering the whole sides of the book +with exquisite scroll-work, and branches of laurel. + +The most celebrated of English book-binders was Roger Payne, who was +notable for the careful labor bestowed on the forwarding and finishing of +his books, specimens of which are still reckoned among the +_chefs-d'oeuvre_ of the art. His favorite style was a roughly-grained red +morocco, always full-bound, and he kept in view what many binders forget, +that the leather is the main thing in a finely executed binding, not to +be overlaid by too much gilding and decoration. He charged twelve guineas +each (over $60) for binding some small volumes in his best style. Payne's +most notable successors have been Lewis, Hayday, Bedford, and Zaehnsdorf, +the latter of whom is the author of a treatise on book-binding. At the +art exhibition of 1862, a book bound by Bedford was exhibited, which took +two months merely to finish, and the binding cost forty guineas; and a +Dore's Dante, exquisitely bound by Zaehnsdorf, in Grolier style, cost one +hundred guineas. + +A decorative treatment not yet mentioned is applied to the covers of some +books, which are bound in elegant full calf. To give to this leather the +elegant finish known as "tree-calf binding", it is first washed with +glaire or albumen. The boards of the book are then bent to a convex +shape, and water sprinkled over, until it runs down from the centre in +many little branches or rivulets. While running, a solution of copperas +is sprinkled on, and carried along the branches which radiate from the +central trunk, producing the dark-mottled colored effect which resembles, +more or less nearly, a tree with its spreading branches. + +To make the book beautiful should be the united aim of all who are +concerned in its manufacture--the paper-maker, the printer, and the +book-binder. While utility comes first in the art of book-making for +libraries, yet neatness and even elegance should always be united with +it. An ill-forwarded book, or a badly finished one, presents a clumsy, +unattractive look to the eye; while an evenly made piece of work, and a +careful and tasteful ornamentation in the gilding, attract every +discerning reader by their beauty. One writer upon book-binding terms the +forwarder of the book an artizan, and the finisher an artist; but both +should have the true artist's taste, in order to produce the work that +shall commend itself by intrinsic excellence. The form and shape of the +book depend wholly, indeed, on the forwarder. + +We are told that the great beauty of the Grolier bindings lay in the +lavish and tasteful adornment of the sides. In fact, much depends upon +the design, in every piece of decorative work. The pretty scroll +patterns, the interlaced figures, the delicate tracery, the circles, +rosettes, and stars, the lovely arabesques, the flowers and leaves +borrowed from the floral kingdom, the geometric lines, the embroidered +borders, like fine lace-work,--all these lend their separate individual +charms to the finish of the varied specimens of the binder's art. There +are some books that look as brilliant as jewels in their rich, lustrous +adornment, the design sometimes powdered with gold points and stars. Some +gems of art are lined with rich colored leather in the inside covers, +which are stamped and figured in gold. This is termed "_double_" by the +French. Some have their edges gilded over marbling, a refinement of +beauty which adds richness to the work, the marble design showing through +the brilliant gold, when the edge is turned. Others have pictorial +designs drawn on the edges, which are then gilded over the pictures. This +complex style of gilding, the French term _gaufre_. It was formerly much +in vogue, but is latterly out of fashion. Many gems of binding are +adorned with fly-leaves of moire silk, or rich colored satin. Color, +interspersed with gold in the finish of a book covering, heightens the +effect. The morocco of the side-cover is sometimes cut, and inlaid with +leather of a different color. Inlaying with morocco or kid is the richest +style of decoration which the art has yet reached. Beautiful bindings +have been in greater request during the past twenty years than ever +before. There was a renaissance of the ancient styles of decoration in +France, and the choice Grolier and Maioli patterns were revived with the +general applause of the lovers of fine books. + +In vivid contrast to these lovely specimens of the binder's art, are +found innumerable bibliopegic horrors, on the shelves of countless +libraries, public and private. Among these are to be reckoned most law +books, clad in that dead monotony of ugliness, which Charles Dickens has +described as "that _under-done pie-crust_ cover, which is technically +known as law calf." There are other uncouth and unwholesome specimens +everywhere abroad, "whom Satan hath bound", to borrow Mr. Henry Stevens's +witty application of a well-known Scripture text. Such repellant +bindings are only fit to serve as models to be avoided by the librarian. + +The binding that is executed by machinery is sometimes called "commercial +binding". It is also known as "edition binding", because the whole +edition of a book is bound in uniform style of cover. While the modern +figured cloth binding originated in England, it has had its fullest +development in the United States. Here, those ingenious and powerful +machines which execute every branch of the folding and forwarding of a +book, and even the finishing of the covers, with almost lightning speed, +were mostly invented and applied. Very vivid is the contrast between the +quiet, humdrum air of the old-fashioned bindery hand-work, and the +ceaseless clang and roar of the machinery which turns out thousands of +volumes in a day. + + "Not as ours the books of old, + Things that steam can stamp and fold." + +I believe that I failed to notice, among the varieties of material for +book-bindings heretofore enumerated, some of the rarer and more singular +styles. Thus, books have been bound in enamel, (richly variegated in +color) in Persian silk, in seal-skin, in the skin of the rabbit, +white-bear, crocodile, cat, dog, mole, tiger, otter, buffalo, wolf, and +even rattle-snake. A favorite modern leather for purses and satchels, +alligator-skin, has been also applied to the clothing of books. Many +eccentric fancies have been exemplified in book-binding, but the acme of +gruesome oddity has been reached by binding books in human skin, of which +many examples are on record. It is perhaps three centuries old, but the +first considerable instance of its use grew out of the horrors of the +French Revolution. In England, the Bristol law library has several +volumes bound in the skin of local criminals, flayed after execution, +and specially tanned for the purpose. It is described as rather darker +than vellum. A Russian poet is said to have bound his sonnets in human +leather--his own skin--taken from a broken thigh--and the book he +presented to the lady of his affections! Such ghoulish incidents as these +afford curious though repulsive glimpses of the endless vagaries of human +nature. + +It is said that the invention of half-binding originated among the +economists of Germany; and some wealthy bibliophiles have stigmatized +this style of dressing books as "genteel poverty." But its utility and +economy have been demonstrated too long to admit of any doubt that +half-binding has come to stay; while, as we have seen, it is also capable +of attractive aesthetic features. Mr. William Matthews, perhaps the +foremost of American binders, said that "a book when neatly forwarded, +and cleanly covered, is in a very satisfactory condition without any +finishing or decorating." It was this same binder who exhibited at the +New York World's Fair Exhibition of 1853, a copy of Owen Jones's +Alhambra, bound by him in full Russia, inlaid with blue and red morocco, +with gold tooling all executed by hand, taking six months to complete, +and costing the binder no less than five hundred dollars. + +Book lettering, or stamping the proper title on the back of the book, is +a matter of the first importance. As the titles of most books are much +too long to go on the back, a careful selection of the most distinctive +words becomes necessary. Here the taste and judgment of the librarian +come indispensably into play. To select the lettering of a book should +never be left to the binder, because it is not his business, and because, +in most cases, he will make a mistake somewhere in the matter. From want +of care on this point, many libraries are filled with wrongly lettered +books, misleading titles, and blunders as ludicrous as they are +distressing. I have had to have thousands of volumes in the Library of +Congress re-lettered. A copy of Lord Bacon's "Sylva Sylvarum", for +example, was lettered "Verlum's Sylva"--because the sapient binder read +on the title-page "By Baron Verulam", and it was not his business to find +out that this was the title of honor which Bacon bore; so, by a compound +blunder, he converted Verulam into Verlum, and gave the book to an +unknown writer. This is perhaps an extreme case, but you will find many +to match it. Another folio, Rochefort's History of the Caribby Islands, +was lettered "Davies' Carriby Islands," because the title bore the +statement "Rendered into English by John Davies." In another library, the +great work of the naturalist, Buffon, was actually lettered "Buffoon's +Natural History." Neither of these blunders was as bad as that of the +owner of an elegant black-letter edition of a Latin classic, which was +printed without title-page, like most fifteenth century books, and began +at the top of the first leaf, in large letters--"HOC INCIPIT," signifying +"This begins", followed by the title or subject of the book. The wiseacre +who owned it had the book richly bound, and directed it to be lettered on +the back--"Works of Hoc Incipit, Rome, 1490." This is a true story, and +the hero of it might perhaps, on the strength of owning so many learned +works, have passed for a philosopher, if he had not taken the pains to +advertise himself as a blockhead. + +Some of the commonest blunders are stamping on the back the translator's +or the editor's name, instead of that of the author of the book; putting +on adjectives instead of substantives for titles; modernizing ancient and +characteristic spelling, found in the title, (the exact orthography of +which should always be followed); mixing up the number and the case of +Latin titles, and those in other foreign languages; leaving off entirely +the name of the writer; and lettering periodicals by putting on the +volume without the year, or the year, without the number of the volume. +"No one but an idiot", said Mr. C. Walford to the London Librarians' +Conference, "would send his books to the binder, without indicating the +lettering he desires on the backs." The only safe-guard is for the +librarian or owner to prescribe on a written slip in each volume, a title +for every book, before it goes to the binder, who will be only too glad +to have his own time saved--since time is money to him. I would not +underrate the book-binders, who are a most worthy and intelligent class, +numbering in their ranks men who are scholars as well as artists; but +they are concerned chiefly with the mechanics and not with the +metaphysics of their art, and moreover, they are not bound by that rigid +rule which should govern the librarian--namely--to have no ignoramus +about the premises. + +In writing letterings (for I take it that no one would be guilty of +defacing his title-pages by marking them up with directions to the +binder) you should definitely write out the parts of the title as they +are to run on the back of the book, spaced line upon line, and not "run +together." I think that the name of the author should always stand first +at the head of the lettering, because it affords the quickest guide to +the eye in finding any book, as well as in replacing it upon the shelves. +Especially useful and time-saving is this, where classes of books are +arranged in alphabetical sequence. Is not the name of the author commonly +uppermost in the mind of the searcher? Then, let it be uppermost on the +book sought also. Follow the name of the author by the briefest possible +words selected from the title which will suffice to characterize the +subject of the work. Thus, the title--"On the Origin of Species by means +of Natural Selection", by Charles Darwin, should be abbreviated into + + Darwin + -------- + Origin of Species. + +Here are no superfluous words, to consume the binder's time and +gold-leaf, and to be charged in the bill; or to consume the time of the +book-searcher, in stopping to read a lot of surplusage on the back of the +book, before seizing it for immediate use. Books in several volumes +should have the number of each volume plainly marked in Arabic (not +Roman) numerals on the back. The old-fashioned method of expressing +numerals by letters, instead of figures, is too cumbrous and +time-consuming to be tolerated. You want to letter, we will say, vol. 88 +of Blackwood's Magazine. If you follow the title-page of that book, as +printed, you have to write + +"Volume LXXXVIII," eight letters, for the number of the volume, instead +of two simple figures--thus--88. + +Now can any one give a valid reason for the awkward and tedious method of +notation exhibited in the Roman numerals? If it were only the lost time +of the person who writes it, or the binder's finisher who letters it, it +would be comparatively insignificant. But think of the time wasted by the +whole world of readers, who must go through a more or less troublesome +process of notation before they get a clear notion of what all this +superfluous stuff stands for instead of the quick intuition with which +they take in the Arabic figures; and who must moreover, by the antiquated +method, take valuable time to write out LXXXVIII, eight figures instead +of two, to say nothing of the added liability to error, which increases +in the exact ratio of the number of figures to be written. Which of these +two forms of expression is more quickly written, or stamped, or read? By +which method of notation will the library messenger boys or girls soonest +find the book? This leads me to say what cannot be too strongly insisted +upon; all library methods should be time-saving methods, and so devised +for the benefit alike of the librarian, the assistants, and the readers. +Until one has learned the supreme value of moments, he will not be fit +for a librarian. The same method by Arabic numerals only, should be used +in all references to books; and it would be well if the legal fashion of +citing authorities by volume and page, now adopted in most law books, +were extended to all literature--thus: + +"3 Macaulay's England, 481. N. Y. 1854," instead of "Macaulay's England, +N. Y. ed. 1854. vol. 3, page 481." It is a matter of congratulation to +all librarians, as well as to the reading public, that Poole's Indexes to +Periodical Literature have wisely adopted Arabic figures only, both for +volume and page. The valuable time thus saved to all is quite +incalculable. + +Every book which is leather-bound has its back divided off into panels or +sections, by the band across the back or by the gold or plain fillet or +roll forming part of the finish of the book. These panels are usually +five or six in number, the former being the more common. Now it is the +librarian's function to prescribe in which of these panels the lettering +of the book--especially where there is double lettering--shall go. Thus + + | COUSIN | | | | | + | ---- | | | | NEW | + 2nd | HISTORY | 4th | WIGHT | End |YORK, | + panel | OF | panel | | |1852. | + | MODERN | | | | | + | PHILOSOPHY.| | | | | + +Many books, especially dramatic works, and the collected works of authors +require the contents of the various volumes to be briefed on the back. +Here is a Shakespeare, for example, in 10 volumes, or a Swift in 19, or +Carlyle in 33, and you want to find _King Lear_, or _Gulliver's Travels_, +or _Heroes and Hero Worship_. The other volumes concern you not--but you +want the shortest road to these. If the name of each play is briefed by +the first word upon the different volumes of your Shakespeare, or the +contents of each volume upon the Swift and the Carlyle,--as they should +be--you find instantly what you want, with one glance of the eye along +the backs. If put to the trouble of opening every volume to find the +contents, or of hunting it in the index, or the library catalogue, you +lose precious time, while readers wait, thus making the needless delay +cumulative, and as it must be often repeated, indefinite. + +Each volume should have its date and place of publication plainly +lettered at the lower end, or what binders term the tail of the book. +This often saves time, as you may not want an edition of old date, or +_vice versa_, while the place and date enable readers' tickets to be +filled out quickly without the book. The name of the library might well +be lettered also on the back, being more obvious as a permanent means of +identification than the book-plate or inside stamp. + +Books should never be used when fresh from the binder's hands. The covers +are then always damp, and warp on exposure to air and heat. Unless +pressed firmly in shelves, or in piles, for at least two weeks, they may +become incurably warped out of shape. Many an otherwise handsomely bound +book is ruined by neglect of this caution, for once thoroughly dried in +its warped condition, there is no remedy save the costly one of +rebinding. + +Books are frequently lettered so carelessly that the titles instead of +aligning, or being in straight horizontal lines, run obliquely upward or +downward, thus defacing the volume. Errors in spelling words are also +liable to occur. All crooked lettering and all mistakes in spelling +should at once be rejected, and the faulty books returned to the binder, +to be corrected at his own expense. This severe revision of all books +when newly bound, before they are placed upon the shelves, should be done +by the librarian's or owner's own eye--not entrusted to subordinates, +unless to one thoroughly skilled. + +One should never receive back books from a binder without collating them, +to see if all are perfect as to pages, and if all plates or maps are in +place. If deficiencies are found, the binder, and not the library is +responsible, provided the book was known to be perfect when sent for +binding. + +In the Congressional Library I had the periodicals which are analyzed in +Poole's Index of Periodical Literature thoroughly compared and +re-lettered, wherever necessary, to make the series of volumes correspond +with the references in that invaluable and labor-saving index. For +instance, the Eclectic Review, as published in London, had eight distinct +and successive series (thus confusing reference by making eight different +volumes called 1, 2, 3, etc.) each with a different numbering, "First +series, 2d series," etc., which Poole's Index very properly consolidated +into one, for convenient reference. By adding the figures as scheduled in +that work--prefixed by the words _Poole's Index No._ ---- or simply +_Poole_, in small letters, followed by the figure of the volume as given +in that index, you will find a saving of time in hunting and supplying +references that is almost incalculable. If you cannot afford to have this +re-numbering done by a binder in gilt letters, it will many times repay +the cost and time of doing it on thin manila paper titles, written or +printed by a numbering machine and pasted on the backs of the volumes. + +In all periodicals,--magazines and serials of every kind,--the covers and +their advertisements should be bound in their proper place, with each +month or number of the periodical, though it may interrupt the continuity +of the paging. Thus will be preserved valuable contemporary records +respecting prices, bibliographical information, etc., which should never +be destroyed, as it is illustrative of the life and history of the +period. The covers of the magazines, too, frequently contain the table of +contents of the number, which of course must be prefixed to it, in order +to be of any use. If advertising pages are very numerous and bulky, (as +in many popular periodicals of late years) they may well be bound at the +end of the volume, or, if so many as to make the volume excessively +thick, they might be bound in a supplementary volume. In all books, +half-titles or bastard titles, as they are called, should be bound in, as +they are a part of the book. + +With each lot of books to be bound, there should always be sent a sample +volume of good work as a pattern, that the binder may have no excuse for +hasty or inferior workmanship. + +The Grolier Club was founded in New York in 1884, having for its objects +to promote the literary study and progress of the arts pertaining to the +production of books. It has published more than twenty books in sumptuous +style, and mostly in quarto form, the editions being limited to 150 +copies at first, since increased to 300, under the rapidly enlarging +membership of the Club. Most of these books relate to fine binding, fine +printing, or fine illustration of books, or are intended to exemplify +them, and by their means, by lectures, and exhibitions of fine book-work, +this society has contributed much toward the diffusion of correct taste. +More care has been bestowed upon fine binding in New York than in London +itself. In fact, elegant book-binding is coming to be recognized as one +of the foremost of the decorative arts. + +The art of designing book-covers and patterns for gilding books has +engaged the talents of many artists, among whom may be named Edwin A. +Abbey, Howard Pyle, Stanford White, and Elihu Vedder. Nor have skilful +designs been wanting among women, as witness Mrs. Whitman's elegant +tea-leaf border for the cover of Dr. O. W. Holmes's "Over the Tea-cups," +and Miss Alice Morse's arabesques and medallions for Lafcadio Hearn's +"Two Years in the French West Indies." Miss May Morris designed many +tasteful letters for the fine bindings executed by Mr. Cobden-Sanderson +of London, and Kate Greenaway's many exquisite little books for little +people have become widely known for their quaint and curious cover +designs. A new field thus opens for skilled cultivators of the beautiful +who have an eye for the art of drawing. + +Mr. William Matthews, the accomplished New York binder, in an address +before the Grolier Club in 1895, said: "I have been astonished that so +few women--in America, I know none--are encouragers of the art; they +certainly could not bestow their taste on anything that would do them +more credit, or as a study, give them more satisfaction." It is but fair +to add that since this judgment was put forth, its implied reproach is no +longer applicable: a number of American women have interested themselves +in the study of binding as a fine art; and some few in practical work as +binders of books. + +There is no question that readers take a greater interest in books that +are neatly and attractively bound, than in volumes dressed in a mean +garb. No book owner or librarian with any knowledge of the incurable +defects of calf, sheep, or roan leather, if he has any regard for the +usefulness or the economies of his library, will use them in binding +books that are to possess permanent value in personal or public use. True +economy lies in employing the best description of binding in the first +instance. + +When it is considered that the purposed object of book-binding is to +preserve in a shape at once attractive and permanent, the best and +noblest thoughts of man, it rises to a high rank among the arts. Side by +side with printing, it strives after that perfection which shall ensure +the perpetuity of human thought. Thus a book, clothed in morocco, is not +a mere piece of mechanism, but a vehicle in which the intellectual life +of writers no longer on earth is transmitted from age to age. And it is +the art of book-binding which renders libraries possible. What the +author, the printer, and the binder create, the library takes charge of +and preserves. It is thus that the material and the practical link +themselves indissolubly with the ideal. And the ideal of every true +librarian should be so to care for the embodiments of intelligence +entrusted to his guardianship, that they may become in the highest degree +useful to mankind. In this sense, the care bestowed upon thorough and +enduring binding can hardly be overrated, since the life of the book +depends upon it. + + + + +CHAPTER 4. + +PREPARATION FOR THE SHELVES: BOOK PLATES, ETC. + + +When any lot of books is acquired, whether by purchase from book-dealers +or from auction, or by presentation, the first step to be taken, after +seeing that they agree with the bill, and have been collated, in +accordance with methods elsewhere given, should be to stamp and label +each volume, as the property of the library. These two processes are +quite distinct, and may be performed by one or two persons, according to +convenience, or to the library force employed. The stamp may be the +ordinary rubber one, inked by striking on a pad, and ink of any color may +be used, although black or blue ink has the neatest appearance. The stamp +should bear the name of the library, in clear, legible, plain type, with +year of acquisition of the book in the centre, followed by the month and +day if desired. A more permanent kind of stamp is the embossing stamp, +which is a steel die, the letters cut in relief, but it is very expensive +and slow, requiring the leaf to be inserted between the two parts of the +stamp, though the impression, once made, is practically indelible. + +The size of the stamp (which is preferably oval in shape) should not +exceed 11/4 to 11/2 inches in diameter, as a large, coarse stamp never +presents a neat appearance on a book. Indeed, many books are too small to +admit any but a stamp of very moderate dimensions. The books should be +stamped on the verso (reverse) of the title page, or if preferred, on the +widest unprinted portion of the title-page, preferably on the right hand +of the centre, or just below the centre on the right. This, because its +impression is far more legible on the plain white surface than on any +part of the printed title. In a circulating library, the stamps should be +impressed on one or more pages in the body of the book, as well as on the +last page, as a means of identification if the book is stolen or +otherwise lost; as it is very easy to erase the impression of a rubber +stamp from the title-page, and thereby commit a fraud by appropriating or +selling the book. In such a case, the duplicate or triplicate impression +of the stamp on some subsequent page (say page 5 or 16, many books having +but few pages) as fixed upon by the librarian, is quite likely to escape +notice of the thief, while it remains a safe-guard, enabling the +librarian to reclaim the book, wherever found. The law will enforce this +right of free reclamation in favor of a public library, in the case of +stolen books, no matter in what hands found, and even though the last +holder may be an innocent purchaser. All libraries are victimized at some +time by unscrupulous or dishonest readers, who will appropriate books, +thinking themselves safe from detection, and sometimes easing their +consciences, (if they have any) by the plea that the book is in a measure +public property. + +In these cases, there is no absolute safe-guard, as it is easy to carry +off a book under one's coat, and the librarian and his few aids are far +too busy to act as detectives in watching readers. Still, a vigilant +librarian will almost always find out, by some suspicious +circumstance--such as the hiding of books away, or a certain furtive +action observed in a reader--who are the persons that should be watched, +and when it is advisable to call in the policeman. + +The British Museum Library, which has no circulation or book lending, +enforces a rule that no one making his exit can have a book with him, +unless checked as his own property, all overcoats and other wraps being +of course checked at the door. + +It is a melancholy fact, duly recorded in a Massachusetts paper, that no +less than two hundred and fifty volumes, duly labeled and stamped as +public library books, were stolen from a single library in a single year, +and sold to second-hand booksellers. + +The impression of the stamp in the middle of a certain page, known to the +librarian, renders it less liable to detection by others, while if +stamped on the lower unprinted margin, it might be cut out by a designing +person. + +Next to the stamping, comes the labeling of the books to be added to the +library. This is a mechanical process, and yet one of much importance. +Upon its being done neatly and properly, depends the good or bad +appearance of the library books, as labels with rough or ragged edges, or +put on askew, or trimmed irregularly at their margins, present an ugly +and unfinished aspect, offensive to the eye of good taste, and reflecting +discredit on the management. A librarian should take pride in seeing all +details of his work carefully and neatly carried out. If he cannot have +perfection, from want of time, he should always aim at it, at least, and +then only will he come near to achieving it. + +The label, or book-plate (for they are one and the same thing) should be +of convenient size to go into books both small and large; and a good size +is approximately 21/4 inches wide by 11/2 inches high when trimmed. As +comparatively few libraries care to go to the expense, which is about ten +times that of printing, of an engraved label (although such work adds to +the attractiveness of the books containing it) it should be printed in +clear, not ornamental type, with the name of the library, that of the +city or town in which it is located (unless forming a part of the title) +and the abbreviation No. for number, with such other spaces for section +marks or divisions, shelf-marks, etc., as the classification adopted may +require. The whole should be enclosed in an ornamental border--not too +ornate for good taste. + +The labels, nicely trimmed to uniform size by a cutting machine, (if that +is not in the library equipment, any binder will do it for you) are next +to be pasted or gummed, as preferred. This process is a nice one, +requiring patience, care, and practice. Most libraries are full of books +imperfectly labelled, pasted on in crooked fashion, or perhaps damaging +the end-leaves by an over-use of paste, causing the leaves to adhere to +the page labelled--which should always be the inside left hand cover of +the book. This slovenly work is unworthy of a skilled librarian, who +should not suffer torn waste leaves, nor daubs of over-running paste in +any of his books. To prevent both these blunders in library economy, it +is only needful to instruct any intelligent assistant thoroughly, by +practical example how to do it--accompanied by a counter-example how not +to do it. The way to do it is to have your paste as thin as that used by +binders in pasting their fly-leaves, or their leather, or about the +consistency of porridge or pea soup. Then lay the label or book-plate +face downward on a board or table covered with blotting paper, dip your +paste brush (a half inch bristle brush is the best) in the paste, stroke +it (to remove too much adhering matter) on the inner side of your paste +cup, then apply it across the whole surface of the label, with light, +even strokes of the brush, until you see that it is all moistened with +paste. Next, take up the label and lay it evenly in the middle of the +left inner cover page of the book to be labelled, and with a small piece +of paper (not with the naked fingers) laid over it, stroke it down firmly +in its place, by rubbing over a few times the incumbent paper. This being +properly done (and it is done by an expert, once learned, very rapidly) +your book-plate will be firmly and smoothly pasted in, with no exuding +of paste at the edges, to spoil the fly-leaves, and no curling up of +edges because insufficiently pasted down. + +So much for the book-plate--for the inside of the volumes; now let us +turn attention to the outside label. This is necessarily very much +smaller than the book-plate: in fact, it should not be larger than +three-quarters or seven-eighths of an inch in diameter, and even smaller +for the thinner volumes, while in the case of the very smallest, or +thinnest of books, it becomes necessary to paste the labels on the side, +instead of on the back. This label is to contain the section and +shelf-mark of the book, marked by plain figures, according to the plan of +classification adopted. When well done, it is an inexpressible comfort to +any librarian, because it shows at one glance of the eye, and without +opening the book at all, just where in the wide range of the +miscellaneous library it is to go. Thus the book service of every day is +incalculably aided, and the books are both found when sought on the +shelves, and replaced there, with no trouble of opening them. + +This outer-label system once established, in strict correspondence with +the catalogue, the only part of the librarian's work remaining to be +prescribed in this field, concerns the kind of label to be selected, and +the method of affixing them to the books. The adhesive gummed labels +furnished by the Library Bureau, or those manufactured by the Dennison +Company of New York have the requisite qualities for practical use. They +may be purchased in sheets, or cut apart, as convenient handling may +dictate. Having first written in ink in plain figures, as large as the +labels will bear, the proper locality marks, take a label moistener (a +hollow tube filled with water, provided with a bit of sponge at the end +and sold by stationers) and wet the label throughout its surface, then +fix it on the back of the book, on the smooth part of the binding near +the lower end, and with a piece of paper (not the fingers) press it down +firmly to its place by repeated rubbings. If thoroughly done, the labels +will not peel off nor curl up at the edges for a long time. Under much +usage of the volumes, however, they must occasionally be renewed. + +When the books being prepared for the shelves have all been duly +collated, labelled and stamped, processes which should precede +cataloguing them, they are next ready for the cataloguer. His functions +having been elsewhere described, it need only be said that the books when +catalogued and handed over to the reviser, (or whoever is to scrutinize +the titles and assign them their proper places in the library +classification) are to have the shelf-marks of the card-titles written on +the inside labels, as well as upon the outside. + +When this is done, the title-cards can be withdrawn and alphabeted in the +catalogue drawers. Next, all the books thus catalogued, labelled, and +supposed to be ready for the shelves, should be examined with reference +to three points: + +1st. Whether any of the volumes need re-lettering. + +2nd. Whether any of them require re-binding. + +3rd. If any of the bindings are in need of repair. + +In any lot of books purchased or presented, are almost always to be found +some that are wrongly or imperfectly lettered on the back. Before these +are ready for the shelves, they should be carefully gone through with, +and all errors or shortcomings corrected. It is needful to send to the +binder + +1st. All books which lack the name of the author on the back. This should +be stamped by the binder at the head, if there is room--if not, in the +middle panel on the back of the book. + +2nd. All books lettered with mis-spelled words. + +3rd. All volumes in sets, embracing several distinct works--to have the +name of each book in the contents plainly stamped on the outside. + +4th. All books wholly without titles on the back, of which many are +published--the title being frequently given on the side only, or in the +interior alone. + +5th. All periodicals having the volume on the back, without the year, to +have the year lettered; and periodicals having the year, but not the +volume, are to have the number of the volume added. + +If these things, all essential to good management and prompt library +service, are not done before the books go to their shelves, the chances +are that they will not be done at all. + +The second requisite to be attended to is to examine whether any of the +volumes catalogued require to be bound or re-bound. In any lot of books +of considerable extent, there will always be some (especially if from +auction sales) dilapidated and shaken, so as to unfit them for use. There +will be others so soiled in the bindings or the edges as to be positively +shabby, and they should be re-bound to render them presentable. + +The third point demanding attention is to see what volumes need repair. +It very often happens that books otherwise pretty well bound have torn +corners, or rubbed or shop-worn backs, or shabby marbled paper frayed at +the sides, or some other defect, which may be cured by mending or +furbishing up, without re-binding. This a skilful binder is always +competent to take in charge; and as in the other cases, it should have +attention immediately upon the acquisition of the books. + +All books coming into a library which contain autographs, book-plates of +former owners, coats of arms, presentation inscriptions from the author, +monograms, or other distinguishing features, should preserve them as of +interest to the present or the future. + +And all printed paper covers should be carefully preserved by binding +them inside the new cover which the book receives, thus preserving +authentic evidence of the form in which the book was first issued to the +public, and often its original price. In like manner, when a cloth-bound +book comes to re-binding, its side and back covers may be bound in at the +end of the book, as showing the style in which it was originally issued, +frequently displaying much artistic beauty. + +Whoever receives back any books which have been out in circulation, +whether it be the librarian or assistant, must examine each volume, to +see if it is in apparent good order. If it is found (as frequently +happens) that it is shaky and loose, or if leaves are ready to drop out, +or if the cover is nearly off, it should never be allowed to go back to +the shelves, but laid aside for re-binding or repair with the next lot +sent to the binder. Only prompt vigilance on this point, combined with +the requirement of speedy return by the binder, will save the loss or +injury beyond repair of many books. It will also save the patrons of the +library from the frequent inconvenience of having to do without books, +which should be on the shelves for their use. How frequent this sending +of books to repair should be, cannot be settled by any arbitrary rule; +but it would be wise, in the interest of all, to do it as often as two or +three dozen damaged books are accumulated. + +If you find other injury to a book returned, than the natural wear and +tear that the library must assume, if a book, for example, is blotched +with ink, or soiled with grease, or has been so far wet as to be badly +stained in the leaves, or if it is found torn in any part on a hasty +inspection, or if a plate or a map is missing, or the binding is +violently broken (as sometimes happens) then the damage should be borne +by the reader, and not by the library. This will sometimes require the +purchase of a fresh copy of the book, which no fair-minded reader can +object to pay, who is favored with the privileges of free enjoyment of +the treasures of a public library. Indeed, it will be found in the +majority of cases that honest readers themselves call attention to such +injuries as books have accidentally received while in their possession, +with voluntary offer to make good the damage. + +All unbound or paper covered volumes should be reserved from the shelves, +and not supplied to readers until bound. This rule may be relaxed (as +there is almost no rule without some valid exception) in the case of a +popular new book, issued only in paper covers, if it is desired to give +an opportunity of early perusal to readers frequenting the library. But +such books should not be permitted to circulate, as they would soon be +worn to pieces by handling. Only books dressed in a substantial covering +are fit to be loaned out of any library. In preparing for the bindery any +new books, or old ones to be re-bound or repaired, lists should be made +of any convenient number set apart for the purpose, prompt return should +be required, and all should be checked off on the list when returned. + +No shelf in a well-regulated library should be unprovided with +book-supports, in order to prevent the volumes from sagging and straining +by falling against one another, in a long row of books. Numerous +different devices are in the market for this purpose, from the solid +brick to the light sheet-iron support; but it is important to protect the +end of every row from strain on the bindings, and the cost of book +supports is indefinitely less than that of the re-binding entailed by +neglecting to use them. + +Some libraries of circulation make it a rule to cover all their books +with paper or thin muslin covers, before they are placed on the shelves +for use. This method has its advantages and its drawbacks. It doubtless +protects the bindings from soiling, and where books circulate widely and +long, no one who has seen how foul with dirt they become, can doubt the +expediency of at least trying the experiment of clean covers. They should +be of the firmest thin but tough Manila paper, and it is claimed that +twenty renewals of clean paper covers actually cost less than one +re-binding. On the other hand, it is not to be denied that books thus +covered look shabby, monotonous, and uninteresting. In the library used +for reference and reading only, without circulation, covers are quite out +of place. + +Book-plates having been briefly referred to above, a few words as to +their styles and uses may here be pertinent. The name "book-plate" is a +clumsy and misleading title, suggesting to the uninitiated the +illustrations or plates which embellish the text of a book. The name _Ex +libris_, two latin words used for book-plate in all European languages, +is clearer, but still not exact, as a definition of the thing, signifying +simply "out of books." A book-plate is the owner's or the library's +distinctive mark of ownership, pasted upon the inside cover, whether it +be a simple name-label, or an elaborately engraved heraldic or pictorial +device. The earliest known book-plates date back to the fifteenth +century, and are of German origin, though English plates are known as +early as 1700. In France, specimens appear for the first time between +1600 and 1650. + +Foreign book-plates are, as a rule, heraldic in design, as are also the +early American plates, representing the coat of arms or family crest of +the owner of the books, with a motto of some kind. The fashion of +collecting these owners' marks, as such, irrespective of the books +containing them, is a recent and very possibly a passing mania. Still, +there is something of interest in early American plates, and in those +used by distinguished men, aside from the collector's fad. Some of the +first American engravers showed their skill in these designs, and a +signed and dated plate engraved by Nathaniel Hurd, for example, of +Boston, is of some historic value as an example of early American art. He +engraved many plates about the middle of the last century, and died in +1777. Paul Revere, who was an engraver, designed and executed some few +plates, which are rare, and highly prized, more for his name than for his +skill, for, as generally known, he was a noted patriot of the +Revolutionary period, belonging by his acts to the heroic age of American +history. + +A book of George Washington's containing his book-plate has an added +interest, though the plate itself is an armorial design, not at all well +executed. Its motto is "_exitus acta probat_"--the event justifies the +deed. From its rarity and the high price it commands, it has probably +been the only American book-plate ever counterfeited. At an auction sale +of books in Washington in 1863, this counterfeit plate had been placed in +many books to give a fictitious value, but the fraud was discovered and +announced by the present writer, just before the books were sold. Yet the +sale was attended by many attracted to bid upon books said to have been +owned by Washington, and among them the late Dr. W. F. Poole, then +librarian of the Boston Athenaeum, which possesses most of the library +authentically known to have been at Mount Vernon. + +John Adams and John Quincy Adams used book-plates, and James Monroe and +John Tyler each had a plain name-label. These are all of our presidents +known to have used them, except General Garfield, who had a printed +book-plate of simple design, with the motto "_inter folia fructus_." +Eleven of the signers of the Declaration of Independence are known to +have had these signs of gentle birth--for in the early years of the +American Colonies, it was only the families of aristocratic connection +and scholarly tastes who indulged in what may be termed a superfluous +luxury. + +The plates used among the Southern settlers were generally ordered from +England, and not at all American. The Northern plates were more +frequently of native design and execution, and therefore of much greater +value and interest, though far inferior in style of workmanship and +elaboration of ornament to the best European ones. + +The ordinary library label is also a book-plate, and some of the early +libraries and small collections have elaborate designs. The early Harvard +College library plate was a large and fine piece of engraving by Hurd. +The Harvard Library had some few of this fine engraved label printed in +red ink, and placed in the rarer books of the library--as a reminder that +the works containing the rubricated book-plates were not to be drawn out +by students. + +The learned bibliophile and librarian of Florence, Magliabecchi, who died +in 1714, devised for his library of thirty thousand volumes, which he +bequeathed to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, a book-plate representing his +own profile on a medal surrounded with books and oak boughs, with the +inscription--"Antonius Magliabecchius Florentinus." + +Some book-plates embody designs of great beauty. The late George +Bancroft's, engraved on copper, represented a winged cherub (from +Raphael) gazing sun-ward, holding a tablet with the inscription "_Eis +phaos_," toward the light. + +Some French book-plates aim at humor or caricature. One familiar example +represents an old book-worm mounted on a tall ladder in a library, +profoundly absorbed in reading, and utterly unconscious that the room +beneath him is on fire. + +To those who ask of what possible utility it can be to cultivate so +unfruitful a pursuit as the devising or the collecting of book-plates, it +may be pertinent to state the claim made in behalf of the amateurs of +this art, by a connoisseur, namely, "Book-plates foster the study of art, +history, genealogy, and human character." On this theory, we may add, the +coat of arms or family crest teaches heraldry; the mottoes or +inscriptions chosen cultivate the taste for language and sententious +literature; the engraving appeals to the sense of the artistic; the names +of early or ancient families who are often thus commemorated teach +biography, history, or genealogy; while the great variety of sentiments +selected for the plates illustrate the character and taste of those +selecting them. + +On the other hand, it must be said that the coat of arms fails to +indicate individual taste or genius, and might better be supplanted by +original and characteristic designs, especially such as relate to books, +libraries, and learning. + + + + +CHAPTER 5. + +THE ENEMIES OF BOOKS. + + +We have seen in former chapters how the books of a library are acquired, +how they are prepared for the shelves, or for use, and how they are or +should be bound. Let us now consider the important questions which +involve the care, the protection, and the preservation of the books. + +Every librarian or book owner should be something more than a custodian +of the books in his collection. He should also exercise perpetual +vigilance with regard to their safety and condition. The books of every +library are beset by dangers and by enemies. Some of these are open and +palpable; others are secret, illusive, little suspected, and liable to +come unlooked for and without warning. Some of these enemies are +impersonal and immaterial, but none the less deadly; others are +personally human in form, but most inhuman in their careless and brutal +treatment of books. How far and how fatally the books of many libraries +have been injured by these ever active and persistent enemies can never +be adequately told. But we may point out what the several dangers are +which beset them, and how far the watchful care of the librarian and his +assistants may fore-stall or prevent them. + +One of the foremost of the inanimate enemies of books is dust. In some +libraries the atmosphere is dust-laden, to a degree which seems +incredible until you witness its results in the deposits upon books, +which soil your fingers, and contaminate the air you breathe, as you +brush or blow it away. Peculiarly liable to dust are library rooms +located in populous towns, or in business streets, and built close to +the avenues of traffic. Here, the dust is driven in at the windows and +doors by every breeze that blows. It is an omnipresent evil, that cannot +be escaped or very largely remedied. As preventive measures, care should +be taken not to build libraries too near the street, but to have ample +front and side yards to isolate the books as far as may be consistent +with convenient access. Where the library is already located immediately +on the street, a subscription for sprinkling the thoroughfare with water, +the year round, would be true economy. + +In some cities, the evils of street dust are supplemented by the +mischiefs of coal smoke, to an aggravated degree. Wherever soft coal is +burned as the principal fuel, a black, fuliginous substance goes floating +through the air, and soils every thing it touches. It penetrates into +houses and public buildings, often intensified by their own interior use +of the same generator of dirt, and covers the books of the library with +its foul deposits. You may see, in the public libraries of some western +cities, how this perpetual curse of coal smoke has penetrated the leaves +of all the books, resisting all efforts to keep it out, and slowly but +surely deteriorating both paper and bindings. Here, preventive measures +are impossible, unless some device for consuming the coal smoke of +chimneys and factories were made compulsory, or the evil somewhat +mitigated by using a less dangerous fuel within the library. + +But, aside from these afflictions of dust, in its most aggravated form, +every library and every room in any building is subject to its persistent +visitations. Wherever carpets or rugs cover the floors, there dust has an +assured abiding-place, and it is diffused throughout the apartment in +impalpable clouds, at every sweeping of the floors. Hence it would be +wise to adopt in public libraries a floor-covering like linoleum, or some +substance other than woolen, which would be measurably free from dust, +while soft enough to deaden the sound of feet upon the floors. Even with +this preventive precaution, there will always be dust enough, and too +much for comfort, or for the health of the books. Only a thorough +dusting, carried on if possible daily, can prevent an accumulation of +dust, at once deleterious to the durability of the books, and to the +comfort both of librarians and readers. Dust is an insidious foe, +stealing on its march silently and unobserved, yet, however impalpable in +the atmosphere of a library, it will settle upon the tops of every shelf +of books, it will penetrate their inner leaves, it will lodge upon the +bindings, soiling books and readers, and constituting a perpetual +annoyance. + +It is not enough to dust the tops of the books periodically; a more full +and radical remedy is required, to render library books presentable. At +no long intervals, there should be a thorough library cleaning, as +drastic and complete as the house-cleaning which neat housewives +institute twice a year, with such wholesome results. The books are to be +taken down from the shelves, and subjected to a shaking-up process, which +will remove more of the dust they have absorbed than any brush can reach. +To do this effectually, take them, if of moderate thickness, by the +half-dozen at a time from the shelf, hold them loosely on a table, their +fronts downward, backs uppermost, then with a hand at either side of the +little pile, strike them smartly together a few times, until the dust, +which will fly from them in a very palpable cloud, ceases to fall. Then +lay them on their ends, with the tops uppermost on the table, and repeat +the concussion in that posture, when you will eliminate a fresh crop of +dust, though not so thick as the first. After this, let each volume of +the lot be brushed over at the sides and back with a soft (never stiff) +brush, or else with a piece of cotton or woolen cloth, and so restored +clean to the shelves. While this thorough method of cleansing will take +time and pains, it will pay in the long run. It will not eliminate all +the dust (which in a large collection is a physical impossibility) but it +will reduce it to a minimum. Faithfully carried out, as a periodical +supplement to a daily dusting of the books as they stand on the shelves, +it will immensely relieve the librarian or book-owner, who can then, (and +then only) feel that he has done his whole duty by his books. + +Another dangerous enemy of the library book is damp, already briefly +referred to. Books kept in any basement room, or near any wall, absorb +moisture with avidity; both paper and bindings becoming mildewed, and +often covered with blue mould. If long left in this perilous condition, +sure destruction follows; the glue or paste which fastens the cover +softens, the leather loses its tenacity, and the leaves slowly rot, until +the worthless volumes smell to heaven. Books thus injured may be +partially recovered, before the advanced stage of decomposition, by +removal to a dry atmosphere, and by taking the volumes apart, drying the +sheets, and rebinding--a very expensive, but necessary remedy, provided +the books are deemed worth preserving. + +But a true remedy is the preventive one. No library should ever be kept, +even in part, in a basement story, nor should any books ever be located +near the wall of a building. All walls absorb, retain, and give out +moisture, and are dangerous and oft-times fatal neighbors to books. Let +the shelves be located at right angles to every wall--with the end +nearest to it at least twelve to eighteen inches removed, and the danger +will be obviated. + +A third enemy of the book is heat. Most libraries are unfortunately +over-heated,--sometimes from defective means of controlling the +temperature, and sometimes from carelessness or want of thought in the +attendant. A high temperature is very destructive to books. It warps +their covers, so that volumes unprotected by their fellows, or by a book +support, tend to curl up, and stay warped until they become a nuisance. +It also injures the paper of the volumes by over-heating, and weakening +the tenacity of the leaves held together by the glue on the back, besides +drying to an extreme the leather, till it cracks or crumbles under the +heat. The upper shelves or galleries of any library are most seriously +affected by over-heating, because the natural law causes the heat to rise +toward the ceiling. If you put your hand on some books occupying the +highest places in some library rooms, in mid-winter, when the fires are +kept at their maximum, the heat of the volume will almost burn your +fingers. If these books were sentient beings, and could speak, would they +not say--"our sufferings are intolerable?" + +The remedy is of course a preventive one; never to suffer the library to +become over-heated, and to have proper ventilation on every floor, +communicating with the air outside. Seventy degrees Fahrenheit is a safe +and proper maximum temperature for books and librarian. + +The mischief arising from gas exhalations is another serious source of +danger to books. In many well-lighted libraries, the heat itself from the +numerous gas-burners is sufficient to injure them, and there is besides a +sulphuric acid escaping from the coal-gas fluid, in combustion, which is +most deleterious to bindings. The only remedy appears to be, where +libraries are open evenings, to furnish them with electric lights. This +improved mode of illumination is now so perfected, and so widely +diffused, that it may be reckoned a positive boon to public libraries, in +saving their books from one of their worst and most destructive enemies. + +Another of the potent enemies of books is fire. I refer, not to +over-heating the rooms they occupy, but to the risk they continually run, +in most libraries, of total destruction. The chronicle of burned +libraries would make a long and melancholy record, on which there is no +space here to enter. Irreparable losses of manuscripts and early printed +books, and precious volumes printed in small editions, have arisen from +men's neglect of building our book-repositories fire-proof. In all +libraries not provided with iron or steel shelves, there is perpetual +danger. Books do not burn easily, unless surrounded with combustibles, +but these are furnished in nearly all libraries, by surrounding the books +on three sides with wooden shelves, which need only to be ignited at any +point to put the whole collection in a blaze. Then follows the usual +abortive endeavor to save the library by the aid of fire engines, which +flood the building, until the water spoils nearly all which the fire does +not consume. The incalculable losses which the cause of learning has +sustained from the burning of public, university and ecclesiastical +libraries are far greater than the cost which the provision of fire-proof +repositories would have entailed. + +Of late years, there has been a partial reform in library construction. +Some have been built fire-proof throughout, with only stone, brick, +concrete and iron material, even to the floors and window casings. Many +more have had iron shelves and iron stacks to hold the shelves +constructed, and there are now several competing manufacturers of these +invaluable safeguards to books. The first library interior constructed +wholly of iron was that of the Library of Congress at Washington, which +had been twice consumed, first when the Capitol was burned by the British +army in 1814, and again in 1851, through a defective flue, when only +20,000 volumes were saved from the flames, out of a total of 55,000. The +example of iron construction has been slowly followed, until now the +large cities have most of their newly-constructed libraries approximately +fire-proof, although many are exposed to fire in parts, owing to a +niggardly and false economy. The lesson that what is worth doing at all +is worth doing well, and that every neglect of security brings sooner or +later irreparable loss, is very slowly learned. Whole hecatombs of books +have been sacrificed to the spirit of commercial greed, blind or +short-sighted enough not to see that secure protection to public +property, though costlier at first, is far cheaper in the end. You may +speak of insurance against library losses by fire, but what insurance +could restore the rare and costly Shakespearean treasures of the +Birmingham Free Library, or the unique and priceless manuscripts that +went up in flames in the city library of Strasburg, in 1870, or the many +precious and irreplaceable manuscript archives of so many of our States, +burned in the conflagration of their capitols? + +One would think that the civilized world had had lessons enough, ever +since that seventh century burning of the Alexandrian library by the +Caliph Omar, with that famous but apocryphal rhetorical dilemma, put in +his mouth perhaps by some nimble-witted reporter:--"If these books agree +with the Koran, they are useless, and should be burned: if not, they are +pernicious, and must not be spared." But the heedless world goes +carelessly on, deaf to the voice of reason, and the lessons of history, +amid the holocausts of literature and the wreck of blazing libraries, +uttering loud newspaper wails at each new instance of destruction, +forgotten in a week, then cheerfully renewing the business of building +libraries that invite the flames. + +Nothing here said should be interpreted as advice not to insure any +library, in all cases where it is not provided with iron cases for the +books, or a fire-proof building. On the contrary, the menaced destruction +of books or manuscripts that cannot be replaced should lead to securing +means in advance for replacing all the rest in case of loss by fire. And +the experience of the past points the wisdom of locating every library in +an isolated building, where risks of fire from other buildings are +reduced to a minimum, instead of in a block whose buildings (as in most +commercial structures) are lined with wood. + +You will perhaps attach but small importance at first thought, to the +next insidious foe to library books that I shall name--that is, wetting +by rain. Yet most buildings leak at the roof, sometime, and some old +buildings are subject to leaks all the time. Even under the roof of the +Capitol at Washington, at every melting of a heavy snow-fall, and on +occasion of violent and protracted rains, there have been leaks pouring +down water into the libraries located in the old part of the building. +Each of these saturated and injured its quota of books, some of which +could only be restored to available use by re-binding, and even then the +leaves were left water-stained in part. See to it that your library roof +is water-tight, or the contents of your library will be constantly +exposed to damage against which there is no insurance. + +Another besetting danger to the books of our libraries arises from +insects and vermin. These animated foes appear chiefly in the form of +book-worms, cockroaches, and mice. The first-named is rare in American +libraries, though its ravages have extended far and wide among the old +European ones. This minute little insect, whose scientific name is the +_anobium paniceum_, bores through the leaves of old volumes, making +sometimes holes which deface and mutilate the text. All our public +libraries, doubtless, have on their shelves old folios in vellum or +leather bindings, which present upon opening the disagreeable vision of +leaves eaten through (usually before they crossed the sea) by these +pernicious little borers. It is comforting to add, that I have never +known of any book-worm in the Congressional Library--except the human +variety, which is frequently in evidence. Georgetown College library once +sent me a specimen of the insect, which was found alive in one of its +volumes, but the united testimony of librarians is that this pest is rare +in the United States. As to remedies, the preventive one of sprinkling +the shelves twice a year with a mixture of powdered camphor and snuff, or +the vapor of benzine or carbolic acid, or other repellant chemicals, is +resorted to abroad, but I have not heard of any similar practice in this +country. I may remark in passing, that the term "book-worm" is a +misnomer, since it is not a worm at all, but an insect. A more serious +insect menace is the cockroach, a hungry, unclean little beast, which +frequents a good many libraries, and devours bindings (especially fresh +ones) to get at the paste or savory parts of the binding. The remedy for +this evil, when once found to exist, is to scatter the most effective +roach poison that can be found, which may arrest further ravages. + +Another insect pest is the Croton bug, (_Blatta Germanica_) which eats +into cloth bindings to get at the sizing or albumen. The late eminent +entomologist, Dr. C. V. Riley, pronounced them the worst pest known in +libraries, but observed that they do not attack books bound in leather, +and confine their ravages to the outside of cloth-bound books, never +troubling the leaves. The remedy prescribed is a powder in which +pyrethrum is the chief ingredient, sprinkled about the shelves. + +Among the rodents, mice are apt to be busy and mischievous infesters of +libraries. They are extremely fond of paste, and being in a chronic +state of hunger, they watch opportunities of getting at any library +receptacle of it. They will gnaw any fresh binding, whether of cloth, +board, or leather, to get at the coveted food. They will also gnaw some +books, and even pamphlets, without any apparent temptation of a succulent +nature. A good library cat or a series of mouse traps, skilfully baited, +may rid you of this evil. + +The injury that comes to library books from insufficient care in +protecting them on the shelves is great and incalculable. There are to be +seen in every library, volumes all twisted out of shape by the sagging or +leaning, to which the end-book is subjected, and which is often shared by +all its neighbors on the shelf. The inevitable result is that the book is +not only spoiled in its good looks, but (which is vastly more important) +it is injured in its binding, which is strained and weakened just in +proportion to the length of time in which it is subjected to such risks. +The plain remedy is to take care that every volume is supported upright +upon the shelf, in some way. When the shelf is full, the books will +support one another. But when volumes are withdrawn, or when a shelf is +only partly filled with books, the unsupported volumes tumble by force of +gravitation, and those next them sag and lean, or fall like a row of +bricks, pushing one another over. No shelf of books can safely be left in +this condition. Some one of the numerous book-supports that have been +contrived should be always ready, to hold up the volumes which are liable +to lean and fall. + +We come now to the active human enemies of books, and these are unhappily +found among some of the readers who frequent our libraries. These abuses +are manifold and far-reaching. Most of them are committed through +ignorance, and can be corrected by the courteous but firm interposition +of the librarian, instructing the delinquent how to treat a book in hand. +Others are wilful and unpardonable offences against property rights and +public morals, even if not made penal offences by law. One of these is +book mutilation, very widely practiced, but rarely detected until the +mischief is done, and the culprit gone. I have found whole pages torn out +of translations, in the volumes of Bohn's Classical Library, doubtless by +students wanting the translated text as a "crib" in their study of the +original tongue. Some readers will watch their opportunity, and mutilate +a book by cutting out plates or a map, to please their fancy, or perhaps +to make up a defective copy of the same work. Those consulting bound +files of newspapers will ruthlessly despoil them by cutting out articles +or correspondence, or advertisements, and carrying off the stolen +extracts, to save themselves the trouble of copying. Others, bolder +still, if not more unscrupulous, will deliberately carry off a library +book under a coat, or in a pocket, perhaps signing a false name to a +reader's ticket to hide the theft, or escape detection. Against these +scandalous practices, there is no absolute safeguard in any library. Even +where a police watch is kept, thefts are perpetrated, and in most +libraries where no watchman is employed, the librarian and his assistants +are commonly far too busy to exercise close scrutiny of all readers. As +one safeguard, no rare or specially costly book should be entrusted to a +reader except under the immediate eye of the librarian or assistant. +Ordinary books can be replaced if carried off, and by watching the +rarities, risk of theft can be reduced to a minimum. + +When newspapers are given out to readers, it should always be in a part +of the library where those using them are conscious of a surveillance +exercised over their movements. The penalty of neglecting this may at any +time be the mutilation of an important file, and it must be remembered +that such damage, once done, cannot be repaired. You can replace a +mutilated book usually by buying a new one, but a newspaper can almost +never be replaced. Even in the city of Boston, the librarian of the +Athenaeum library records the disgraceful fact, that "the temptation to +avoid the trouble of copying, by cutting out articles from newspapers is +too strong for the honesty of a considerable part of the public." And it +was recorded by the custodian of a public library in Albany that all the +plates were missing from certain books, that the poetry and best +illustrations were cut from magazines before they had lain on the tables +a week, and strange to say, that many of these depredations were +committed by women. + +It is a difficult problem how to prevent such outrages to decency, and +such irreparable depredations on the books in our libraries as destroy, +in great part, their value. A posted notice, reminding readers that +mutilation of books or periodicals is a penal offence, will warn off +many, if not all, from such acts of vandalism. If there is no law +punishing the offence, agitate until you get one. Expose through the +press such thefts and mutilations as are discovered. Interest readers +whom you know, to be watchful of those you do not know, and to quietly +report any observed violation of rules. When a culprit is detected, push +the case to prompt legal hearing, and let the penalty of the law be +enforced. Let it be known that the public property in books is too sacred +a right to be violated with impunity. Inculcate by every means and on +every opportunity the sentiment that readers who freely benefit by the +books supplied should themselves feel personal concern in their +cleanliness and preservation, and that the interest of the library is +really the interest of all. + +A daily abuse practiced by many readers in libraries, though without +wrongful intent, is the piling of one book on top of another while open. +This is inexcusable ill-treatment, for it subjects the open book thus +burdened, to injury, besides probably soiling its pages with dust. +Especially harmful is such careless treatment of large volumes of +newspapers or illustrated works. + +Careless use of ink is the cause of much injury to library books. As a +rule (to which the very fewest exceptions should be made) pencils only +should be allowed to readers, who must forego the use of ink, with the +inevitable risk of dropping it upon the book to its irreparable injury. +The use of ink in fountain pens is less objectionable. Tracing of maps or +plates should not be allowed, unless with a soft pencil. Under no +circumstances should tracing with a pen or other hard instrument be +permitted to any reader. Failure to enforce this rule may result in ruin +of valuable engravings or maps. + +There is one class of books which demand special and watchful care at the +hands of the librarian. These are the fine illustrated works, mostly in +large folio, which include the engravings of the art galleries of Europe, +and many other specially rare or costly publications. These should be +carefully shelved in cases where they can lie on their sides, not placed +upright, as in some collections, to lean over, and, sooner or later to +break their backs, and necessitate rebinding. When supplied to readers, +there should not be more than one volume at a time given out, to avoid +the risk, always threatening, of careless handling or of opening one +volume on top of another that is open. There should also be a printed +notice or label affixed to the side cover of every illustrated work +reading, "Never touch an engraving," or an equivalent warning. This will +go far, by its plain reminder, to prevent soiling the pages by the +fingers, a practice which rapidly deteriorates fine books, and if long +continued, renders them unfit to be exhibited to clean-handed readers. + +All plates should be stamped at some portion of their surface (it is +often done on the back) with the embossing stamp of the library, as a +means of identification if abstracted from the volume to which they +belong. + +Such books should, moreover, be consulted on a large table, or better an +adjustable stand (to avoid frequent lifting or shifting of the position +of the volume when inspecting the plates) and always under the eye of the +librarian or an assistant not far removed. These precautions will insure +far more careful treatment, and will result in handing down to a new +generation of readers many a rare and precious volume, which would +otherwise be destroyed or irretrievably injured in a very few years. The +library treasures which cost so much to bring together should never be +permitted to suffer from want of care to preserve them. + +All writing upon the margins of books should be prohibited--other than +simple pencil corrections of the text, as to an erroneous date, name, +etc., which corrections of errors should not only be permitted, but +welcomed, upon due verification. The marking of passages for copying or +citation should be tolerated only upon the rigid condition that every +user of the book rubs out his own pencil marks before returning it. I +have seen lawyers and others thoughtless enough of right and wrong to +mark long passages in pen and ink in books belonging to public libraries. +This is a practice to be sternly repressed, even at the cost of denying +further library privileges to the offender. + +Turning down leaves in a book to keep the place is one of the easily +besetting sins of too many readers. Those who thus dogs-ear a volume +should be taught that the vile practice weakens and wears out the leaves +thus folded down, and makes the book a more easy prey to dust and +disintegration. However busy I may be, I instinctively turn back every +turned-down leaf I notice in any book, before using it, or handing it to +another. A good safe-guard would be to provide a supply of little narrow +strips of paper, in the ticket boxes at the library tables to serve as +the book-markers so frequently needed by readers. For this purpose, no +thick or smooth calendered paper should be used, which falls out of any +loosely bound book too readily--but a thin soft paper un-sized, which +will be apt to retain its place. I have lost valuable time (which I shall +never see again) in trying to find the pages marked for me by a searcher +who had thoughtlessly inserted bits of card-board as markers--which kept +falling out by their own weight. The book-marks should be at least two +inches long, and not more than half an inch wide; and rough edges are +better than smooth ones, for they will adhere better to the head of the +volume where placed. Better still it is, to provide paper book-marks +forked at the lower end by slitting, then doubled so that the mark will +go on both sides of the leaf at once. This is the only sure safe-guard +against these bits of paper falling out, and thus losing the place. Never +put cards, or letters, or documents, or any solid substance into a book. +It weakens the binding, and if continued, often breaks the back. The fact +that most of the injuries to which books are exposed are unintentional +injuries does not alter the fact that they are none the less injuries to +be guarded against. Wilful perpetration of the many abuses referred to +may be rare, but the unconscious perpetrators should be instructed how to +use books by a vigilant librarian. And they who have thus been taught to +be careful of the books in a public library will learn to be more careful +of their own, which is a great step in the education of any one. + +It ought not to be needful to charge any one never to wet the finger to +turn over the leaves of a book--a childish habit, akin to running out the +tongue when writing, or moving the lips when reading to one's self. The +only proper way to turn the leaf is at the upper right-hand corner, and +the index-finger of the right hand will always be found competent to that +duty. + +Still less should it be needful to insist upon the importance to every +reader of books, of coming to their perusal clean-handed. When you +reflect that nine-tenths of the soiling and spoiling which books undergo +comes from the dirty hands of many readers, this becomes a vital point. +Fouquet, a learned book collector of France, used to keep a pile of white +gloves in the ante-room of his library, and no visitor was allowed to +cross the threshold, or to handle a book without putting on a pair, lest +he should soil the precious volumes with naked hands. Such a refinement +of care to keep books immaculate is not to be expected in this age of the +world; and yet, a librarian who respects his calling is often tempted to +wish that there were some means of compelling people to be more careful +about books than they are. + +It ought not ever to be true that an enemy to the welfare of library +books is found in the librarian himself, or in any of his assistants, yet +there have been those employed in the care of books who have abused their +positions and the volumes entrusted to their charge, not only by neglect +of care, (which is a negative injury) but by positive and continual ill +treatment. This may arise from ignorance of better methods, but ignorance +is a poor excuse for one credited with the intelligence of a librarian. +In some libraries, books are treated with positive indignity, and are +permanently injured by tightly wedging them together. Never crowd books +by main force into shelves too short or too small for them. It strains +the backs, and seriously injures the bindings. Every book should slip +easily past its fellows on the shelf. If a volume is too tall to go in +its place, it should be relegated to lower shelves for larger books, +never letting its head be crowded against the shelf above it. + +One should never pull books out from the shelf by their head-bands, or by +pulling at the binding, but place the finger firmly on the top of the +book, next to the binding, and press down while drawing out the volume. +From failure to observe this simple precaution, you will find in all +libraries multitudes of torn or broken bindings at the top--a wholly +needless defacement and waste. + +Never permit a book to be turned down on its face to keep the place. This +easily besetting habit weakens the book, and frequently soils its leaves +by contact with a dusty table. For the same reason, one volume should not +be placed within the leaves of another to keep the place where a +book-mark of paper, so easily supplied, should always be used. Books +should not be turned down on the fore-edges or fronts on the library +tables, as practiced in most book-stores, in order to better display the +stock. The same habit prevails in many libraries, from careless +inattention. When necessary, in order to better read the titles, they +should never be left long in such position. This treatment weakens the +back infallibly, and if long continued breaks it. Librarians, of all +persons in the world, should learn, and should lead others to learn, +never to treat a book with indignity, and how truly the life of a book +depends upon proper treatment, as well as that of an animated being. + +These things, and others of my suggestions, may seem trifles to some; but +to those who consider how much success in life depends upon attention to +what are called trifles--nay, how much both human taste and human +happiness are promoted by care regarding trifles, they will not appear +unimportant. The existence of schools to teach library science, and of +manuals devoted to similar laudable aims, is an auspicious omen of the +new reign of refined taste in those nobler arts of life which connect +themselves with literature, and are to be hailed as authentic evidences +of the onward progress of civilization. + + + + +CHAPTER 6. + +THE RESTORATION AND RECLAMATION OF BOOKS. + + +We are now to consider carefully the restoration and the reclamation of +the books of a library, whether public or private. + +Nothing can be more important than the means of restoring or reclaiming +library books that are lost or injured, since every such restoration will +save the funds of the library or collector from replacing them with fresh +or newly bought copies, and will enable it to furnish its stores with as +many new books as the money thus saved represents. The cardinal thing to +be kept always in view is a wise economy of means. An every-day prudence +is the price of successful administration. A management which permits any +of the enemies of books to destroy or damage them, thereby wasting the +substance of the library without repair, is a fatally defective +management, which should be changed as soon as possible. + +This consideration assumes added importance when it is remembered that +the means of nearly all our libraries are very limited and inadequate to +the drafts upon them, year by year. A great many libraries are compelled +to let their books needing rebinding accumulate, from the mere want of +money to pay for reclothing the nearly worn-out volumes, thus depriving +the readers for a considerable time, of the use of many coveted books. +And even with those which have large means, I have never yet heard of a +library that had enough, either to satisfy the eager desire of the +librarian to fill up deficiencies, or to meet fully the manifold wants of +readers. So much the more important, then, is it to husband every dollar +that can be saved, to keep the books in such good condition that they +will not need frequent rebinding, and to reduce to a minimum all the +evils which beset them, menacing their safety, or injuring their +condition. + +To attain these great ends, the librarian who is qualified for his +responsible position, must be both a preserver and a restorer of books. +If not personally able to go through the mechanical processes which +belong to the art of restoration, (and this is the case in all libraries +except the smallest) he should at least learn all about them, so as to be +able to teach them thoroughly and intelligently to an assistant. It is +frequently made an excuse for the soiled and slovenly and even torn +condition of books and bindings in a much used public library, that +neither the librarian nor his aids have any time to look into the +condition of the books, much less to repair any of the numerous damages +they sustain. But it should be remembered that in most libraries, even +the busiest, there are seasons of the day, or periods of very stormy +weather, when the frequentation of readers is quite small. Those times +should always be seized upon to take hold of volumes which have had to be +laid aside as damaged, in the hurry of business. To arrest such damages +at the threshold is the duty and the interest of the library. A torn leaf +can be quickly mended, a slightly broken binding can be pasted or glued, +turned-down leaves can be restored where they belong, a plate or map that +is started can be fastened in, by devoting a few minutes at the proper +time, and with the proper appliances ready at hand. Multitudes of volumes +can be so treated in the course of the year, thus saving the heavy cost +of rebinding. It is the proverbial stitch in time that saves nine. Never +wait, in such matters, for the leisure day that never comes, but seize +the golden moment as it flies, when no reader is interrupting you, and +clear off at least one of the little jobs that are awaiting your +attention. No one who does not know how to use the odd moments is +qualified for the duties of a librarian. I have seen, in country +libraries, the librarian and his lady assistant absorbed in reading +newspapers, with no other readers in the room. This is a use of valuable +time never to be indulged in during library hours. If they had given +those moments to proper care of the books under their charge, their +shelves would not have been found filled with neglected volumes, many of +which had been plainly badly treated and injured, but not beyond +reclamation by timely and provident care. + +It is amazing how any one can expect long employment as a librarian, who +takes no interest in the condition of the books under his charge. The way +to build up a library, and to establish the reputation of a librarian at +the same time, is to devote every energy and intelligence to the great +work in hand. Convince the library directors, by incessant care of the +condition of the books, that you are not only a fit, but an indispensable +custodian of them. Let them see your methods of preserving and restoring, +and they will be induced to give you every facility of which you stand in +need. Show them how the cost of binding or re-buying many books can be +saved by timely repair within the library, and then ask for another +assistant to be always employed on such work at very moderate cost. +Library directors and trustees are commonly intensely practical men, and +quick to see into the heart of good management. They do not want a +librarian who has a great reputation as a linguist, or an educator, or a +book-worm, but one who knows and cares about making their funds go as far +as possible, and can show them how he has saved by restoring old books, +enough money to pay for a great many new ones. + +Nothing is more common in public lending libraries than to find torn +leaves in some of the books. If the leaf is simply broken, without being +absolutely detached, or if part is torn off, and remains on hand, the +volume may be restored by a very simple process. Keep always at hand in +some drawer, a few sheets of thin "onion-skin" paper, or the transparent +adhesive paper supplied by the Library Bureau. Paste this on either side +of the torn leaf, seeing that it laps over all the points of juncture +where the tear occurred, and that the fitting of the text or reading +matter is complete and perfect. The paper being transparent, there will +be no difficulty in reading the torn page through it. + +This little piece of restoration should always be effected immediately on +discovery, both that the torn piece or fragment may be saved, and that +the volume may be restored to use. + +In case of absolute loss of a leaf or a part of a page, there are only +three remedies known to me. + +1. The book may be condemned as imperfect, and a new copy purchased. + +2. The missing part may be restored from a perfect copy of the same work, +by copying the portions of the text wanting, and inserting them where +they belong. This can be done with a pen, and the written deficiency +neatly inserted, in fac-simile of the type, or in ordinary script hand; +or else the part wanting may be photographed or heliotyped by the best +modern process from a duplicate copy of the book. + +3. If the book is of very recent issue, the publishers may furnish a +signature or sheet which would make good the deficiency, from the +"imperfections" left in the bindery, after making up the edition of the +work. + +In most cases, the last named means of replacement will not be found +available. The first, or buying a fresh copy, may entail a greater +expense than the library authorities would deem proper at the time, and +it might be preferred to continue the book in use, with a slight +imperfection. + +The second method, more or less troublesome according to circumstances, +or the extent of the matter to be copied is sometimes the most +economical. Of course, it is subject to the drawback of not being, when +done, a _bona fide_ or genuine copy of the book as published. This +diminishes the commercial value of even the rarest book, although so +fully restored as to text that the reader has it all before him, so that +it supplies every requisite of a perfect copy for the purposes of a +public library, or a private owner who is not a connoisseur in books. + +When the corners of a book are found to be broken (as often happens by +falling to the floor or severe handling) the book may be restored by a +treatment which will give it new leather corners. With paste or glue well +rubbed in, apply thick brown paper on the corners, which, when dry, will +be as hard as desired, and ready to receive the leather. Then the sides +may be covered with marbled paper or cloth, and the volume is restored. + +When the back of a book becomes loose, the remedy is to take it out of +the cover, re-sew it, and glue it firmly into the former back. This will +of course render the back of the volume more rigid, but, in compensation, +it will be more durable. + +In these cases of loose or broken backs, the study should be to save the +leather cover and the boards or sides of the book intact, so as to +diminish by more than one-half the cost of repair. As the volume cannot +be restored to a solid and safe condition without being re-sewed, it may +be carefully separated from the cover by cutting the cords or bands at +their junction with the boards, then slowly stripping the book out of its +cover, little by little, and treating the sheets when separated as +already indicated in the chapter on rebinding. + +One of the most common defacements which library books undergo is marking +up the margins with comments or references in pencil. Of course no +thoughtful reader would be guilty of this practice, but thoughtless +readers are often in the majority, and the books they read or fancy that +they read, get such silly commentaries on the margins as these: +"beautiful," "very sad," "perfectly splendid," "I think Becky is horrid," +or, "this book ends badly." Such vile practices or defacements are not +always traceable to the true offender, especially in a circulating +library, where the hours are so busy as to prevent the librarian from +looking through the volumes as they come in from the readers. But if +detected, as they may be after a few trials of suspected parties, by +giving them out books known to be clean and free from pencil marks when +issued to them, the reader should be required always to rub out his own +marks, as a wholesome object-lesson for the future. The same course +should be pursued with any reader detected in scribbling on the margin of +any book which is being read within the library. Incorrigible cases, +amounting to malicious marking up of books, should be visited by severe +penalties--even to the denial of further library privileges to the +offender. + +Not long ago, I bought at an auction sale a copy of the first edition of +Tennyson's "In Memoriam," which was found on receipt to be defaced by +marking dozens of verses in the margin with black lines drawn along them, +absolutely with pen and ink! The owner of that book, who did the +ruthless deed, never reflected that it might fall into hands where his +indelible folly would be sharply denounced. + +The librarian or assistant librarian who will instinctively rub out all +pencil marks observed in a library book deserves well of his countrymen. +It is time well spent. + +The writing on book-margins is so common a practice, and so destructive +of the comfort and satisfaction which readers of taste should find in +their perusal of books, that no legitimate means of arresting it or +repairing it should be neglected. In a public library in Massachusetts, a +young woman of eighteen who was detected as having marked a library copy +of "Middlemarch" with gushing effusions, was required to read the statute +prescribing fine and imprisonment for such offenses, with very tearful +effect, and undoubtedly with a wholesome and permanent improvement in her +relations to books and libraries. + +In some libraries, a warning notice is posted up like this: "Readers +finding a book injured or defaced, are required to report it at once to +the librarian, otherwise they will be held responsible for the damage +done." This rule, while its object is highly commendable, may lead in +practice to injustice to some readers. So long as the reader uses the +book inside of the library walls, he should of course report such defects +as meet his eye in reading, whether missing pages, plates, or maps, or +serious internal soiling, torn leaves, etc. But in the case of drawing +out books for home reading, the rule might embarrass any reader, however +well disposed, if too strictly construed. A reader finding any serious +defect in a library volume used at home, should simply place a mark or +slip in the proper place with the word "damaged," or "defective" written +on it. Then, on returning the book to the library, his simple statement +of finding it damaged or defective when he came to read it should be +accepted by the librarian as exonerating him from blame for any damage. +And this gives point to the importance of examining every book, at least +by cursory inspection, before it is handed out for use. A volume can be +run through quickly by a practiced hand, so as to show in a moment or two +any leaves started or torn, or, usually, any other important injury. If +any such is found, the volume should under no circumstances be given out, +but at once subjected to repair or restoration. This degree of care will +not only save the books of the library from rapid deterioration, but will +also save the feelings of readers, who might be anxious lest they be +unjustly charged with damaging while in their hands. + +The treatment of their imperfect books (which tend perpetually to +accumulate) is very different in different libraries. Some libraries, +where funds are ample enough to enable them to do it, condemn any book +that has so much as a sentence torn out, and replace it on the shelves +with a new copy. The imperfect volumes are sold for waste paper, or put +into some sale of duplicate books, marked as imperfect, with note of the +damage upon a slip inserted at the proper place in the book, and also in +the catalogue, if sold at auction or in a printed list of duplicates +offered by the library. This notice of what imperfection exists is +necessary, so that no incautious purchaser may think that he is securing +a perfect copy of the work. + +Other libraries not blessed with means to pursue this course, do as best +they can afford, supplying what is deficient when possible without much +cost of time or money, or else continuing the damaged book in use "with +all its imperfections on its head." + +The loss of a single plate does not destroy the value of the book for +readers, however to be regretted as diminishing the satisfaction to be +derived from the volume. And one can sometimes pardon the loss of a part +of a page in a mutilated book, especially when he is made aware of the +fact that the library which welcomes him to the free enjoyment of its +treasures cannot well afford to buy another. + +It is disheartening to read, in an annual report of a public library of +circulation in Massachusetts, that many of its popular books are so +soiled and defaced, after a few readings, as to be unfit for further +service; that books of poetry are despoiled by the scissors to save +trouble of copying verses wanted; that plates are often abstracted, and +that many magazines "seem to be taken from the library for no other +reason than that private scrap-books may be enriched or restless children +amused." The only remedy suggested is to examine each book before again +giving it out, and, if returned defaced, to hold the borrower +responsible. + +The art of cleaning books that are stained or dirty, is a matter not +widely known, and in this country there are few experts at it. Some of +these keep closely guarded the methods they use to cleanse a book. +Comparatively few libraries avail themselves of the practice of washing +their soiled volumes, as the process is too expensive for most of them, +and so they are accustomed to let the library books remain in use and +re-issue them again and again, until they become so filthy as to be quite +unfit to be seen--much less handled by any reader. + +But there are often valuable or rare works which have sustained interior +injury, and which it is desired to restore to a clean condition. The best +method is to take the book apart as the first step. When separated into +sheets, those leaves which are merely dirty should be placed in a bath +composed of about four ounces of chloride of lime, dissolved in a quart +of water. They should soak until all stains are removed, and the paper is +restored to its proper color. Then the pages should be washed in cold +water--running water is preferable--and allowed to soak about six hours. +This removes all traces of the lime, which would otherwise tend to rot or +injure the book. After this, the sheets are to be "sized," _i. e._, +dipped in a bath of size and water, and laid out to dry. This process +gives firmness and consistency to the paper, which would otherwise remain +too soft to handle. The sheets should be pressed a few hours between +glazed paste-boards, as used in printing offices. A cheap and simple size +for this purpose may be made by mixing white gelatine with water, and +this may be kept in a bottle, so as to be always conveniently at hand. +The art of restoring and rendering fit for handling books and rare early +pamphlets by sizing all the leaves is in constant use in Europe. By this +means, and by piecing out margins, the most rotten paper, ready to drop +apart in turning the leaves, may be restored to use, if not quite to its +pristine condition. + +Ink-spots or mildew stains may be wholly removed, when freshly made, by +applying a solution of oxalic or citric acid, and then washing the leaf +with a wet sponge. It is more effectual to follow the bath of oxalic acid +by applying a solution of one part hydrochloric acid to six parts of +water, after which bathe in cold water, and dry slowly. Or an infusion of +hypochlorite of potash in twice its volume of water may be used instead +of the preceding. + +If a leather-bound book has grease on its cover, it can be removed by +scraping French chalk or magnesia over the place, and ironing with a warm +(not hot) iron. A simpler method is to apply benzine to the grease spots, +(which dissolves the fatty material) and then dry the spot quickly with a +fine cloth. This operation may be repeated, if not effectual at the first +trial. The same method of applying benzine to oily spots upon plates or +engravings, will remove the stains. + +Ink-stains may also be taken off from the leather covers of books bound +in calf or morocco by the use of oxalic acid. Care should be taken first +to try the acid on a piece of similar leather or on a discarded book of +the same color. If the leather is discolored after removing the black +spot, one may apply, after taking out the traces of oxalic acid by some +alkali, a coloring matter similar to the tint of the leather. + +Spots or stains of grease or oil are often found in books. They may be +wholly removed by applying carbonate of magnesia on both sides of the +leaf stained, backed by paper, and pressing with a hot iron, after which +the sheets should be washed and left under pressure over night. Another +method is to dilute spirits of salts with five times its bulk of water, +then let the stained leaves lie in the liquid four minutes, after which +they are to be washed. Still another method is to make a mixture of one +pound of soap, half a pound of clay and two ounces of lime, dissolved in +water to a proper consistency; apply it to the spots; fifteen minutes +after, dip the leaf in a bath of warm water for half an hour, after which +dry and press until smooth. + +Stains left by mud on the leaves of a book (a not uncommon fate of +volumes falling in a wet street) can be removed thus: spread over the +spots a jelly composed of white soap and water, letting it remain about +half an hour. Then dip the leaf in clear water, and remove the soap with +a fine sponge dipped in warm water; all the mud stains will disappear at +the same time. To remove the last traces of the soap, dip a second time +in clear water, place the leaf between two sheets of blotting paper, and +dry slowly in a cool and shady place. + +The same process, of washing in soap and water, will remove what are +doubtless the most common of all the soilings that library books +undergo, namely, the soil that comes from the dirty hands and fingers of +readers. + +It is sometimes necessary to color the sheets that have been washed +white, so as to correspond in tint with the rest of the volume, which has +not needed that treatment. An infusion of cheap tobacco leaves, or a bath +of brown stout will effect this. + +In all these methods of removing soil from the pages of books, it is +absolutely necessary to give attention to thorough washing after the +chemicals are used. Otherwise there will remain an element of destruction +which will sooner or later spoil the book, to restore which so much pains +may have been expended. + +And one can readily learn how to restore a valuable book by these +methods. He should, however, first practice on the restoration of a +volume of little worth--and venture upon the treatment of a precious +volume only after practice has made him an expert. + +To restore a fresher look to volumes whose bindings are much rubbed or +"scuffed" as it is sometimes called, one may spread over their surface a +little wet starch pretty thick, with a little alum added, applied with an +old leather glove. With this the back of the book, and the sides and +edges of the boards should be smartly rubbed, after which, with a fine +rag rub off the thicker part of the starch, and the book will present a +much brighter appearance, besides being rid of dust and soil. + +There will remain on the volume a very slight deposit of gelatine or +gluten; before it dries completely, the palm of the hand may be passed +over it at all points, and the leather, which may have assumed a dull +color from the starch, will resume a bright brown or other tint. If this +fails to appear, a bit of flannel, impregnated with a few drops of +varnish, should be rubbed over the leather, and when nearly dry, rub +with a white rag slightly touched with olive oil, and a brilliant +appearance will be given to the binding. + +When leaves are started, or a signature becomes loose in any volume, it +should be at once withdrawn from circulation, or the loss of an important +part of the book may result. The remedy commonly resorted to, of patching +up the book by pasting in the loose leaves, is a mere makeshift which +will not last. The cause of a loose signature is generally to be found in +a broken thread in the sewing, and the only permanent cure is to take the +book out of its cover, and re-sew it, when it may usually be re-inserted +in the same binding. This is for cloth-bound books. When bound in +leather, it is best to take out the loose sheet, "overcast" it, that is, +secure all the leaves by sewing, then carefully lay some paste along the +outer edge or back of the sheet, insert the sheet in its place, pressing +it firmly with a paper knife along the middle of the sheet, and the +volume will be restored ready for use after a few days drying under +weight. + +On occasion of a fire next to the Mercantile Library rooms in +Philadelphia, in 1877, great damage was done, from water thrown by the +fire-engines, to many thousands of books. The library authorities tried +various methods of restoring the volumes, and among others, drying them +in ovens was resorted to. This was found, however, to dry the books so +rapidly, that the bindings cracked, and in many cases came off, while +many volumes were much warped. The most advantageous method that was +adopted was to prepare a large number of frames on which many wires were +strung horizontally across a large room. The wet books (many of which +were soaked through) were suspended on these wires in such a way as to +dry them by degrees, the temperature of the room being raised +considerably by furnace heat. + +The condition in which the books were found after the wetting varied +greatly. Nearly all that were printed on soft paper were wet through, +while those next to them printed on thick paper, and with solid leather +bindings, were scarcely damaged at all. The water stains constituted the +most serious injury to the volumes, and multitudes of fine books that +were wet will always bear the marks of the stain. Some of the more costly +books were restored by taking them apart, washing them thoroughly, then +placing them in a heated press, and drying them, so that the water-stains +were removed. All the books, however different the degree of damage from +the water, retained their legibility, and were put to the same uses in +the library as before the fire occurred. None were burned, the actual +fire being confined to the neighboring buildings of the block in the +midst of which the library was unfortunately located. + +The whole number of volumes damaged was about 55,000, and the insurance, +which was assessed by referees at the amount of $42,000, would nearly +have replaced the books by new ones. Many of the volumes had to be +rebound as the damage by wetting the glue and paste which are such +important elements in binding securely, led to the falling apart of the +covers. + +There are multitudes of books restored by some one of the processes which +have been ingeniously contrived to make an old book as good as new, or an +imperfect volume perfect. The art of reproducing in facsimile, by mere +manual dexterity with the pen, letters, words, and whole pages, has been +carried to a high degree of perfection, notably in London. A celebrated +book restorer named Harris, gained a great reputation among book lovers +and librarians by his consummate skill in the reproduction of the text +of black-letter rarities and early-printed books of every kind. To such +perfection did he carry the art of imitating an original that in many +cases one could not distinguish the original from the imitation, and even +experts have announced a Harris facsimile in a Shakespeare folio to be +the printed original. The art has even been extended to engravings, with +such success that the famous Droeshout portrait of Shakespeare, which +illustrates the title-page of the first folio of 1623, has been +multiplied in pen-made facsimile, so as to deceive the most careful +scrutiny. + +This nice and difficult art is not widely pursued in this country, though +there are some experts among New York and Philadelphia book-binders, who +practice it. The British Museum Library has a corps of workers engaged in +the restoration both of books and of manuscripts (as well as engravings) +who are men of the highest training and skill. + +The process is necessarily quite expensive, because of the time required +and of the small number of competing artists in this field. It is chiefly +confined to the restoration of imperfect copies of early printed and rare +books, which are so frequently found in imperfect condition, often +wanting title-pages or the final leaves, or parts of pages in any part of +the volume. + +So costly, indeed, is this skilful hand-restoration of imperfect books, +that it has been a great boon to the collectors of libraries and rare +works, to see the arts of photography so developed in recent years, as to +reproduce with almost exact fidelity printed matter of any kind from the +pages of books. The cost of such facsimiles of course varies with the +locality, the work, the skill, or the competition involved. But it may be +said in general that the average cost of book-page facsimiles by +photographic process need not exceed one dollar a page. + +An entire edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica has been printed from +plates made in replica from photographs of the original text of the +Edinburgh edition. The reproduction in this case can hardly be commended, +as it is trying to the eyes to read, when compared with the original, +presenting a somewhat blurred and irregular aspect to the eyes. + +It is very difficult to lay down rules which shall be effective in +checking the abuse of books which compels exercise of the means of +restoration. Writing upon margins (already referred to) may sometimes be +checked by putting a printed slip in every library book bearing the +warning--"Never write in a library book." To this may be added--"Never +turn down leaves," an equally important injunction. Indeed, a whole list +of "Dont's" might be inserted, but for the chance that too many warnings +might operate to warn off a reader from absorbing any of them. Thus-- + + "Don't soil any book + Don't write on margins + Don't turn down leaves + Don't lay a book on its face open + Don't wet fingers to turn leaves + Don't fail to use the book-mark + Don't read with unclean hands." + +As a loose slip is liable to fall out, some such reminder should be +pasted into the fly-leaf of every book, next the book-plate. + +A self-respecting reader will generally heed such hints, which a moment's +reflection will teach him are meant to preserve the library book clean +and presentable for his own use, as well as for that of others. But there +will always be some rude, boorish people who will persist in their brutal +and destructive treatment of books, in the face of whatever warnings. How +to deal with such unwelcome persons is an ever-present problem with the +librarian. If sustained by the other library authorities, a really +effectual remedy is to deny the further use of the library to any +offender clearly proven to have subjected library books to damage while +in his hands. Some librarians go so far as to post the names of such +offenders in the library hall, stating that they are denied the +privileges of the library by the authorities, for mutilating books. + +In any case, great care must be taken to have the clearest proof, before +proceeding to fasten the offense upon a particular individual. This +involves, where the injury is not committed in the presence of any +library officer, so as to be observed, but has been done while the book +was drawn out, an examination of each volume before giving it out. If +this rule were to be observed as to all, it would entail an expense that +few libraries could afford. In a large circulating library in a city, it +might require the entire time of two assistants to collate the books +before re-issuing them. The circumstances of each library must determine +how to deal with this matter. Probably the majority will limit the close +examination of books before giving them out, to cases where there is +reason to suspect wilful continued soiling, scribbling, or dog's-earing. +A few such cases once detected and dealt with will have a most salutary +restraining influence upon others, especially if re-enforced by frequent +and judicious paragraphs in the local press, setting forth the offense +and the remedy. + +But all in vain will be the endeavor to abate these defacements and +consequent waste of the library books, unless it is enforced by a +positive law, with penal provisions, to punish offenders who mutilate or +deface books that are public property. A good model of such a statute is +the following, slightly abridged as to verbiage, from an act of Congress, +of which we procured the enactment in the year 1878: + +"Any person who steals, defaces, injures, mutilates, tears, or destroys +any book, pamphlet, work of art, or manuscript, belonging to any public +library, or to the United States, in the District of Columbia, shall be +fined ten dollars to one hundred dollars, and punished by imprisonment +from one to twelve months, for every such offense." + +This act will be found in the United States Statutes at Large, Vol. 20, +p. 171. It would be well if the term "periodical" were added to the list +of objects to be protected, to avoid all risk of a failure to punish the +mutilation of newspapers and magazines, by pleading technical points, of +which lawyers are prone to avail themselves in aiding offenders to escape +conviction. + +It will be observed, that the word "deface," employed in this statute, +actually covers the marking of margins by any reader, all such marking +constituting a defacement within the meaning of the law. + +While the great multitude of readers who frequent our public libraries +are honest and trustworthy, there are always some who are conspicuously +the reverse. It is rarely safe in a large public library to admit readers +to the shelves, without the company or the surveillance of an attendant. +And it is not alone the uncultivated reader who cannot be trusted; the +experience of librarians is almost uniform to the effect that literary +men, and special scholars, as well as the collectors of rare books, are +among those who watch the opportunity to purloin what they wish to save +themselves the cost of buying. Sometimes, you may find your most valuable +work on coins mutilated by the abstraction of a plate, carried off by +some student of numismatics. Sometimes, you may discover a fine picture +or portrait abstracted from a book by some lover of art or collector of +portraits. Again, you may be horrified by finding a whole sermon torn out +of a volume of theology by a theological student or even a clergyman. +All these things have happened, and are liable to happen again. No +library is safe that is not closely watched and guarded. In the Astor +library a literary man actually tore out sixty pages of the _Revue de +Paris_, and added to the theft the fraud of plagiarism, by translating +from the stolen leaves an article which he sold to Appleton's Journal as +an original production! + +In this case, the culprit, though detected, could not be punished, the +law of New York requiring the posting in the library of the statute +prohibiting mutilation or other injury to the books, and this posting had +not been done. The law has since been amended, to make the penalties +absolute and unconditional. + +In the Astor Library, over six hundred volumes were discovered to have +been mutilated, including art works, Patent office reports, magazines, +newspapers, and even encyclopaedias. The books stolen from that library +had been many, until several exposures and punishment of thieves inspired +a wholesome dread of a similar fate. + +At a meeting of the American Library Association, one member inquired +whether there was any effectual way to prevent the abstraction of books. +He was answered by another librarian (from Cincinnati) who replied that +he knew of only one effectual method, and that was to keep a man standing +over each book with a club. Of course this was a humorous paradox, not to +be taken literally, but it points a moral. + +Seriously, however, the evil may be greatly curtailed, (though we may be +hopeless of absolute prevention) by adopting the precautions already +referred to. In the Library of the British Museum, a great library of +reference, from which no book is permitted to be taken under any +circumstances, the evil of mutilation was much reduced by prosecuting +and posting the offenders publicly. After a few years, the obnoxious +practice had so far ceased, that the placards, having an unpleasant +aspect, were taken down. But on renewal of such depredations and +defacements of books by readers, the placards were renewed, and some of +the mutilated books, suitably labelled, were posted in the great reading +room before the eyes of all. The authorities of the British Museum are +convinced of the salutary effects of such warnings, though books are +sometimes stolen or mutilated under the liberal management which leaves +several thousand volumes open for reference, without tickets. + +The late Dr. Wm. F. Poole, the Chicago librarian, recorded his experience +in dealing with some clergymen, who, said he, seem to have as regards +books, an imperfect appreciation of the laws of _meum_ and _tuum_. He had +found ministers more remiss in returning books than any other class of +men. He would by no means reflect on a noble and sacred profession by +charging the derelictions of a few upon the many. But he had had +unpleasant experiences with men of that profession, who had absolutely +purloined books from the Public Library, removed the book-plates and +library stamp, and covered the volumes with paper carefully pasted down +inside of the covers. + +A librarian in Massachusetts testified that it was common experience that +clergymen and professional men gave the most trouble. Second-hand +book-dealers in Boston had found a judge of the court purloining rare +pamphlets, and ministers making away with pamphlet sermons under their +coats. Without insisting here upon any such extenuations of such +practices as the prevalence of kleptomania, it has been made abundantly +manifest that theft and mutilation of books are sufficiently common to +demonstrate the weakness of human nature, and the necessity of every +safeguard which public libraries can provide against such abuses of +their treasures. + +A Boston librarian stated that the thieves or mutilators of books +included school-boys, clerks, students, teachers, soldiers, physicians, +lawyers, clergymen, etc. In only one case was the crime committed through +want or suffering. Yet, though the offenders had been proven guilty in +every instance, only two cases were known in which the penalty of the law +had been enforced. Does not this bespeak laxity of public morals in +Boston in regard to such abuses of library property? + +The Union Theological Seminary at New York recorded its experience with +ministers and theological students, to the effect that its library had +lost more than a thousand volumes, taken and not returned. This of course +included what were charged out, but could not be recovered. + +A librarian in Auburn, N. Y., returning from vacation, found that the +American Architect, an important illustrated weekly, had been mutilated +in seven different volumes, and that 130 pages in all had been stolen. +Fortunately, she was able to trace the reader who had been using the +work, and succeeded in recovering the abstracted plates. The offender was +prosecuted to conviction, and had to pay a fine of fifty dollars. + +It often happens that books which disappear mysteriously from a public +library re-appear quite as mysteriously. Those taking them, finding that +the rules do not allow certain books to leave the library, make a law +unto themselves, carry off the book wanted, keep it until read, and then +return it surreptitiously, by replacing it on some shelf or table, when +no one is looking. This is where no intention of stealing the book +exists, and the borrower wilfully makes his own convenience override the +library regulations, in the belief that he will not be found out. The +Buffalo Young Men's Library reported in one year eighteen illustrated +works on the fine arts, reserved from being taken out by its by-laws, as +disappearing for weeks, but brought back in this underhanded manner. In +other cases of such return, it is likely that the purpose was to keep the +book, but that conscience or better thoughts, or fear of detection +prevailed, and secured its return. + +Some instances where leniency has been exercised to save book thieves +from penalties may be instructive. One man who had carried off and sold +two volumes from the Astor Library was traced and arrested, when he +pleaded that absolute want had driven him to the act. He had a wife ill +and starving at his home, and this on investigation proving true, he was +pardoned and saved further misery. + +In another case, a poor German had stolen a volume of the classics which +he pawned for a small sum to get bread for himself, being long out of +work, and in a condition bordering closely upon starvation. He was +released, the book reclaimed, and the offender turned over to the +agencies of public charity. + +A librarian of New York gave it as his experience that some ministers are +not to be trusted any more than other people. Some of them like to write +their opinions on the margins of the books. He found one of the library +books written on in thirty pages, recognized the hand-writing, and wrote +to the reverend gentleman asking an interview. He came, admitted the +fact, and said that his notes made the book more valuable. This ingenious +excuse did not satisfy the librarian, who said, "others do not think so, +sir; so if you will get us a new book, you may keep the more valuable +one." He soon brought in a new copy, and the matter ended. + +At the New York Mercantile Library, a young lady, amply able to buy all +the books she could want, was discovered going out of the library with +one book in her hand which she was entitled to, it being charged, and +with five others hidden under her cloak, without permission. + +Mr. Melvil Dewey has truly said that it is very hard to tell a library +thief at sight. Well-dressed, gentlemanly, even sanctimonious looking men +are among them, and the wife of a well-known college professor, detected +in purloining books, begged so hard not to be exposed, that she was +reluctantly pardoned, and even restored to library privileges. + +A prominent lawyer of Brooklyn, of distinguished appearance and fine +manners, did not steal books, but his specialty was magazines and +newspapers, which he carried off frequently. Being caught at it one day, +and accused by the librarian, he put on an air of dignity, declared he +was insulted, and walked out. The librarian found the periodical he had +taken thrown down in the entry, and he never after frequented that +library. + +It is curious and instructive to know the experience of some libraries +regarding the theft or mutilation of books. Thus, in the public library +of Woburn, Mass., a case of mutilation occurred by the cutting out of a +picture from "Drake's Historic Fields and Mansions of Middlesex County." +On discovery of the loss, a reward of $10 was offered for information +leading to detection of the culprit. This was published in the town +paper, and an article was printed calling attention to these library +thefts and abuses, followed by citing the State law making such +depredations a penal offense. Within a week the missing plate came back +to the librarian through the mail--anonymously of course, the person who +had abstracted it finding that it was rather an unsafe picture to keep or +exhibit, and so choosing to make his best policy honesty, though rather +tardy in coming to that wise conclusion. + +This experience, and others here cited, may serve as a hint what course +to pursue under similar circumstances, in the reclamation of library +books. + +In the Library of the London Institution, continuous thefts of valuable +editions of the classics had occurred. Putting a detective in the +library, a young man of suspicious demeanor was soon identified as the +thief, and was followed and arrested in the very act of selling a library +book. He proved to be a young man of good family, education and previous +good character; but the library had suffered such losses from his +depredations, that no mercy was shown, and he received and underwent the +sentence to two months imprisonment. + +It may be added as an instance of methods availed of in London to trace +missing books, that the librarian, knowing from the vacancies on the +shelves what books had been abstracted, printed a list of them, sent it +to every second-hand book-dealer in London, at the same time supplying it +to the police, who circulate daily a list of missing property among all +the pawn-brokers' shops in the city, and recovered all the books within +twenty-four hours. + +The Mercantile Library of Philadelphia missed a number of valuable books +from its shelves, and on a watch being set, a physician in the most +respectable rank in society was detected as the purloiner, and more than +fifty volumes recovered from him. + +A library at Lancaster, Pa., reported the almost incredible incident of a +thief having hidden under his coat, and carried off, a Webster's +Unabridged Dictionary! + +In most cases of detected theft or mutilation of books, strong appeals +are made by the culprit or his friends to save exposure by public +prosecution. These are commonly, in the case of persons in very +respectable circumstances in life, not so much to avoid paying fines +imposed by law as to avoid the disgrace attached to publicity, and the +consequent damage done to the character of the individual. It is probably +true that in a majority of cases, such influences have been strong enough +to overcome the determination of the librarian or library authorities to +let the law take its course. Now, while it must be admitted that there is +no rule without some valid exception that may be made, it is nevertheless +to be insisted upon that due protection to public property in libraries +demands the enforcement of the laws enacted to that end. The consequence +of leniency to the majority of book thieves would be not only an indirect +encouragement to the culprits to continue their depredations, but it +would also lead to a lax and dangerous notion of the obligations of +readers, and the sacredness of such property, in the public mind. +Enforcement of the penalties of wrong-doing, on the other hand, tends +unquestionably to deter others, both by the fear of publicity which must +follow detection, and by terror of the penalty which is or may be +imprisonment for a considerable term, besides the imposing of a fine. + +At the Worcester, Mass., Public Library, a young man of twenty-two was +detected in stealing a book, obliged to confess, and prosecuted. Much +pressure was brought to bear by his family and friends, very respectable +people, to save him from the penalty. The Court, however, imposed a fine +of thirty dollars, and it being represented that his relatives would have +to pay the amount, though innocent parties, the judge suspended the +sentence until the young man should pay it in instalments from his own +earnings, one of the family giving bail. The valuable lesson was in this +way not lost, either to the offender or to the community; the law was +enforced, and the young man perhaps saved from a life of wrong-doing, +while if he had been let off scot-free, in deference to the influence +exerted to that end, he might have gone from bad to worse. + +At the Pratt Institute Free Library in Brooklyn, books had been +disappearing from the reference department at intervals of about a week, +and a watch was instituted. After some weeks' fruitless watching, a young +man who came frequently to consult books was singled out as the probable +offender, and the eyes of the library staff were centered upon him. The +janitor watched his movements for some days, from a concealed post of +observation, as the young man walked back and forth between the book +stacks, and one day caught him in the act of slipping a book into his +pocket, and arrested him as he was leaving the building. He had stolen a +dozen books from the library, all but three of which were recovered. He +claimed to be a theological student, and that he had taken the books +merely for the purposes of study. Much sympathy was expressed for him by +people who believed that this was his motive, and that it was some +partial atonement for his offense. The grief of his relatives at his +disgrace was intense. The Court sentenced him to eight years in the +penitentiary, but suspended the sentence in view of the fact that it was +a first offense, by a youth of twenty-one years. He was put under police +surveillance for his good behavior (equivalent to being paroled) but the +sentence becomes active upon any further transgression of the law on his +part. + +It may be gathered from these many cases of library depredations, that +they are very common, that perpetual vigilance is the price of safety, +that punishment in nearly all cases is wiser than pardon, and that the +few exceptions made should be mostly confined to offenders who steal +books under desperate necessity or actual want. + + + + +CHAPTER 7. + +PAMPHLET LITERATURE. + + +What is a pamphlet? is a question which is by no means capable of being +scientifically answered. Yet, to the librarian dealing continually with a +mass of pamphlets, books, and periodicals, it becomes important to define +somewhere, the boundary line between the pamphlet and the book. The +dictionaries will not aid us, for they all call the pamphlet "a few +sheets of printed paper stitched together, but not bound." Suppose (as +often happens) that you bind your pamphlet, does it then cease to be a +pamphlet, and become a book? Again, most pamphlets now published are not +stitched at all, but stabbed and wired to fasten the leaves together. The +origin of the word "pamphlet," is in great doubt. A plausible derivation +is from two French words, "_paume_," and "_feuillet_," literally a +hand-leaf; and another derives the word from a corruption of +Latin--"_papyrus_," paper, into _pampilus_, or _panfletus_, whence +pamphlet. The word is in Shakespeare: + + "Comest thou with deep premeditated lines, + With written pamphlets studiously devised?" + +But we also find "pamphlets and bookys," in a work printed by Caxton in +1490, a hundred years before Shakespeare. + +Whatever the origin, the common acceptation of the word is plain, +signifying a little book, though where the pamphlet ends, and the book +begins, is uncertain. The rule of the British Museum Library calls every +printed publication of one hundred pages or less, a pamphlet. This is +arbitrary, and so would any other rule be. As that library binds its +pamphlets separately, and counts them in its aggregate of volumes, the +reason for any distinction in the matter is not plain. Some of the +government libraries in Europe are greatly overrated numerically by +reckoning pamphlets as volumes. Thus, the Royal Library at Munich, in +Bavaria, has been ranked fourth among the libraries of the world, +claiming over a million volumes, but as it reckons every university +thesis, or discussion of some special topic by candidates for degrees, as +a volume, and has perhaps 400,000 of this prolific class of publications, +it is actually not so large as some American libraries, which count their +pamphlets as distinct from books in their returns. + +The pamphlet, or thin book, or tract (as some prefer to call it) is +reckoned by some librarians as a nuisance, and by others as a treasure. +That it forms rather a troublesome asset in the wealth of a library +cannot be doubted. Pamphlets taken singly, will not stand upon the +shelves; they will curl up, become dogs-eared, accumulate dust, and get +in the way of the books. If kept in piles, as is most frequent, it is +very hard to get at any one that is wanted in the mass. Then it is +objected to them, that the majority of them are worthless, that they cost +altogether too much money, and time, and pains, to catalogue them, and +that they are useless if not catalogued; that if kept bound, they cost +the library a sum out of all proportion to their value; that they +accumulate so rapidly (much faster, in fact, than books) as to outrun the +means at the disposal of any library to deal with them; in short, that +they cost more than they come to, if bound, and if unbound, they vex the +soul of the librarian day by day. + +This is one side of the pamphlet question; and it may be candidly +admitted, that in most libraries, the accumulation of uncatalogued and +unbound pamphlets is one of the chief among those arrears which form the +skeleton in the closet of the librarian. But there is another side to the +matter. It is always possible to divide your pamphlets into two +classes--the important, and the insignificant. Some of them have great +historical, or economic, or intellectual value; others are as nearly +worthless as it is possible for any printed matter to be. Why should you +treat a pamphlet upon Pears's soap, or a quack medicine, or advertising +the Columbia bicycle, with the same attention which you would naturally +give to an essay on international politics by Gladstone, or a review of +the Cuban question by a prominent Spaniard, or a tract on Chinese +immigration by Minister Seward, or the pamphlet genealogy of an American +family? Take out of the mass of pamphlets, as they come in, what appear +to you the more valuable, or the more liable to be called for; catalogue +and bind them, or file them away, according to the use which they are +likely to have: relegate the rest, assorted always by subject-matters or +classes, to marked piles, or to pamphlet cases, according to your means; +and the problem is approximately solved. + +To condemn any pamphlet to "innocuous desuetude," or to permanent +banishment from among the intellectual stores of a library, merely +because it is innocent of a stiff cover, is to despoil the temple of +learning and reject the good things of Providence. What great and +influential publications have appeared in the world in the guise of +pamphlets! Milton's immortal "Areopagitica, or Plea for Unlicenced +Printing," was a pamphlet of only forty pages; Webster's speech for the +Union, in reply to Hayne, was a pamphlet; every play of Shakespeare, that +was printed in his life-time, was a pamphlet; Charles Sumner's discourse +on "The True Grandeur of Nations" was a pamphlet; the "Crisis" and +"Common Sense" of Thomas Paine, which fired the American heart in the +Revolution, were pamphlets. Strike out of literature, ancient and modern, +what was first published in pamphlets, and you would leave it the poorer +and weaker to an incalculable degree. + +Pamphlets are not only vehicles of thought and opinion, and propagandists +of new ideas; they are often also store-houses of facts, repositories of +history, annals of biography, records of genealogy, treasuries of +statistics, chronicles of invention and discovery. They sometimes throw +an unexpected light upon obscure questions where all books are silent. +Being published for the most part upon some subject that was interesting +the public mind when written, they reflect, as in a mirror, the social, +political, and religious spirit and life of the time. As much as +newspapers, they illustrate the civilization (or want of it) of an epoch, +and multitudes of them, preserved in great libraries, exhibit this at +those early periods when no newspapers existed as vehicles of public +opinion. Many of the government libraries of Europe have been buying up +for many years past, the rare, early-printed pamphlets of their +respective countries, paying enormous prices for what, a century ago, +they would have slighted, even as a gift. + +When Thomas Carlyle undertook to write the life of Oliver Cromwell, and +to resurrect from the dust-bins of two centuries, the letters and +speeches of the great Protector, he found his richest quarry in a +collection of pamphlets in the British Museum Library. An indefatigable +patriot and bookseller, named Thomason, had carefully gathered and kept +every pamphlet, book, periodical, or broadside that appeared from the +British press, during the whole time from A. D. 1649 to 1660, the period +of the interregnum in the English monarchy, represented by Cromwell and +the Commonwealth. This vast collection, numbering over 20,000 pamphlets, +bound in 2,000 volumes, after escaping the perils of fire, and of both +hostile armies, was finally purchased by the King, and afterward +presented to the British Museum Library. Its completeness is one great +source of its value, furnishing, as it does, to the historical student of +that exceedingly interesting revolution, the most precious memorials of +the spirit of the times, many of which have been utterly lost, except the +single copy preserved in this collection. + +Several great European libraries number as many pamphlets as books in +their collections. The printed catalogue of the British Museum Library is +widely sought by historical students, because of the enormous amount of +pamphlet literature it contains, that is described nowhere else. And the +Librarian of the Boston Athenaeum said that some readers found the great +interest in his catalogue of that collection lay in its early American +pamphlets. + +As another instance of the value to the historical stores of a public +library of this ephemeral literature, it may be noted that the great +collection of printed matter, mostly of a fugitive character, relating to +the French Revolutionary period, gathered by the late M. de La Bedoyere, +amounted to 15,000 volumes and pamphlets. Fifty years of the life of the +wealthy and enthusiastic collector, besides a very large sum of money, +were spent in amassing this collection. With an avidity almost +incredible, he ransacked every book-store, quay, and private shelf that +might contribute a fresh morsel to his stores; and when Paris was +exhausted, had his agents and purveyors busy in executing his orders all +over Europe. Rival collectors, and particularly M. Deschiens, who had +been a contemporary in the Revolution, and had laid aside everything that +appeared in his day, only contributed at their decease, to swell the +precious stores of M. de La Bedoyere. This vast collection, so precious +for the history of France at its most memorable period, contained +several thousands of volumes of newspapers and ephemeral journals, and +was acquired in the year 1863, for the National Library of France, where +it will ever remain a monument to the enlightened and far-sighted spirit +of its projector. + +In like manner, the late Peter Force, Mayor of Washington City, and +historiographer of the "American Archives," devoted forty years to +amassing an extensive collection of _Americana_, or books, pamphlets, +newspapers, manuscripts, and maps, relating to the discovery, history, +topography, natural history, and biography of America. He carried off at +auction sales, from all competitors, six great collections of early +American pamphlets, formed by Ebenezer Hazard, William Duane, Oliver +Wolcott, etc., representing the copious literature of all schools of +political opinion. He sedulously laid aside and preserved every pamphlet +that appeared at the capital or elsewhere, on which he could lay hands, +and his rich historical collection, purchased by the government in 1866, +thirty-three years ago, now forms an invaluable portion of the +Congressional Library. + +Of the multitudinous literature of pamphlets it is not necessary to speak +at length. Suffice it to say that the library which neglects the +acquisition and proper preservation and binding of these publications is +far behind its duty, both to those of its own generation, and to those +which are to follow. The pamphlet literature of every period often +furnishes the most precious material to illustrate the history and +development of that period. The new ideas, the critical sagacity, the +political controversies, the mechanical and industrial development, the +religious thought, and the social character of many epochs, find their +best expression in the pamphlets that swarmed from the press while those +agencies were operating. The fact that multitudes of these productions +are anonymous, does not detract from their value as materials for +students. + +Pamphlets, from their peculiar style of publication, and the difficulty +of preserving them, tend to disappear more quickly than any class of +publications except newspapers, and broad-sides, and hand-bills. They are +far less likely to be preserved in the hands of private holders than even +reviews and magazines. It is the common experience of librarians that a +pamphlet is far more difficult to procure than a book. Multitudes of +pamphlets are annually lost to the world, from the want of any preserving +hand to gather them and deposit them permanently in some library. So much +the more important is it that the custodians of all our public libraries +should form as complete collections as possible of all pamphlets, at +least, that appear in their own city or neighborhood. How to do this is a +problem not unattended with difficulty. Pamphlets are rarely furnished +for sale in the same manner as books, and when they are, book-sellers +treat them with such indignity that they are commonly thrust aside as +waste paper, almost as soon as they have appeared from the press. If all +the writers of pamphlets would take pains to present them to the public +libraries of the country, and especially to those in their own +neighborhood, they would at once enrich these collections, and provide +for the perpetuity of their own thought. A vigilant librarian should +invite and collect from private libraries all the pamphlets which their +owners will part with. It would also be a wise practice to engage the +printing-offices where these fugitive leaves of literature are put in +type, to lay aside one copy of each for the library making the +collection. + +Our local libraries should each and all make it a settled object to +preserve not only full sets of the reports of all societies, +corporations, charity organizations, churches, railroads, etc., in their +own neighborhood, but all catalogues of educational institutions, all +sermons or memorial addresses, and in short, every fugitive publication +which helps to a knowledge of the people or the region in which the +library is situated. + +The binding of pamphlets is a mooted point in all libraries. While the +British Museum and the Library of Congress treat the pamphlets as a book, +binding all separately, this is deemed in some quarters too vexatious and +troublesome, as well as needlessly expensive. It must be considered, +however, that the crowding together of a heterogenous mass of a dozen or +twenty pamphlets, by different authors, and on various subjects, into a +single cover, is just as objectionable as binding books on unrelated +subjects together. Much time is consumed in finding the pamphlet wanted, +among the dozen or more that precede or follow it, and, if valuable or +much sought-for pamphlets are thus bound, many readers may be kept +waiting for some of them, while one reader engrosses the volume +containing all. Besides, if separately bound, a single pamphlet can be +far more easily replaced in case of loss than can a whole volume of them. +Pamphlets may be lightly bound in paste-board, stitched, with cloth +backs, at a small cost; and the compensating advantage of being able to +classify them like books upon the shelves, should weigh materially in the +decision of the question. If many are bound together, they should +invariably be assorted into classes, and those only on the same general +topic should be embraced in the same cover. The long series of annual +reports of societies and institutions, corporations, annual catalogues, +etc., need not be bound separately, but should be bound in chronological +series, with five to ten years in a volume, according to thickness. So +may several pamphlets, by the same writer, if preferred, be bound +together. Libraries which acquire many bound volumes of pamphlets should +divide them into series, and number them throughout with strict reference +to the catalogue. There will thus be accumulated a constantly increasing +series of theological, political, agricultural, medical, educational, +scientific, and other pamphlets, while the remaining mass, which cannot +be thus classified, may be designated in a consecutive series of volumes, +as "Miscellaneous Pamphlets." When catalogued, the title-page or +beginning of each pamphlet in the volume, should be marked by a thin slip +of unsized paper, projected above the top of the book, to facilitate +quick reference in finding each one without turning many leaves to get at +the titles. In all cases, the contents of each volume of pamphlets should +be briefed in numerical order upon the fly-leaf of the volume, and its +corresponding number, or sequence in the volumes written in pencil on the +title page of each pamphlet, to correspond with the figures of this brief +list. Then the catalogue of each should indicate its exact location, +thus: Wilkeson (Samuel) How our National Debt may become a National +Blessing, 21 pp. 8vo. Phila., 1863 [Miscellaneous pamphlets, v. 347:3], +meaning that this is the third pamphlet bound in vol. 347. + +The only objection to separate binding of each pamphlet, is the increased +expense. The advantage of distinct treatment may or may not outweigh +this, according to the importance of the pamphlet, the circumstances of +the library, and the funds at its command. If bound substantially in good +half-leather, with leather corners, the cost is reckoned at 1_s._ 4_d._ +each, in London. Here, they cost about thirty cents with cloth sides, +which may be reduced by the use of marble or Manila paper, to twenty +cents each. Black roan is perhaps the best leather for pamphlets, as it +brings out the lettering on the backs more distinctly--always a cardinal +point in a library. + +But there is a more economical method, which dispenses with leather +entirely. As no patent is claimed for the invention, or rather the +modification of well-known methods, it may be briefly described. The +thinnest tar-board is used for the sides, which, _i. e._, the boards, are +cut down to nearly the size of the pamphlet to be bound. The latter is +prepared for the boards by adding two or more waste leaves to the front +and back, and backing it with a strip of common muslin, which is firmly +pasted the full length of the back, and overlaps the sides to the width +of an inch or more. The pamphlet has to be stitched through, or stabbed +and fastened with wire, in the manner commonly practiced with thin books; +after which it is ready to receive the boards. These are glued to a strip +of book muslin, which constitutes the ultimate back of the book, being +turned in neatly at each end, so as to form, with the boards, a skeleton +cover, into which the pamphlet is inserted, and held in its place by the +inner strip of muslin before described, which is pasted or glued to the +inside of the boards. The boards are then covered with marbled paper, +turned in at each edge, and the waste leaves pasted smoothly down to the +boards on the inside. The only remaining process is the lettering, which +is done by printing the titles in bronze upon glazed colored paper, which +is pasted lengthwise on the back. A small font of type, with a +hand-press, will suffice for this, and a stabbing machine, with a small +pair of binding shears, constitutes the only other apparatus required. +The cost of binding pamphlets in this style varies from seven to twelve +cents each, according to the material employed, and the amount of labor +paid for. The advantages of the method are too obvious to all acquainted +with books to require exemplification. + +Two still cheaper methods of binding may be named. What is known as the +Harvard binder, employed in that library at Cambridge, Mass., consists +simply of thin board sides with muslin back, and stubs also of cloth on +the inside. The pamphlet is inserted and held in place by paste or glue. +The cost of each binding is stated at six cents. + +The cheapest style of separate treatment for pamphlets yet suggested is +of stiff Manila paper, with cloth back, costing about three cents each. + +I think that the rule of never mixing incongruous subjects within the +same cover should be adhered to. The expense, by the cheaper method of +binding referred to, is but slightly greater than must be incurred by +binding several in a volume, in solid half morocco style. But, whenever +pamphlets are bound together, the original printed paper covers should +never be destroyed, but should be bound in. + +Another method of preserving pamphlets is to file them away in selected +lots, placed inside of cloth covers, of considerable thickness. These may +be had from any book-binder, being the rejected covers in which books +sent for re-binding were originally bound. If kept in this way, each +volume, or case of pamphlets, should be firmly tied with cord (or better +with tape) fastened to the front edge of the cloth cover. Never use +rubber or elastic bands for this, or any other purpose where time and +security of fastening are involved, because the rubber will surely rot in +a few weeks or months, and be useless as a means of holding together any +objects whatever. + +Still another means of assorting and keeping pamphlets is to use +Woodruff's file-holders, one of which holds from ten to thirty pamphlets +according to their thickness. They should be arranged in classes, placing +in each file case only pamphlets on similar subjects, in order of the +authors' names, arranged alphabetically. Each pamphlet should be plainly +numbered at its head by colored pencil, with the figure of its place in +the volume, and the number of the case, containing it, which should also +be volumed, and assigned to shelves containing books on related subjects. +I need not add that all these numbers should correspond with the +catalogue-title of each pamphlet. Then, when any one pamphlet is wanted, +send for the case containing it, find it and withdraw it at once by its +number, place it in one of the Koch spring-back binders, and give it to +the reader precisely like any book that is served at the library counter. + +A more economical plan still, for libraries which cannot afford the +expense of the Woodruff file-holders, is to cut out cases for the +pamphlets, of suitable size, from tough Manila board, which need not cost +more than about three cents each case. + +In whatever way the unbound pamphlets are treated, you should always mark +them as such on the left-hand margin of each catalogue-card, by the +designation "ub." (unbound) in pencil. If you decide later, to bind any +of them, this pencil-mark should be erased from the cards, on the return +of the pamphlets from the bindery. + + + + +CHAPTER 8. + +PERIODICAL LITERATURE. + + +The librarian who desires to make the management of his library in the +highest degree successful, must give special attention to the important +field of periodical literature. More and more, as the years roll on, the +periodical becomes the successful rival of the book in the claim for +public attention. Indeed, we hear now and then, denunciations of the +ever-swelling flood of magazines and newspapers, as tending to drive out +the book. Readers, we are told, are seduced from solid and improving +reading, by the mass of daily, weekly, and monthly periodicals which lie +in wait for them on every hand. But no indiscriminate censure of +periodicals or of their reading, can blind us to the fact of their great +value. Because some persons devote an inordinate amount of time to them, +is no reason why we should fail to use them judiciously ourselves, or to +aid others in doing so. And because many periodicals (and even the vast +majority) are of little importance, and are filled with trifling and +ephemeral matter, that fact does not discredit the meritorious ones. +Counterfeit currency does not diminish the value of the true coin; it is +very sure to find its own just level at last; and so the wretched or the +sensational periodical, however pretentious, will fall into inevitable +neglect and failure in the long run. + +It is true that the figures as to the relative issues of books and +periodicals in the publishing world are startling enough to give us +pause. It has been computed that of the annual product of the American +press, eighty-two per cent. consists of newspapers, ten per cent. of +magazines and reviews, and only eight per cent. of books. Yet this vast +redundancy of periodical literature is by no means such a menace to our +permanent literature as it appears at first sight;--and that for three +reasons: (1) a large share of the books actually published, appear in the +first instance in the periodicals in serial or casual form; (2) the +periodicals contain very much matter of permanent value; (3) the steady +increase of carefully prepared books in the publishing world, while it +may not keep pace with the rapid increase of periodicals, evinces a +growth in the right direction. It is no longer so easy to get a crude or +a poor book published, as it was a generation ago. The standard of +critical taste has risen, and far more readers are judges of what +constitutes a really good book than ever before. While it is true that +our periodical product has so grown, that whereas there were twenty years +ago, in 1878, only 7,958 different newspapers and magazines published in +the United States, there are now, in 1899, over 20,500 issued, it can +also be stated that the annual product of books has increased in the same +twenty years from less than two thousand to more than five thousand +volumes of new issues in a year. Whatever may be the future of our +American literature, it can hardly be doubted that the tendency is +steadily toward the production of more books, and better ones. + +Whether a public library be large or small, its value to students will +depend greatly upon the care and completeness with which its selection of +periodical works is made, and kept up from year to year. Nothing is more +common in all libraries, public and private, than imperfect and partially +bound sets of serials, whether newspapers, reviews, magazines or the +proceedings and reports of scientific and other societies. Nothing can be +more annoying than to find the sets of such publications broken at the +very point where the reference or the wants of those consulting them +require satisfaction. In these matters, perpetual vigilance is the price +of completeness; and the librarian who is not willing or able to devote +the time and means requisite to complete the files of periodical +publications under his charge is to be censured or commiserated, +according to the causes of the failure. The first essential in keeping up +the completeness of files of ephemeral publications, next to vigilance on +the part of their custodian, is room for the arrangement of the various +parts, and means for binding with promptitude. Some libraries, and among +them a few of the largest, are so hampered for want of room, that their +serials are piled in heaps without order or arrangement, and are thus +comparatively useless until bound. In the more fortunate institutions, +which possess adequate space for the orderly arrangement of all their +stores, there can be no excuse for failing to supply any periodical, +whether bound or unbound, at the moment it is called for. It is simply +necessary to devote sufficient time each day to the systematic +arrangement of all receipts: to keep each file together in chronological +order; to supply them for the perusal of readers, with a proper check or +receipt, and to make sure of binding each new volume as fast as the +publication of titles and index enables it to be done properly. While +some libraries receive several thousands of serials, the periodical +publications taken by others amount to a very small number; but in either +case, the importance of prompt collation and immediate supply of missing +parts or numbers is equally imperative. While deficiencies in daily +newspapers can rarely be made up after the week, and sometimes not after +the day of their appearance, the missing parts of official and other +publications, as well as of reviews and magazines appearing at less +frequent intervals, can usually be supplied within the year, although a +more prompt securing of them is often necessary. In these publications, +as in the acquisition of books for any library, the collation of each +part or number is imperative, in order to avoid imperfections which may +be irreparable. + +First in the ranks of these ephemeral publications, in order of number, +if not of importance, come the journals of all classes, daily and weekly, +political, illustrated, literary, scientific, mechanical, professional, +agricultural, financial, etc. From the obscure and fugitive beginnings of +journalism in the sixteenth century to the establishment of the first +continuous newspaper--the London Weekly News, in 1622, and Renaudot's +Gazette (afterwards the _Gazette de France_) in 1631, followed by the +issue of the first daily newspaper, the London Daily Courant, in 1702, +and the Boston Weekly News-letter in 1704, (the first American +journal)--to the wonderful fecundity of the modern periodical press, +which scatters the leaves of more than thirty thousand different journals +broadcast over the world, there is a long and interesting history of the +trials and triumphs of a free press. In whatever respect American +libraries may fall behind those of older lands (and their deficiencies +are vast, and, in many directions permanent) it may be said with +confidence, that in the United States the newspaper has received its +widest and most complete development. Numerically, the fullest +approximate return of the newspaper and periodical press gives a total +number of 21,500 periodical publications, regularly appearing within the +limits of the United States. + +While no one library, however large and comprehensive, has either the +space or the means to accumulate a tithe of the periodicals that swarm +from a productive press, there are valid reasons why more attention +should be paid by the librarian to a careful preservation of a wise +selection of the best of all this current literature. The modern +newspaper and other periodical publications afford the fullest and +truest, and on the whole, the most impartial image of the age we live in, +that can be derived from a single source. Taken together, they afford the +richest material for the historian, or the student of politics, of +society, of literature, and of civilization in all its varied aspects. +What precious memorials of the day, even the advertisements and brief +paragraphs of the newspapers of a century ago afford us! While in a field +so vast, it is impossible for any one library to be more than a gleaner, +no such institution can afford to neglect the collection and preservation +of at least some of the more important newspapers from year to year. A +public library is not for one generation only, but it is for all time. +Opportunities once neglected of securing the current periodicals of any +age in continuous and complete form seldom or never recur. The principle +of selection will of course vary in different libraries and localities. +While the safest general rule is to secure the best and most +representative of all the journals, reviews, and magazines within the +limit of the funds which can be devoted to that purpose, there is another +principle which should largely guide the selection. In each locality, it +should be one leading object of the principal library to gather within +its walls the fullest representation possible, of the literature relating +to its own State and neighborhood. In every city and large town, the +local journals and other periodicals should form an indispensable part of +a public library collection. Where the means are wanting to purchase +these, the proprietors will frequently furnish them free of expense, for +public use; but no occasion should be lost of securing, immediately on +its issue from the press, every publication, large or small, which +relates to the local history or interests of the place where the library +is maintained. + +While the files of the journals of any period furnish unquestionably the +best instruments for the history of that epoch, it is lamentable to +reflect that so little care has ever been taken to preserve a fair +representation of those of any age. The destiny of nearly all newspapers +is swift destruction; and even those which are preserved, commonly +survive in a lamentably fragmentary state. The obvious causes of the +rapid disappearance of periodical literature, are its great volume, +necessarily increasing with every year, the difficulty of lodging the +files of any long period in our narrow apartments, and the continual +demand for paper for the uses of trade. To these must be added the great +cost of binding files of journals, increasing in the direct ratio of the +size of the volume. As so formidable an expense can be incurred by very +few private subscribers to periodicals, so much the more important is it +that the public libraries should not neglect a duty which they owe to +their generation, as well as to those that are to follow. These poor +journals of to-day, which everybody is willing to stigmatize as trash, +not worth the room to store or the money to bind, are the very materials +which the man of the future will search for with eagerness, and for some +of which he will be ready to pay their weight in gold. These +representatives of the commercial, industrial, inventive, social, +literary, political, moral and religious life of the times, should be +preserved and handed down to posterity with sedulous care. No historian +or other writer on any subject who would write conscientiously or with +full information, can afford to neglect this fruitful mine of the +journals, where his richest materials are frequently to be found. + +In the absence of any great library of journals, or of that universal +library which every nation should possess, it becomes the more important +to assemble in the various local libraries all those ephemeral +publications, which, if not thus preserved contemporaneously with their +issue, will disappear utterly, and elude the search of future historical +inquirers. And that library which shall most sedulously gather and +preserve such fugitive memorials of the life of the people among which it +is situated will be found to have best subserved its purpose to the +succeeding generations of men. + +Not less important than the preservation of newspapers is that of reviews +and magazines. In fact, the latter are almost universally recognized as +far more important than the more fugitive literature of the daily and +weekly press. Though inferior to the journals as historical and +statistical materials, reviews and magazines supply the largest fund of +discussion concerning such topics of scientific, social, literary, and +religious interest as occupy the public mind during the time in which +they appear. More and more the best thought of the times gets reflected +in the pages of this portion of the periodical press. No investigator in +any department can afford to overlook the rich stores contributed to +thought in reviews and magazines. These articles are commonly more +condensed and full of matter than the average books of the period. While +every library, therefore, should possess for the current use and ultimate +reference of its readers a selection of the best, as large as its means +will permit, a great and comprehensive library, in order to be +representative of the national literature, should possess them all. + + * * * * * + +The salient fact that the periodical press absorbs, year by year, more of +the talent which might otherwise be expended upon literature of more +permanent form is abundantly obvious. This tendency has both its good and +its evil results. On the one hand, the best writing ability is often +drawn out by magazines and journals, which are keen competitors for +attractive matter, and for known reputations, and sometimes they secure +both in combination. On the other hand, it is a notable fact that writers +capable of excellent work often do great injustice to their reputations +by producing too hastily articles written to order, instead of the +well-considered, ripe fruits of their literary skill. Whether the brief +article answering the limits of a magazine or a review is apt to be more +or less superficial than a book treating the same topic, is a question +admitting of different views. If the writer is capable of skilful +condensation, without loss of grace of composition, or of graphic power, +then the article, measured by its influence upon the public mind, must be +preferred to the more diffuse treatise of the book. It has the immense +advantage of demanding far less of the reader's time; and whenever its +conclusions are stated in a masterly way, its impression should be quite +as lasting as that of any book treating a similar theme. Such is +doubtless the effect of the abler articles written for periodicals, which +are more condensed and full of matter in speedily available form, than +the average book of the period. In this sense it is a misuse of terms to +call the review article ephemeral, or to treat the periodicals containing +them as perishable literary commodities, which serve their term with the +month or year that produced them. On the contrary, the experience of +librarians shows that the most sought-for, and the most useful +contributions to any subject are frequently found, not in the books +written upon it, but in the files of current periodicals, or in those of +former years. It is especially to be noted that the book may frequently +lose its adaptation and usefulness by lapse of time, and the onward march +of science, while the article is apt to reflect the latest light which +can help to illustrate the subject. + +While, therefore, there is always a liability of finding many crude and +sketchy contributions in the literature of the periodical press, its +conductors are ever on the alert to reduce to a minimum the weak or +unworthy offerings, and to secure a maximum of articles embodying mature +thought and fit expression. The pronounced tendency toward short methods +in every channel of human activity, is reflected in the constantly +multiplying series of periodical publications. + +The publishing activities of the times are taking on a certain +cooeperative element, which was not formerly known. Thus, the "literary +syndicate" has been developed by degrees into one of the most +far-reaching agencies for popular entertainment. The taste for short +stories, in place of the ancient three volume novel, has been cultivated +even in conservative England, and has become so wide-spread in the United +States, that very few periodicals which deal in fiction at all, are +without their stories begun and finished in a single issue. The talent +required to produce a fascinating and successful fiction in this narrow +compass is a peculiar one, and while there are numerous failures, there +are also a surprising number of successes. Well written descriptive +articles, too, are in demand, and special cravings for personal gossip +and lively sketches of notable living characters are manifest. That +perennial interest which mankind and womankind evince in every individual +whose name, for whatever reason, has become familiar, supplies a basis +for an inexhaustible series of light paragraphic articles. Another +fruitful field for the syndicate composition is brief essays upon any +topic of the times, the fashions, notable events, or new inventions, +public charities, education, governmental doings, current political +movements, etc. These appear almost simultaneously, in many different +periodicals, scattered throughout the country, under the copyright +_imprimatur_, which warns off all journals from republishing, which have +not subscribed to the special "syndicate" engaging them. Thus each +periodical secures, at extremely moderate rates, contributions which are +frequently written by the most noted and popular living writers, who, in +their turn, are much better remunerated for their work than they would be +for the same amount of writing if published in book form. Whether this +now popular method of attaining a wide and remunerative circulation for +their productions will prove permanent, is less certain than that many +authors now find it the surest road to profitable employment of their +pens. The fact that it rarely serves to introduce unknown writers of +talent to the reading world, may be laid to the account of the eagerness +of the syndicates to secure names that already enjoy notoriety. + +The best method for filing newspapers for current reading is a vexed +question in libraries. In the large ones, where room enough exists, large +reading-stands with sloping sides furnish the most convenient access, +provided with movable metal rods to keep the papers in place. Where no +room exists for these stands, some of the numerous portable +newspaper-file inventions, or racks, may be substituted, allowing one to +each paper received at the library. + +For filing current magazines, reviews, and the smaller newspapers, like +the literary and technical journals, various plans are in use. All of +these have advantages, while none is free from objection. Some libraries +use the ordinary pamphlet case, in which the successive numbers are kept +until a volume is accumulated for binding. This requires a separate case +for each periodical, and where many are taken, is expensive, though by +this method the magazines are kept neat and in order. Others use small +newspaper files or tapes for periodicals. Others still arrange them +alphabetically on shelves, in which case the latest issues are found on +top, if the chronology is preserved. In serving periodicals to readers, +tickets should be required (as for books) with title and date, as a +precaution against loss, or careless leaving upon tables. + +Whether current periodicals are ever allowed to be drawn out, must depend +upon several weighty considerations. When only one copy is taken, no +circulation should be permitted, so that the magazines and journals may +be always in, at the service of readers frequenting the library. But in +some large public libraries, where several copies of each of the more +popular serials are subscribed to, it is the custom to keep one copy +(sometimes two) always in, and to allow the duplicate copies to be drawn +out. This circulation should be limited to a period much shorter than is +allowed for keeping books. + +In no case, should the bound volumes of magazines, reviews, and journals +of whatever kind be allowed to leave the library. This is a rule which +should be enforced for the common benefit of all the readers, since to +lend to one reader any periodical or work of general reference is to +deprive all the rest of its use just so long as it is out of the library. +This has become all the more important since the publication of Poole's +Indexes to periodical literature has put the whole reading community on +the quest for information to be found only (in condensed form, or in the +latest treatment) in the volumes of the periodical press. And it is +really no hardship to any quick, intelligent reader, to require that +these valuable serials should be used within the library only. An article +is not like a book;--a long and perhaps serious study, requiring many +hours or days to master it. The magazine or review article, whatever +other virtues it may lack, has the supreme merit of brevity. + +The only valid exception which will justify loaning the serial volumes of +periodicals outside the library, is when there are duplicate sets of any +of them. Some large libraries having a wide popular circulation are able +to buy two or more sets of the magazines most in demand, and so to lend +one out, while another is kept constantly in for use and reference. And +even a library of small means might secure for its shelves duplicate sets +of many periodicals, by simply making known that it would be glad to +receive from any families or other owners, all the numbers of their +magazines, etc., which they no longer need for use. This would bring in, +in any large town or city, a copious supply of periodicals which +house-keepers, tired of keeping, storing and dusting such unsightly +property, would be glad to bestow where they would do the most good. + +Whatever periodicals are taken, it is essential to watch over their +completeness by keeping a faithfully revised check-list. This should be +ruled to furnish blank spaces for each issue of all serials taken, +whether quarterly, monthly, weekly, or daily, and no week should elapse +without complete scrutiny of the list, and ordering all missing numbers +from the publishers. Mail failures are common, and unceasing vigilance is +the price that must be paid for completeness. The same check-list, by +other spaces, should show the time of expiration of subscriptions, and +the price paid per year. And where a large number of periodicals are +received, covering many parts of the country, they should be listed, not +only by an alphabet of titles, but by another alphabet of places where +published, as well. + +If a new library is to be formed, having no sets of periodicals on which +to build, effort should be made to secure full sets from the beginning of +as many of the prominent magazines and reviews, American and foreign, as +the funds will permit. It is expedient to wait a little, rather than to +take up with incomplete sets, as full ones are pretty sure to turn up, +and competition between the many dealers should bring down prices to a +fair medium. In fact, many old sets of magazines are offered surprisingly +cheap, and usually well-bound. But vigilant care must be exercised to +secure perfect sets, as numbers are often mutilated, or deficient in some +pages or illustrations. This object can only be secured by collation of +every volume, page by page, with due attention to the list of +illustrations, if any are published. + +In the absence of British bibliographical enterprise (a want much to be +deplored) it has fallen to the lot of American librarians to produce the +only general index of subjects to English periodical literature which +exists. Poole's Index to Periodical Literature is called by the name of +its senior editor, the late Dr. Wm. F. Poole, and was contributed to by +many librarians on a cooeperative division of labor, in indexing, under +direction of Mr. Wm. I. Fletcher, librarian of Amherst College. This +index to leading periodicals is literally invaluable, and indispensable +as an aid to research. Its first volume indexes in one alphabet the +periodicals embraced, from their first issues up to 1882. The second +volume runs from 1882 to 1887, and the third covers the period from 1887 +to 1891, while a fourth volume indexes the periodicals from 1892 to 1896, +inclusive. For 1897, and each year after, an annual index to the +publications of the year is issued. + +Besides this, the _Review of Reviews_ publishes monthly an index to one +month's leading periodicals, and also an annual index, very full, in a +single alphabet. And the "Cumulative Index," issued both monthly and +quarterly, by W. H. Brett, the Cleveland, Ohio, librarian, is an +admirably full means of keeping our keys to periodical literature up to +date. There are other indexes to periodicals, published monthly or +quarterly, too numerous to be noticed here. The annual _New York Tribune_ +Index (the only daily journal, except the _London Times_, which prints an +index) is highly useful, and may be used for other newspapers as well, +for the most important events or discussions, enabling one to search the +dailies for himself, the date once being fixed by aid of the index. + +Mention should also be made here of the admirably comprehensive annual +"_Rowell's Newspaper Directory_," which should rather be called the +"American Periodical Directory," since it has a classified catalogue of +all periodicals published in the United States and Canada. + + + + +CHAPTER 9. + +THE ART OF READING. + + +"The true University of these days," says a great scholar of our century, +Thomas Carlyle, "is a collection of books, and all education is to teach +us how to read." + +If there were any volume, out of the multitude of books about books that +have been written, which could illuminate the pathway of the unskilled +reader, so as to guide him into all knowledge by the shortest road, what +a boon that book would be! + +When we survey the vast and rapidly growing product of the modern +press,--when we see these hosts of poets without imagination, historians +without accuracy, critics without discernment, and novelists without +invention or style, in short, the whole prolific brood of writers who do +not know how to write,--we are tempted to echo the sentiment of +Wordsworth:-- + + "The intellectual power, through words and things, + Goes sounding on a dim and perilous way." + +The most that any one can hope to do for others is to suggest to them a +clue which, however feeble, has helped to guide his uncertain footsteps +through the labyrinthian maze of folly and wisdom which we call +literature. + +The knowledge acquired by a Librarian, while it may be very wide and very +varied, runs much risk of being as superficial as it is diversified. +There is a very prevalent, but very erroneous notion which conceives of a +librarian as a kind of animated encyclopaedia, who, if you tap him in any +direction, from A to Z, will straightway pour forth a flood of knowledge +upon any subject in history, science, or literature. This popular ideal, +however fine in theory, has to undergo what commercial men call a heavy +discount when reduced to practice. The librarian is a constant and busy +worker in far other fields than exploring the contents of books. His day +is filled with cataloguing, arranging and classifying them, searching +catalogues, selecting new books, correspondence, directing assistants, +keeping library records, adjusting accounts, etc., in the midst of which +he is constantly at the call of the public for books and information. +What time has he, wearied by the day's multifarious and exacting labors, +for any thorough study of books? So, when anyone begins an inquiry with, +"You know everything; can you tell me,"--I say: "Stop a moment; +omniscience is not a human quality; I really know very few things, and am +not quite sure of some of them." There are many men, and women, too, in +almost every community, whose range of knowledge is more extended than +that of most librarians. + +The idea, then, that because one lives perpetually among books, he +absorbs all the learning that they contain, must be abandoned as a +popular delusion. To know a little upon many subjects is quite compatible +with not knowing much about any one. "Beware of the man of one book," is +an ancient proverb, pregnant with meaning. The man of one book, if it is +wisely chosen, and if he knows it all, can sometimes confound a whole +assembly of scholars. An American poet once declared to me that all +leisure time is lost that is not spent in reading Shakespeare. And we +remember Emerson's panegyric upon Plato's writings, borrowing from the +Caliph Omar his famous (but apocryphal) sentence against all books but +the Koran: "Burn all the libraries, for their value is in this book." So +Sheffield, duke of Buckingham: + + "Read Homer once, and you can read no more, + For all books else appear so tame, so poor, + Verse will seem prose, but still persist to read, + And Homer will be all the books you need." + +Of course I am far from designing to say anything against the widest +study, which great libraries exist to supply and to encourage; and all +utterances of a half-truth, like the maxim I have quoted, are +exaggerations. But the saying points a moral--and that is, the supreme +importance of thoroughness in all that we undertake. The poetical +wiseacre who endowed the world with the maxim, "A little learning is a +dangerous thing," does not appear to have reflected upon the logical +sequence of the dictum, namely: that if a little learning upon any +subject is dangerous, then less must be still more dangerous. + + * * * * * + +The art of reading to the best advantage implies the command of adequate +time to read. The art of having time to read depends upon knowing how to +make the best use of our days. Days are short, and time is fleeting, but +no one's day ever holds less than 24 hours. Engrossing as one's +occupation may be, it need never consume all the time remaining from +sleep, refreshment and social intercourse. The half hour before +breakfast, the fifteen minutes waiting for dinner, given to the book you +wish to read, will soon finish it, and make room for another. The busiest +men I have known have often been the most intelligent, and the widest +readers. The idle person never knows how to make use of odd moments; the +busy one always knows how. Yet the vast majority of people go through +life without ever learning the great lesson of the supreme value of +moments. + +Let us suppose that you determine to devote two hours every day to +reading. That is equivalent to more than seven hundred hours a year, or +to three months of working time of eight hours a day. What could you not +do in three months, if you had all the time to yourself? You could almost +learn a new language, or master a new science; yet this two hours a day, +which would give you three months of free time every year, is frittered +away, you scarcely know how, in aimless matters that lead to nothing. + +A famous writer of our century, some of whose books you have +read,--Edward Bulwer Lytton,--devoted only four hours a day to writing; +yet he produced more than sixty volumes of fiction, poetry, drama and +criticism, of singular literary merit. The great naturalist, Darwin, a +chronic sufferer from a depressing malady, counted two hours a fortunate +day's work for him; yet he accomplished results in the world of science +which render his name immortal. + +Be not over particular as to hours, or the time of day, and you will soon +find that all hours are good for the muse. Have a purpose, and adhere to +it with good-humored pertinacity. Be independent of the advice and +opinions of others; the world of books, like the world of nature, was +made for you; possess it in your own way. If you find no good in ancient +history or in metaphysics, let them alone and read books of art, or +poetry, or biography, or voyages and travels. The wide domain of +knowledge and the world of books are so related, that all roads cross and +converge, like the paths that carry us over the surface of the globe on +which we live. Many a reader has learned more of past times from good +biographies, than from any formal history; and it is a fact that many owe +to the plays of Shakespeare and the novels of Walter Scott nearly all the +knowledge which they possess of the history of England and Scotland. + +It is unhappily true that books do not teach the use of books. The art of +extracting what is important or instructive in any book, from the mass +of verbiage that commonly overlays it, cannot be learned by theory. +Invaluable as the art of reading is, as a means of enlightenment, its +highest uses can only be obtained by a certain method of reading, which +will separate the wheat from the chaff. Different readers will, of +course, possess different capacities for doing this. Young or +undisciplined minds can read only in one way,--and that way is, to +mentally pronounce every word, and dwell equally upon all the parts of +every sentence. This comes naturally in the first instance, from the mere +method of learning to read, in which every word is a spoken symbol, and +has to be sounded, whether it is essential to the sense, or not. This +habit of reading, which may be termed the literal method, goes with most +persons through life. Once learned, it is very hard to unlearn. There are +multitudes who cannot read a newspaper, even, without dwelling upon every +word, and coming to a full stop at the end of every sentence. Now this +method of reading, while it may be indispensable to all readers at some +time, and to some readers at all times, is too slow and fruitless for the +student who aims to absorb the largest amount of knowledge in the +briefest space of time. Life is too short to be wasted over the rhetoric +or the periods of an author whose knowledge we want as all that concerns +us. + +Doubtless there are classes of literature in which form or expression +predominates, and we cannot read poetry, for example, or the drama, or +even the higher class of fiction, without lingering upon the finer +passages, to get the full impression of their beauty. In reading works of +the imagination, we read not for ideas alone, but for expression also, +and to enjoy the rhythm and melody of the verse, if it be poetry, or, if +prose, the finished rhetoric, and the pleasing cadence of the style. It +is here that the literary skill of an accomplished writer, and all that +we understand by rhetoric, becomes important, while in reading for +information only, we may either ignore words and phrases entirely, or +subordinate them to the ideas which they convey. In reading any book for +the knowledge it contains, I should as soon think of spelling out all the +words, as of reading out all the sentences. Just as, in listening to a +slow speaker, you divine the whole meaning of what he is about to say, +before he has got half through his sentence, so, in reading, you can +gather the full sense of the ideas which any sentence contains, without +stopping to accentuate the words. + +Leaving aside the purely literary works, in which form or style is a +predominant element, let us come to books of science, history, biography, +voyages, travels, etc. In these, the primal aim is to convey information, +and thus the style of expression is little or nothing--the thought or the +fact is all. Yet most writers envelop the thought or the fact in so much +verbiage, complicate it with so many episodes, beat it out thin, by so +much iteration and reiteration, that the student must needs learn the art +of skipping, in self-defense. To one in zealous pursuit of knowledge, to +read most books through is paying them too extravagant a compliment. He +has to read between the lines, as it were, to note down a fact here, or a +thought there, or an illustration elsewhere, and leaves alone all that +contributes nothing to his special purpose. As the quick, practiced eye +glances over the visible signs of thought, page after page is rapidly +absorbed, and a book which would occupy an ordinary reader many days in +reading, is mastered in a few hours. + +The habit of reading which I have outlined, and which may be termed the +intuitive method, or, if you prefer it, the short-hand method, will more +than double the working power of the reader. It is not difficult to +practice, especially to a busy man, who does with all his might what he +has got to do. But it should be learned early in life, when the faculties +are fresh, the mind full of zeal for knowledge, and the mental habits are +ductile, not fixed. With it one's capacity for acquiring knowledge, and +consequently his accomplishment, whether as writer, teacher, librarian, +or private student, will be immeasureably increased. + +Doubtless it is true that some native or intuitive gifts must be +conjoined with much mental discipline and perseverance, in order to reach +the highest result, in this method of reading, as in any other study. +"_Non omnia possumus omnes_," Virgil says; and there are intellects who +could no more master such a method, than they could understand the +binomial theorem, or calculate the orbit of Uranus. If it be true, as has +been epigramatically said, that "a great book is a great evil," let it be +reduced to a small one by the skilful use of the art of skipping. Then, +"he that runs may read" as he runs--while, without this refuge, he that +reads will often assuredly be tempted to run. + +What I said, just now, in deprecation of set courses of reading, was +designed for private students only, who so often find a stereotyped +sequence of books barren or uninteresting. It was not intended to +discourage the pursuit of a special course of study in the school, or the +society, or the reading class. This is, in fact, one of the best means of +intellectual progress. Here, there is the opportunity to discuss the +style, the merits, and the characteristics of the author in hand, and by +the attrition of mind with mind, to inform and entertain the whole circle +of readers. In an association of this kind, embracing one or two acute +minds, the excellent practice of reading aloud finds its best results. +Here, too, the art of expression becomes important, how to adapt the +sound to the sense, by a just emphasis, intonation, and modulation of the +voice. In short, the value of a book thus read and discussed, in an +appreciative circle, may be more than doubled to each reader. + +It is almost literally true that no book, undertaken merely as task work, +ever helped the reader to knowledge of permanent or material value. How +many persons, struck by Mr. Emerson's exalted praise of the writings of +Plato, have undertaken to go through the Dialogues. Alas! for the vain +ambition to be or to seem learned! After trying to understand the Phaedo, +or falling asleep over the Gorgias, the book has been dropped as hastily +as it was taken up. It was not perceived that in order to enjoy or +comprehend a philosopher, one must have a capacity for ideas. It requires +almost as much intelligence to appreciate an idea as to conceive one. One +will bring nothing home from the most persistent cruise after knowledge, +unless he carries something out. In the realm of learning, we recognize +the full meaning of that Scripture, that to him that hath, shall be +given; and he that hath not, though never so anxious to read and +understand Plato, will quickly return to the perusal of his daily +newspaper. + +It were easier, perhaps, in one sense, to tell what not to read, than to +recommend what is best worth reading. In the publishing world, this is +the age of compilation, not of creation. If we seek for great original +works, if we must go to the wholesale merchants to buy knowledge, since +retail geniuses are worth but little, one must go back many years for his +main selection of books. It would not be a bad rule for those who can +read but little, to read no book until it has been published at least a +year or two. This fever for the newest books is not a wholesome condition +of the mind. And since a selection must indispensably be made, and that +selection must be, for the great mass of readers, so rigid and so small, +why should precious time be wasted upon the ephemeral productions of the +hour? What business, for example, has one to be reading Rider Haggard, or +Amelie Rives, or Ian Maclaren, who has never read Homer, or Dante, or +even so much as half-a-dozen plays of Shakespeare? + +One hears with dismay that about three-fourths of the books drawn from +our popular libraries are novels. Now, while such aimless reading, merely +to be amused, is doubtless better than no reading at all, it is +unquestionably true that over-much reading of fiction, especially at an +early age, enervates the mind, weakens the will, makes dreamers instead +of thinkers and workers, and fills the imagination with morbid and unreal +views of life. Yet the vast consumption of novels is due more to the +cheapness and wide diffusion of such works, and the want of wise +direction in other fields, than to any original tendency on the part of +the young. People will always read the most, that which is most put +before them, if only the style be attractive. The mischief that is done +by improper books is literally immeasureable. The superabundance of cheap +fictions in the markets creates and supplies an appetite which should be +directed by wise guidance into more improving fields. A two-fold evil +follows upon the reading of every unworthy book; in the first place, it +absorbs the time which should be bestowed upon a worthy one; and +secondly, it leaves the mind and heart unimproved, instead of conducing +to the benefit of both. As there are few books more elevating than a +really good novel, so there are none more fruitful of evil than a bad +one. + +And what of the newspaper? it may be asked. When I consider for how much +really good literature we are beholden to the daily and weekly press, how +indispensable is its function as purveyor of the news of the world, how +widely it has been improved in recent years, I cannot advise quarreling +with the bridge that brings so many across the gulf of ignorance. Yet the +newspaper, like the book, is to be read sparingly, and with judgment. It +is to be used, not abused. I call that an abuse which squanders the +precious and unreturning hours over long chronicles of depravity. The +murders, the suicides, the executions, the divorces, the criminal trials, +are each and all so like one another that it is only a wanton waste of +time to read them. The morbid style in which social disorders of all +kinds are written up in the sensational press, with staring headlines to +attract attention, ought to warn off every healthy mind from their +perusal. Every scandal in society that can be brought to the surface is +eagerly caught up and paraded, while the millions of people who lead +blameless lives of course go unnoticed and unchronicled. Such journals +thus inculcate the vilest pessimism, instead of a wholesome and honest +belief in the average decency of human nature. The prolixity of the +narrative, too, is always in monstrous disproportion to its importance. +"Does not the burning of a metropolitan theatre," says a great writer, +"take above a million times as much telling as the creation of a world?" +Here is where the art of skipping is to be rigorously applied. Read the +newspaper by headlines only,--skipping all the murders, all the fires, +all the executions, all the crimes, all the news, except the most +important and immediately interesting,--and you will spend perhaps +fifteen or twenty minutes upon what would otherwise occupy hours. It is +no exaggeration to say that most persons have spent time enough over the +newspapers, to have given them a liberal education. + +As all readers cannot have the same gifts, so all cannot enjoy the same +books. There are those who can see no greatness in Shakespeare, but who +think Tupper's Proverbial Philosophy sublime. Some will eagerly devour +every novel of Miss Braddon's, or "The Duchess," or the woman calling +herself "Ouida," but they cannot appreciate the masterly fictions of +Thackeray. I have known very good people who could not, for the life of +them, find any humor in Dickens, but who actually enjoyed the strained +wit of Mrs. Partington and Bill Nye. Readers who could not get through a +volume of Gibbon will read with admiration a so-called History of +Napoleon by Abbott. And I fear that you will find many a young lady of +to-day, who is content to be ignorant of Homer and Shakespeare, but who +is ravished by the charms of "Trilby" or the "Heavenly Twins." But taste +in literature, as in art, or in anything else, can be cultivated. Lay +down the rule, and adhere to it, to read none but the best books, and you +will soon lose all relish for the poor ones. You can educate readers into +good judges, in no long time, by feeding them on the masterpieces of +English prose and poetry. Surely, we all have cause to deprecate the +remorseless flood of fictitious literature in which better books are +drowned. + +Be not dismayed at the vast multitude of books, nor fear that, with your +small leisure, you will never be able to master any appreciable share of +them. Few and far between are the great books of the world. The works +which it is necessary to know, may be comprised in a comparatively small +compass. The rest are to be preserved in the great literary +conservatories, some as records of the past, others as chronicles of the +times, and not a few as models to be avoided. The Congressional Library +at Washington is our great National conservatory of books. As the library +of the government--that is, of the whole people,--it is inclusive of all +the literature which the country produces, while all the other libraries +are and must be more or less exclusive. No National Library can ever be +too large. In order that the completeness of the collection shall not +fail, and to preserve the whole of our literature, it is put into the +Statute of Copyright, as a condition precedent of the exclusive right to +multiply copies of any book, that it shall be deposited in the Library of +Congress. Apprehension is sometimes expressed that our National Library +will become overloaded with trash, and so fail of its usefulness. 'Tis a +lost fear. There is no act of Congress requiring all the books to be +read. The public sense is continually winnowing and sifting the +literature of every period, and to books and their authors, every day is +the day of judgment. Nowhere in the world is the inexorable law of the +survival of the fittest more rigidly applied than in the world of books. +The works which are the most frequently re-printed in successive ages are +the ones which it is safe to stand by. + +Books may be divided into three classes: 1st, acquaintances; 2d, friends; +and 3d, intimates. + +It is well enough to have an acquaintance with a multitude of books, as +with many people; though in either case much time should not be given to +merely pleasant intercourse, that leads to no result. With our literary +friends, we can spend more time, for they awaken keen interest, and are +to be read with zest, and consequently with profit. But for our chosen +intimates, our heart-companions, we reserve our highest regard, and our +best hours. Choice and sacred is the book that makes an era in the life +of the reader; the book which first rouses his higher nature, and awakens +the reason or the imagination. Such a volume will many a one remember; +the book which first excited his own thought, made him conscious of +untried powers, and opened to his charmed vision a new world. + +Such a book has Carlyle's Sartor Resartus been to many; or the play of +Hamlet, read for the first time; or the Faust of Goethe; or the +Confessions of St. Augustine; or an essay of Emerson; or John Ruskin; or +the Divine Comedy of Dante; or even an exquisite work of fiction, like +John Halifax, or Henry Esmond. What the book is that works such miracles +is never of so much importance as the epoch in the mind of the reader +which it signalizes. It were vain to single out any one writer, and say +to all readers--"Here is the book that must indispensably be read;" for +the same book will have totally different effects upon different minds, +or even upon the same mind, at different stages of development. + +When I have been asked to contribute to the once popular _symposia_ upon +"Books which have helped me,"--I have declined, for such catalogues of +intellectual aids are liable to be very misleading. Thus, if I were to +name the book which did more than most others for my own mind, I should +say that it was the Emile of Rousseau, read at about the age of +seventeen. This work, written with that marvellous eloquence which +characterises all the best productions of Jean Jacques, first brought me +acquainted with those advanced ideas of education which have penetrated +the whole modern world. Yet the Emile would probably appear to most of my +readers trite and common-place, as it would now to me, for the reason +that we have long passed the period of development when its ideas were +new to us. + +But the formative power of books can never be over-rated: their subtle +mastery to stimulate all the germs of intellectual and moral life that +lie enfolded in the mind. As the poet sings-- + + "Books are not seldom talismans and spells." + +Why should they not be so? They furnish us the means, and the only +means, whereby we may hold communion with the master-spirits of all ages. +They bring us acquainted with the best thoughts which the human mind has +produced, expressed in the noblest language. Books create for us the +many-sided world, carry us abroad, out of our narrow provincial horizons, +and reveal to us new scenery, new men, new languages, and new modes of +life. As we read, the mind expands with the horizon, and becomes broad as +the blue heaven above us. With Homer, we breathe the fresh air of the +pristine world, when the light of poetry gilded every mountain top, and +peopled the earth with heroes and demigods. With Plutarch, we walk in +company with sages, warriors, and statesmen, and kindle with admiration +of their virtues, or are roused to indignation at their crimes. With +Sophocles, we sound the depths of human passion, and learn the sublime +lesson of endurance. We are charmed with an ode of Horace, perfect in +rhythm, perfect in sentiment, perfect in diction, and perfect in moral; +the condensed essence of volumes in a single page. We walk with Dante +through the nether world, awed by the tremendous power with which he +depicts for us the secrets of the prison house. With Milton, we mount +heaven-ward, and in the immortal verse of his minor poems, finer even +than the stately march of Paradise Lost, we hear celestial music, and +breathe diviner air. With that sovereign artist, Shakespeare, full +equally of delight and of majesty, we sweep the horizon of this complex +human life, and become comprehensive scholars and citizens of the world. +The masters of fiction enthrall us with their fascinating pages, one +moment shaking us with uncontrollable laughter, and the next, dissolving +us in tears. In the presence of all these emanations of genius, the wise +reader may feed on nectar and ambrosia, and forget the petty cares and +vexations of to-day. + +There are some books that charm us by their wit or their sweetness, +others that surprise and captivate us by their strength: books that +refresh us when weary: books that comfort us when afflicted: books that +stimulate us by their robust health: books that exalt and refine our +natures, as it were, to a finer mould: books that rouse us like the sound +of a trumpet: books that illumine the darkest hours, and fill all our day +with delight. + +It is books that record the advance and the decline of nations, the +experience of the world, the achievements and the possibilities of +mankind. It is books that reveal to us ideas and images almost above +ourselves, and go far to open for us the gates of the invisible. "A river +of thought," says Emerson, "is continually flowing out of the invisible +world into the mind of man:" and we may add that books contain the most +fruitful and permanent of the currents of that mighty river. + +I am not disposed to celebrate the praises of all books, nor to recommend +to readers of any age a habit of indiscriminate reading: but for the +books which are true helpers and teachers, the thoughts of the best +poets, historians, publicists, philosophers, orators,--if their value is +not real, then there are no realities in the world. + +Very true is it, nevertheless, that the many-sided man cannot be +cultivated by books alone. One may learn by heart whole libraries, and +yet be profoundly unacquainted with the face of nature, or the life of +man. The pale student who gives himself wholly to books pays the penalty +by losing that robust energy of character, that sympathy with his kind, +that keen sense of the charms of earth and sky, that are essential to +complete development. "The world's great men," says Oliver Wendell +Holmes, "have not commonly been great scholars, nor its scholars great +men." To know what other men have said about things is not always the +most important part of knowledge. There is nothing that can dispense us +from the independent use of our own faculties. Meditation and observation +are more valuable than mere absorption; and knowledge itself is not +wisdom. The true way to use books is to make them our servants--not our +masters. Very helpful, cheering, and profitable will they become, when +they fall naturally into our daily life and growth--when they tally with +the moods of the mind. + +The habits and methods of readers are as various as those of authors. +Thus, there are some readers who gobble a book, as Boswell tells us Dr. +Johnson used to gobble his dinner--eagerly, and with a furious appetite, +suggestive of dyspepsia, and the non-assimilation of food. Then there are +slow readers, who plod along through a book, sentence by sentence, +putting in a mark conscientiously where they left off to-day, so as to +begin at the self-same spot to-morrow; fast readers, who gallop through a +book, as you would ride a flying bicycle on a race; drowsy readers, to +whom a book is only a covert apology for a nap, and who pretend to be +reading Macaulay or Herbert Spencer only to dream between the leaves; +sensitive readers, who cannot abide the least noise or interruption when +reading, and to whose nerves a foot-fall or a conversation is an +exquisite torture; absorbed readers, who are so pre-occupied with their +pursuit that they forget all their surroundings--the time of day, the +presence or the voices of others, the hour for dinner, and even their own +existence; credulous readers, who believe everything they read because it +is printed in a book, and swallow without winking the most colossal +lying; critical and captious readers, who quarrel with the blunders or +the beliefs of their author, and who cannot refrain from calling him an +idiot or an ass--and perhaps even writing him down so on his own pages; +admiring and receptive readers, who find fresh beauties in a favorite +author every time they peruse him, and even discover beautiful swans in +the stupidest geese that ever cackled along the flowery meads of +literature; reverent readers, who treat a book as they would treat a +great and good man, considerately and politely, carefully brushing the +dust from a beloved volume with the sleeve, or tenderly lifting a book +fallen to the floor, as if they thought it suffered, or felt harm; +careless and rough readers, who will turn down books on their faces to +keep the place, tumble them over in heaps, cram them into shelves never +meant for them, scribble upon the margins, dogs-ear the leaves, or even +cut them with their fingers--all brutal and intolerable practices, +totally unworthy of any one pretending to civilization. + +To those who have well learned the art of reading, what inexhaustible +delights does the world of books contain! With Milton, "to behold the +bright countenance of truth, in the quiet and still air of delightful +studies;" to journey through far countries with Marco Polo; to steer +across an unknown sea with Columbus, or to brave the dangers of the +frozen ocean with Nansen or Dr. Kane; to study the manners of ancient +nations with Herodotus; to live over again the life of Greece and Rome +with Plutarch's heroes; to trace the decline of empires with Gibbon and +Mommsen; to pursue the story of the modern world in the pages of Hume, +Macaulay, Thiers and Sismondi, and our own Prescott, Motley, and +Bancroft; to enjoy afresh the eloquence of Demosthenes, and the polished +and splendid diction of Cicero; to drink in the wisdom of philosophers, +and to walk with Socrates, Plato and the stoics through the groves of +Academia; to be kindled by the saintly utterances of prophets and +apostles, St. Paul's high reasoning of immortality, or the seraphic +visions of St. John; to study the laws that govern communities with the +great publicists, or the economy of nations with Adam Smith and Stuart +Mill; with the naturalists, to sound the depths of the argument as to the +origin of species and the genesis of man; with the astronomers, to leave +the narrow bounds of earth, and explore the illimitable spaces of the +universe, in which our solar system is but a speck; with the +mathematicians, to quit the uncertain realm of speculation and +assumption, and plant our feet firmly on the rock of exact science:--to +come back anon to lighter themes, and to revel in the grotesque humor of +Dickens, the philosophic page of Bulwer, the chivalric romances of Walter +Scott, the ideal creations of Hawthorne, the finished life-pictures of +George Eliot, the powerful imagination of Victor Hugo, and the masterly +delineations of Thackeray; to hang over the absorbing biographies of Dr. +Franklin, Walter Scott and Dr. Johnson; to peruse with fresh delight the +masterpieces of Irving and Goldsmith, and the best essays of Hazlitt, De +Quincey, Charles Lamb, and Montaigne; to feel the inspiration of the +great poets of all ages, from Homer down to Tennyson; to read +Shakespeare--a book that is in itself almost a university:--is not all +this satisfaction enough for human appetite, however craving, solace +enough for trouble, however bitter, occupation enough for life, however +long? + +There are pleasures that perish in the using; but the pleasure which the +art of reading carries with it is perennial. He who can feast on the +intellectual spoils of centuries need fear neither poverty nor hunger. In +the society of those immortals who still rule our spirits from their +urns, we become assured that though heaven and earth may pass away, no +true thought shall ever pass away. + +The great orator, on whose lips once hung multitudes, dies and is +forgotten; the great actor passes swiftly off the stage, and is seen no +more; the great singer, whose voice charmed listening crowds by its +melody, is hushed in the grave; the great preacher survives but a single +generation in the memory of men; all we who now live and act must be, in +a little while, with yesterday's seven thousand years:--but the book of +the great writer lives on and on, inspiring age after age of readers, and +has in it more of the seeds of immortality than anything upon earth. + + + + +CHAPTER 10. + +AIDS TO READERS. + + +There is one venerable Latin proverb which deserves a wider recognition +than it has yet received. It is to the effect that "the best part of +learning is to know where to find things." From lack of this knowledge, +an unskilled reader will often spend hours in vainly searching for what a +skilled reader can find in less than five minutes. Now, librarians are +presumed to be skilled readers, although it would not be quite safe to +apply this designation to all of that profession, since there are those +among librarians, or their assistants, who are mere novices in the art of +reading to advantage. Manifestly, one cannot teach what he does not know: +and so the librarian who has not previously travelled the same road, will +not be able to guide the inquiring reader who asks him to point out the +way. But if the way has once been found, the librarian, with only a +fairly good memory, kept in constant exercise by his vocation, can find +it again. Still more surely, if he has been through it many times, will +he know it intuitively, the moment any question is asked about it. + +It is true of the great majority of readers resorting to a library, that +they have a most imperfect idea, both of what they want, and of the +proper way to find it. The world of knowledge, they know, is vast, and +they are quite bewildered by the many paths that lead to some part or +other of it, crossing each other in all directions. And among the +would-be readers may be found every shade of intelligence, and every +degree of ignorance. There is the timid variety, too modest or diffident +to ask for any help at all, and so feeling about among the catalogues or +other reference-books in a baffled search for information. There is the +sciolist variety, who knows it all, or imagines that he does, and who +asks for proof of impossible facts, with an assurance born of the +profoundest ignorance. Then, too, there is the half-informed reader, who +is in search of a book he once read, but has clean forgotten, which had a +remarkable description of a tornado in the West, or a storm and +ship-wreck at sea, or a wonderful tropical garden, or a thrilling escape +from prison, or a descent into the bowels of the earth, or a tremendous +snow-storm, or a swarming flight of migratory birds, or a mausoleum of +departed kings, or a haunted chamber hung with tapestry, or the fatal +caving-in of a coal-mine, or a widely destructive flood, or a +hair-breadth escape from cannibals, or a race for life, pursued by +wolves, or a wondrous sub-marine grotto, or a terrible forest fire, or +any one of a hundred scenes or descriptions, all of which the librarian +is presumed, not only to have read, but to have retained in his memory +the author, the title, and the very chapter of the book which contained +it. + +To give some idea of the extent and variety of information which a +librarian is supposed to possess, I have been asked, almost at the same +time, to refer a reader to the origin of Candlemas day, to define the +Pragmatic Sanction, to give, out of hand, the aggregate wealth of Great +Britain, compared with that of half-a-dozen other nations, to define the +limits of neutrality or belligerent rights, to explain what is meant by +the Gresham law, to tell what ship has made the quickest voyage to +Europe, when she made it, and what the time was, to elucidate the meaning +of the Carolina doctrine, to explain the character and objects of the +Knights of the Golden Circle, to tell how large are the endowments of the +British Universities, to give the origin of the custom of egg-rolling, +to tell the meaning of the cipher dispatches, to explain who was "Extra +Billy Smith," to tell the aggregate number killed on all sides during the +Napoleonic wars, to certify who wrote the "Vestiges of Creation," or, +finally, to give the author of one of those innumerable ancient proverbs, +which float about the world without a father. + +The great number and variety of such inquiries as are propounded by +readers should not appal one. Nor should one too readily take refuge from +a troublesome reader by the plea, however convenient, that the library +contains nothing on that subject. While this may unquestionably be true, +especially as regards a small public library, it should never be put +forward as a certainty, until one has looked. Most inquiring readers are +very patient, and being fully sensible how much they owe to the free +enjoyment of the library treasures, and to the aid of the superintendent +of them, they are willing to wait for information. However busy you may +be at the moment, the reader can be asked to wait, or to call at a less +busy time, when you will be prepared with a more satisfactory answer than +can be given on the spur of the moment. What cannot be done to-day, may +often be done to-morrow. Remember always, that readers are entitled to +the best and most careful service, for a librarian is not only the +keeper, but the interpreter of the intellectual stores of the library. It +is a good and a safe rule to let no opportunity of aiding a reader +escape. One should be particularly careful to volunteer help to those who +are too new or too timid to ask: and it is they who will be most grateful +for any assistance. The librarian has only to put himself in their +place--(the golden rule for a librarian, as for all the world besides), +and to consider how often, in his own searches in libraries, in the +continual, never-ending quest of knowledge, he would have been thankful +for a hint from some one who knew, or had been over the ground of his +search before; and then he will feel the full value to the novice, of +such knowledge as he can impart. + +He is not to forget that his superior opportunities for learning all +about things, with a whole library at command, and within elbow-reach +every hour of the day, should impose upon him a higher standard of +attainment than most readers are supposed to have reached. In the +intervals of library work, I am accustomed to consider the looking up of +subjects or authorities as one of my very best recreations. It is as +interesting as a game of whist, and much more profitable. It is more +welcome than routine labor, for it rests or diverts the mind, by its very +variety, while, to note the different views or expressions of writers on +the same subject, affords almost endless entertainment. In tracing down a +quotation also, or the half-remembered line of some verse in poetry, you +encounter a host of parallel poetic images or expressions, which +contribute to aid the memory, or to feed the imagination. Or, in pursuing +a sought-for fact in history, through many volumes, you learn +collaterally much that may never have met your eye before. Full, as all +libraries are, of what we call trash, there is almost no book which will +not give us something,--even though it be only the negative virtue of a +model to be avoided. One may not, indeed, always find what he seeks, +because it may not exist at all, or it may not be found in the limited +range of his small library, but he is almost sure to find something which +gives food for thought, or for memory to note. And this is one of the +foremost attractions, let me add, of the librarian's calling; it is more +full of intellectual variety, of wide-open avenues to knowledge, than any +other vocation whatever. His daily quests in pursuit of information to +lay before others, bring him acquainted with passages that are full of +endless suggestion for himself. He may not be able to pursue any of these +avenues at the moment; but he should make a mental or a written note of +them, for future benefit. His daily business being learning, why should +he not in time, become learned? There are, of course, among the +infinitude of questions, that come before the librarian, some that are +really insoluble problems. One of these is to be found among the topics +of inquiry I just now suggested; namely: what is the aggregate wealth of +Great Britain, or that of other nations? This is a question frequently +asked by inquiring Congressmen, who imagine that an answer may readily be +had from one of those gifted librarians who is invested with that +apocryphal attribute, commonly called omniscience. But the inquirer is +suddenly confronted by the fact (and a very stubborn fact it is) that not +a single foreign nation has ever taken any census of wealth whatever. In +Great Britain (about which country inquiry as to the national resources +more largely centres) the government wisely lets alone the attempt to +tabulate the value of private wealth, knowing that such an object is +utterly impracticable. + +But, while the British census makes no attempt at estimating the property +of the people, the independent estimates of statistical writers vary +hopelessly and irreconcilably. Mr. J. R. McCulloch, one of the foremost +accredited writers on economic science, lays it down as a dictum, that +"sixty years is the shortest time in which the capital of an old and +densely-peopled country can be expected to be doubled." Yet Joseph Lowe +assumes the wealth of the United Kingdom to have doubled in eighteen +years, from 1823 to 1841; while George R. Porter, in his +widely-accredited book on the "Progress of the Nation," and Leoni Levi, a +publicist of high reputation, make out, (by combining their estimates) +that the private wealth of England increased fifty per cent. in seventeen +years, at which rate it would double in about twenty-nine years, instead +of sixty, as laid down by Mr. McCulloch. Mr. Levi calculates the +aggregate private wealth of Great Britain in 1858, at $29,178,000,000, +being a fraction less than the guesses of the census enumerators at the +national wealth of the United States, twelve years later, in 1870. Can +one guess be said to be any nearer the fact than the other? May we not be +pardoned for treating all estimates as utterly fallacious that are not +based upon known facts and figures? Why do we hear so much of the +"approximate correctness" of so many statistical tables, when, in point +of fact, the primary data are incapable of proof, and the averages and +conclusions built upon them are all assumed? "Statisticians," says one of +the fraternity, "are generally held to be eminently practical people; on +the contrary, they are more given to theorizing than any other class of +writers; and are generally less expert in it." + +In the presence of such gross discrepancies as these, by statisticians of +the highest repute, and among such a practical people as the English, +what value can be attached to the mere estimates of wealth which have +been attempted in the census of the United States? The careful +Superintendent of the Census of 1870 and 1880, the late Francis A. +Walker, writes concerning it: + +"At the best, these figures represent but the opinion of one man, or of a +body of men, in the collection of material, and in the calculation of the +several elements of the public wealth." And in the last Census Report for +1890, the results of the so-called "census of wealth," are cautiously +submitted, "as showing in a general way a continuous increase in the +wealth of the nation, the exact proportions of which cannot be +measured." + +Now, what are we to conclude regarding the attempt to elevate to a rank +in statistical science, mere estimates of private wealth, for a large +portion of which, by the statements of those who make them, no actual +statistical data exist? And when this is confessedly the case in our own +country, the only one attempting the impossible task of tabulating the +wealth of the people, what shall we say of the demand that is made upon +our credulity of accepting the guesses of Mr. Giffen, or Mr. Mulhall, as +to British wealth? Are we not justified in applying the old Latin +maxim--"_De non apparentibus, et de non existentibus, eadem est ratio_," +and replying to those who demand of us to know how much any nation is +worth, that it is sometimes an important part of knowledge to know that +nothing can be known? + +Among the literally innumerable inquiries liable to be made of a +librarian, here is one which may give him more than a moment's pause, +unless he is uncommonly well versed in American political +history--namely, "What was the Ostend Manifesto?" To a mind not +previously instructed these two words "Ostend Manifesto", convey +absolutely no meaning. You turn to the standard encyclopaedias, +Appleton's, Johnson's Universal, and the Britannica, and you find an +account of Ostend, a little Belgian city, its locality, commerce, and +population, but absolutely nothing about an Ostend manifesto. But in J. +N. Larned's "History for Ready Reference", a useful book in five volumes, +arranged in alphabetical order, you get a clue. It refers you from +Ostend, under letter O, to Cuba, where you learn that this formidable +Ostend manifesto was nothing more nor less than a paper drawn up and +signed by Messrs. Buchanan, Mason, and Slidell, Ministers of the United +States to Great Britain, France, and Spain, respectively, when at the +watering-place of Ostend, in 1854, importing that the island of Cuba +ought to, and under certain circumstances, must belong to the United +States. Looking a little farther, as the manifesto is not published in +Larned, you find the text of the document itself in Cluskey's "Political +Text-Book", of 1860, and in some of the American newspapers of 1854. This +is a case of pursuing a once notorious, but more recently obscure topic, +through many works of reference until found. + +In many searches for names of persons, it becomes highly important to +know before-hand where to look, and equally important where not to look, +for certain biographies. Thus, if you seek for the name of any living +character, it is necessary to know that it would be useless to look in +the Encyclopaedia Britannica, because the rule of compilation of that work +purposely confined its sketches of notable persons to those who were +already deceased when its volumes appeared. So you save the time of +hunting in at least one conspicuous work of reference, before you begin, +by simply knowing its plan. + +In like manner, you should know that it is useless to search for two +classes of names in the "Dictionary of National Biography," the most +copious biographical dictionary of British personages ever published, +begun in 1885, under Leslie Stephen, and reaching its sixty-first volume, +and letter W in 1899, under the editorship of Sidney Lee. These two +classes of names are first, all persons not British, that is, not either +English, Scottish or Irish; and secondly, names of British persons now +living. This is because this great work, like the Britannica, purposely +confines itself to the names of notables deceased; and, unlike the +Britannica, it further limits its biographies to persons connected by +birth or long residence with the British kingdom. Knowing this fact +before-hand, will save any time wasted in searching the Dictionary of +National Biography for any persons now living, or for any American or +European names. + +Another caveat may properly be interposed as regards searches for +information in that most widely advertised and circulated of all works of +reference,--the Encyclopaedia Britannica. The plan of that work was to +furnish the reading public with the very best treatises upon leading +topics in science, history, and literature, by eminent scholars and +specialists in various fields. Pursuant to this general scheme, each +great subject has a most elaborate, and sometimes almost exhaustive +article--as, for example, chemistry, geology, etc., while the minor +divisions of each topic do not appear in the alphabet at all, or appear +only by cross-reference to the generic name under which they are treated. +It results, that while you find, for example, a most extensive article +upon "Anatomy", filling a large part of a volume of the Britannica, you +look in vain in the alphabet for such subjects as "blood, brain, +cartilage, sinew, tissue," etc., which are described only in the article +"Anatomy." This method has to be well comprehended in order for any +reader to make use of this great Cyclopaedia understandingly. Even by the +aid of the English index to the work, issued by its foreign publishers, +the reader who is in hasty quest of information in the Britannica, will +most frequently be baffled by not finding any minor subject in the index. +The English nation, judged by most of the productions of its literary and +scientific men in that field, has small genius for indexing. It was +reserved to an American to prepare and print a thorough index, at once +alphabetical and analytical, to this great English thesaurus of +information--an index ten times more copious, and therefore more useful +to the student, than the meagre one issued in England. This index fills +3,900 closely printed columns, forming the whole of volume 25 of the +Philadelphia edition of the work. By its aid, every name and every topic, +treated anywhere in this vast repository of human knowledge can be traced +out and appropriated; while without it, the Encyclopaedia Britannica, +with all its great merits, must remain very much in the nature of a +sealed book to the reader who stands in need of immediate use and +reference. We have to take it for what it is--a collection of masterly +treatises, rather than a handy dictionary of knowledge. + +The usefulness and success of any library will depend very largely upon +the sympathy, so to speak, between the readers and the librarian. When +this is well established, the rest is very easy. The librarian should not +seclude himself so as to be practically inaccessible to readers, nor +trust wholly to assistants to answer their inquiries. This may be +necessary in some large libraries, where great and diversified interests +connected with the building up of the collection, the catalogue system, +and the library management and administration are all concerned. In the +British Museum Library, no one ever sees the Principal Librarian; even +the next officer, who is called the keeper of the printed books, is not +usually visible in the reading-room at all. + +A librarian who is really desirous of doing the greatest good to the +greatest number of people, will be not only willing, but anxious to +answer inquiries, even though they may appear to him trivial and +unimportant. Still, he should also economise time by cultivating the +habit of putting his answers into the fewest and plainest words. + +How far the librarian should place himself in direct communication with +readers, must depend largely upon the extent of the library, the labor +required in managing its various departments, the amount and value of +assistance at his command, and upon various other circumstances, +depending upon the different conditions with different librarians. But it +may be laid down as a safe general rule, that the librarian should hold +himself perpetually as a public servant, ready and anxious to answer in +some way, all inquiries that may come to him. Thus, and thus only, can he +make himself, and the collection of books under his charge, useful in the +highest degree to the public. He will not indeed, in any extensive +library, find it convenient, or even possible, to answer all inquiries in +person; but he should always be ready to enable his assistants to answer +them, by his superior knowledge as to the best sources of information, +whenever they fail to trace out what is wanted. In any small library, he +should be always accessible, at or near the place where people are +accustomed to have their wants for books or information supplied: and the +public resorting to the library will thus come not only to rely upon him +for aid in their intellectual researches, but to appreciate and respect +him for the wide extent of his knowledge, and to consider him, in time, +an indispensable guide, if not leader, in the community. His reputation, +in fact, will depend upon the extent to which he has been able to help +others, as well as upon the number of people whom he has thus aided. + +In a very high sense, the true librarian is an educator; his school is as +large as the town in which his library is situated. Very few people in +that town know what he is always presumed to know,--namely--to what books +to go to get answers to the questions they want answered. In supplying +continually the means of answering these countless questions, the library +becomes actually a popular university, in which the librarian is the +professor, the tuition is free, and the course is optional, both as to +study and as to time. + +Most persons who come to make any investigation in a public library +require a good deal of assistance. For example, a reader is in need of +the latest information as to the amount of steel and iron made in this +country, and what State produces these important manufactures. He has not +the faintest idea where to look for the information, except that it may +be in the census, but the census is nine years old, and he wants recent +facts. It is vain to turn him over to the cyclopaedias, for there is not +one whose information upon such statistics comes anywhere near up to +date. You have to put before him a pamphlet annual, published by the +American Iron and Steel Association, which contains exactly what he +wants; and no other source of information does contain it. + +Another inquirer seeks to know how to treat some disease. In such cases, +of course, the librarian should not go farther than to put before the +reader a work on domestic medicine, for it is not his function to deal in +recommendations of this, that, or the other method of treatment, any more +than it is to give legal opinions, if asked--although he may have studied +law. So, if the reader wants to know about the religious tenets of the +Presbyterians, or the Mormons, or the Buddhists, or the doctrines of the +Catholic Church, and asks the librarian's opinion about any controverted +question of belief, he is to be answered only by the statement that the +library is there to supply information, not opinions, and then pointed to +the religious cyclopaedias, which give full summaries of all the sects. + +He may frequently be asked for information on a subject which he knows +nothing about; and I have heard a librarian declare, that he often found +himself able to give fuller and better information on a subject of which +he was previously ignorant, than upon one he had long been familiar with. +The reason was that in the one case he had freshly looked up all the +authorities, and put them before the reader, while in the other, giving +the references from a memory, more or less imperfect, he had overlooked +some of the most important means of information. + +The constant exercise of the habit of supplying helps to readers is a +splendid intellectual school for the librarian himself. Through it, his +memory is quickened and consequently improved, (as every faculty is by +use) his habits of mental classification and analysis are formed or +strengthened, and his mind is kept on the alert to utilize the whole +arsenal of the knowledge he has already acquired, or to acquire new +knowledge. + +Another very important benefit derived by the librarian from his +constantly recurring attention to the calls of readers for aid, is the +suggestion thereby furnished of the deficiencies in the collection in his +charge. This will be a continual reminder to him, of what he most needs, +namely, how to equip the library with the best and most recent sources of +information in every field of inquiry. Whether the library be a large or +a small one, its deficiencies in some directions are sure to be very +considerable: and these gaps are more conspicuously revealed in trying to +supply readers with the means of making what may be termed an exhaustive +research upon a given subject, than in any other way. You find, for +example, in looking up your authorities in what has come to be called +Egyptology, that while you have Wilkinson's Ancient Egypt, and Lane's +Modern Egyptians, both of which are very valuable works, you have not the +more modern books of Brugsch-Bey, or of A. H. Sayce, or of Maspero. You +may also find out, by mingling freely with a good part of the readers, +what subjects are most frequently looked into or inquired about, and you +can thus secure valuable information as to the directions in which the +library most needs strengthening. Thus, in a community largely made up of +people connected with manufacturing interests, the inquiries are liable +to be much concerned with the mechanic arts; and you would therefore +naturally seek to acquire a liberal selection of the best and latest +works in technical science, or the useful arts. If you have, on the other +hand, very few inquiries, indeed, for theological works, you take it as +some evidence that that department of the collection needs little +enlargement, and you may devote your funds in other directions. Then too, +the great value of popularising the library by the hearty interest shown +by the librarian in the wants of the people can hardly be over-rated. +This interest, being a perennial one, and continued through a series of +years, the number of citizens and their families assisted will be +constantly on the increase, and the public opinion of the town will come +in time, to regard the library as a great popular necessity. Hence, if it +is an institution supported in whole or in part by town or municipal +funds, its claims to liberal consideration will be immeasurably +strengthened. If an enlargement of room for the books, or even a new +library building comes to be needed, its chances for securing the funds +requisite will be excellent. If a more liberal supply of new books, or an +extended range of older ones of great value is reported by the librarian +as wanted to increase the usefulness of the library, the authorities will +more cheerfully consider the claim. And if it is proposed that additional +and competent assistance shall be given to the librarian, or that he +should be more liberally compensated for his highly useful and important +labors, that, too, may be accomplished--especially if it has come to be +recognized that by his wide knowledge, and skilful management, and +helpful devotion to the service of the reading public, he has rendered +himself indispensable. + +In the supply of information desired by readers, it is better to leave +them to their own search, once you have put before them the proper +authorities, than to spend your time in turning for them to the volume +and page. This, for two reasons--first, it leaves your own time free to +help other readers, or to attend to the ever-waiting library work; and, +secondly, it induces habits of research and self-help on the part of the +reader. It is enough for the librarian to act as an intelligent +guide-post, to point the way; to travel the road is the business of the +reader himself. Therefore, let the visitor in quest of a quotation, look +it out in the index of the volumes you put before him. If he fails to +find it, it will then be time for you to intervene, and lend the aid of +your more practiced eye, and superior knowledge of how to search; or +else, let the reader look for it in some more copious anthology, which +you may put before him. There are multitudes of inquiries for the authors +of poems, which are in no sense "familiar quotations," nor even select +quotations, but which are merely common-place sentiments expressed in +language quite unpoetic,--and not the work of any notable writer at all. +They are either the production of some utterly obscure author of a volume +of verse, quite unknown to fame, or, still more probably, the +half-remembered verses of some anonymous contributor to the poet's corner +of the newspaper or magazine. In such cases, where you see no poetic +beauty or imaginative power in the lines, it is well to inform the +inquirer at once that you do not think them the production of any noted +writer, and thus end the fruitless search for memorizing what is not at +all memorable. What may strike uncultivated readers as beautiful, may be +set down as trash, by a mind that has been fed upon the masterpieces of +poetry. Not that the librarian is to assume the air of an oracle or a +censor, (something to be in all circumstances avoided) or to pronounce +positive judgment upon what is submitted: he should inform any admiring +reader of a passage not referred to in any of the anthologies, and not +possessing apparent poetic merit, that he believes the author is unknown +to fame. That should be sufficient for any reasonably disposed reader, +who, after search duly completed, will go away answered, if not +satisfied. + +I gave some instances of the singular variety of questions asked of a +librarian. Let me add one, reported by Mr. Robert Harrison, of the London +Library, as asked of him by William M. Thackeray. The distinguished +author of Esmond and The Virginians wanted a book that would tell of +General Wolfe, the hero of Quebec. "I don't want to know about his +battles", said the novelist. "I can get all that from the histories. I +want something that will tell me the color of the breeches he wore." +After due search, the librarian was obliged to confess that there was no +such book. + +A librarian is likely to be constantly in a position to aid the +uninformed reader how to use the books of reference which every public +library contains. The young person who is new to the habit of +investigation, or the adult who has never learned the method of finding +things, needs to be shown how to use even so simple a thing as an index. +Do not be impatient with his ignorance, although you may find him +fumbling over the pages in the body of the book in vain, to find what +you, with your acquired knowledge of indexes and their use, can find in +half a minute or less. Practice alone can make one perfect in the art of +search and speedy finding. The tyro who tries your patience this year, +will very likely become an expert reader the next. Wide as is the domain +of ignorance, there are few among those intelligent enough to resort to a +library at all, who cannot learn. You will find some who come to the +library so unskilled, that they will turn over the leaves even of an +index, in a blind, hap-hazard way, evidently at a loss how to use it. +These must be instructed first, that the index is arranged just like a +dictionary, in the alphabetical order of the names or subjects treated, +and secondly, that after finding the word they seek in it, they must turn +to the page indicated by the figure attached to that word. This is the +very primer of learning in the use of a library, but the library in any +town, used as it is by many boys and girls of all ages, has to be a +primary school for beginners, as well as a university for advanced +students. Despise not the day of small things, however you may find it +more agreeable to be occupied with great ones. + +On the other hand, you will find at the other extreme of intelligence, +among your clientage of readers, those who are completely familiar with +books and their uses. There are some readers frequenting public +libraries, who not only do not need assistance themselves, but who are +fully competent to instruct the librarian. In meeting the calls of such +skilled readers, who always know what they require, it is never good +policy to obtrude advice or suggestion, but simply to supply what they +call for. You will readily recognize and discriminate such experts from +the mass of readers, if you have good discernment. Sometimes they are +quite as sensitive as they are intelligent, and it may annoy them to have +offered them books they do not want, in the absence of what they require. +An officious, or super-serviceable librarian or assistant, may sometimes +prejudice such a reader by proffering help which he does not want, +instead of waiting for his own call or occasion. + +Let us look at a few examples of the numerous calls at a popular library. +For example, a reader asks to see a book, giving an account of the +marriage of the Adriatic. You know that this concerns the history of +Venice and its Doges, and you turn to various books on Venice, and its +history, until you find a description of the strange festival. It may be, +and probably is the case, that the books, like most descriptive works and +narratives of travellers, are without index. This is a disability in the +use of books which you must continually encounter, since multitudes of +volumes, old and new, are sent out without a vestige of an index to their +contents. Some writers have urged that a law should be made refusing +copyright to the author of any book who failed to provide it with an +index; a requirement highly desirable, but also highly impracticable. Yet +you will find in most books, a division of the contents into chapters, +and in the beginning of the volume a table of the contents of each +chapter, giving its leading topics. This is a substitute for an index, +although (not being arranged in alphabetical order) it is far less useful +than that time-saving aid to research. But you have to learn to take +advantage of even poor and inferior helps, when you cannot have the best, +(as a poor guide is better than no guide at all, unless it misguides,) +and so you run your eye quickly through the table of contents to find +what you seek. In the case supposed, of the ceremony at Venice, you will +be aided in the search by having in mind that the catch-words involved +are "Adriatic," and "Doge," and as these begin with capital letters, +which stand out, as it were, from the monotonous "lower case" type (as +printers call all the letters that are not capitals) your search will be +much abridged by omitting to read through all the sentences of your table +of contents, and seizing only the passage or passages where "Doge," or +"Adriatic," may occur. + +This remark will apply as well to numerous other searches which you will +have to make in books. The table of contents will commonly take note of +all the more salient topics that are treated in the book, whether of +persons, of places, of notable scenes, historic events, etc., and so +will aid you in finding what you seek. In the last resort only, in the +books whose table of contents fails you, will you have to turn the leaves +page by page, which, while not equivalent to reading the book through, is +a time-consuming business. + +Of course no librarian can devote hours of his precious time to searches +in such detail for readers. They are to be supplied with the books likely +to contain what they are in search of, and left to seek it in their own +way, with such hints and cautions as to saving time by taking the +shortest road, as the experience of the librarian enables him to supply. +The suggestions here given are not needed by scholarly readers, but are +the fruits of long experience in searching books for what they contain. + +Again, let us take the case of a call by a reader who happens to be a +decorative painter, for patterns which may furnish him hints in finishing +an interior of a house. Of course he wants color--that is, not theory +only, but illustration, or practical examples. So you put before him Owen +Jones's Grammar of Ornament, or Racinet's _L'Ornement polychrome_, both +illustrated with many beautiful designs in color, which he is delighted +to find. + +Another reader is anxious to see a picture of "St. George and the +Dragon." If you have the "Museum of Painting and Sculpture," in 17 +volumes, or Champlin's "Cyclopaedia of Painters and Painting," a +dictionary of art in four volumes, you find it in either work, in the +alphabet, under "St. George," and his want is satisfied. + +A youngster wants to know how to build a boat, and you find him Folkard +on Boats, or Frazar's Sail-boats, which describe and figure various +styles of water-craft. + +Perhaps an inquisitive reader wants to find out all about the families of +the various languages, and what is known of their origin, and you supply +him with W. D. Whitney's "Life and Growth of Language," or Max Mueller's +"Science of Language," either of which furnishes full information. + +Another inquirer seeks for information about the aggregate debts of +nations. You give him the great quarto volume of the last Census on +Wealth and Indebtedness, or for still later information the Statesman's +Year Book for 1899, or the Almanach de Gotha for the current year, both +of which contain the comparative debts of nations at the latest dates. + +The inquirer who seeks to know the rates of wages paid for all kinds of +labor in a series of several years, can be supplied with the elaborate +Report on Labor and Wages for fifty-two years, published by the U. S. +Government in 1893, in four volumes. + +Another reader wishes, we will suppose, to hunt up the drawings of all +patents that have been issued on type-writers, and type-writing +inventions. You put before him the many indexes to the Patent +Specifications and Patent Office Gazette; he makes out from these his +list of volumes wanted, which are at once supplied, and he falls to work +on his long, but to him interesting job. + +A reader who has seen in the library or elsewhere a book he would much +like to own, but cannot find a copy in town, wants to know what it will +cost: you turn to your American or foreign catalogue, covering the year +of publication, and give him not only the price, but the publisher's name +from whom he can order it, and he goes on his way rejoicing. + +An artist engaged upon a painting in which he wishes to introduce a deer, +or a group of rabbits, or an American eagle, or a peacock, asks for an +accurate picture of the bird or animal wanted. You put before him J. S. +Kingsley's Riverside Natural History, in six volumes, and his desire is +satisfied. + +In dealing with books of reference, there will often be found very +important discrepancies of statement, different works giving different +dates, for example, for the same event in history or biography. + +Next to a bible and a dictionary of language, there is no book, perhaps, +more common than a biographical dictionary. Our interest in our +fellow-men is perennial; and we seek to know not only their +characteristics, and the distinguishing events of their lives, but also +the time of their birth into the world and their exit from it. This is a +species of statistics upon which one naturally expects certainty, since +no person eminent enough to be recorded at all is likely to have the +epoch of his death, at least, unremarked. Yet the seeker after exact +information in the biographical dictionaries will find, if he extends his +quest among various authorities, that he is afloat on a sea of +uncertainties. Not only can he not find out the date of decease of some +famous navigators, like Sir John Franklin and La Perouse, who sailed into +unexplored regions of the globe, and were never heard of more, but the +men who died at home, in the midst of friends and families, are +frequently recorded as deceased at dates so discrepant that no ingenuity +can reconcile them. + +In Haydn's Dictionary of Dates, Sir Henry Havelock was said to have died +November 25th, 1857, while Maunder's Treasury of Biography gives November +21st, the London Almanac, November 27th, and the Life of Havelock, by his +brother-in-law, November 24th. Here are four distinct dates of death +given, by authorities apparently equally accredited, to a celebrated +general, who died within forty years of our own time. Of the death of the +notorious Robespierre, guillotined in 1794, we find in Chalmers' +Biographical Dictionary that he died July 10th, in Rees's Cyclopaedia, +July 28th, and in Alison's History of Europe, July 29th. Doubtless it is +some comfort to reflect, in view of his many crimes, that the bloody +tyrant of the Jacobins is really dead, irrespective of the date, about +which biographers may dispute. Of the English mechanician Joseph Bramah, +inventor of the Bramah lock, we learn from the English Cyclopaedia, that +he died in 1814, and from Rose's Biographical Dictionary, that he died in +1815. + +Now, although a large share of the errors and discrepancies that abound +in biographical dictionaries and other books of reference may be +accounted for by misprints, others by reckoning old style instead of new, +and many more by carelessness of writers and transcribers, it is plain +that all the variations cannot be thus accounted for. Nothing is more +common in printing offices than to find a figure 6 inverted serving as a +9, a 5 for a 3, or a 3 for an 8, while 8, 9, and O, are frequently +interchanged. In such cases, a keen-eyed proof-reader may not always be +present to prevent the falsification of history; and it is a fact, not +sufficiently recognized, that to the untiring vigilance, intelligence, +and hard, conscientious labors of proof-readers, the world owes a deeper +debt of gratitude than it does to many a famous maker of books. It is +easy enough to make books, Heaven knows, but to make them correct, "_Hic +labor, hoc opus est_." + +A high authority in encyclopaedical lore tells us that the best +accredited authorities are at odds with regard to the birth or death of +individuals in the enormous ratio of from twenty to twenty-five per cent. +of the whole number in the biographical dictionaries. The Portuguese poet +Camoens is said by some authorities to have been born in 1517, and by +others in 1525; a discrepancy of eight years. Chateaubriand is declared +by the English Cyclopaedia to have been born September 4th, 1768; +September 14th, 1768, by the Nouvelle Biographie generale of Dr. Hoefer; +and September 4th, 1769, by the Conversations-Lexicon. Of course it is +clear that all these authorities cannot be right; but which of the three +is so, is matter of extreme doubt, leaving the student of facts perplexed +and uncertain at the very point where certainty is not only most +important, but most confidently expected. + +Of another kind are the errors that sometimes creep into works of +reference of high credit, by accepting too confidently statements +publicly made. In one edition of the Dictionary of Congress a certain +honorable member from Pennsylvania, in uncommonly robust health, was +astonished to find himself recorded as having died of the National Hotel +disease, contracted at Washington in 1856. In this case, the editor of +the work was a victim of too much confidence in the newspapers. In the +Congressional Directory, where brief biographies of Congressmen are +given, one distinguished member was printed as having been elected to +Congress at a time which, taken in connection with his birth-date in the +same paragraph, made him precisely one year old when he took his seat in +Congress. + +Even in reporting the contents of public and private libraries, +exaggeration holds sway. The library of George the Fourth, inherited by +that graceless ignoramus from a book-collecting father, and presented to +the British nation with ostentatious liberality only after he had failed +to sell it to Russia, was said in the publications of those times to +contain about 120,000 volumes. But an actual enumeration when the books +were lodged in the King's library at the British Museum, where they have +ever since remained, showed that there were only 65,250 volumes, being +but little more than half the reported number. Many libraries, public +and private, are equally over-estimated. It is so much easier to guess +than to count, and the stern test of arithmetic is too seldom applied, +notwithstanding the fact that 100,000 volumes can easily be counted in a +day by a single person, and so on in the same proportion. Here, as in the +statistics of population, the same proverb holds good, that the unknown +is always the magnificent, and on the surface of the globe we inhabit, +the unexplored country is always the most marvellous, since the world +began. + +These discrepancies in authorities, and exaggerations of writers, are not +referred to for the purpose of casting doubt upon all published history, +but only to point out that we cannot trust implicitly to what we find in +books. Bearing in mind always, that accuracy is perhaps the rarest of +human qualities, we should hold our judgment in reserve upon controverted +statements, trusting no writer implicitly, unless sustained by original +authorities. When asked to recommend the best book upon any subject, do +not too confidently assert the merits of the one you may think the best, +but say simply that it is well accredited, or very popular. It is not +always safe to recommend books, and the librarian does well to speak with +proper reservations as to most of them, and to recommend only what are +well known to him to be good, by his own intimate acquaintance with them, +or, which is the surest test of all, by the verdicts of critical reviews, +or by the constant reprinting of them in many successive years. + +It was the well-nigh unanimous report at a Conference of American +librarians, upon the subject of "aids to readers", that "nothing can take +the place of an intelligent and obliging assistant at the desk." This was +after a thorough canvass of the relative merits of the various reference +books and helps to readers in book form. Not only the casual reader, and +the reader with a purpose may be constantly aided by the librarian's +knowledge, and larger experience in the art of finding things, but +teachers in the schools, clergymen preparing discourses, and every one +seeking to know anything, should find the librarian a living catalogue. +There is nothing so effective in the world as individual effort. + + + + +CHAPTER 11. + +ACCESS TO LIBRARY SHELVES. + + +The matter of free or unrestricted access to the books on the shelves is +a vexed question in libraries. Open and unprotected shelves, either in +alcoves or the main reading room, while they appear to be a boon to +readers, who can thus browse at will through the literary pastures, and +turn over volumes at their pleasure, furnish by no means good security +for the books. Some of the smaller public libraries protect their books +from access by glass doors in front of the shelves, which form also a +partial protection against dust. Others again, use wire screen doors, +opened, like the others, by lock and key when books are wanted. Both of +these arrangements give to readers the advantage of reading the titles on +the backs of most of the books in the library, while protecting them from +being handled, disarranged, or removed. But they are also open to the +objection that they obstruct the prompt service of the books, by just the +amount of time it takes to open the doors or screens, and close them +again. This trouble and delay may overbalance the supposed advantages. +Certainly they must do so in all large libraries, where the frequentation +is great, and where every moment's delay in the book service works +disadvantage to numerous readers. While private libraries, or quite small +public ones, can indulge in the luxury of glass cases, no extensive +collection can be managed with the requisite promptitude under their +obstructions. + +But how to avoid the indiscriminate and usually careless handling of the +books on shelves, by the people frequenting the library, and still +extend to readers prompt and full service of all the books they wish to +consult on any subject, is a problem. In a few of the great libraries, +where that modern improvement, the stack system, prevails, the difficulty +is solved by the storing of the books in the outside repositories, or +iron book-stacks to which readers are not admitted. In this case the +reading room is only for books in use by those frequenting it, or is +supplied with a selection of reference books simply, the stacks being +drawn upon for all the rest. This of course secures the books both from +misplacement and from pillage. + +In smaller libraries which have no stack system (and this includes by far +the greater number) a variety of treatment prevails. Most of them are +unprovided with any effective means of guarding the books on the shelves +from handling. The result is great insecurity, and inevitable +misplacement of books, amounting often to confusion and chaos on the +shelves, unless corrected by much daily re-arrangement by the librarian +or assistants. This consumes much valuable time, which ought to be +devoted to other pressing duties. + +One remedy is to guard the shelves by a railing of some kind, which +cannot be passed, except at the gates or passage-ways provided for the +attendants. This simple provision will protect the orderly arrangement as +well as the safety of the library--two objects both of cardinal +importance. Absolutely free access to all the shelves means, sooner or +later, loss to the library. And the books most certain to be taken or +mutilated are those which it is costly, or difficult, or in some cases, +impossible to replace. The chances of abstracting engravings from books +are much greater in the shadow of the shelves, than in the open +reading-room, under the eyes of many. In any library but the smaller +ones, the difficulties and dangers of unrestricted handling of all the +books by the public will be developed in the direct ratio of the size of +the library. Nor will it do to admit one class of readers to the shelves, +and exclude others. It often happens that persons claiming to have +special literary or scientific objects, and who profess that they cannot +get along at all by having books brought to them, are favored in their +wish to go to the shelves, while others are disfavored. This raises at +once the just complaint that invidious distinctions are made. The only +safe rule to follow is that of universal free access, or impartial and +uniform exclusion from the shelves. In the latter case, no one can +complain, especially when made aware that he can have all the works on a +given subject brought to his seat in a brief time, and can work upon them +to much greater comfort and advantage, seated where there is good light +and ample room, than if standing up in the shadow of the shelves to +pursue his researches. + +It is also to be considered that such disarrangement of books as +inevitably follows free admission to the shelves deprives the very +persons who claim this privilege, of finding what they seek, until a +complete replacement takes place, throughout the library, and this is +necessarily a work of time. That it involves much more time and +consequent delay than is occasioned by the re-shelving of books used in a +day, is apparent when we consider that in the latter case, only the +number of volumes actually withdrawn from shelves by the library +attendants have to be replaced, and that these are in conveniently +assorted piles all ready to go to their respective shelves; while in the +other case, the displacement is made by many hands, most of them careless +of any convenience but their own, and moreover, the disarranged books +are, or are liable to be, scattered on the wrong shelves, thus throwing +the entire library into disorder, requiring great pains, knowledge, and +time to repair. + +In any well-regulated library, the absence of any book from its place can +almost always be accounted for. Thus it is either--1. In the reading +room, in use; or 2. Charged out to a borrower; or 3. Sent to the binder +for rebinding, or repair; or 4. Reserved for some reader's use; or 5. In +temporary use by a cataloguer, or some other library assistant; or 6. +Among the books not yet re-shelved from recent use. + +Now each of these is a legitimate reason for the absence of any book not +found in its place. By search under each of these heads, _seriatim_, +aided by the memory of librarian and assistants, the missing volume +should be readily located, and soon availed of for use. + +But in the case of books misplaced by readers, no such tracing out of the +whereabouts of any volume is effectual, for the reason that the book may +have been (and probably is) put on some shelf where it does not belong. +And the question, where in an extensive collection, a book-hunter +admitted to freely range over all the shelves, and a stranger to the +minute classification of books, has misplaced the missing volumes, is an +insoluble problem, except by hunting over or handling the entire library. + +In this close practical view of the case we have to add to the long list +of the enemies of books, formerly enumerated, those who demand a right to +browse (as they term it) among the shelves of a public library, and who +displace the books they take down to gratify, it may be, only an idle +curiosity. Their offence consists, not in being anxious to see the books, +but in preventing others from seeing them, by segregating them where +neither librarian nor assistants may be able to find them, when called +for. The whole question is summed up in the statement that the ability +to produce library books when called for, depends strictly upon keeping +them in their proper place: and this is quite incompatible with +promiscuous handling upon the shelves. + +The preservation of order is alike in the interest of the reading public, +of the librarian and his assistants, and of the very persons who complain +of it as depriving them of library facilities. If library facilities +consist in rendering the books in it unfindable, and therefore +unavailable to any reader, then the argument for free range of the +shelves arrives at a _reductio ad absurdum_. The true library facilities +consist in a classification and a catalogue which arrange the books in +systematic order, and keep them there, save when called into use. Thus, +and thus only, can those who resort to a public library for actual +research, be assured of finding what they want, just when they want it. +The time saved to all readers by the sure and steady preservation of an +orderly arrangement of the books, is simply incalculable. Multiply the +number of volumes out of place by the number of readers who call for +them, and you have some idea of the mischief that may be done through the +carelessness of a few favored readers, to the whole community of +scholars. Of course the considerations here set forth pre-suppose an +active and intelligent librarian, and zealous and willing attendants, all +ever ready to aid the researches of readers by the most prompt and +helpful suggestions, and by dispatch in placing before them what they +most need. The one cardinal design of a library--to supply the largest +amount of information in the shortest time, is subverted by any +disorganizing scheme. If the library be administered on the just +principle of "the greatest good to the greatest number," then such +individual favoritism should never be allowed. + +It may, indeed, be claimed that there is no rule without some valid +exceptions; but these exceptions should never be permitted to defeat the +cardinal object of the rule--which is to keep every book strictly in its +own place. Let the exception be confined to allowing an occasional +inspection of the shelves in the company of a library attendant, and +there will be no trouble. + +But there is another danger, aside from the misplacement of books. +Experience has shown that thefts or mutilations of books have been +numerous, in direct proportion to the extension of freedom and +opportunity to those frequenting the library. Literary men and +book-lovers are frequently book-collectors also; and the temptation to +take what is often too loosely considered public property is sometimes +yielded to by persons whose character and standing may render them the +least suspected. In one of the largest lending libraries in this country, +the purloining of books had been carried so far, that the authorities had +to provide a wire fence all around the reading room, to keep the readers +from access to the shelves. The result was soon seen in the reduction of +the number of books stolen from 700 volumes to 300 volumes a year. + +After several years' experience of the Astor Library in opening its +alcoves to readers (amounting to practical free admission to the shelves +to all calling themselves special students) the losses and mutilations of +books became so serious, that alcove admissions have been greatly +curtailed. + +At the Conference of Librarians in London, in 1877, the subject of +admission or non-admission to the shelves was discussed with the result +that opinions were preponderantly adverse to the free range of the +library by readers. It was pointed out that libraries are established and +maintained at great cost for serious purposes of reading and study, and +that these ends are best subserved by systematic service at a common +centre--not by letting the readers scatter themselves about the library +shelves. To one speaker who held that every one in a free public library +had the right to go to the shelves, and choose his books for himself, it +was answered that this was equivalent to saying that it is the idler's +right to stroll about in every place devoted to a special business, and +interrupt that business at his pleasure. + +At the International Conference of 1897, an able defence of open shelves +was presented, claiming that it saves much librarians' time in finding +books, if readers are allowed to find them for themselves; that thefts +and mutilations are inconsiderable; that it makes an appeal to the honor +of people to respect the books; that the open shelf system does better +educational work; that it is economical by requiring fewer library +attendants; that it has grown steadily in favor in America, and that it +gives the people the same right in the library which is their own, as the +individual has in his own. + +On the other hand, it was urged that the arguments for open shelves were +all arguments for anarchy; that the readers who want to rummage about for +what they want lack proper discipline of the mind; that the number of +books lost under it has been very large; that librarians are custodians +and conservers, as well as dispensers of books; that all books misplaced +are practically lost to the library for the time being; that the open +shelf system requires far more space, and is more expensive; and that, +however desirable, its general adoption is utterly impracticable. + +The practice of libraries in this particular of administration differs +widely, as do the opinions of librarians regarding it. In most colleges +and universities free access is allowed; and in some public free +libraries, both east and west, the readers are allowed to handle the +books on the shelves. This is comparatively safe in the smaller town +libraries, where the books are in compact shape, and the unavoidable +misplacement can be corrected daily in no long time. The experience of +"open shelves" in such collections has been so favorable that their +librarians have testified that the losses were insignificant when +compared with the great public convenience resulting. But the difficulty +and confusion arising from free handling of the books on shelves +increases in the direct ratio of the size of the library, until, in an +extensive collection, it reaches an intolerable result. + +What is encountered continually in enforcing the rule of exclusion from +shelves is the almost universal conceit that some reader is entitled to +exemption from such a rule. Explain to him never so courteously that +experience has proved that a library is thrown into confusion by such +admission; that while he may be careful to replace every book handled in +the same spot, nearly all readers are careless, and he will insist that +he is the exception, and that he is always careful. That is human nature, +the world over--to believe that one can do things better than any one +else. But if such importunities prevail, the chances are that books will +be misplaced by the very literary expert who has solemnly asserted his +infallibility. + +On the whole, open shelves may be viewed as an open question. It may be +best for small libraries, as to all the books, and for all libraries as +to some classes of books. But make it general, and order and arrangement +are at an end, while chaos takes the place of cosmos. The real student is +better served by the knowledge and aid of the librarian, thus saving his +time for study, than he can be by ranging about dark shelves to find, +among multitudes of books he does not want, the ones that he actually +does want. The business of the librarian, and his highest use, is to +bring the resources of the library to the reader. If this takes a hundred +or more volumes a day, he is to have them; but to give him the right to +throw a library into confusion by "browsing around," is to sacrifice the +rights of the public to prompt service, to the whim of one man. Those who +think that "browsing" is an education should reflect that it is like any +other wandering employment, fatal to fixity of purpose. Like desultory +reading of infinite periodicals, it tends rather to dissipate the time +and the attention than to inform and strengthen the mind. + +In libraries of wide circulation in America, many have open shelves, and +many more free access to certain classes of books. The Newark Free +Library opens all departments except fiction; others open fiction and +current literature only. Some libraries, notably in England, have a +"safe-guarded" open-shelf system, by which the public are given free +range inside the library, while the librarians take post at the outside +railing, to charge books drawn, and check off depredations. This method +may be styled "every one his own librarian," and is claimed by its +originators to work well. + +At the Conference of the American Library Association in 1899, after +discussion, votes were taken, showing 50 librarians in favor of free +access to shelves for small libraries, as against only 10 for +unrestricted access in large libraries. + +The debate brought out curious and instructive facts as to losses of +books where free range is allowed. The Denver Public Library lost in one +year 955 volumes; the Buffalo Public Library 700 books in seventeen +months; the Minneapolis, 300 in a year; and the St. Louis Public Library +1,062 volumes in two years, out of "a very limited open shelf +collection." One librarian, estimating the loss of books at $1,000 worth +in two years, said the library board were perfectly satisfied, and that +"unless we lose $2,500 worth of books a year, the open-shelf system pays +in its saving of the expenses of attendance." It does not appear to have +occurred to them that a public library owes anything to the public +morality, nor that a library losing its books by the thousand, to save +the cost of proper management, may be holding out a premium to wholesale +robbery. + +There is another precaution essential to be observed regarding the more +costly and rare possessions of the library. Such books should not be +placed upon the shelves with the ordinary books of the collection, but +provided for in a repository under lock and key. In a large library, +where many hundred volumes of books of especial rarity and value are to +be found, a separate room should always exist for this class of books. +They will properly include (1) Incunabula, or early printed books; (2) +Manuscripts, or unique specimens, such as collections of autographs of +notable people; (3) Illuminated books, usually written on vellum, or +printed in color; (4) Early and rare Americana, or books of American +discovery, history, etc., which are scarce and difficult to replace; (5) +Any books known to be out of print; and (6) Many costly illustrated works +which should be kept apart for only occasional inspection by readers. +Where no separate room exists for safe custody of such treasures, they +should be provided with a locked book-case or cases, according to their +number. When any of these reserved books are called for, they should be +supplied to readers under special injunctions of careful handling. +Neglect of precaution may at any time be the means of losing to the +library a precious volume. It is easy for an unknown reader who calls for +such a rare or costly work, to sign his ticket with a false name, and +slip the book under his coat when unobserved, and so leave the library +unchallenged. But the librarian or assistant who supplies the book, if +put on his guard by having to fetch it from a locked repository, should +keep the reader under observation, unless well known, until the volume +is safely returned. Designing and dishonest persons are ever hovering +about public libraries, and some of the most dangerous among them are men +who know the value of books. + +This class of reserved books should not be given out in circulation, +under any circumstances. Not only are they subject to injury by being +handled in households where there are children or careless persons, who +soil or deface them, but they are exposed to the continual peril of fire, +and consequent loss to the library. There are often books among these +rarities, which money cannot replace, because no copies can be found when +wanted. In the Library of Congress, there is a very salutary safe-guard +thrown around the most valuable books in the form of a library regulation +which provides that no manuscript whatever, and no printed book of +special rarity and value shall be taken out of the library by any person. +This restriction of course applies to Members of Congress, as well as to +those officials who have the legal right to draw books from the library. + + + + +CHAPTER 12. + +THE FACULTY OF MEMORY. + + +To every reader nothing can be more important than that faculty of the +mind which we call memory. The retentive memory instinctively stores up +the facts, ideas, imagery, and often the very language found in books, so +clearly that they become available at any moment in after life. The +tenacity of this hold upon the intellectual treasures which books contain +depends largely upon the strength of the impression made upon the mind +when reading. And this, in turn, depends much upon the force, clearness +and beauty of the author's style or expression. A crude, or feeble, or +wordy, redundant statement makes little impression, while a terse, clear, +well-balanced sentence fixes the attention, and so fastens itself in the +memory. Hence the books which are best remembered will be those which are +the best written. Great as is the power of thought, we are often obliged +to confess that the power of expression is greater still. When the +substance and the style of any writing concur to make a harmonious and +strong impression on the reader's mind, the writer has achieved success. +All our study of literature tends to confirm the conviction of the +supreme importance of an effective style. + +We must set down a good memory as a cardinal qualification of the +librarian. This faculty of the mind, in fact, is more important to him +than to the members of any other profession whatever, because it is more +incessantly drawn upon. Every hour in the day, and sometimes every minute +in the hour, he has to recall the names of certain books, the authors of +the same, including both their surnames and Christian or forenames, the +subjects principally treated in them, the words of some proverb or +quotation, or elegant extract in poetry or prose, the period of time of +an author or other noted person, the standard measurements and weights in +use, with their equivalents, the moneys of foreign nations and their +American values, the time of certain notable events in history, whether +foreign or American, ancient or modern, the names and succession of +rulers, the prices of many books, the rules observed in the catalogue, +both of authors and subjects, the names and schools of great artists, +with their period, the meaning in various foreign languages of certain +words, the geographical location of any place on the earth's surface, the +region of the library in which any book is located--and, in short, an +infinitude of items of information which he wants to know out of hand, +for his own use, or in aid of Library readers or assistants. The immense +variety of these drafts upon his memory seldom perplexes one who is well +endowed with a natural gift in that direction. In fact, it seems actually +true of such minds, that the more numerous the calls upon the memory, the +more ready is the response. + +The metaphysicians have spent many words in attempting to define the +various qualities of the mind, and to account for a strong or a weak +memory; but after all is said, we find that the surprising difference +between different memories is unaccounted for; as unaccountable, indeed, +as what differences the man of genius from the mere plodder. The +principle of association of ideas is doubtless the leading element in a +memory which is not merely verbal. We associate in our minds, almost +instinctively, ideas of time, or space, or persons, or events, and these +connect or compare one with another, so that what we want is called up +or recalled in memory, by a train of endless suggestion. We all have this +kind of memory, which may be termed the rational or ideal, as +distinguished from the verbal and the local memory. The verbal memory is +that which retains in the mind, and reproduces at will what has been said +in our hearing by others, or what we have read which has made a marked +impression upon us. Thus, some persons can repeat with almost exact +accuracy, every word of a long conversation held with another. Others can +repeat whole poems, or long passages in prose from favorite authors, +after reading them over two or three times, and can retain them perfectly +in memory for half a century or more. There have even been persons to +whom one single reading of any production was sufficient to enable them +to repeat it _verbatim_. These instances of a great verbal memory are by +no means rare, although some of them appear almost incredible. John Locke +tells us of the French philosopher Pascal, that he never forgot anything +of what he had done, said, or thought, in any part of his natural life. +And the same thing is recorded of that great scholar of Holland, Hugo +Grotius. + +The mathematician Euler could repeat the Aeneid of Virgil from beginning +to end, containing nearly nine thousand lines. Mozart, upon hearing the +_Miserere_ of Allegri played in the Sistine Chapel at Rome, only once, +went to his hotel, and wrote it all down from memory, note for note. + +Cardinal Mezzofanti both wrote and spoke thirty languages, and was quite +familiar with more than a hundred. He said that if he once heard the +meaning of a word in any language, he never forgot it. Yet he was of the +opinion, that although he had twenty words for one idea, it was better to +have twenty ideas for one word; which is no doubt true, so far as real +intellectual culture is concerned. Lord Macaulay, who had a phenomenal +memory, said that if all the copies of Milton's Paradise Lost were to be +destroyed, he could reproduce the book complete, from memory. In early +life he was a great admirer of Walter Scott's poetry, and especially the +"Lay of the Last Minstrel", and could repeat the whole of that long poem, +more than six hundred lines, from memory. And at the age of fifty-seven +he records--"I walked in the portico, and learned by heart the noble +fourth act of the Merchant of Venice. There are four hundred lines. I +made myself perfect master of the whole in two hours." It was said of him +that every incident he heard of, and every page he read, "assumed in his +mind a concrete spectral form." + +But the memory for names and words has been sometimes called the lowest +form of memory. Persons of defective or impaired intellect frequently +have strong and retentive verbal memories. Mrs. Somerville records the +case of an idiot who could repeat a whole sermon _verbatim_, after once +hearing it, but who was stupid and ignorant as to every thing else. And +there are many instances in the books to the same effect. + +Another kind of memory may be called, for want of a better name, the +local memory. A person who has this strongly developed, if he once goes +to a place, whether a room, or a street in a city, or a road in any part +of the country, knows the way again, and can find it by instinct ever +after. In the same way any one gifted with this almost unerring sense of +locality, can find any book on any shelf in any part of a library where +he has once been. He knows, in like manner, on which side of the page he +saw any given passage in a book, which impressed him at the time, +although he may never have had the volume in his hand more than once. He +may not remember the number of the page, but he is sure of his +recollection that it was the left or the right hand one, as the case may +be, and this knowledge will abridge his labor and time in finding it +again by just one half. This local memory is invaluable to a librarian or +an assistant in shortening the labor of finding things. If you have a +good local memory, you can, in no long time, come to dispense with the +catalogue and its shelf-marks or classification marks, almost entirely, +in finding your books. Although this special gift of memory--the sense of +locality--is unquestionably a lower faculty of the mind than some others +named, and although there are illiterate persons who can readily find and +produce any books in a library which have often passed through their +hands, yet it is a faculty by no means to be despised. It is one of the +labor-saving, time-saving gifts, which should be welcomed by every +librarian. The time saved from searching the catalogues for +location-marks of the outside of books, will enable him to make many a +research in their inside. This faculty, of course, is indefinitely +strengthened and improved by use--and the same is true of the other +branches of the sense which we call memory. The oftener you have been to +any place, the better you know the way. The more frequently you have +found and produced a given book from its proper receptacle, the easier +and the quicker will be your finding it again. + +Another faculty or phase of memory is found in the ability to call up the +impression made by any object once seen by the eye, so as to reproduce it +accurately in speech or writing. This may be termed the intuitive memory. +There are many applications or illustrations of this faculty. Thus, for +example, you see a book on some shelf in your library. You take in its +size, its binding, both the material and the color, and its title as +lettered on the back. All this you absorb with one glance of the eye. You +remember it by the principle of association--that is, you associate with +that particular book, in connection with its title, a certain dimension, +color, and style of binding. Now, when you have occasion to look up that +special volume again, you not only go, aided by your memory of locality, +to the very section and shelf of the library where it belongs, but you +take with you instinctively, your memory or mental image of the book's +appearance. Thus, you perhaps distinctly remember (1) that it was an +octavo, and your eye in glancing along the shelf where it belongs, +rejects intuitively all the duodecimos or books of lesser size, to come +to the octavos. (2) Then you also remember that it was bound in leather, +consequently you pass quickly by all the cloth bound volumes on the +shelf. (3) in the third place you know that its color was red; and you +pay no attention whatever to books of any other color, but quickly seize +your red leather-bound octavo, and bear it off to the reading-room in +triumph. Of course there are circumstances where this quick operation of +the faculties of memory and intuition combined, would not be so easy. For +example, all the books (or nearly all) on a given shelf might be octavos; +or they might all be leather-bound; or a majority of them with red backs; +and the presence of one or more of these conditions would eliminate one +or more of the facilities for most rapidly picking out the book wanted. +But take a pile of books, we will say returned by many readers, on the +library counter. You are searching among them for a particular volume +that is again wanted. There is no order or arrangement of the volumes, +but you distinctly remember, from having handled it, its size both as to +height and thickness, its color, and how it was bound. You know it was a +thin 12mo. in green cloth binding. Do you, in your search, take up every +book in that mass, to scrutinize its title, and see if it is the one you +seek? By no means. You quickly thrust aside, one by one, or by the +half-dozen, all the volumes which are not green, cloth-bound, thin +duodecimos, without so much as glancing at them. Your special volume is +quickly found among hundreds of volumes, and your faculty of memory and +intuition has saved you perhaps a quarter of an hour of valuable time, +which, without that faculty, might have been wasted in search. + +Again, another circumstance which might intervene to diminish the +frequency of application of the memory referred to, as to the physical +features or appearance of a book sought for, is where the +shelf-arrangement is alphabetical, by authors' names, or by the names of +the subjects of the books, if it is an alphabet of biographies. Here, the +surest and the quickest guide to the book is of course the alphabetical +order, in which it must necessarily be found. + +This memory of the aspect of any object once looked at, is further well +illustrated in the very varied facilities for the spelling of words found +in different persons. Thus, there are people who, when they once see any +word (we will say a proper name) written or printed, can always +afterwards spell that word unerringly, no matter how uncommon it may be. +The mental retina, so to speak, receives so clear and exact an impression +of the form of that word from the eye, that it retains and reproduces it +at will. + +But there are others, (and among them persons of much learning in some +directions) upon whom the form or orthography of a word makes little or +no impression, however frequently it meets the eye in reading. I have +known several fine scholars, and among them the head of an institution of +learning, who could not for the life of them spell correctly; and this +infirmity extended even to some of the commonest words in the language. +Why this inaptitude on the part of many, and this extraordinary facility +on the part of others, in the memorizing faculty, is a phenomenon which +may be noted down, but not solved. That vivid mental picture which is +seen by the inward eye of the person favored with a good memory, is +wholly wanting, or seen only dimly and rarely in the case of one who +easily forgets. + +So vital and important is memory, that it has been justly denominated by +the German philosopher, Kant, "the most wonderful of our faculties." +Without it, the words of a book would be unintelligible to us, since it +is memory alone which furnishes us with the several meanings to be +attached to them. + +Some writers on the science of mind assert that there is no such thing +with any of us as absolutely forgetting anything that has once been in +the mind. All mental activities, all knowledge which ever existed, +persists. We never wholly lose them, but they become faint and obscure. +One mental image effaces another. But those which have thus disappeared +may be recalled by an act of reminiscence. While it may sometimes be +impossible to recover one of them at the moment when wanted, by an act of +voluntary recollection, some association may bring it unexpectedly and +vividly before us. Memory plays us many strange tricks, both when we wake +and when we dream. It revives, by an involuntary process, an infinite +variety of past scenes, faces, events, ideas, emotions, passions, +conversations, and written or printed pages, all of which we may have +fancied had passed forever from our consciousness. + +The aids to memory supposed to be furnished by the various mnemonic +systems may now be briefly considered. These methods of supplying the +defects of a naturally weak memory, or of strengthening a fairly good +one, are one and all artificial. This might not be a conclusive +objection to them, were they really effective and permanent helps, +enabling one who has learned them to recall with certainty ideas, names, +dates, and events which he is unable to recall by other means. Theory +apart, it is conceded that a system of memorizing which had proved widely +or generally successful in making a good memory out of a poor one, would +deserve much credit. But experience with these systems has as yet failed +to show, by the stern test of practical utility, that they can give +substantial (and still less permanent) aid in curing the defects of +memory. Most of the systems of mnemonics that have been invented are +constructed on the principle of locality, or of utilizing objects which +appeal to the sight. There is nothing new in these methods, for the +principle is as old as Simonides, who lived in the fifth century before +Christ, and who devised a system of memorizing by locality. One of the +most prevalent systems now taught is to select a number of rooms in a +house (in the mind's eye, of course) and divide the walls and the floors +of each room into nine equal parts or squares, three in a row. Then + + "On the front wall--that opposite the entrance of the first + room--are the units, on the right-hand wall the tens, on the left + hand the twenties, on the fourth wall the thirties, and on the + floor the forties. Numbers 10, 20, 30, and 40, each find a place + on the roof above their respective walls. One room will thus + furnish 50 places, and ten rooms as many as 500, while 50 + occupies the centre of the roof. Having fixed these clearly in + the mind, so as to be able readily and at once to tell the exact + position of each place or number, it is then necessary to + associate with each of them some familiar object (or symbol) so + that the object being suggested, its place may be instantly + remembered, or when the place is before the mind, its object may + immediately spring up. When this has been done thoroughly, the + objects can be run over in any order from beginning to end, or + from end to beginning, or the place of any particular one can at + once be given. All that is further necessary is to associate the + ideas we wish to remember with the objects in the various places, + by which means they are readily remembered, and can be gone over + in any order. In this way, one may learn to repeat several + hundred disconnected words or ideas in any order, after hearing + them only once." + +This rather complicated machinery for aiding the memory is quite too +mechanical to commend itself to any one accustomed to reflect or to take +note of his own mental processes. Such an elaborate system crowds the +mind with a lot of useless furniture, and hinders rather than helps a +rational and straightforward habit of memorizing. It too much resembles +the feat of trying to jump over a wall by running back a hundred or more +yards to acquire a good start or momentum. The very complication of the +system is fitted to puzzle rather than to aid the memory. It is based on +mechanical or arithmetical associations--not founded on nature, and is of +very small practical utility. It does not strengthen or improve the habit +of memorizing, which should always be based upon close attention, and a +logical method of classifying, associating, and analyzing facts or ideas. + +Lord Bacon, more than two centuries ago, wisely characterized mnemonic +systems as "barren and useless." He wrote, "For immediately to repeat a +multitude of names or words once repeated before, I esteem no more than +rope-dancing, antic postures, and feats of activity; and, indeed, they +are nearly the same thing, the one being the abuse of the bodily, as the +other is of mental powers; and though they may cause admiration, they +cannot be highly esteemed." + +In fact, these mnemonical systems are only a kind of crutches, sometimes +useful to people who cannot walk, but actual impediments to those having +the use of their limbs, and who by proper exercise can maintain their +healthy and natural use indefinitely. + +I have given you an account of one of these artificial systems of memory, +or systems of artificial memory, as you may choose to call them. There +have been invented more than one hundred different systems of mnemonics, +all professing to be invaluable, and some claiming to be infallible. It +appears to be a fatal objection to these memory-systems that they +substitute a wholly artificial association of ideas for a natural one. +The habit of looking for accidental or arbitrary relations of names and +things is cultivated, and the power of logical, spontaneous thought is +injured by neglecting essential for unessential relations. These +artificial associations of ideas work endless mischief by crowding out +the natural ones. + +How then, you may ask, is a weak memory to be strengthened, or a fairly +good memory to be cultivated into a better one? The answer is, by +constant practice, and for this the vocation of a librarian furnishes far +more opportunities than any other. At the basis of this practice of the +memory, lies the habit of attention. All memory depends upon the strength +or vividness of the impression made upon the mind, by the object, the +name, the word, the date, which is sought to be remembered. And this, in +turn, depends on the degree of attention with which it was first +regarded. If the attention was so fixed that a clear mental image was +formed, there will be no difficulty in remembering it again. If, on the +other hand, you were inattentive, or listless, or pre-occupied with other +thoughts, when you encountered the object, your impression of it would be +hazy and indistinct, and no effort of memory would be likely to recall +it. + +Attention has been defined as the fixing of the mind intently upon one +particular object, to the exclusion for a time, of all other objects +soliciting notice. It is essential to those who would have a good memory, +to cultivate assiduously the habit of concentration of thought. As the +scattering shot hits no mark, so the scattering and random thoughts that +sweep through an unoccupied brain lead to no memorable result, simply +from want of attention or of fixation upon some one mental vision or +idea. With your attention fastened upon any subject or object, you see it +more clearly, and it impresses itself more vividly in the memory, as a +natural consequence. Not only so, but its related objects or ideas are +brought up by the principle of association, and they too make a deeper +impression and are more closely remembered. In fact, one thing carefully +observed and memorized, leads almost insensibly to another that is +related to it, and thus the faculty of association is strengthened, the +memory is stimulated, and the seeds of knowledge are deeply planted in +that complex organism which we call the mind. This power of attention, of +keeping an object or a subject steadily in view until it is absorbed or +mastered, is held by some to be the most distinctive element in genius. +Most people have not this habit of concentration of the mind, but allow +it to wander aimlessly on, flitting from subject to subject, without +mastering any; but then, most people are not geniuses. The habit to be +cultivated is that of thinking persistently of only one thing at a time, +sternly preventing the attention from wandering. + +It may be laid down as an axiom that the two corner-stones of memory are +attention and association. And both of these must act in harmony, the +habit of fixed attention being formed or guided by the will, before a +normal or retentive memory becomes possible. What is called cultivating +the memory, therefore, does not mean anything more than close attention +to whatever we wish to remember, with whatever associations naturally +cling to it, until it is actually mastered. If one has not an instinctive +or naturally strong memory, he should not rest satisfied with letting the +days go by until he has improved it. The way to improve it, is to begin +at the foundation, and by the constant exercise of the will-power, to +take up every subject with fixed attention, and one at a time, excluding +every other for the time being. There is no doubt whatever that the +memory is capable of indefinite improvement; and though one's first +efforts in that direction may prove a disappointment, because only +partially successful, he should try, and try again, until he is rewarded +with the full fruits of earnest intellectual effort, in whatever field. +He may have, at the start, instead of a fine memory, what a learned +professor called, "a fine forgettery," but let him persevere to the end. +None of us were made to sit down in despair because we are not endowed +with an all-embracing memory, or because we cannot "speak with the +tongues of men and of angels," and do not know "all mysteries and all +knowledge." It rather becomes us to make the best and highest use, day by +day, of the talents that are bestowed upon us, remembering that however +short of perfection they may be, we are yet far more gifted than myriads +of our fellow-creatures in this very imperfect world. + +There is no question that the proper cultivation of the memory is, or +ought to be, the chief aim of education. All else is so dependent upon +this, that it may be truly affirmed that, without memory, knowledge +itself would be impossible. By giving up oneself with fixed attention to +what one seeks to remember, and trusting the memory, though it may often +fail, any person can increase his powers of memory and consequently of +learning, to an indefinite degree. To improve and strengthen the memory, +it must be constantly exercised. Let it be supplied with new knowledge +frequently, and called on daily to reproduce it. If remembered only +imperfectly or in part, refresh it by reference to the source whence the +knowledge came; and repeat this carefully and thoroughly, until memory +becomes actually the store-house of what you know on that subject. If +there are certain kinds of facts and ideas which you more easily forget +than others, it is a good way to practice upon them, taking up a few +daily, and adding to them by degrees. Dr. W. T. Harris, the United States +Commissioner of Education, gave his personal experience to the effect +that he always found it hard to remember dates. He resolved to improve a +feeble memory in this respect by learning the succession of English +Kings, from William the Conqueror, down to Victoria. With his +characteristic thoroughness, he began by learning three or four dates of +accession only, the first day; two new ones were added the second day; +then one new king added the third day; and thereafter even less frequency +was observed in learning the chronology. By this method he had the whole +table of thirty-six sovereigns learned, and made familiar by constant +review. It had to be learned anew one year after, and once again after +years of neglect. But his memory for dates steadily grew, and without +conscious effort, dates and numbers soon came to be seized with a firmer +grasp than before. This kind of memory, he adds, now improves or +increases with him from year to year. Here is an instance of cultivation +of memory by a notable scholar, who adds a monition to learners with weak +memories, not to undertake to memorize too much at once. Learning a +succession of fifty names slowly, he says, will so discipline the memory +for names, as to partially or even permanently remove all embarrassment +from that source. I may add that a long table of names or dates, or any +prolonged extract in verse or prose, if learned by repeating it over and +over as a whole, will be less tenaciously retained in memory, than if +committed in parts. + +The highest form of memory is actually unconscious, _i. e._, that in +which what we would recall comes to us spontaneously, without effort or +lapse of time in thinking about it. It is this kind of memory that has +been possessed by all the notable persons who have been credited with +knowing everything, or with never forgetting anything. It is not to be +reckoned to their credit, so much as to their good fortune. What merit is +there in having a good memory, when one cannot help remembering? + +There is one caution to be given to those who are learning to improve a +memory naturally weak. When such a one tries to recall a date, or name, +or place, or idea, or book, it frequently happens that the endeavor fails +utterly. The more he tries, the more obstinately the desired object fails +to respond. As the poet Pope wrote about the witless author: + + "You beat your pate, and fancy wit will come; + Knock as you please, there's nobody at home." + +In these cases, no attempt to force the memory should be made, nor should +the attention be kept long on the subject, for this course only injures +the faculty, and leads to confusion of mind. To persist in a constantly +baffled effort to recover a word, or other forgotten link in memory, is a +laborious attempt which is itself likely to cause failure, and induce a +distrust of the memory which is far from rational. The forgotten object +will probably recur in no long time after, when least expected. + +Much discursive reading is not only injurious to the faculty of memory, +but may be positively destructive of it. The vast extent of our modern +world of reviews, magazines and newspapers, with their immense variety of +subjects, dissipates the attention instead of concentrating it, and +becomes fatal to systematic thought, tenacious memory, and the +acquirement of real knowledge. The mind that is fed upon a diet of +morning and evening newspapers, mainly or solely, will become flabby, +uncertain, illogical, frivolous, and, in fact, little better than a +scatterbrains. As one who listens to an endless dribble of small talk +lays up nothing out of all the palaver, which, to use a common phrase, +"goes in at one ear, and out at the other," so the reader who +continuously absorbs all the stuff which the daily press, under the +pretext of "printing the news," inflicts upon us, is nothing benefited in +intellectual gifts or permanent knowledge. What does he learn by his +assiduous pursuit of these ephemeral will o' the wisps, that only "lead +to bewilder, and dazzle to blind?" He absorbs an incredible amount of +empty gossip, doubtful assertions, trifling descriptions, apocryphal +news, and some useful, but more useless knowledge. The only visible +object of spending valuable time over these papers appears to be to +satisfy a momentary curiosity, and then the mass of material read passes +almost wholly out of the mind, and is never more thought of. Says +Coleridge, one of the foremost of English thinkers: "I believe the habit +of perusing periodical works may be properly added to the catalogue of +anti-mnemonics, or weakeners of the memory." + +If read sparingly, and for actual events, newspapers have a value which +is all their own; but to spend hours upon them, as many do, is mere +mental dissipation. + + + + +CHAPTER 13. + +QUALIFICATIONS OF A LIBRARIAN. + + +In directing attention to some of the more important elements which +should enter into the character and acquirements of a librarian, I shall +perhaps not treat them in the order of their relative importance. Thus, +some persons might consider the foremost qualification for one aspiring +to the position of a librarian to be wide knowledge in literature and +science: others would say that the possession of sound common sense is +above all things essential; others an excellent and retentive memory; +still others might insist that business habits and administrative faculty +are all-important; and others again, a zeal for learning and for +communicating it to others. + +I shall not venture to pronounce what, among the multitude of talents +that are requisite to constitute a good librarian is the most requisite. +Suffice it to say, that all of them which I shall notice are important, +and that the order of their treatment determines nothing as to which are +more and which are less important. So much is expected of librarians that +it actually appears as if a large portion of the public were of the +opinion that it is the duty of him who has a library in charge to possess +himself, in some occult or mysterious way, unknown to the common mind, of +all the knowledge which all the books combine. + +The Librarian of the British Museum, speaking to a conference of +librarians in London, quoted a remark of Pattison, in his "Life of +Casaubon," that "the librarian who reads is lost." This was certainly +true of that great scholar Casaubon, who in his love for the contents of +the books under his charge, forgot his duties as a librarian. And it is +to a large degree true of librarians in general, that those who pursue +their own personal reading or study during library hours do it at the +expense of their usefulness as librarians. They must be content with such +snatches of reading as come in the definite pursuit of some object of +research incident to their library work, supplemented by such reading +time as unoccupied evenings, Sundays, and annual vacations may give them. + +Yet nothing is more common than for applicants for the position of +librarians or assistant librarians to base their aspiration upon the +foolish plea that they are "so fond of reading", or that they "have +always been in love with books." So far from this being a qualification, +it may become a disqualification. Unless combined with habits of +practical, serious, unremitting application to labor, the taste for +reading may seduce its possessor into spending the minutes and the hours +which belong to the public, in his own private gratification. The +conscientious, the useful librarian, living amid the rich intellectual +treasures of centuries, the vast majority of which he has never read, +must be content daily to enact the part of Tantalus, in the presence of a +tempting and appetizing banquet which is virtually beyond his reach. + +But he may console himself by the reflection that comparatively few of +the books upon his shelves are so far worth reading as to be essential. +"If I had read as many books as other men," said Hobbes of Malmesbury, "I +should have been as ignorant as they." + +If the librarian, in the precious time which is indisputably his, reads a +wise selection of the best books, the masterpieces of the literature of +all lands, which have been consecrated by time and the suffrages of +successive generations of readers, he can well afford to apply to the +rest, the short-hand method recommended in a former chapter, and skim +them in the intervals of his daily work, instead of reading them. Thus he +will become sufficiently familiar with the new books of the day (together +with the information about their contents and merits furnished by the +literary reviews, which he must read, however sparingly, in order to keep +up with his profession) to be able to furnish readers with some word of +comment as to most books coming into the Library. This course, or as +close an approximation to it as his multifarious duties will permit, will +go far to solve the problem that confronts every librarian who is +expected to be an exponent of universal knowledge. Always refraining from +unqualified praise of books (especially of new ones) always maintaining +that impartial attitude toward men and opinions which becomes the +librarian, he should act the part of a liberal, eclectic, catholic guide +to inquirers of every kind. + +And here let me emphasize the great importance to every librarian or +assistant of early learning to make the most of his working faculties. He +cannot afford to plod along through a book, sentence by sentence, like an +ordinary reader. He must learn to read a sentence at a glance. The moment +his eye lights upon a title-page he should be able to take it all in by a +comprehensive and intuitive mental process. Too much stress cannot be +laid upon the every-day habit or method of reading. It makes all the +difference between time saved, and time wasted; between efficiency and +inefficiency; between rapid progress and standing still, in one's daily +work. No pains should be spared, before entering upon the all-engrossing +work of a library, to acquire the habit of rapid reading. An eminent +librarian of one of the largest libraries was asked whether he did not +find a great deal of time to read? His reply was--"I wish that I could +ever get as much as one hour a day for reading--but I have never been +able to do it." Of course every librarian must spend much time in special +researches; and in this way a good deal of some of his days will be spent +in acquainting himself with the resources of his library; but this is +incidental and not systematic reading. + +In viewing the essential qualifications of a librarian, it is necessary +to say at the outset that a library is no place for uneducated people. +The requirements of the position are such as to demand not only native +talent above the average, but also intellectual acquirements above the +average. The more a librarian knows, the more he is worth, and the +converse of the proposition is equally true, that the less he knows the +less he is worth. Before undertaking the arduous task of guiding others +in their intellectual pursuits, one should make sure that he is himself +so well-grounded in learning that he can find the way in which to guide +them. To do this, he must indispensably have something more than a +smattering of the knowledge that lies at the foundation of his +profession. He must be, if not widely read, at least carefully grounded +in history, science, literature, and art. While he may not, like Lord +Bacon, take all knowledge to be his province, because he is not a Lord +Bacon, nor if he were, could he begin to grasp the illimitable domain of +books of science and literature which have been added to human knowledge +in the two centuries and a half since Bacon wrote, he can at least, by +wise selection, master enough of the leading works in each field, to make +him a well-informed scholar. That great treasury of information on the +whole circle of the sciences, and the entire range of literature, the +Encyclopaedia Britannica, judiciously studied, will alone give what would +appear to the average mind, a very liberal education. + +One of the most common and most inconsiderate questions propounded to a +librarian is this: "Do you ever expect to read all these books through?" +and it is well answered by propounding another question, namely--"Did +_you_ ever read your dictionary through?" A great library is the +scholar's dictionary--not to be read through, but to enable him to put +his finger on the fact he wants, just when it is wanted. + +A knowledge of some at least of the foreign languages is indispensable to +the skilled librarian. In fact, any one aspiring to become an assistant +in any large library, or the head of any small one, should first acquire +at least an elementary knowledge of French and Latin. Aside from books in +other languages than English which necessarily form part of every +considerable library, there are innumerable quotations or words in +foreign tongues scattered through books and periodicals in English, which +a librarian, appealed to by readers who are not scholars, would be +mortified if found unable to interpret them. The librarian who does not +understand several languages will be continually at a loss in his daily +work. A great many important catalogues, and bibliographies, essential +parts of the equipment of a library, will be lost to him as aids, and he +can neither select foreign books intelligently nor catalogue them +properly. If he depends upon the aid of others more expert, his position +will be far from agreeable or satisfactory. How many and what foreign +languages should be learned may be matter for wide difference of opinion. +But so far-reaching is the prevalence of the Latin, as one of the +principal sources of our own language, and of other modern tongues, that +a knowledge of it is most important. And so rich is the literature of +France, to say nothing of the vast number of French words constantly +found in current English and American books and periodicals, that at +least a fairly thorough mastery of that language should be acquired. The +same may be said of the German, which is even more important in some +parts of the United States, and which has a literature most copious and +valuable in every varied department of knowledge. With these three +tongues once familiar, the Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and +Scandinavian languages may be, through the aid of dictionaries, so far +utilized as to enable one to read titles and catalogue books in any of +them, although a knowledge of all, so as to be able to read books in +them, is highly desirable. + +In the Boston Public Library, the assistants are required to possess an +adequate knowledge of Latin, French, and German. And all candidates for +positions in the reading-room of the British Museum Library must undergo +a thorough test examination as to their knowledge of the Latin language. +Opportunities for acquiring foreign languages are now so abundant that +there is small excuse for any one who wants to know French, Latin or +German, and yet goes through life without learning them. There are even +ways of learning these languages with sufficient thoroughness for reading +purposes without a teacher, and sometimes without a text-book. Two +assistant librarians taught themselves French and German in their +evenings, by setting out to read familiar works of English fiction in +translations into those languages, and soon acquired a good working +knowledge of both, so as to be able to read any work in either, with only +occasional aid from the dictionary for the less common words. It is +surprising how soon one can acquire a sufficient vocabulary in any +language, by reading any of its great writers. A good way for a beginner +to learn French without a master is to take a French New Testament, and +read the four Gospels through. After doing this three or four times, +almost any one who is at all familiar with the Scriptures, will be able +to read most books in the French language with facility. In the great art +of learning, all doors are easily unlocked--by those who have the key. + +It should go without saying that the librarian should possess a wide +knowledge of books. This knowledge should include (1) an acquaintance +with ancient and modern literature, so as to be able to characterize the +notable writers in each of the leading languages of the world; (2) a +knowledge of history extensive enough to enable him to locate all the +great characters, including authors, in their proper century and country; +(3) a knowledge of editions, so as to discriminate between the old and +the new, the full and the abridged, the best edited, best printed, etc.; +(4) an acquaintance with the intrinsic value or the subject and scope of +most of the great books of the world; (5) a knowledge of commercial +values, so as to be able to bid or to buy understandingly, and with +proper economy; (6) a familiarity with what constitutes condition in +library books, and with binding and repairing processes, for the +restoration of imperfect volumes for use. + +The librarian should be one who has had the benefit of thorough +preliminary training, for no novice is qualified to undertake the role of +an expert, and any attempt to do so can result only in disappointment and +failure. No one who has read little or nothing but novels since leaving +school need ever hope to succeed. + +No librarian can know too much, since his work brings him into relation +with the boundless domain of human knowledge. He should not be a +specialist in science (except in the one science of bibliography) but +must be content with knowing a little about a great many things, rather +than knowing everything about one thing. Much converse with books must +fill him with a sense of his own ignorance. The more he comes to know, +the wider will open before him the illimitable realm of what is yet to +be known. In the lowest deep which research the most profound can reach, +there is a lower deep still unattained--perhaps, even, unattainable. But +the fact that he cannot by any possibility master all human knowledge +should not deter the student from making ever advancing inroads upon that +domain. The vast extent of the world of books only emphasizes the need of +making a wise selection from the mass. We are brought inevitably back to +that precept by every excursion that we make into whatever field of +literature. + +The librarian should possess, besides a wide acquaintance with books, a +faculty of administration, and this rests upon careful business habits. +He should have a system in all the library work. Every assistant should +have a prescribed task, and be required to learn and to practice all the +methods peculiar to library economy, including the economy of time. Each +day's business should be so organized as to show an advance at the end. +The library must of course have rules, and every rule should be so simple +and so reasonable that it will commend itself to every considerate reader +or library assistant. All questions of doubt or dispute as to the +observance of any regulation, should be decided at once, courteously but +firmly, and in a few words. Nothing can be more unseemly than a wrangle +in a public library over some rule or its application, disturbing readers +who are entitled to silence, and consuming time that should be given to +the service of the public. + +When Thomas Carlyle, one of the great scholars of modern times, testified +in 1848 before a Parliamentary Commission upon the British Museum +Library, he thus spoke of the qualifications of a librarian: + +"All must depend upon the kind of management you get within the library +itself. You must get a good pilot to steer the ship, or you will never +get into the harbor. You must have a man to direct who knows well what +the duty is that he has to do, and who is determined to go through that, +in spite of all clamor raised against him; and who is not anxious to +obtain approbation, but is satisfied that he will obtain it by and by, +provided he acts ingenuously and faithfully." + +Another quality most important in a librarian is an even temper. He +should be always and unfailingly courteous, not only to scholars and +visitors of high consideration, but to every reader, however humble or +ignorant, and to every employee, however subordinate in position. There +is nothing which more detracts from one's usefulness than a querulous +temper. Its possessor is seldom happy himself, and is the frequent cause +of unhappiness in others. Visitors and questions should never be met with +a clouded brow. A cheerful "good-morning" goes a great way oftentimes. +Many library visitors come in a complaining mood--it may be from long +waiting to be served, or from mistake in supplying them with the wrong +books, or from errors in charging their accounts, or from some fancied +neglect or slight, or from any other cause. The way to meet such +ill-humored or offended readers is to gently explain the matter, with +that "soft answer which turneth away wrath." Many a foolish and useless +altercation may thus be avoided, and the complainant restored to +cheerfulness, if not to courtesy; whereas, if the librarian were to meet +the case with a sharp or haughty answer, it would probably end without +satisfaction on either side. Whatever you do, never permit yourself to be +irritable, and resolve never to be irritated. It will make you unhappy, +and will breed irritation in others. Cheerfulness under all +circumstances, however difficult, is the duty and the interest of the +librarian. Thus he will cultivate successfully an obliging disposition, +which is a prime requisite to his success with the public and his +usefulness as a librarian. + +It ought not to be requisite to insist upon good health as a condition +precedent for any one aspiring to be a librarian. So very much depends +upon this, that it should form a part of the conscientious duty of every +one to acquire and maintain a sound condition of physical health, as a +most important adjunct of a thoroughly sound and healthy condition of the +mind. This is easier than most persons are aware. If we except inherited +constitutional weaknesses, or maladies of a serious character, there is +almost no one who is not able by proper diet, regimen, and daily +exercise, to maintain a degree of health which will enable him to use his +brain to its full working capacity. It demands an intelligent and +watchful care of the daily regimen, so that only simple and wholesome +food and drink may be taken into the system, and what is equally +important, adequate sleep, and habitual moderate exercise. No one can +maintain perfect health without breathing good unadulterated air, and +exercising in it with great frequency. One's walks to and from the +library may be sufficient to give this, and it is well to have the motive +of such a walk, since exercise taken for the mere purpose of it is of far +less value. The habit of taking drugs, or going to a doctor for every +little malady, is most pernicious. Every one, and especially a librarian, +who is supposed (however erroneously) to know everything, should know +more of his own constitution than any physician. With a few judicious +experiments in daily regimen, and a little abstinence now and then, he +can subdue head-aches, catarrhs and digestive troubles, and by exercising +an intelligent will, can generally prevent their recurrence. If one finds +himself in the morning in a state of languor and lassitude, be sure he +has abused some physical function, and apply a remedy. An invalid will +make a poorly equipped librarian. How can a dyspeptic who dwells in the +darkness of a disease, be a guiding light to the multitudes who beset him +every hour? There are few callings demanding as much mental and physical +soundness and alertness as the care of a public library. + +Sound common sense is as essential to the librarian as sound health. He +should always take the practical straightforward view of every item of +library business and management, remembering that the straight road is +always the shortest way between two points. While he may be full of +ideas, he should be neither an idealist nor a dreamer. In library +methods, the cardinal requisites to be aimed at, are utility and +convenience. A person of the most perfect education, and the highest +literary attainments, but destitute of common sense, will not succeed in +the conduct of a library. That intuitive judgment, which sees the reason +of everything at a glance, and applies the proper agencies to the case in +hand, is wanting in his composition. Multitudes of emergencies arise in +library service, where the prompt and practical sense of the librarian is +required to settle a dispute, adjust a difficulty, or to direct what is +to be done in some arrangement or re-arrangement of books, or some +library appliance or repair. In such cases, the unpractical or +impracticable man will be very likely to decide wrongly, choosing the +inconvenient method instead of the convenient, the more costly instead of +the more economical, the laborious in place of the obvious and easy; in +short, some way of doing the work or settling the difficulty which will +not permit it to stay settled, or will require the work to be done over +again. The man of common-sense methods, on the other hand, will at once +see the end from the beginning, anticipate every difficulty, and decide +upon the proper course without trouble or hesitation, finding his +judgment fully vindicated by the result. + +The librarian in whom the quality of common sense is well developed will +be ever ready to devise or to accept improvements in library methods. +Never a slave to "red tape," he will promptly cut it wherever and +whenever it stands in the way of the readiest service of books and +information to all comers. + +Another quality which every librarian or assistant in a library should +possess is a thorough love of his work. He should cherish a noble +enthusiasm for the success and usefulness of the institution with which +he has chosen to be associated. Nor should this spirit be by any means +limited to the literary and scientific aid which he is enabled to extend +to others, nor to the acquisition of the knowledge requisite to meet the +endless inquiries that are made of him. He should take as much interest +in restoring a broken binding, or in seeing that a torn leaf is repaired, +as in informing a great scholar what the library contains upon any +subject. + +No one who is listless or indifferent in the discharge of daily duties is +fit for a place in a public library. There should be an _esprit de +corps_, a zeal for his profession, which will lead him to make almost any +sacrifice of outside interests to become proficient in it. Thus only will +he render himself indispensable in his place, and do the greatest amount +of service to the greatest number of readers. I have seen employees in +libraries so utterly careless of what belongs to their vocation, as to +let books, totally unfit for use, ragged or broken, or with plates +loosened, ready to drop out and disappear, go back to the shelves +unrepaired, to pursue the downward road toward destruction. And I have +been in many libraries in which the books upon the shelves exhibited such +utter want of care, such disarrangement, such tumbling about and +upside-down chaos, and such want of cleanliness, as fairly to make one's +heart ache. In some cases this may have been due in great part to unwise +free admission of the public to the shelves, and consequent inevitable +disorder; in others, it may be partially excused by the librarian's +absolute want of the needful help or time, to keep the library in order; +but in others, it was too apparent that the librarian in charge took no +interest in the condition of the books. Too many librarians (at least of +the past, however it may now be) have been of the class described by Dr. +Poole, the Chicago librarian. He said that library trustees too often +appeared to think that anybody almost would do for a librarian; men who +have failed in everything else, broken-down clergymen, or unsuccessful +teachers, and the like. + +Passing now to other needful qualifications of librarians and library +assistants, let me say that one of the foremost is accuracy. Perhaps I +have before this remarked that exact accuracy is one of the rarest of +human qualities. Even an approximation to it is rare, and absolute +accuracy is still rarer. Beware of the person who is sure of every +thing--who retails to you a conversation he has heard, affecting to give +the exact words of a third person, or who quotes passages in verse or in +prose, with glib assurance, as the production of some well-known writer. +The chances are ten to one that the conversation is mainly manufactured +in the brain of the narrator, and that the quotation is either not +written by the author to whom it is attributed, or else is a travesty of +his real language. It is Lord Byron who tells of that numerous class of +sciolists whom one finds everywhere-- + + "With just enough of learning to misquote." + +The books one reads abound in erroneous dates, mistaken names, garbled +extracts, and blundering quotations. So much the more important is it to +the librarian, who is so continually drawn upon for correct information +upon every subject, to make sure of his facts, before communicating them. +When (as frequently happens) he has no way of verifying them, he should +report them, not as his own conclusions, but on the authority of the book +or periodical where found. This will relieve him of all responsibility, +if they turn out to be erroneous. Whenever I find a wrong date or name in +a printed book, or an erroneous reference in the index, or a mis-spelled +word, I always pencil the correct date, or name, or page of reference in +the margin. This I do as a matter of instinct, as well as of duty, for +the benefit of future inquirers, so that they may not be misled. I speak +here of errors which are palpable, or of the inaccuracy of which I have +positive knowledge; if in doubt, I either let the matter go entirely, or +write a query in pencil at the place, with the presumed correct +substitute appended. + +Never be too sure of what you find in books; but prove all things and +hold fast to those only which you find to be beyond dispute. Thus will +you save yourself from falling into many errors, and from recanting many +opinions. It is the method of ordinary education to take everything for +granted; it is the method of science to take nothing for granted. + +I may refer here to another rule always to be observed, and pertaining to +the theme of strict accuracy in your daily work. That is, the necessity +of carefully examining every piece of work you may have done, before it +leaves your hands, for the purpose of correcting errors. All of us are +not only liable to make mistakes, but all of us do make them; and if any +one has a conceit of his own accuracy, the surest way to take it out of +him is to let him serve an apprenticeship in some library, where there +is competent revision of all the labor performed. There are multitudes of +assistants in libraries who cannot write a letter, even, without making +one or more errors. How often do you leave out a word in your writing +experience, which may change the meaning of a whole sentence? So, in +writing titles, whether for the catalogue, or for a library order, or for +the information of some inquirer, you are liable to make errors of date, +or edition, or place of publication, or size, or to misplace or omit or +substitute some word in the description of the book. There is nothing in +the world quite so easy as to be mistaken: and the only remedy (and it is +an all-essential one) is to go over every line and every word of what you +have written, before it leaves your hands. As second thoughts are +proverbially best, so a second careful glance over a piece of writing +will almost always reveal some error or omission to be corrected. Think +of the mortification you must feel at finding an unverified piece of work +returned upon your hands, with several glaring mistakes marked by the +reviser! Think, on the other hand, of the inward satisfaction experienced +when you have done your best, written and revised your own work, and +found it always passed as perfect. I have tried many persons by many +tests, and while I have found a great number who were industrious, +intelligent, zealous, conscientious, good-tempered, and expeditious, I +have found scarcely one who was always accurate. One of the rarest things +in a library is to find an assistant who has an unerring sense of the +French accents. This knowledge, to one expert in that language, even if +he does not speak it, should be as intuitive as the art of spelling +correctly, either in English or French. He should write the proper accent +over a letter just as infallibly as he writes the proper letters in a +word. But, strange to say, it is very common, even with good French +scholars (in the book-sense or literary sense of scholarship) to find +them putting the acute accent for the grave over a vowel, or the grave +instead of the acute, or omitting the circumflex accent entirely, and so +on. + +Every one commits errors, but the wise man is he who learns by his +mistakes, and applies the remedy. The best remedy (as I said in the case +of memory in another chapter,) is to cultivate a habit of trained +attention in whatever we do. Yet many people (and I am afraid we must say +most people) go on through life, making the same blunders, and repeating +them. It appears as if the habit of inaccuracy were innate in the human +race, and only to be reformed by the utmost painstaking, and even with +the aid of that, only by a few. I have had to observe and correct such +numberless errors in the work of well-educated, adult, and otherwise +accomplished persons, as filled me with despair. Yet there is no more +doubt of the improvability of the average mind, however inaccurate at the +start, than of the power of the will to correct other bad habits into +which people unconsciously fall. + +One of the requisites of a successful librarian is a faculty of order and +system, applied throughout all the details of library administration. +Without these, the work will be performed in a hap-hazard, slovenly +manner, and the library itself will tend to become a chaos. Bear in mind +the great extent and variety of the objects which come under the care of +the librarian, all of which are to be classified and reduced to order. +These include not only books upon every earthly subject (and very many +upon unearthly ones) but a possibly wide range of newspapers and +periodicals, a great mass of miscellaneous pamphlets, sometimes of maps +and charts, of manuscripts and broadsides, and frequently collections of +engravings, photographs, and other pictures, all of which come in to form +a part of most libraries. This great complexity of material, too, +exhibits only the physical aspect of the librarian's labors. There are, +besides, the preparation, arrangement and continuation of the catalogue, +in its three or more forms, the charging and crediting of the books in +circulation, the searching of many book lists for purchases, the library +bills and accounts, the supervision and revision of the work of +assistants, the library correspondence, often requiring wide researches +to answer inquiries, the continual aid to readers, and a multitude of +minor objects of attention quite too numerous to name. Is it any +over-statement of the case to say that the librarian who has to organize +and provide for all this physical and intellectual labor, should be +systematic and orderly in a high degree? + +That portion of his responsible task which pertains to the arrangement +and classification of books has been elsewhere treated. But there is +required in addition, a faculty of arranging his time, so as to meet +seasonably the multifarious drafts upon it. He should early learn not +only the supreme value of moments, but how to make all the library hours +fruitful of results. To this end the time should be apportioned with +careful reference to each department of library service. One hour may be +set for revising one kind of work of assistants; another for a different +one; another for perusing sale catalogues, and marking _desiderata_ to be +looked up in the library catalogue; another for researches in aid of +readers or correspondents; still another for answering letters on the +many subjects about which librarians are constantly addressed; and still +another for a survey of all the varied interests of the library and its +frequenters, to see what features of the service need strengthening, what +improvements can be made, what errors corrected, and how its general +usefulness can be increased. So to apportion one's time as to get out of +the day (which is all too short for what is to be done in it) the utmost +of accomplishment is a problem requiring much skill, as well as the +ability to profit by experience. One has always to be subject to +interruptions--and these must be allowed for, and in some way made up +for. Remember, when you have lost valuable time with some visitor whose +claims to your attention are paramount, that when to-morrow comes one +should take up early the arrears of work postponed, and make progress +with them, even though unable to finish them. + +Another suggestion; proper system in the management and control of one's +time demands that none of it be absorbed by trifles or triflers; and so +every librarian must indispensably know how to get rid of bores. One may +almost always manage to effect this without giving offense, and at the +same time without wasting any time upon them, which is the one thing +needful. The bore is commonly one who, having little or nothing to do, +inflicts himself upon the busy persons of his acquaintance, and +especially upon the ones whom he credits with knowing the most--to wit, +the librarians. Receive him courteously, but keep on steadily at the work +you are doing when he enters. If you are skilful, you can easily do two +things at once, for example, answer your idler friend or your bore, and +revise title-cards, or mark a catalogue, or collate a book, or look up a +quotation, or write a letter, at the same time. Never lose your good +humor, never say that your time is valuable, or that you are very busy; +never hint at his going away; but never quit your work, answer questions +cheerfully, and keep on, allowing nothing to take your eyes off your +business. By and by he will take the hint, if not wholly pachydermatous, +and go away of his own accord. By pursuing this course I have saved +infinite time, and got rid of infinite bores, by one and the same +process. + +The faculty of organizing one's work is essential, in order to efficiency +and accomplishment. If you do not have a plan and adhere to it, if you +let this, that, and the other person interrupt you with trifling gossip, +or unnecessary requests, you will never get ahead of your work; on the +contrary, your work will always get ahead of you. The same result will +follow if you interrupt yourself, by yielding to the temptation of +reading just a page or a paragraph of something that attracts your eye +while at work. This dissipation of time, to say nothing of its unfair +appropriation of what belongs to the library, defeats the prompt +accomplishment of the work in hand, and fosters the evil habit of +scattering your forces, in idleness and procrastination. + +It ought not to be needful to urge habits of neatness and the love of +order upon candidates for places in libraries. How much a neat and +carefully arranged shelf of books appeals to one's taste, I need not say, +nor urge the point how much an orderly and neatly kept room, or desk, or +table adds to one's comfort. The librarian who has the proper spirit of +his calling should take pains to make the whole library look neat and +attractive, to have a place for everything, and everything in its place. +This, with adequate space existing, will be found easier than to have the +books and other material scattered about in confusion, thus requiring +much more time to find them when wanted. A slovenly-kept library is +certain to provoke public criticism, and this always tells to the +disadvantage of the librarian; while a neatly kept, carefully arranged +collection of books is not only pleasing to the eye, but elicits +favorable judgment from all visitors. + +Among the qualities that should enter into the composition of a +successful librarian must be reckoned an inexhaustible patience. He will +be sorely tried in his endeavors to satisfy his own ideals, and sometimes +still more sorely in his efforts to satisfy the public. Against the +mistakes and short-comings of assistants, the ignorance of many readers, +and the unreasonable expectations of others, the hamperings of library +authorities, and the frequently unfounded criticisms of the press, he +should arm himself with a patience and equanimity that are unfailing. +When he knows he is right, he should never be disturbed at complaint, nor +suffer a too sensitive mood to ruffle his feelings. When there is any +foundation for censure, however slight, he should learn by it and apply +the remedy. The many and varied characters who come within the +comprehensive sphere of the librarian necessarily include people of all +tempers and dispositions, as well as of every degree of culture. To be +gracious and courteous to all is his interest as well as his duty. With +the ignorant he will often have to exercise a vast amount of patience, +but he should never betray a supercilious air, as though looking down +upon them from the height of his own superior intelligence. To be always +amiable toward inferiors, superiors, and equals, is to conciliate the +regard of all. Courtesy costs so little, and makes so large a return in +proportion to the investment, that it is surprising not to find it +universal. Yet it is so far from being so that we hear people praising +one whose manners are always affable, as if he were deserving of special +credit for it, as an exception to the general rule. It is frequently +observed that a person of brusque address or crusty speech begets +crustiness in others. There are subtle currents of feeling in human +intercourse, not easy to define, but none the less potent in effect. A +person of marked suavity of speech and bearing radiates about him an +atmosphere of good humor, which insensibly influences the manners and the +speech of others. + +There will often come into a public library a man whose whole manner is +aggressive and over-bearing, who acts and talks as if he had a right to +the whole place, including the librarian. No doubt, being a citizen, he +has every right, except the right to violate the rules--or to make +himself disagreeable. The way to meet him is to be neither aggressive, +nor submissive and deferential, but with a cool and pleasant courtesy, +ignoring any idea of unpleasant feeling on your part. You will thus at +least teach a lesson in good manners, which may or may not be learned, +according to circumstances and the hopeful or hopeless character of the +pupil. + +Closely allied to the virtue of patience, is that of unfailing tact. This +will be found an important adjunct in the administration of a public +library. How to meet the innumerable inquiries made of him with just the +proper answer, saying neither too much, nor too little, to be civil to +all, without needless multiplication of words, this requires one to hold +his faculties well in hand, never to forget himself, and to show that no +demand whatever can vex or fluster him. The librarian should know how, or +learn how to adapt himself to all readers, and how to aid their +researches without devoting much time to each. This requires a fine +quality of tact, of adapting one's self quickly to the varied +circumstances of the case in hand. One who has it well developed will go +through the manifold labors and interviews and annoyances of the day +without friction, while one who is without tact will be worried and +fretted until life seems to him a burden. + +Need I mention, after all that has been said of the exacting labors that +continually wait upon the librarian, that he should be possessed both of +energy and untiring industry? By the very nature of the calling to which +he is dedicated, he is pledged to earnest and thorough work in it. He +cannot afford to be a trifler or a loiterer on the way, but must push on +continually. He should find time for play, it is true, and for reading +for his own recreation and instruction, but that time should be out of +library hours. And a vigilant and determined economy of time in library +hours will be found a prime necessity. I have dwelt elsewhere upon the +importance of choosing the shortest methods in every piece of work to be +accomplished. Equally important is it to cultivate economy of speech, or +the habit of condensing instructions to assistants, and answers to +inquiries into the fewest words. A library should never be a +circumlocution office. The faculty of condensed expression, though +somewhat rare, can be cultivated. + +In the relations existing between librarian and assistants there should +be mutual confidence and support. All are equally interested in the +credit and success of the institution which engages their services, and +all should labor harmoniously to that end. Loyalty to one's employers is +both the duty and the interest of the employed: and the reciprocal duty +of faithfulness to those employed, and interest in their improvement and +success should mark the intercourse of the librarian with his assistants. +He should never be too old nor too wise to learn, and should welcome +suggestions from every intelligent aid. I have suggested the importance +of an even temper in the relations between librarians and readers; and it +is equally important as between all those associated in the +administration of a library. Every one has faults and weaknesses; and +those encountered in others will be viewed with the most charity by those +who are duly conscious of their own. Every one makes mistakes, and these +are often provoking or irritating to one who knows better; but a mild and +pleasant explanation of the error is far more likely to lead to +amendment, than a sharp reproof, leaving hard feeling or bitterness +behind. Under no circumstances is peevishness or passion justifiable. +Library assistants in their bearing toward each other, should suppress +all feelings of censoriousness, fault-finding or jealousy, if they have +them, in favor of civility and good manners, if not of good fellowship. +They are all public servants engaged in a common cause, aiming at the +enlightenment and improvement of the community; they should cherish a +just pride in being selected for this great service, and to help one +another in every step of the work, should be their golden rule. +Everything should be done for the success and usefulness of the library, +and all personal considerations should be merged in public ones. + +Turning now to what remains of suggestion regarding the qualities which +should enter into the character, or form a part of the equipment of a +librarian, let me urge the importance of his possessing a truly liberal +and impartial mind. It is due to all who frequent a public library to +find all those in charge ready and willing to aid their researches in +whatever direction they may lie. Their attitude should be one of constant +and sincere open-mindedness. They are to remember that it is the function +of the library to supply the writings of all kinds of authors, on all +sides of all questions. In doing this, it is no part of a librarian's +function to interpose any judgments of his own upon the authors asked +for. He has no right as a librarian to be an advocate of any theories, or +a propagandist of any opinions. His attitude should be one of strict and +absolute impartiality. A public library is the one common property of +all, the one neutral ground where all varieties of character, and all +schools of opinion meet and mingle. Within its hallowed precincts, sacred +to literature and science, the voice of controversy should be hushed. +While the librarian may and should hold his own private opinions with +firmness and entire independence, he should keep them private--as regards +the frequenters of the library. He may, for example, be profoundly +convinced of the truth of the Christian religion; and he is called on, we +will suppose, for books attacking Christianity, like Thomas Paine's "Age +of Reason," or Robert G. Ingersoll's lectures on "Myth and Miracle." It +is his simple duty to supply the writers asked for, without comment, for +in a public library, Christian and Jew, Mahometan and Agnostic, stand on +the same level of absolute equality. The library has the Koran, and the +Book of Mormon, as well as the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, +and one is to be as freely supplied as the other. A library is an +institution of universal range--of encyclopaedic knowledge, which gathers +in and dispenses to all comers, the various and conflicting opinions of +all writers upon religion, science, politics, philosophy, and sociology. +The librarian may chance to be an ardent Republican or a zealous +Democrat; but in either case, he should show as much alacrity in +furnishing readers with W. J. Bryan's book "The First Battle," as with +McKinley's speeches, or the Republican Hand-Book. A library is no place +for dogmatism; the librarian is pledged, by the very nature of his +profession, which is that of a dispenser of all knowledge--not of a part +of it--to entire liberality, and absolute impartiality. Remembering the +axiom that all errors may be safely tolerated, while reason is left free +to combat them, he should be ever ready to furnish out of the +intellectual arsenal under his charge, the best and strongest weapons to +either side in any conflict of opinion. + +It will have been gathered from what has gone before, in recapitulation +of the duties and responsibilities of the librarian's calling, that it is +one demanding a high order of talent. The business of successfully +conducting a public library is complex and difficult. It is full of +never-ending detail, and the work accomplished does not show for what it +is really worth, except in the eyes of the more thoughtful and discerning +observers. + +I may here bring into view some of the drawbacks and discouragements +incident to the librarian's vocation, together with an outline of the +advantages which belong to it. + +In the first place, there is little money in it. No one who looks upon +the acquisition of money as one of the chief aims of life, should think +for a moment of entering on a librarian's career. The prizes in the +profession are few--so few indeed, as to be quite out of the question for +most aspirants. The salaries paid in subordinate positions are very low +in most libraries, and even those of head-librarians are not such that +one can lay up money on them. A lady assistant librarian in one city said +she had found that one of a librarian's proper qualifications was to be +able to live on two meals a day. This doubtless was a humorous +exaggeration, but it is true that the average salaries hitherto paid in +our public libraries, with few exceptions, do not quite come up to those +of public school teachers, taking the various grades into account. Most +of the newly formed libraries are poor, and have to be economical. But +there is some reason to hope that as libraries multiply and their +unspeakable advantages become more fully appreciated, the standard of +compensation for all skilled librarians will rise. I say skilled, because +training and experience are the leading elements which command the better +salaries, in this, as in other professions. + +Another drawback to be recognized in the librarian's calling, is that +there are peculiar trials and vexations connected with it. There are +almost no limits to the demands made upon the knowledge and the time of +the librarian. In other professions, teaching for example, there are +prescribed and well-defined routines of the instruction to be given, and +the teacher who thoroughly masters this course, and brings the pupils +through it creditably, has nothing to do beyond. The librarian, on the +other hand, must be, as it were, a teacher of all sciences and +literatures at once. The field to be covered by the wants of readers, and +the inquiries that he is expected to answer, are literally illimitable. +He cannot rest satisfied with what he has already learned, however expert +or learned he may have become; but he must keep on learning forevermore. +The new books that are continually flooding him, the new sciences or new +developments of old ones that arise, must be so far assimilated that he +can give some account of the scope of all of them to inquiring readers. + +In the third place, there are special annoyances in the service of a +public, which includes always some inconsiderate and many ignorant +persons, and these will frequently try one's patience, however angelic +and forbearing. So, too, the short-comings of library assistants or +associates may often annoy him, but as all these trials have been before +referred to, it may be added that they are not peculiar to library +service, but are liable to occur in the profession of teaching or in any +other. + +In the next place, the peculiar variety and great number of the calls +incessantly made upon the librarian's knowledge, constitute a formidable +draft upon any but the strongest brain. There is no escape from these +continual drafts upon his nervous energy for one who has deliberately +chosen to serve in a public library. And he will sometimes find, wearied +as he often must be with many cares and a perfect flood of questions, +that the most welcome hour of the day is the hour of closing the +library. + +Another of the librarian's vexations is frequently the interference with +his proper work by the library authorities. Committees or trustees to +oversee the management and supervise expenditures are necessary to any +public library. Sometimes they are quick-sighted and intelligent persons, +and recognize the importance of letting the librarian work out everything +in his own way, when once satisfied that they have got a competent head +in charge. But there are sometimes men on a board of library control who +are self-conceited and pragmatical, thinking that they know everything +about how a library should be managed, when in fact, they are profoundly +ignorant of the first rudiments of library science. Such men will +sometimes overbear their fellows, who may be more intelligent, but not so +self-asserting, and so manage as to overrule the best and wisest plans, +or the most expedient methods, and vex the very soul of the librarian. In +such cases the only remedy is patience and tact. Some day, what has been +decided wrongly may be reversed, or what has been denied the librarian +may be granted, through the conversion of a minority of the trustees into +a majority, by the gentle suasion and skilful reasoning of the librarian. + +There are other drawbacks and discomforts in the course of a librarian's +duties which have been referred to in dealing with the daily work under +his charge. There remains the fact that the profession is no bed of +roses, but a laborious and exacting calling, the price of success in +which is an unremitting industry, and energy inexhaustible. But these +will not appear very formidable requisites to those who have a native +love of work, and it is a fact not to be doubted that work of some kind +is the only salvation of every human creature. + +Upon the whole, if the calling of the librarian involves many trials and +vexations, it has also many notable compensations. Foremost among these +is to be reckoned the fact that it opens more and wider avenues to +intellectual culture than any other profession whatever. This comes in a +two-fold way: first, through the stimulus to research given by the +incessant inquiries of readers, and by the very necessity of his being, +as a librarian; and secondly, by the rare facilities for investigation +and improvement supplied by the ample and varied stores of the library +always immediately at hand. Other scholars can commonly command but few +books, unless able to possess a large private library: their researches +in the public one are hampered by the rule that no works of reference can +be withdrawn, and that constitutes a very large and essential class, +constantly needed by every scholar and writer. The librarian, on the +other hand, has them all at his elbow. + +In the next place, there are few professions which are in themselves so +attractive as librarianship. Its tendency is both to absorb and to +satisfy the intellectual faculties. No where else is the sense of +continual growth so palpable; in no other field of labor is such an +enlargement of the bounds of one's horizon likely to be found. Compare it +with the profession of teaching. In that, the mind is chained down to a +rigorous course of imparting instruction in a narrow and limited field. +One must perforce go on rehearsing the same rudiments of learning, +grinding over the same Latin gerunds, hearing the same monotonous +recitations, month after month, and year after year. This continual +threshing over of old straw has its uses, but to an ardent and active +mind, it is liable to become very depressing. Such a mind would rather be +kept on the _qui vive_ of activity by a volley of questions fired at him +every hour in a library, than to grind forever in an intellectual +tread-mill, with no hope of change and very little of relief. The very +variety of the employments which fill up the library hours, the +versatility required in the service, contributes to it a certain zest +which other professions lack. + +Again, the labors of the librarian bring him into an intimate knowledge +of a wide range of books, or at least an acquaintance with authors and +titles far more extensive than can be acquired by most persons. The +reading of book catalogues is a great and never-ending fascination to one +who has a love for books. The information thus acquired of the mighty +range of the world's literature and science is of inestimable value. Most +of it, if retained in a retentive memory, will enable its possessor to +answer multitudes of the questions continually put to the librarian. + +Then, too, the service of a public library is a valuable school for the +study of human nature. One comes in contact with scholars, men of +business, authors, bright young people, journalists, professional men and +cultured women, to an extent unequaled by the opportunities of any other +calling. This variety of intercourse tends to broaden one's sympathies, +to strengthen his powers of observation, to cultivate habits of courtesy, +to develop the faculty of adapting himself to all persons--qualities +which contribute much to social interest and success. The discipline of +such an intercourse may sometimes make out of a silent and bashful +recluse, a ready and engaging adept in conversation, able to command the +attention and conciliate the regard of all. Farther than this, one +brought into so wide a circle of communication with others, cannot fail +to learn something from at least some among them, and so to receive +knowledge as well as to impart it. The curious and diverse elements of +character brought out in such intercourse will make their impress, and +may have their value. All these many facilities for intellectual +intercourse both with books and with men, contribute directly to keep +the librarian in contact with all the great objects of human interest. +They supply an unfailing stimulus to his intellectual and moral nature. +They give any active-minded person rare facilities, not only for the +acquisition, but for the communication of ideas. And there is one avenue +for such communication that is peculiarly open to one whose mind is +stored with the ripe fruits of reading and observation. I mean the field +of authorship--not necessarily the authorship of books, but of writing in +the form of essays, reviews, lectures, stories or contributions to the +periodical press. There are in every community literary societies, clubs, +and evening gatherings, where such contributions are always in demand, +and always welcomed, in exact proportion to their inherent interest and +value. Such avenues for the communication of one's thought are of great +and sometimes permanent advantage. The knowledge which we acquire is +comparatively barren, until it is shared with others. And whether this be +in an appreciative circle of listeners, or in the press, it gives a +certain stimulus and reward to the thinker and writer, which nothing else +can impart. To convey one's best thought to the world is one of the +purest and highest of intellectual pleasures. + +Let me add that there are two sides to the question of authorship, as +concerns librarians. On the one hand, their advantages for entering that +field are undoubtedly superior, both from the ready command of the most +abundant material, and from experience in its use. On the other hand, +while authorship may be said to be the most besetting temptation of the +librarian, it is one that should be steadily resisted whenever it +encroaches on the time and attention due to library duties. If he makes +it a rule to write nothing and to study nothing for his own objects +during library hours, he is safe. Some years since it was a common +subject of reproach regarding the librarians of several university +libraries in England that they were so engaged in writing books, that no +scholar could get at them for aid in his literary researches. The +librarians and assistants employed in the British Museum Library, where +the hours of service are short, have found time to produce numerous +contributions to literature. Witness the works, as authors and editors, +of Sir Henry Ellis, Antonio Panizzi, Dr. Richard Garnett, Edward Edwards, +J. Winter Jones, Thomas Watts, George Smith, and others. And in America, +the late Justin Winsor was one of the most prolific and versatile of +authors, while John Fiske, once assistant librarian at Harvard, Reuben A. +Guild, William F. Poole, George H. Moore, J. N. Larned, Frederick +Saunders and others have been copious contributors to the press. + + * * * * * + +In a retrospective view of what has been said in respect to the +qualifications of a librarian, it may appear that I have insisted upon +too high a standard, and have claimed that he should be possessed of +every virtue under heaven. I freely admit that I have aimed to paint the +portrait of the ideal librarian; and I have done it in order to show what +might be accomplished, rather than what has been accomplished. To set +one's mark high--higher even than we are likely to reach, is the surest +way to attain real excellence in any vocation. It is very true that it is +not given to mortals to achieve perfection: but it is none the less our +business to aim at it, and the higher the ideal, the nearer we are likely +to come to a notable success in the work we have chosen. + +Librarianship furnishes one of the widest fields for the most eminent +attainments. The librarian, more than any other person whatever, is +brought into contact with those who are hungering and thirsting after +knowledge. He should be able to satisfy those longings, to lead +inquirers in the way they should go, and to be to all who seek his +assistance a guide, philosopher and friend. Of all the pleasures which a +generous mind is capable of enjoying, that of aiding and enlightening +others is one of the finest and most delightful. To learn continually for +one's self is a noble ambition, but to learn for the sake of +communicating to others, is a far nobler one. In fact, the librarian +becomes most widely useful by effacing himself, as it were, in seeking to +promote the intelligence of the community in which he lives. One of the +best librarians in the country said that such were the privileges and +opportunities of the profession, that one might well afford to live on +bread and water for the sake of being a librarian, provided one had no +family to support. + +There is a new and signally marked advance in recent years, in the public +idea of what constitutes a librarian. The old idea of a librarian was +that of a guardian or keeper of books--not a diffuser of knowledge, but a +mere custodian of it. This idea had its origin in ages when books were +few, were printed chiefly in dead languages, and rendered still more dead +by being chained to the shelves or tables of the library. The librarian +might be a monk, or a professor, or a priest, or a doctor of law, or +theology, or medicine, but in any case his function was to guard the +books, and not to dispense them. Those who resorted to the library were +kept at arm's length, as it were, and the fewer there were who came, the +better the grim or studious custodian was pleased. Every inquiry which +broke the profound silence of the cloistered library was a kind of rude +interruption, and when it was answered, the perfunctory librarian resumed +his reading or his studies. The institution appeared to exist, not for +the benefit of the people, but for that of the librarian; or for the +benefit, besides, of a few sequestered scholars, like himself, and any +wide popular use of it would have been viewed as a kind of profanation. + +We have changed all that in the modern world, and library service is now +one of the busiest occupations in the whole range of human enterprise. +One cannot succeed in the profession, if his main idea is that a public +library is a nice and easy place where one may do one's own reading and +writing to the best advantage. A library is an intellectual and material +work-shop, in which there is no room for fossils nor for drones. My only +conception of a useful library is a library that is used--and the same of +a librarian. He should be a lover of books--but not a book-worm. If his +tendencies toward idealism are strong, he should hold them in check by +addicting himself to steady, practical, every-day work. While careful of +all details, he should not be mastered by them. If I have sometimes +seemed to dwell upon trifling or obvious suggestions as to temper, or +conduct, or methods, let it be remembered that trifles make up +perfection, and that perfection is no trifle. + +I once quoted the saying that "the librarian who reads is lost"; but it +would be far truer to say that the librarian who does not read is lost; +only he should read wisely and with a purpose. He should make his reading +helpful in giving him a wide knowledge of facts, of thoughts, and of +illustrations, which will come perpetually in play in his daily +intercourse with an inquiring public. + + + + +CHAPTER 14. + +SOME OF THE USES OF LIBRARIES. + + +Let us now consider the subject of the uses of public libraries to +schools and those connected with them. Most town and city libraries are +supported, like the free schools, by the public money, drawn from the +tax-payers, and supposed to be expended for the common benefit of all the +people. It results that one leading object of the library should be to +acquire such a collection of books as will be in the highest degree +useful to all. And especially should the wants of the younger generation +be cared for, since they are always not only nearly one half of the +community, but they are also to become the future citizens of the +republic. What we learn in youth is likely to make a more marked and +lasting impression than what we may acquire in later years. And the +public library should be viewed as the most important and necessary +adjunct of the school, in the instruction and improvement of the young. +Each is adapted to supply what the other lacks. The school supplies oral +instruction and public exercises in various departments of learning; but +it has few or no books, beyond the class text-books which are used in +these instructions. The library, on the other hand, is a silent school of +learning, free to all, and supplying a wide range of information, in +books adapted to every age. It thus supplements, and in proportion to the +extent and judicious choice of its collections, helps to complete that +education, which the school falls short of. In this view, we see the +great importance of making sure that the public library has not only a +full supply of the best books in every field, avoiding (as previously +urged) the bad or the inferior ones, but also that it has the best +juvenile and elementary literature in ample supply. This subject of +reading for the young has of late years come into unprecedented +prominence. Formerly, and even up to the middle of our century, very +slight attention was paid to it, either by authors or readers. Whole +generations had been brought up on the New England Primer, with its +grotesque wood-cuts, and antique theology in prose and verse, with a few +moral narratives in addition, as solemn as a meeting-house, like the +"Dairyman's Daughter," the "History of Sandford and Merton," or "The +Shepherd of Salisbury Plain." Very dreary and melancholy do such books +appear to the frequenters of our modern libraries, filled as they now are +with thousands of volumes of lively and entertaining juvenile books. + +The transition from the old to the new in this class of literature was +through the Sunday-school and religious tract society books, professedly +adapted to the young. While some of these had enough of interest to be +fairly readable, if one had no other resource, the mass were irredeemably +stale and poor. The mawkishness of the sentiment was only surpassed by +the feebleness of the style. At last, weary of the goody-goody and +artificial school of juvenile books, which had been produced for +generations, until a surfeit of it led to something like a nausea in the +public mind, there came a new type of writers for the young, who at least +began to speak the language of reason. The dry bones took on some +semblance of life and of human nature, and boys and girls were painted as +real boys and genuine girls, instead of lifeless dolls and manikins. The +reformation went on, until we now have a world of books for the young to +choose from, very many of which are fresh and entertaining. + +But the very wealth and redundancy of such literature is a new +embarrassment to the librarian, who must indispensably make a selection, +since no library can have or ought to have it all. Recurring to the +function of the public library as the coadjutor of the school, let us see +what classes of books should form essential parts of its stores. + +1. As geography, or an account of the earth on which we live, is a +fundamental part of education, the library should possess a liberal +selection of the best books in that science. The latest general gazetteer +of the world, the best modern and a good ancient atlas, one or more of +the great general collections of voyages, a set of Baedeker's admirable +and inexpensive guide books, and descriptive works or travels in nearly +all countries--those in America and Europe predominating--should be +secured. The scholars of all grades will thus be able to supplement their +studies by ready reference, and every part of the globe will lie open +before them, as it were, by the aid of the library. + +2. The best and latest text-books in all the sciences, as geology, +chemistry, natural history, physics, botany, agriculture, mechanic arts, +mathematics, mental and moral science, architecture, fine arts, music, +sociology, political science, etc., should be accessible. + +3. Every important history, with all the latest manuals or elementary +books in general and national history should be found. + +4. The great collections of biography, with separate lives of all noted +characters, should be provided. + +5. Dictionaries, cyclopaedias, statistical annuals, and other books of +reference will be needed in abundance. + +6. A small but select number of approved works in law, medicine, and +theology should be embraced in the library. + +7. I need not add that the poets and novelists should be well +represented, as that goes without saying in all popular libraries. + +And special attention should be paid to building up a collection of the +best books for juvenile readers, such as have passed the ordeal of good +critical judgment among the librarians, as eminently fit to be read. +There are several useful catalogues of such reading, as: Caroline M. +Hewins' "Books for the Young," G. E. Hardy's "Five Hundred Books for the +Young," and the admirable "List of Books for Girls and Women" by Augusta +H. Leypoldt and Geo. Iles, contributed to by many experts, and copiously +supplied with notes describing the scope and quality of the books. The +last two are published by the Library Bureau. + +With this broad equipment of the best books in every field, and vigilance +in constant exercise to add fresh stores from the constantly appearing +and often improved text-books in every science, the library will be a +treasury of knowledge both for teachers and pupils in the schools. And +the fact should not be overlooked, that there will be found as much +growth for teachers as for scholars in such a collection of books. Very +few teachers, save those of well-furnished minds and of much careful +reading, are competent to guide their scholars into the highways and +byways of knowledge, as the librarian should be able to do. + +To establish a relation of confidence and aid with teachers is the +preliminary step to be taken in order to make the library at once +practically useful to them and to their scholars. In case there are +several public schools in charge of a general superintendent, that +officer should be first consulted, and tendered the free aid of the +library and its librarian for himself and the teachers. In some public +libraries, the school superintendent is made an _ex officio_ member of +the library board. Then suitable regulations should be mutually agreed +upon, fixing the number of books to be drawn on account of the schools at +any one time, and the period of return to the library. It is most usual +to charge such books on teachers' cards, or account, to fix +responsibility, although the teachers loan them to the scholars at their +option. + +In places where there are no school libraries proper, the public library +will need to provide a goodly number of duplicates, in order to meet the +special school demand. This, however, will usually be of low-priced +rather than costly books, as the elementary text-books do not draw +heavily upon library funds. + +A very attractive feature in providing books for the young is the large +number of illustrated books now available to all libraries. All the +kingdoms of nature are depicted in these introductory manuals of science, +rendering its pursuit more interesting, and cultivating the habits of +observation of form and of proportion, in the minds of the young. Pupils +who have never accomplished anything in school have been roused by +interest in illustrated natural histories to take an eager interest in +learning all about birds and animals. This always leads on and up to +other study, since the mind that is once awakened to observation and to +thought, needs only a slight guidance to develop an unappeasable hunger +for finding out all about things. + +The ancient maxim that "it is only the first step that costs" is +especially true in the great art of education. It matters little what it +is that first awakens the intellect--the great fact is that it is +awakened, and sleeps no more thenceforward. A mottled bird's egg, found +on the way to school, excites the little finder to ascertain the name of +the bird that laid it. The school or the teacher supplies no means of +finding out, but the public library has books upon birds, with colored +plates of their eggs, and an eager search ensues, until the young student +is rewarded by finding the very bird, with its name, plumage, habits, +size, and season, all described. That child has taken an enormous step +forward on the road to knowledge, which will never be forgotten. + +Instances might be multiplied indefinitely of such valuable aids to +research, afforded by libraries, all along the innumerable roads +travelled by students of every age in search of information. One of the +most profitable of school exercises is to take up successively the great +men and notable women of the past, and, by the effective and practical +aid of the libraries, to find out what is best worth knowing about +Columbus, Franklin, Walter Scott, Irving, Prescott, Bancroft, Longfellow, +Hawthorne, Whittier, Emerson, Lowell, Victor Hugo, or others too numerous +to name. Reading Longfellow's Evangeline will lead one to search out the +history and geography of Acadia, and so fix indelibly the practical facts +concerned, as well as the imagery of a fine poem. So in the notable +events of history, if a study is made of the English Commonwealth, or the +French Revolution, or the war between the United States and England in +1812-15, the library will supply the student with copious materials for +illustration. + +Not alone in the fields of science, history, and biography, but in the +attractive fields of literature, also, can the libraries aid and +supplement the teachings of the school. A fine poem, or a simple, +humorous, or pathetic story, told with artless grace or notable literary +skill, when read aloud by a teacher in school, awakens a desire in many +to have the same book at home to read, re-read, and perhaps commit to +memory the finer passages. What more inspiring or pleasing reading than +some of Longfellow's poems, or the Vicar of Wakefield, or Milton's +L'Allegro and Il Penseroso, or Saintine's Picciola, or selections from +the poems of Holmes, Whittier, Kipling, or Lowell? For all these and +similar wants, the library has an unfailing supply. + +As a practical illustration of the extensive, use of books by schools in +some advanced communities, I may note that Librarian Green, of the +Worcester (Mass.) Public Library, said in 1891 that his average daily +account of the books loaned to schools in two busy winter months showed +over 1,600 volumes thus in daily use. This too, was in addition to all +that were drawn out by pupils on their own independent cards as +borrowers. Such a record speaks volumes. + +In the same city, where the Massachusetts State Normal School is located, +sixty-four per cent. of the scholars visited the library to look up +subjects connected with their studies. + +A forcible argument for librarians taking an interest in reading for +schools is that both parents and teachers often neglect to see that the +young get only proper books to read. The children are themselves quite +ignorant what to choose, and if left to themselves, are likely to choose +unwisely, and to read story papers or quite unimproving books. Their +parents, busied as they are, commonly give no thought to the matter, and +are quite destitute of that knowledge of the various classes of books +which it is the province of the librarian to know and to discriminate. +Teachers themselves do not possess this special knowledge, except in rare +instances, and have to become far more conversant with libraries than is +usual, in order to acquire it. + +That the very young, left to themselves, will choose many bad or +worthless books is shown in the account of a principal of a school in San +Francisco, who found that sixty per cent. of the books drawn from the +public library by pupils had been dime novels, or other worthless +literature. The wide prevalence of the dime novel evil appeared in the +report of the reading of 1,000 boys in a western New York city. Out of +this number, 472 (or nearly one-half) were in the habit of devouring this +pernicious trash, procured in most cases by purchase at the news stands. +The matter was taken up by teachers, and, by wise direction and by aid of +the public library, the reading of these youthful candidates for +citizenship was led into more improving fields. To lead a mind in the +formative stage from the low to the high, from tales of wild adventure to +the best stories for the young, is by no means difficult. Take a book +that you know is wholesome and entertaining, and it will be eagerly read +by almost every one. There is an endless variety of good books adapted to +the most rudimentary capacity. Even young minds can become interested in +the works of standard writers, if the proper selection is made. Wonderful +is the stimulus which the reading of a purely written, fascinating book +gives to the young mind. It opens the way for more books and for infinite +growth. All that is needed is to set the youth in the right direction, +and he will go forward with rapid strides of his own accord. This +teaching how to read is really the most profitable part of any education. +To recite endless lessons is not education: and one book eagerly read +through, has often proved more valuable than all the text-books that ever +were printed. + + +THE USES OF THE LIBRARY TO THE UNIVERSITY. + +Closely allied to the benefits derived from the library by the teachers +and scholars in public schools are its uses to all those engaged in the +pursuit of higher education. For our colleges and universities and their +researches, the library must have all that we have suggested as important +for the schools, and a great deal more. The term university implies an +education as broad as the whole world of books can supply: yet we must +here meet with limitations that are inevitable. In this country we have +to regret the application of the word "university" to institutions where +the training is only academical, or at the highest, collegiate. The +university, properly speaking, is an institution for the most advanced +scholars or graduates of our colleges. Just as the college takes up and +carries forward the training of those who have been through the academy, +the seminary, or the high school, so it is the function of the university +to carry forward (we will not say complete) the education of the graduate +of the college. No education is ever completed: the doctor who has +received the highest honors at the university has only begun his +education--for that is to go on through life--and who knows how far +beyond? + +Now the aid which a well equipped library can furnish to all these higher +institutions of learning, the academy, the seminary, the college, and the +university, is quite incalculable. Their students are constantly engaged +upon themes which not only demand the text-books they study, but +collateral illustrations almost without number. The professors, too, who +impart instruction, perpetually need to be instructed themselves, with +fuller knowledge upon the themes they are daily called upon to elucidate. +There is no text-book that can teach all, or anywhere near all there is +upon the subject it professes to cover. So the library, which has many +books upon that subject, comes in to supply its deficiencies. And the +librarian is useful to the professors and students just in proportion as +he knows, not the contents, but the range of books upon each subject +sought to be investigated. Here is where the subject catalogue, or the +dictionary catalogue, combining the subjects and the authors under a +single alphabet, comes into play. But, as no catalogue of subjects was +ever yet up to date in any considerable library, the librarian should be +able to supplement the catalogue by his own knowledge of later works in +any line of inquiry. + +The most profitable studies carried on in libraries are, beyond all +question, what we may term topical researches. To pursue one subject +though many authorities is the true way to arrive at comprehensive +knowledge. And in this kind of research, the librarian ought to be better +equipped than any who frequent his library. Why? Simply because his +business is bibliography; which is not the business of learned +professors, or other scholars who visit the library. + +The late Librarian Winsor said that he considered the librarian's +instruction far more valuable than that of the specialist. And this may +be owing largely to the point of view, as well as to the training, of +each. The specialist, perhaps, is an enthusiast or a devotee to his +science, and so apt to give undue importance to the details of it, or to +magnify some one feature: the librarian, on the other hand, who is +nothing if not comprehensive, takes the larger view of the wide field of +literature on each subject, and his suggestions concerning sources of +information are correspondingly valuable. + +In those constantly arising questions which form the subjects of essays +or discussions in all institutions of learning, the well-furnished +library is an unfailing resource. The student who finds his unaided mind +almost a blank upon the topic given out for treatment, resorts at once to +the public library, searches catalogues, questions the librarian, and +surrounds himself with books and periodicals which may throw light upon +it. He is soon master of facts and reasonings which enable him to start +upon a train of thought that bears fruit in an essay or discourse. In +fact, it may be laid down as an axiom, that nearly every new book that is +written is indebted to the library for most of its ideas, its facts, or +its illustrations, so that libraries actually beget libraries. + +Some of the endlessly diversified uses of a well-equipped library, not +only to scholars but to the general public, may here be referred to. +Among the most sought for sources of information, the periodical press, +both of the past and the current time, holds a prominent rank. When it is +considered how far-reaching are the fields embraced in the wide range of +these periodicals, literary, religious, scientific, political, technical, +philosophical, social, medical, legal, educational, agricultural, +bibliographical, commercial, financial, historical, mechanical, nautical, +military, artistic, musical, dramatic, typographical, sanitary, sporting, +economic, and miscellaneous, is it any wonder that specialists and +writers for the press seek and find ready aid therein for their +many-sided labors? + +To the skeptical mind, accustomed to undervalue what does not happen to +come within the range of his pet idols or pursuits, the observation of a +single day's multifold research in a great library might be in the nature +of a revelation. Hither flock the ever-present searchers into family +history, laying under contribution all the genealogies and town and +county histories which the country has produced. Here one finds an +industrious compiler intent upon the history of American duels, for which +the many files of Northern and Southern newspapers, reaching back to the +beginning of the century, afford copious material. At another table sits +a deputation from a government department, commissioned to make a record +of all notable strikes and labor troubles for a series of years, to be +gleaned from the columns of the journals of leading cities. + +An absorbed reader of French romances sits side by side with a clergyman +perusing homilies, or endeavoring to elucidate, through a mass of +commentators, a special text. Here are to be found ladies in pursuit of +costumes of every age; artists turning over the great folio galleries of +Europe for models or suggestions; lawyers seeking precedents or leading +cases; journalists verifying dates, speeches, conventions, or other +forgotten facts; engineers studying the literature of railways or +machinery; actors or amateurs in search of plays or works on the dramatic +art; physicians looking up biographies of their profession or the history +of epidemics; students of heraldry after coats of arms; inventors +searching the specifications and drawings of patents; historical students +pursuing some special field in American or foreign annals; scientists +verifying facts or citations by original authorities; searchers tracing +personal residences or deaths in old directories or newspapers; querists +seeking for the words of some half-remembered passage in poetry or prose, +or the original author of one of the myriad proverbs which have no +father; architects or builders of houses comparing hundreds of designs +and models; teachers perusing works on education or comparing text-books +new or old; readers absorbing the great poems of the world; writers in +pursuit of new or curious themes among books of antiquities or folk-lore; +students of all the questions of finance and economic science; +naturalists seeking to trace through many volumes descriptions of +species; pursuers of military or naval history or science; enthusiasts +venturing into the occult domains of spiritualism or thaumaturgy; +explorers of voyages and travels in every region of the globe; fair +readers, with dreamy eyes, devouring the last psychological novel; +devotees of musical art perusing the lives or the scores of great +composers; college and high-school students intent upon "booking up" on +themes of study or composition or debate; and a host of other seekers +after suggestion or information in a library of encyclopedic range. + + + + +CHAPTER 15. + +THE HISTORY OF LIBRARIES. + + +The Library, from very early times, has enlisted the enthusiasm of the +learned, and the encomiums of the wise. The actual origin of the earliest +collection of books (or rather of manuscripts) is lost in the mists of +remote antiquity. Notwithstanding professed descriptions of several +libraries found in Aulus Gellius, Athenaeus, and others, who wrote +centuries after the alleged collections were made, we lack the convincing +evidence of eye-witnesses and contemporaries. But so far as critical +research has run, the earliest monuments of man which approached +collections of written records are found not in Europe, but in Africa and +Asia. + +That land of wonders, Egypt, abounds in hieroglyphic inscriptions, going +back, as is agreed by modern scholars, to the year 2000 before the +Christian era. A Papyrus manuscript, too, exists, which is assigned to +about 1600 B. C. And the earliest recorded collection of books in the +world, though perhaps not the first that existed, was that of the +Egyptian king Ramses I.--B. C. 1400, near Thebes, which Diodorus Siculus +says bore the inscription "Dispensary of the soul." Thus early were books +regarded as remedial agents of great force and virtue. + +But before the library of Ramses the Egyptian king, there existed in +Babylonia collections of books, written not on parchment, nor on the more +perishable papyrus, but on clay. Whole poems, fables, laws, and hymns of +the gods have been found, stamped in small characters upon baked bricks. +These clay tablets or books were arranged in numerical order, and the +library at Agane, which existed about 2000 B. C. even had a catalogue, in +which each piece of literature was numbered, so that readers had only to +write down the number of the tablet wanted, and the librarian would hand +it over. Two of these curious poems in clay have been found intact, one +on the deluge, the other on the descent of Istar into Hades. + +The next ancient library in point of time yet known to us was gathered in +Asia by an Assyrian King, and this collection has actually come down to +us, _in propria persona_. Buried beneath the earth for centuries, the +archaeologist Layard discovered in 1850 at Nineveh, an extensive +collection of tablets or tiles of clay, covered with cuneiform +characters, and representing some ten thousand distinct works or +documents. The Assyrian monarch Sardanapalus, a great patron of letters, +was the collector of this primitive and curious library of clay. He +flourished about 1650 B. C. + +In Greece, where a copious and magnificent literature had grown up +centuries before Christ, Pisistratus collected a library at Athens, and +died B. C. 527. When Xerxes captured Athens, this collection, which +represents the earliest record of a library dedicated to the public, was +carried off to Persia, but restored two centuries later. The renowned +philosopher Aristotle gathered one of the largest Greek libraries, about +350 B. C. said to have embraced about 1400 volumes, or rather, rolls. +Plato called Aristotle's residence "the house of the reader." This +library, also, was carried off to Scepsis, and later by the victorious +Sulla to Rome. History shows that the Greek collections were the earliest +"travelling libraries" on record, though they went as the spoils of war, +and not to spread abroad learning by the arts of peace. + +Rome having conquered Athens, we hear no more of the Athenian libraries, +but the seat of ancient learning was transferred to Alexandria, where +were gathered under the liberal sway of the Ptolemies, more books than +had ever been assembled together in any part of the world. Marc Antony +presented to Cleopatra the library of the Kings of Pergamus, said to have +contained 200,000 rolls. There is no space to sketch the ancient +libraries, so scantily commemorated, of Greece. Through Aristotle's +enthusiasm for learning, as it is believed, the Ptolemies were fired with +the zeal of book-collecting, and their capital of Alexandria became the +seat of extensive libraries, stored in the Brucheion and the Serapeum. +Here, according to general belief, occurred the burning of the famous +Alexandrian library of 700,000 volumes, by the Saracens under Omar, A. D. +640. If any one would have an object lesson in the uncertainties of +history and of human testimony, let him read the various conflicting +accounts of the writers who have treated upon this subject. The number of +volumes varies from 700,000, as stated by Aulus Gellius, to 100,000 by +Eusebius. The fact that in ancient times each book or division of an +author's work written on a roll of papyrus was reckoned as a volume, may +account for the exaggeration, since the nine books of Herodotus would +thus make nine volumes, and the twenty-four of Homer's Iliad, twenty-four +volumes, instead of one. So, by an arbitrary application of averages, the +size of the Alexandrian Library might be brought within reasonable +dimensions, though there is nothing more misleading than the doctrine of +averages, unless indeed it be a false analogy. But that any library eight +hundred years before the invention of printing contained 700,000 volumes +in the modern sense of the word, when the largest collection in the +world, three centuries after books began to be multiplied by types, held +less than 100,000 volumes, is one of the wildest fictions which writers +have imposed upon the credulity of ages. + +I cannot even touch upon the libraries of the Romans, though we have very +attractive accounts, among others, of the literary riches of Lucullus, of +Atticus, and of Cicero. The first library in Rome was founded 167 B. C. +and in the Augustan age they multiplied, until there were twenty-nine +public libraries in Hadrian's time, 120 A. D. The emperor Julian, in the +fourth century, was a founder of libraries, and is said to have placed +over the doors this inscription: "_Alii quidem equos amant, alii oves, +alii feros; mihi vero a puerulo mirandum acquirendi et possidendi libros +insedit desiderium._" + +The libraries of the middle ages were neither large nor numerous. The +neglect of learning and of literature was wide-spread; only in the +monasteries of Europe were to be found scholars who kept alive the sacred +flame. In these were renewed those fruitful labors of the _scriptorium_ +which had preserved and multiplied so many precious books in classic +times among the Romans. The monks, indeed, were not seldom creators as +well as copyists, though the works which they composed were mainly +theological (as became their sacred profession and ascetic life). The +Latin, however, being the almost universal language for so many +centuries, the love of learning conspired to widen the field of monastic +study. Many zealous ecclesiastics were found who revived the classic +authors, and copies of the works of poets, historians, philosophers and +rhetoricians were multiplied. Then were gradually formed those monastic +libraries to which so many thousands of mediaeval scholars owed a debt of +gratitude. The order of Benedictines took a leading and effective part in +this revival of learning. Taxes were levied on the inmates of monasteries +expressly for furnishing the library with books, and the novices in many +houses must contribute writing materials upon entering, and books at the +close of their novitiate, for the enrichment of the library. Among +notably valuable libraries, several of which still survive, were those of +Monte Cassino in Italy, the Abbey of Fleury in France, St. Gall in +Switzerland, and that of the illustrious congregation of St. Maur in +France. The latter had at one time no less than one hundred and seven +writers engaged in multiplying books. + +The first library in England is recorded (in the Canterbury Chartulary) +to have been given by Pope Gregory the Great, and brought by St. +Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, on his mission to England +about A. D. 600. It consisted of nine precious volumes on vellum, being +copies of parts of the Scriptures, with commentaries, and a volume of +Lives of the Martyrs. The library of the Benedictine Monastery at +Canterbury had grown in the 13th century to 3000 titles, being very rich +in theology, but with many books also in history, poetry and science. At +York had been founded, in the 8th century, a noble library by Archbishop +Egbert, and the great scholar Alcuin here acquired, amidst that "infinite +number of excellent books," his life-long devotion to literature. When he +removed to Tours, in France, he lamented the loss of the literary +treasures of York, in a poem composed of excellent hexameters. He begged +of Charlemagne to send into Britain to procure books, "that the garden of +paradise may not be confined to York." + +Fine libraries were also gathered at the monasteries of Durham, of +Glastonbury, and of Croyland, and at the Abbeys of Whitby and +Peterborough. + +Nor were the orders of Franciscans and Dominicans far behind as +book-collectors, though they commonly preferred to buy rather than to +transcribe manuscripts, like the Benedictines. "In every convent of +friars," wrote Fitzralph to the Pope, in 1350, "there is a large and +noble library." And Richard de Bury, Bishop of Durham, and Chancellor of +England in 1334, whose "Philobiblon" is the most eloquent treatise in +praise of books ever written, said, when visiting places where the +mendicants had convents; "there amid the deepest poverty, we found the +most precious riches stored up." The Pope, it appears, relaxed for these +orders the rigor of their vows of poverty, in favor of amassing +books--mindful, doubtless, of that saying of Solomon the wise--"Therefore +get wisdom, because it is better than gold." + +Richard de Bury, the enthusiast of learning, wrote thus: + +"The library, therefore, of wisdom is more precious than all riches, and +nothing that can be wished for is worthy to be compared with it. +Whosoever, therefore, acknowledges himself to be a zealous follower of +the truth, of happiness, of wisdom, of science, or even of the faith, +must of necessity make himself a lover of books." + +And said Joseph Hall, Bishop of Norwich--"I can wonder at nothing more +than how a man can be idle--but of all others a scholar; in so many +improvements of reason, in such sweetness of knowledge, in such variety +of studies, in such importunity of thoughts. To find wit in poetry; in +philosophy profoundness; in history wonder of events; in oratory, sweet +eloquence; in divinity, supernatural light and holy devotion--whom would +it not ravish with delight?" + +Charles the Fifth of France amassed a fine library, afterwards sold to an +English nobleman. Lorenzo de Medici, of Hungary, and Frederic Duke of +Urbino, each gathered in the 15th century a magnificent collection of +books. All of these became widely dispersed in later years, though the +manuscripts of the Duke of Urbino's collection are preserved in the +library of the Vatican. + +I may here note a very few of the most extensive library collections now +existing in Europe and America. + +1. Of the great public libraries of Europe, which owe much of their +riches to the government privilege of the copy-tax, the national library +of France is the oldest and the largest, now numbering two million six +hundred thousand volumes. Founded in the 15th century, it has had four +hundred years of opportunity for steady and large increase. Paris abounds +in other public libraries also, in which respect it is far superior to +London. + +2. Next to the Bibliotheque nationale of France, comes the Library of the +British Museum, with 2,000,000 volumes, very rich both in manuscripts and +in printed books in all languages. A liberal Parliamentary grant of +$60,000 a year for purchase of books and manuscripts keeps this great +collection well up to date as to all important new works, besides +enabling it constantly to fill up deficiencies in the literature of the +past. Following this, among the great libraries having over half a +million books, come in numerical order + + Volumes. + 3. Russian Imperial Library, St. Petersburg, 1,200,000 + 4. Royal Library of Prussia, Berlin, 1,000,000 + 5. Royal Library of Bavaria, Munich, 980,000 + 6. Library of Congress, Washington City, 840,000 + 7. Boston Public Library, 734,000 + 8. University Library, Strasburg, Germany, 700,000 + 9. Imperial Public Library, Vienna, 575,000 +10. Bodleian Library, Oxford 530,000 + +It is a notable fact that among the richest monuments of learning that +have been gathered by mankind, the University libraries hold a very high +rank. Reckoned in number of volumes, there are many of them which far +outrank the government libraries, except in six instances. Out of 174 +libraries, all exceeding 100,000 volumes, as reported in the annual +_Minerva_, in October, 1898, no less than 72 are the libraries of +universities. Strasburg heads the list, with a noble collection of +700,000 volumes; then Oxford university, whose Bodleian library numbers +530,000; Leipzig university, 504,000; Cambridge university, England, +Goettingen university, and Harvard university, 500,000 each; the +university of Vienna, 475,000; the universities of Heidelberg and of +Munich, 400,000 each; Ghent and Wuerzburg universities, 350,000 each; +Christiania, Norway, university, and Tuebingen, each 340,000; University +of Chicago, 330,000; Copenhagen university, 305,000; Breslau, Cracow, +Rostock and Upsala, 300,000 each; Yale university, New Haven, 280,000; +St. Petersburg, 257,000; Bologna, 255,000; Freiburg and Bonn +universities, 250,000 each; Prague, 245,000; Trinity, Dublin, 232,000; +Koenigsberg, 231,000; Kiel, 229,000; Naples, 224,000; and Buda-Pest, +210,000. I need not detain you by enumerating those that fall below +200,000 volumes, but will say that the whole number of volumes in the 72 +university libraries embraced in my table is more than fifteen millions, +which would be much enlarged if smaller libraries were included. A noble +exhibit is this, which the institutions of the highest education hold up +before us. + + * * * * * + +We may now consider, somewhat more in detail as to particulars, the +origin and growth of the libraries of the United States. The record will +show an amazingly rapid development, chiefly accomplished during the last +quarter of a century, contrasted with the lamentably slow growth of +earlier years. + +Thirty years ago the present year, I was invited to give to the American +Social Science Association, then meeting at New York, a discourse upon +Public Libraries in the United States. On recurring to this address, I +have been agreeably surprised to find how completely its facts and +figures belong to the domain of ancient history. For, while it may excite +a smile to allude to anything belonging to a period only thirty years +back as ancient history, yet, so rapid has been the accumulation, not +only of books, but of libraries themselves in that brief period of three +decades, as almost to justify the term employed. + +Antiquarians must ever regard with interest the first efforts for the +establishment of public libraries in the New World. The first record of +books dedicated to a public purpose in that part of this country now +occupied by the English-speaking race is, I believe, to be found in the +following entry in the Records of the Virginia Company of London: + +"November 15, 1620.--After the Acts of the former Courte were read, a +straunger stept in presentinge a Mapp of S^r Walter Rawlighes contayinge +a Descripcon of Guiana, and with the same fower great books as the Guifte +of one unto the Company that desyred his name might not be made knowne, +whereof one booke was a treatise of St. Augustine of the Citty of God +translated into English, the other three greate Volumes wer the works of +Mr. Perkins' newlie corrected and amended, wch books the Donor desyred +they might be sent to the Colledge in Virginia there to remayne in saftie +to the use of the collegiates thereafter, and not suffered at any time to +be sent abroade or used in the meane while. For wch so worthy a guifte my +Lord of Southampton desyred the p'tie that presented them to returne +deserued thanks from himselfe and the rest of the Company to him that had +so kindly bestowed them."[1] + +The college here referred to was the first ever founded in America, and +was seated at Henrico, at the confluence of the James River with the +Chickahominy. It was designed not only for the education of the Virginia +settlers, but to teach science and Christianity to the Indians. Large +contributions were raised in England by Sir Edwin Sandys, and others of +the Virginia Company, for its support. But this Virginia college and its +incipient library were doomed to a speedy extinction. Like so many other +brilliant "prospects for planting arts and learning in America," it did +not survive the perils of the colonial epoch. It was brought to a period +by the bloody Indian massacre of March 22, 1622, when three hundred and +forty-seven of the Virginia settlers were slaughtered in a day, the new +settlement broken up, and the expanding lines of civilization contracted +to the neighborhood of Jamestown. + +Harvard University Library was founded in 1638 by the endowment of John +Harvard, who bequeathed to the new college his library and half of his +estate. Soon afterwards enriched by the zealous contributions of English +Puritans and philosophers, of Berkeley, and Baxter, and Lightfoot, and +Sir Kenelm Digby, the first university library in America, after a +century and a quarter of usefulness, was totally destroyed with the +college edifice in the year 1764 by fire. When we contemplate the ravages +of this element, which has consumed so many noble libraries, destroying +not only printed books of priceless value, but often precious manuscripts +which are unique and irreplaceable, a lively sense of regret comes over +us that these creations of the intellect, which should be imperishable, +are even yet at the mercy of an accident in all the libraries of the +world save a very few. The destruction of books in private hands is +natural and inevitable enough, and goes on continually. Whole editions of +books, now sought with avidity as the rarest volumes known to literature, +have been gradually destroyed in innumerable fires, worn out in the hands +of readers, used for waste paper by grocers and petty tradesmen, +swallowed up in the sack of towns, or consumed by dampness, mould, or, in +rare instances, by the remorseless tooth of time. Yet there have always +existed public libraries enough, had they been fire-proof, to have +preserved many copies of every book bequeathed to the world, both before +the invention of printing and since. But, when your insurance office is +bankrupt, what becomes of the insured? When nearly all our public +libraries are so constructed as to become an easy prey to the flames, the +loss of so many books which have completely perished from the earth +ceases to be wonderful. + +The growth of Harvard University library, from its second foundation a +century ago, has been steady, though at no time rapid. Select and +valuable in its principal contents, it has received numerous benefactions +from the friends of learning, and promises to become the best, as it +already is much the largest, among the university libraries of the +country. Its present strength is about 500,000 volumes. + +The year 1700 witnessed the birth of the first New York library open to +public use. The Rev. John Sharp, then chaplain of His Majesty's forces in +that city (it was in the days of good King William of Orange), bequeathed +his private collection of books to found a "public library" in New York. +The library thus organized was placed in charge of the corporation of the +city, but the first city library of New York languished with little or no +increase until 1754, when a society of gentlemen undertook to found a +public library by subscription, and succeeded so well that the city +authorities turned over to them what remained of the Public City Library. +This was the beginning of the New York Society Library, one of the +largest of the proprietary libraries of the country. It was then, and for +a long time afterwards, commonly known as "The City Library." The +Continental Congress profited by its stores, there being no other library +open to their use; and the First Congress under the Constitution, which +met in New York in 1789, received the free use of the books it contained. +The library is conducted on the share system, the payment of twenty-five +dollars, and an annual assessment of six dollars, giving any one the +privilege of membership. It now contains about 100,000 volumes. + +The same year, 1700, in which the New York Library was founded, ten +Connecticut ministers met together at Lyme, each bringing a number of +books, and saying, "I give these books for the founding of a college in +this colony." Such was the foundation of Yale University, an institution +that has done inestimable service to the cause of letters, having been +fruitful of writers of books, as well as of living contributions to the +ranks of every learned profession. Thirty years later, we find the good +Bishop Berkeley pausing from the lofty speculations which absorbed him, +to send over to Yale College what was called "the finest collection of +books that ever came together at one time into America." For a century +and a half the growth of this library was very slow, the college being +oppressed with poverty. In 1869, the number of volumes had risen only to +50,000, but it is cheering to relate that the last thirty years have +witnessed a growth so rapid that in 1899 Yale University Library had +285,000 volumes. + +The fourth considerable library founded in the United States was due in a +large degree to the industry and zeal for knowledge of the illustrous +Franklin. As unquestionably the first established proprietary library in +America, the Library Company of Philadelphia merits especial notice. Let +us reverently take a leaf out of the autobiography of the +printer-statesman of Pennsylvania: + +"And now I set on foot my first project of a public nature, that for a +subscription library. I drew up the proposals, got them put into form by +our great scrivener, Brockden, and by the help of my friends in the Junto +[the Junto was a club for mutual improvement, founded by Franklin] +procured fifty subscribers at forty shillings each to begin with, and ten +shillings a year for fifty years, the term our company was to continue. +We afterwards obtained a charter, the company being increased to one +hundred; this was the mother of all the North American subscription +libraries now so numerous. It is become a great thing itself, and +continually increasing. These libraries have improved the general +conversation of the Americans, made the common tradesmen and farmers as +intelligent as most gentlemen from other countries, and perhaps have +contributed in some degree to the stand so generally made throughout the +colonies in defence of their privileges." + +When this Philadelphia Library was founded, in 1731, not a single city or +town in England possessed a subscription library. Even the library of the +British Museum, since become the greatest collection of books in the +world, save one, was not opened until 1759, more than a quarter of a +century afterwards. Although not designed as a public library of +circulation, save to its own subscribers, the Philadelphia Library has +been kept free to all for reference and consultation. The record of the +gradual increase of the first Philadelphia Library from its first few +hundred volumes, when Franklin was but twenty-five years of age, to its +present rank as the largest proprietary library in America, with 195,000 +volumes of books, is highly interesting. Its history, in fact, is to a +large extent the history of intellectual culture in Philadelphia, which +remained, until the second decade in the present century, the foremost +city of the Union in population, and, from 1791 to 1800, the seat of +government of the United States. + +The Philadelphia Library Company, in 1774, voted that "the gentlemen who +were to meet in Congress" in that city should be furnished with such +books as they might have occasion for; and the same privilege was +exercised on the return of the Government to that city, in 1791, and +until the removal of Congress to Washington in 1800. During the nine +months' occupation of Philadelphia by the British army, it is refreshing +to read that the conquerors lifted no spear against the Muses' bower, but +that "the officers, without exception, left deposits, and paid hire for +the books borrowed by them." The collection, in respect of early printed +books, is one of the largest and most valuable in America, embracing some +books and files of newspapers which are to be found in no other public +library. The selection of new books has been kept unusually free from the +masses of novels and other ephemeral publications which overload most of +our popular libraries, and the collection, although limited in extent in +every field, and purposely leaving special topics, such as the medical +and natural sciences, to the scientific libraries which abound in +Philadelphia, affords to the man of letters a good working library. The +shares in the library cost forty dollars, with an annual assessment of +four dollars to each stockholder. + +In 1869, the great bequest of Doctor James Rush to the Philadelphia +Library of his whole property, valued at over $1,000,000, was accepted by +its stockholders, by the bare majority of five votes in a poll of over +five hundred. This lack of harmony is attributable to the fact that the +bequest, so generous in itself, was hampered by the donor with numerous +conditions, deemed by many friends of the library to be highly onerous +and vexatious. Not the least among these was the following, which is +cited from the will itself: + +"Let the library not keep cushioned seats for time-wasting and lounging +readers, nor places for every-day novels, mind-tainting reviews, +controversial politics, scribblings of poetry and prose, biographies of +unknown names, nor for those teachers of disjointed thinking, the daily +newspapers." + +Here is one more melancholy instance of a broad and liberal bequest +narrowly bestowed. The spirit which animated the respectable testator in +attempting to exclude the larger part of modern literature from the +library which his money was to benefit may have been unexceptionable +enough. Doubtless there are evils connected with a public supply of +frivolous and trifling literature; and perhaps our periodicals may be +justly chargeable with devoting an undue proportion of their columns to +topics of merely ephemeral interest. But it should never be forgotten +that the literature of any period is and must be largely occupied with +the questions of the day. Thus, and thus only, it becomes a +representative literature, and it is precious to posterity in proportion +as it accurately reflects the spirit, the prejudices, and the +personalities of a time which has passed into history, leaving behind it +no living representatives. If we admit that the development of the human +intellect at any particular period is worth studying, then all books are, +or may become, useful. It is amazing that a person with any pretensions +to discernment should denounce newspapers as unfitted to form a part of a +public library. The best newspapers of the time are sometimes the best +books of the time. A first-class daily journal is an epitome of the +world, recording the life and the deeds of men, their laws and their +literature, their politics and religion, their social and criminal +statistics, the progress of invention and of art, the revolutions of +empires, and the latest results of science. Grant that newspapers are +prejudiced, superficial, unfair; so also are books. Grant that the +journals often give place to things scurrilous and base; but can there be +anything baser or more scurrilous than are suffered to run riot in books? +There is to be found hidden away in the pages of some books such filth as +no man would dare to print in a newspaper, from fear of the instant wrath +of the passers-by. + +When I consider the debt which libraries and literature alike owe to the +daily and weekly press, it is difficult to characterize with patience the +Parthian arrow flung at it from the grave of a querulous millionaire, who +will owe to these very newspapers the greater part of his success and his +reputation. The father of the respectable testator, Doctor Benjamin Rush, +has left on record many learned speculations concerning the signs and +evidences of lunacy. We may now add to the number the vagaries of the +author of a ponderous work on the human intellect, who gravely proposed +to hand over to posterity an expurgated copy of the nineteenth century, +with all its newspapers left out. + +The Library of Congress, or, as it was called in its first general +catalogue in 1815, "The Library of the United States," was founded in +1800, by the purchase of five thousand dollars' worth of books by act of +Congress, upon the removal of the government to Washington. By the act of +January 26, 1802, entitled "An act concerning the Library for the use of +both Houses of Congress," this library was placed in charge of a joint +committee of both Houses of Congress, consisting of three Senators and +three Representatives, and a Librarian, to be appointed by the President +of the United States. It had grown to the number of only 3,000 volumes in +1814, when the British army made a bonfire of our national Capitol, and +the library was consumed in the ruins. The first library of Congress +being thus destroyed, ex-President Jefferson, then living, involved in +debt, and in his old age, at Monticello, offered his fine private library +of 6,700 volumes to Congress, through friends in that body, the terms of +payment to be made convenient to the public, and the price to be fixed by +a committee. The proposition met with able advocacy and also with some +warm opposition. It is illustrative of the crude conceptions regarding +the uses of books which prevailed in the minds of some members, that the +library was objected to on the somewhat incongruous grounds of embracing +too many editions of the Bible, and a number of the French writers in +skeptical philosophy. It was gravely proposed to pack up this portion of +the library, and return it to the illustrious owner at Monticello, paying +him for the remainder. More enlightened counsels, however, prevailed, and +the nation became possessed, for about $23,000, of a good basis for a +public library which might become worthy of the country. The collection +thus formed grew by slow accretion until, in 1851, it had accumulated +55,000 volumes. On the 24th of December in that year, a defective flue +in the Capitol set fire to the wood-work with which the whole library was +surrounded, and the result was a conflagration, from which 20,000 volumes +only were saved. Congress at once appropriated, with praiseworthy +liberality, $75,000 for the purchase of new books, and $92,500 for +rebuilding the library room in solid iron; the first instance of the +employment of that safe and permanent material, so capable of the +lightest and most beautiful architectural effects, in the entire interior +structure of any public building. The appropriation of $75,000 was +principally expended in the purchase of standard English literature, +including complete sets of many important periodicals, and a selection of +the more costly works in science and the fine arts. In 1866, two wings, +each as large as the central library, and constructed of the same +fire-proof material, were added to it, and quickly filled by the +accession, the same year and the following, of two large libraries, that +of the Smithsonian Institution, and the historical library of Peter +Force, of Washington. The latter was the largest private library ever +then brought together in the United States, but its chief value consisted +in its possession of a very great proportion of the books relating to the +settlement, history, topography, and politics of America, its 45,000 +pamphlets, its files of early newspapers of the Revolution, its early +printed books, and its rich assemblage of maps and manuscripts, many of +the latter being original autographs of the highest historical interest, +including military letters and papers of the period of the American +Revolution. The Smithsonian library, the custody of which was accepted by +Congress as a trust, is rich in scientific works in all the languages of +Europe, and forms an extensive and appropriate supplement to the Library +of Congress, the chief strength of which lies in jurisprudence, +political science, history, and books relating to America. Yet no +department of literature or science has been left unrepresented in its +formation, and the fact has been kept steadily in view that the Library +of the Government must become, sooner or later, a universal one. As the +only library which is entitled to the benefit of the copyright law, by +which copies of each publication for which the Government grants an +exclusive right must be deposited in the National Library, this +collection must become annually more important as an exponent of the +growth of American literature. This wise provision of law prevents the +dispersion or destruction of books that tend continually to disappear; a +benefit to the cause of letters, the full value of which it requires +slight reflection to estimate. + +This National Library now embraces 840,000 volumes, besides about 250,000 +pamphlets. It is freely open, as a library of reference and reading, to +the whole people; but the books are not permitted to be drawn out, except +by Senators and Representatives and a few officials for use at the seat +of government. Its new, commodious and beautiful building, which may +fitly be called the book-palace of the American people, open day and +evening to all comers, is a delight to the eye, and to the mind. + + * * * * * + +The library of the Boston Athenaeum originated, in the year 1806, with a +society of gentlemen of literary tastes, who aimed at creating a +reading-room for the best foreign and American periodicals, together with +a library of books. To this a gallery of art was subsequently added. The +undertaking proved at once successful, leaving us to wonder why +cultivated Boston, though abounding in special and parish libraries, +should so long have done without a good general library; New York having +anticipated her by fifty-two years, and Philadelphia by three-quarters +of a century. The Athenaeum Library is peculiarly rich in files of +American newspapers, both old and new, and its collection of early +pamphlets is one of the largest in the country. In literature and science +it embraces a heavy proportion of the best books, its total number of +volumes being reckoned at 190,000. Its collection of books, pamphlets, +and newspapers relating to the recent civil war is among the completest +known. The price of a share in the Athenaeum is three hundred dollars, a +large sum when compared with that of other proprietary libraries; but it +involves much more valuable property-rights than any other. The annual +assessment is five dollars to shareholders, who alone possess the right +to draw books. The proprietors have also the power to grant free +admission to others, and the library and reading-room are thus thrown +open for reference to a wide range of readers. + +The history of the Astor Library, opened in 1854, has been made too +familiar by repeated publication to need repetition here. The generous +founder gave two per cent. out of his fortune of $20,000,000 to create a +free public library for the city which had given him all his wealth. The +gift was a splendid one, greater than had ever before been given in money +to found a library. Moreover, the $400,000 of Mr. Astor, half a century +ago, appeared to be, and perhaps was, a larger sum relatively than four +millions in New York of to-day. Yet it remains true that the bequest was +but one-fiftieth part of the fortune of the donor, and that the growth +and even the proper accommodation of the library must have stopped, but +for the spontaneous supplementary gifts of the principal inheritors of +his vast wealth. + +The growth of the Astor library has been very slow, the annual income +from what was left of Mr. Astor's $400,000 bequest, after defraying the +cost of the library building, and the $100,000 expended for books at its +foundation in 1848, having been so small as to necessitate a pinching +economy, both in salaries of the library staff, and in the annual +purchase of books. It was an example of a generous act performed in a +niggardly way. But after the lapse of half a century, enlightened public +policy, building upon the Astor foundation, and on the Lenox and Tilden +bequests for founding public libraries in New York city, is about to +equip that long neglected city with a library worthy of the name. There +has already been gathered from these three united benefactions, a +collection of no less than 450,000 volumes, making the New York Public +Library take rank as the fourth, numerically, in the United States. + +While no library in America has yet reached one million volumes, there +are five libraries in Europe, which have passed the million mark. Some of +these, it is true, are repositories of ancient and mediaeval literature, +chiefly, with a considerable representation of the books of the last +century, and but few accessions from the more modern press. Such, for the +most part, are the numerous libraries of Italy, while others, like the +Library of the British Museum, in London, and the National Library, at +Paris, are about equally rich in ancient and modern literature. The one +great advantage which European libraries possess over American consists +in the stores of ancient literature which the accumulations of the past +have given them. This advantage, so far as manuscripts and early printed +books are concerned, can never be overcome. With one or two hundred +thousand volumes as a basis, what but utter neglect can prevent a library +from becoming a great and useful institution? The most moderate share of +discrimination, applied to the selection of current literature, will keep +up the character of the collection as a progressive one. But with nothing +at all as a basis, as most of our large American libraries have started, +it will take generations for us to overtake some of the vast collections +of Europe--even numerically. + +In the "American Almanac" for 1837 was published the earliest statistical +account of American libraries which I have found. It is confined to a +statement of the numerical contents of twenty public and university +libraries, being all the American libraries which then (sixty years +since) contained over 10,000 volumes each. The largest library in the +United States at that date was that of the Philadelphia Library Company, +which embraced 44,000 volumes. The first organized effort to collect the +full statistics of libraries in the United States was made in 1849, by +Professor C. C. Jewett, then librarian of the Smithsonian Institution, +and the results were published in 1851, under the auspices of that +institution, in a volume of 207 pages. It contains interesting notices of +numerous libraries, only forty of which, however, contained as many as +10,000 volumes each. In 1859, Mr. W. J. Rhees, of the Smithsonian +Institution, published "A Manual of Public Libraries, Institutions, and +Societies in the United States," a large volume of 687 pages, filled with +statistical information in great detail, and recording the number of +volumes in 1338 libraries. This work was an expansion of that of +Professor Jewett. The next publication of the statistics of American +Libraries, of an official character, was published in "The National +Almanac," Philadelphia, for the year 1864, pp. 58-62, and was prepared by +the present writer. It gave the statistics of 104 libraries, each +numbering 10,000 volumes or upwards, exhibiting a gratifying progress in +all the larger collections, and commemorating the more advanced and +vigorous of the new libraries which had sprung into life. + +The work of collecting and publishing the statistics of American +Libraries has for years past been admirably performed by the United +States Bureau of Education. Begun in 1875, that institution has issued +four tabular statements of all libraries responding to its circulars of +inquiry, and having (as last reported in 1897) one thousand volumes or +upwards. Besides these invaluable reports, costing much careful labor and +great expense, the Bureau of Education published, in 1876, an extensive +work wholly devoted to the subject of libraries, bearing the title +"Special Report on Public Libraries in the United States." This +publication (now wholly out of print) consisted of 1222 pages, replete +with information upon the history, management, and condition of American +Libraries, under the editorship of S. R. Warren and S. N. Clark, of the +Bureau of Education. It embraced many original contributions upon topics +connected with library science, by experienced librarians, _viz._: +Messrs. W. F. Poole, Justin Winsor, C. A. Cutter, J. S. Billings, Theo. +Gill, Melvil Dewey, O. H. Robinson, W. I. Fletcher, F. B. Perkins, H. A. +Homes, A. R. Spofford, and others. + +I have prepared a table of the numerical contents of the thirty-four +largest libraries in this country in 1897, being all those having 100,000 +volumes each or upwards: + +Library of Congress, Washington, 840,000 +Boston Public Library, Boston, 730,000 +Harvard University Library, Cambridge, 510,000 +New York Public Library, New York City, 450,000 +University of Chicago Library, 335,000 +New York State Library, Albany, 320,710 +Yale University Library, New Haven, 285,000 +New York Mercantile Library, New York, 270,000 +Columbia University Library, New York, 260,000 +Chicago Public Library, 235,385 +Cincinnati Public Library, 223,043 +Cornell University Library, Ithaca, N. Y., 220,000 +Sutro Library, San Francisco, 206,300 +Newberry Library, Chicago, 203,108 +Philadelphia Library Company, 200,000 +Philadelphia Mercantile Library, 190,000 +Boston Athenaeum Library, 190,000 +Enoch Pratt Library, Baltimore, 185,902 +Philadelphia Mercantile Library, 183,000 +Detroit Public Library, Detroit, Mich., 148,198 +University of Pennsylvania Library, Phila., 140,000 +Princeton University Library, Princeton, N. J., 135,000 +Pennsylvania State Library, Harrisburg, 134,000 +Peabody Institute Library, Baltimore, 130,000 +Cleveland Public Library, Cleveland, O., 129,000 +St. Louis Public Library, 125,000 +Mechanics and Tradesmen's Library, New York, 115,185 +Free Public Library, Worcester, Mass., 115,000 +San Francisco Public Library, 108,066 +Philadelphia Free Library, 105,000 +American Antiquarian Society Library, Worcester, Mass., 105,000 +California State Library, Sacramento, 100,032 +Massachusetts State Library, Boston, 100,000 +New York Society Library, New York, 100,000 + +Public libraries endowed by private munificence form already a large +class, and these are constantly increasing. Of the public libraries +founded by individual bequest, some of the principal are the Public +Library of New York, the Watkinson Library, at Hartford, the Peabody +Institute Libraries, of Baltimore, and at Danvers and Peabody, Mass., the +Newberry Library and the John Crerar Library at Chicago, the Sutro +Library, San Francisco, the Enoch Pratt Library, Baltimore, and the +Carnegie Libraries at Pittsburgh and Allegheny City, Pa. Nearly all of +them are the growth of the last quarter of a century. The more prominent, +in point of well equipped buildings or collections of books, are here +named, including all which number ten thousand volumes each, or upwards, +among the public libraries associated with the founder's name. + +New York Public Library (Astor Lenox and Tilden Foundations), 450,000 +Newberry Library, Chicago, 203,100 +Sutro Library, San Francisco, 206,300 +Enoch Pratt Library, Baltimore, 185,900 +Peabody Institute Library, Baltimore, 130,000 +Davenport Library, Bath, N. Y., 90,000 +Silas Bronson Library, Waterbury, Conn., 52,000 +Pratt Institute Free Library, Brooklyn, N. Y., 51,000 +Watkinson Library, Hartford, Conn., 47,000 +Sage Library, New Brunswick, N. Y., 43,000 +Case Library, Cleveland, Ohio, 40,000 +Grosvenor Library, Buffalo, N. Y., 39,000 +Forbes Library, Northampton, Mass., 36,000 +Cooper Union Library, New York, 34,000 +Fisk Free Public Library, New Orleans, 33,000 +Peabody Institute Library, Peabody, Mass., 33,000 +Reynolds Library, Rochester, N. Y., 33,000 +Carnegie Free Library, Allegheny, Pa., 30,000 +Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, Vt., 30,000 +Howard Memorial Library, New Orleans, 26,000 +Carnegie Library, Pittsburgh, Pa., 25,000 +Sage Public Library, West Bay City, Mich., 25,000 +Hoyt Public Library, Saginaw, Mich., 24,000 +Osterhout Free Library, Wilkesbarre, Pa., 24,000 +Seymour Library, Auburn, N. Y., 24,000 +Hackley Public Library, Muskegon, Mich., 22,000 +Willard Library, Evansville, Ind., 22,000 +Otis Library, Norwich, Conn., 21,000 +Morrison-Reeves Library, Richmond, Ind., 21,000 +Baxter Memorial Library, Rutland, Vt., 20,000 +Cornell Library Association, Ithaca, N. Y., 20,000 +Thomas Crane Public Library, Quincy, Mass., 19,000 +Dimmick Library, Mauch Chunk, Pa., 18,000 +Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, Ill., 17,000 +Peabody Institute Library, Danvers, Mass., 17,000 +Tufts Library, Weymouth, Mass., 17,000 +Warder Public Library, Springfield, Ohio, 17,000 +Withers Public Library, Bloomington, Ill., 15,000 +Cary Library, Lexington, Mass., 15,000 +Fritz Public Library, Chelsea, Mass., 15,000 +Turner Free Library, Randolph, Mass., 15,000 +Ames Free Library, North Easton, Mass., 14,000 +Bigelow Free Library, Clinton, Mass., 14,000 +Clarke Public Library, Coldwater, Mich., 14,000 +Harris Institute Library, Woonsocket, R. I., 14,000 +Merrick Public Library, Brookfield, Mass., 14,000 +Robbins Library, Arlington, Mass., 14,000 +Nevins Memorial Library, Methuen, Mass., 14,000 +Sturgis Library, Barnstable, Mass., 13,000 +Birchard Library, Fremont, Ohio, 12,500 +James Prendergast Library, Jamestown, N. Y., 12,500 +Rogers Free Library, Bristol, R. I., 12,300 +Abbott Public Library, Marblehead, Mass., 12,000 +Armour Institute, Chicago, Ill., 12,000 +Beebe Town Library, Wakefield, Mass., 12,000 +Carnegie Free Library, Braddock, Pa., 12,000 +Goodnow Library, South Sudbury, Mass., 12,000 +Millicent Library, Fairhaven, Mass., 12,000 +Thayer Public Library, South Braintree, Mass., 11,000 +Dyer Library, Saco, Maine, 10,500 +Cossit Library, Memphis, Tenn., 10,000 +Gloucester (Mass.) Sawyer Free Library, 10,000 +Ferguson Library, Stamford, Conn., 10,000 +Parlin Memorial Library, Everett, Mass., 10,000 +Jennie D. Haynes Library, Alton, Ill., 10,000 +Hornell Free Library, Hornellsville, N. Y., 10,000 + +Besides the preceding list, purposely confined to free libraries chiefly +founded by individuals, which have reached the ten thousand volume mark, +there are a multitude of others, too numerous to be named, having a less +number of volumes. In fact, the public spirit which gives freely of +private wealth to enlarge the intelligence of the community may be said +to grow by emulation. Many men who have made fortunes have endowed their +native places with libraries. It is yearly becoming more and more widely +recognized that a man can build no monument to himself so honorable or so +lasting as a free public library. Its influence is well nigh universal, +and its benefits are perennial. + + * * * * * + +We now come to consider the city or town libraries, created or maintained +by voluntary taxation. These, like the class of libraries founded by +private munificence, are purely a modern growth. While the earliest +movement in this direction in Great Britain dates back only to 1850, New +Hampshire has the honor of adopting the first free public library law, in +America, in the year 1849. Massachusetts followed in 1851, and the +example was emulated by other States at various intervals, until there +now remain but fifteen out of our forty-five States which have no public +library law. The general provisions of these laws authorize any town or +city to collect taxes by vote of the citizens for maintaining a public +library, to be managed by trustees elected or appointed for the purpose. + +But a more far-reaching provision for supplying the people with public +libraries was adopted by New Hampshire (again the pioneer State), in +1895. This was nothing less than the passage of a State law making it +compulsory on every town in New Hampshire to assess annually the sum of +thirty dollars for every dollar of public taxes apportioned to such town, +the amount to be appropriated to establish and maintain a free public +library. Library trustees are to be elected, and in towns where no public +library exists, the money is to be held by them, and to accumulate until +the town is ready to establish a library. + +This New Hampshire statute, making obligatory the supply of public +information through books and periodicals in free libraries in every +town, may fairly be termed the high-water mark of modern means for the +diffusion of knowledge. This system of creating libraries proceeds upon +the principle that intellectual enlightenment is as much a concern of the +local government as sanitary regulations or public morality. Society has +an interest that is common to all classes in the means that are provided +for the education of the people. Among these means free town or city +libraries are one of the most potent and useful. New Hampshire and +Massachusetts, in nearly all of their towns and cities, have recognized +the principle that public books are just as important to the general +welfare as public lamps. What are everywhere needed are libraries open to +the people as a matter of right, and not as a matter of favor. + +The largest library in the country, save one (that at Washington), owes +its origin and success to this principle, combined with some private +munificence. The Boston Public Library is unquestionably one of the most +widely useful collections of books open to the public in this country. Of +all the greater collections, it is the only one which lends out books +free of charge to all citizens. Instituted in 1852, its career has been +one of rapid progress and ever widening usefulness. I shall not dwell +upon it at length, as the facts regarding it have been more widely +published than those relating to any other library. + +Under the permissive library laws of thirty States, there had been formed +up to 1896, when the last comprehensive statistics were gathered, about +1,200 free public libraries, supported by taxation, in the United States. + +A still more widely successful means of securing a library foundation +that shall be permanent is found in uniting private benefactions with +public money to found or to maintain a library. Many public-spirited +citizens, fortunately endowed with large means, have offered to erect +library buildings in certain places, on condition that the local +authorities would provide the books, and the means of maintaining a free +library. Such generous offers, whether coupled with the condition of +perpetuating the donor's name with that of the library, or leaving the +gift unhampered, so that the library may bear the name of the town or +city of its location, have generally been accepted by municipal bodies, +or by popular vote. This secures, in most cases, a good working library +of choice reading, as well as its steady annual growth and management, +free of the heavy expense of building, of which the tax-payers are +relieved. The many munificent gifts of library buildings by Mr. Andrew +Carnegie, to American towns and cities, and to some in his native +Scotland, are worthy of special note. And the reader will see from the +long list heretofore given of the more considerable public libraries to +be credited wholly or in part to private munificence, that American men +of wealth have not been wanting as public benefactors. + +In some cases, whole libraries have been given to a town or village where +a public library already existed, or liberal gifts or bequests of money, +to be expended in the enrichment of such libraries, have been bestowed. +Very interesting lists of benefactions for the benefit of libraries may +be found in the volumes of the Library Journal, New York. It is with +regret that candor requires me to add, that several proffers of fine +library buildings to certain places, coupled with the condition that the +municipal authorities would establish and maintain a free library, have +remained without acceptance, thus forfeiting a liberal endowment. Where +public education has been so neglected as to render possible such a +niggardly, penny-wise and pound-foolish policy, there is manifestly +signal need of every means of enlightenment. + + * * * * * + +We now come to the various State libraries founded at the public charge, +and designed primarily for the use of the respective legislatures of the +States. The earliest of these is the New Hampshire State Library, +established in 1790, and the largest is the New York State Library, at +Albany, founded in 1818, now embracing 325,000 volumes, and distinguished +alike by the value of its stores and the liberality of its management. +The reason for being of a State library is obviously and primarily to +furnish the legislative body and State courts with such ample books of +reference in jurisprudence, history, science, etc., as will aid them in +the intelligent discharge of their duties as law-makers and judges of the +law. The library thus existing at each State capital may well be opened +to the public for reading and reference, thus greatly enlarging its +usefulness. + +Every State in the Union has now at least a legislative library, although +the most of them consist chiefly of laws and legislative documents, with +a few works of reference superadded; and their direct usefulness to the +public is therefore very circumscribed. The New York State Library is a +model of what a great public library should be in the capital of a State. +In it are gathered a great proportion of the best books in each +department of literature and science, while indefatigable efforts have +been made to enrich it in whatever relates to American history and +polity. Its reading-room is freely opened to the public during many hours +daily. But a State library should never be made a library of circulation, +since its utility as a reference library, having its books always in for +those who seek them, would thereby be destroyed. Even under the existing +system, with the privilege of drawing books out confined to the +Legislature, some of the State libraries have been depleted and despoiled +of many of their most valuable books, through loaning them freely on the +orders of members. The sense of responsibility is far less in the case of +borrowed books which are government property, than in other cases. The +only safe rule for keeping a government library from being scattered, is +strict refusal of orders for loaning to any one not legally entitled to +draw books, and short terms of withdrawal to legislators, with +enforcement of a rule of replacement, at their expense, as to all books +not returned at the end of each session. + + * * * * * + +There is one class of libraries not yet touched upon, namely, school +district libraries. These originated for the first time in a legally +organized system, through an act of the New York State Legislature in +1835, authorizing the voters in each school district to levy a tax of +twenty dollars with which to start a library, and ten dollars a year for +adding to the same. These were not to be for the schools alone, but for +all the people living in the district where the school was located. This +was supplemented in 1838 by a State appropriation of $55,000 a year, from +New York's share of the surplus revenue fund distributed by Congress to +the States in 1837, and the income of which was devoted by New York to +enlarging the school district libraries. After spending nearly two +millions of dollars on these libraries in forty years, the system was +found to have been so far a failure that the volumes in the libraries had +decreased from 1,600,000 to 700,000 volumes. + +This extraordinary and deplorable result was attributed to several +distinct causes. 1st. No proper responsibility as to the use and return +of books was enforced. 2d. The insignificance of the sum raised by +taxation in each district prevented any considerable supply of books from +being acquired. 3d. The funds were largely devoted to buying the same +books in each school district, instead of being expended in building up a +large and varied collection. Thus the system produced innumerable petty +libraries of duplicates, enriching publishers and booksellers, while +impoverishing the community. The school district library system, in +short, while promising much in theory, in the way of public intelligence, +broke down completely in practice. The people quickly lost interest in +libraries which gave them so little variety in books, either of +instruction or of recreation. + +Although widely introduced in other States besides New York, from 1837 to +1877, it proved an admitted failure in all. Much public money, raised by +taxation of the people, was squandered upon sets of books, selected by +State authority, and often of inferior interest and utility. Finally, it +was recognized that school district libraries were an evanescent dream, +and that town libraries must take their place. This instructive chapter +in Library history shows an experience by which much was learned, though +the lesson was a costly one. + +The Historical libraries of the country are numerous, and some of the +larger ones are rich in printed Americana, and in historical manuscripts. +The oldest is that of the Massachusetts Historical Society, founded in +1791, and among the most extensive are those of the New York Historical +Society, American Antiquarian Society, the Historical Society of +Pennsylvania, the New England Historic-genealogical Society, and the +Wisconsin State Historical Society. There are no less than 230 historical +societies in the U. S., some forty of which are State associations. + +The Mercantile libraries are properly a branch of the proprietary, though +depending mostly upon annual subscriptions. The earliest of these was the +Boston Mercantile Library, founded in 1820, and followed closely by the +New York Mercantile the same year, the Philadelphia in 1821, and the +Cincinnati Mercantile in 1835. + +Next we have the professional libraries, law, medical, scientific, and, +in several cities, theological. These supply a want of each of these +professions seldom met by the public collections, and are proportionately +valuable. + + * * * * * + +The most recent plan for the wide diffusion of popular books is the +travelling library. This originated in New York in 1893, when the +Legislature empowered the Regents of the State University (a body of +trustees having charge of all library interests in that State) to send +out selections of books to any community without a library, on request of +25 resident taxpayers. The results were most beneficial, the sole +expense being five dollars for each library. + +Travelling libraries, (mostly of fifty volumes each) have been set on +foot in Massachusetts, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and other +States, and, as the system appears capable of indefinite expansion, great +results are anticipated in the direction of the public intelligence. It +is pointed out that while the State, by its free school system, trains +all the people to read, it should not leave the quality of their reading +to chance or to utter neglect, when a few cents _per capita_ annually +would help them to an education of inestimable value in after life. + +Some objections, on the other hand, have been urged to the system, as +introducing features of paternalism into State government, and taking out +of the hands of individual generosity and local effort and enterprise +what belongs properly to such agencies. The vexed question of the proper +function and limitations of State control in the domain of education +cannot here be entered upon. + +In the volume last published of statistics of American libraries, that of +1897, great progress was shown in the five years since 1891. The record +of libraries reported in 1896 embraced 4,026 collections, being all which +contained over 1,000 volumes each. The increase in volumes in the five +years was a little over seven millions, the aggregate of the 4,026 +libraries being 33,051,872 volumes. This increase was over 27 per cent. +in only five years. + +If the good work so splendidly begun, in New England, New York, +Pennsylvania, and some of the Western States, in establishing libraries +through public taxation and private munificence, can only be extended in +the Southern and Middle States, the century now about to dawn will +witness an advance quite as remarkable as we have seen in the latter +years of the century about to close. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] MS. Records of the Virginia Company, in the Library of Congress. + + + + +CHAPTER 16. + +LIBRARY BUILDINGS AND FURNISHINGS. + + +Proceeding now to the subject of library buildings, reading-rooms, and +furnishings, it must be remarked at the outset that very few rules can be +laid down which are of universal application. The architectural plans, +exterior and interior, of such great institutions as the Library of +Congress, or the Boston Public Library, with their costly marbles, +splendid mural decorations, and electric book-serving machinery, afford +no model for the library building in the country village. Where the +government of a nation or a wealthy city has millions to devote for +providing a magnificent book-palace for its library, the smaller cities +or towns have only a few thousands. So much the more important is it, +that a thoroughly well-considered plan for building should be marked out +before beginning to build, that no dollars should be wasted, or costly +alterations required, in order to fit the interior for all the uses of a +library. + +The need of this caution will be abundantly evident, in the light of the +unfit and inconvenient constructions seen in so many public libraries, +all over the country. So general has been the want of carefully planned +and well-executed structures for books, that it may fairly be said that +mistakes have been the rule, and fit adaptation the exception. For twenty +years past, at every meeting of the American Library Association, the +reports upon library buildings have deplored the waste of money in +well-meant edifices designed to accommodate the library service, but +successful only in obstructing it. Even in so recent a construction as +the Boston Public Library building, so many defects and inconveniences +were found after it was supposed to have been finished, that rooms had to +be torn out and re-constructed on three floors, while the pneumatic tube +system had been found so noisy as to be a public nuisance, and had to be +replaced by a later improved construction. + +One leading cause for the mistakes which are so patent in our library +buildings is that they are not planned by librarians but mainly by +architects. The library authorities commonly take it for granted that the +able architect is master of his profession, and entrust him with the +whole design, leaving out of account the librarian, as a mere +subordinate, entitled only to secondary consideration. The result is a +plan which exhibits, in its prominent features, the architect's skill in +effective pilasters, pillars, architraves, cornices, and balustrades, +while the library apartments which these features ornament are planned, +not for convenient and rapid book-service, but mainly for show. It is the +interest of architects to magnify their profession: and as none of them +has ever been, or ever will be a librarian, they cannot be expected to +carry into effect unaided, what they have never learned; namely, the +interior arrangements which will best meet the utilities of the library +service. Here is where the librarian's practical experience, or his +observation of the successes or failures in the reading-room and delivery +service of other libraries, should imperatively be called in. Let him +demonstrate to the governing board that he knows what is needed for +prompt and economical administration, and they will heed his judgment, if +they are reasonable men. While it belongs to the architect to plan, +according to his own ideas, the outside of the building, the inside +should be planned by the architect in direct concert with the librarian, +in all save merely ornamental or finishing work. + +We do not erect a building and then determine whether it is to be a +school house or a church: it is planned from the start with strict +reference to the utilities involved; and so should it always be with a +library. + +In treating this subject, I shall not occupy space in outlining the +proper scheme of building and interior arrangement for a great library, +with its many distinct departments, for such institutions are the +exceptions, while most libraries come within the rule of very moderate +size, and comparatively inexpensive equipment. The first requisite for a +public library, then, is a good location. It is important that this +should be central, but it is equally important that the building should +be isolated--that is, with proper open space on all sides, and not +located in a block with other buildings. Many libraries have been +destroyed or seriously damaged by fire originating in neighboring +buildings, or in other apartments in the same building; while fires in +separate library buildings have been extremely rare. It would be a wise +provision to secure a library lot sufficiently large in area to admit of +further additions to the building, both in the rear and at the side; and +with slight addition to the cost, the walls and their supports may be so +planned as to admit of this. Committees are seldom willing to incur the +expense of an edifice large enough to provide for very prolonged growth +of their collection; and the result is that the country is full of +overcrowded libraries, without money to build, and prevented from +expanding on the spot because no foresight was exercised in the original +construction or land purchase, to provide for ready increase of space by +widening out, and removing an outer wall so as to connect the old +building with the new addition. If a library has 10,000 volumes, it would +be very short-sighted policy to plan an edifice to contain less than +40,000, which it is likely to reach in from ten to forty years. + +The next requisite to a central and sufficient site is that the location +must be dry and airy. Any low site, especially in river towns, will be +damp, and among the enemies of books, moisture holds a foremost place. +Next, the site should afford light on all sides, and if necessary to +place it near any thoroughfare, it should be set back so as to afford +ample light and ventilation in front. + +It need hardly be said that every library building should be fire-proof, +after the many costly lessons we have had of the burning of public +libraries at home and abroad. The material for the outside walls may be +brick or stone, according to taste or relative cost. Brick is good +enough, and if of the best quality, and treated with stone trimmings, is +capable of sufficiently ornate effects, and is quite as durable as any +granite or marble. No temptation of cheapness should ever be allowed to +introduce wood in any part of the construction: walls, floors, and roof +should be only of brick, stone, iron, or slate. A wooden roof is nothing +but a tinder-box that invites the flames. + +In general, two stories is a sufficient height for library buildings, +except in those of the largest class, and the upper floors may be amply +lighted by sky-lights. The side-lights can hardly be too numerous: yet I +have seen library buildings running back from a street fifty to +seventy-five feet, without a single window in either of the side walls. +The result was to throw all the books on shelves into a gloomy shade for +many hours of each day. + +The interior construction should be so managed as to effect the finding +and delivery of books to readers with the greatest possible economy of +time and space. No shelves should be placed higher than can be reached by +hand without mounting upon any steps or ladders; _i. e._, seven to seven +and a half feet. The system of shelving should all be constructed of iron +or steel, instead of surrounding the books on three sides with +combustible wood, as is done in most libraries. Shelves of oxidized metal +will be found smooth enough to prevent any abrasion of bindings. Shelves +should be easily adjustable to any height, to accommodate the various +sizes of books. + +In calculating shelf capacity, one and a half inches thickness a volume +is a fair average, so that each hundred volumes would require about +thirteen feet of linear shelf measurement. The space between uprights, +that is, the length of each shelf, should not exceed two and a half feet. +All spaces between shelves should be 101/2 or 11 inches high, to +accommodate large octavos indiscriminately with smaller sizes; and a base +shelf for quartos and folios, at a proper height from the floor, will +restrict the number of shelves to six in each tier. + +In the arrangement of the cases or book-stacks, the most economical +method is to place book-cases of double face, not less than three feet +apart, approached by aisles on either side, so as to afford free passage +for two persons meeting or passing one another. The cases may be about +ten feet each in length. There should be electric lights between all +cases, to be turned on only when books are sought. The cases should be +set at right angles to the wall, two or three feet from it, with the +light from abundant windows coming in between them. The width of shelves +may be from 16 to 18 inches in these double cases, thus giving about +eight to nine inches depth to each side. No partition is required between +the two sides. + +It should be stated that the light obtained from windows, when thrown +more than twenty feet, among cases of books on shelves, becomes too +feeble for effective use in finding books. This fact should be considered +in advance, while plans of construction, lighting, and interior +arrangement are being made. All experience has shown that too much light +cannot be had in any public library. + +Railings and stair-cases for the second or upper floors should be of +perforated iron. + +The reading-room should be distinct from the book delivery or +charging-room, to secure quiet for readers at all hours, avoiding the +pressure, hurry and noise of conversation inevitable in a lending library +or department. In the reading-room should be shelved a liberal supply of +books of reference, and bibliographies, open without tickets to the +readers. Next the central desk there should be shelves for the deposit of +books reserved day by day for the use of readers. The library chairs, of +whatever pattern may be preferred, should always combine the two +requisites of strength and lightness. The floor should be covered with +linoleum, or some similar floor covering, to deaden sound. Woolen +carpets, those perennial breeders of dust, are an abomination. + +In a library reading-room of any considerable size, each reader should be +provided with table or desk room, not flat but sloping at a moderate +angle, and allowing about three feet of space for each reader. These +appliances for study need not be single pieces of furniture, but made in +sections to accommodate from three to six readers at each. About thirty +inches from the floor is a proper height. + +For large dictionaries, atlases, or other bulky volumes, the adjustable +revolving case, mounted on a pedestal, should be used. + +For moving any large number of volumes about the library, book-trucks or +barrows, with noiseless rubber wheels, are required. + +Every library will need one or more catalogue cases to hold the +alphabetical card catalogue. These are made with a maximum of skill by +the Library Bureau, Boston. + +The location of the issue-counter or desk is of cardinal importance. It +should be located near the centre of the system of book-cases, or near +the entrance to the stack, so as to minimize the time consumed in +collecting the books wanted. It should also have a full supply of light, +and this may be secured by a location directly in front of a large side +window. Readers are impatient of delay, and the farther the books are +from the issue-counter the longer they will have to wait for them. + +Among modern designs for libraries, that of Dr. W. F. Poole, adapted for +the Newberry Library, Chicago, is notable for dividing the library into +many departments or separate rooms, the book shelves occupying one half +the height of each, or 71/2 feet out of 15, the remaining space being +occupied by windows. This construction, of course, does not furnish as +compact storage for books as the stack system. It is claimed to possess +the advantage of extraordinarily good light, and of aiding the researches +of readers. But it has the disadvantage of requiring readers to visit +widely separated rooms to pursue studies involving several subjects, and +of mounting in elevators to reach some departments. A system which brings +the books to the reader, instead of the readers travelling after the +books, would appear to be more practically useful to the public, with +whom time is of cardinal importance. + +In all libraries, there should be a receiving or packing room, where +boxes and parcels of books are opened and books mended, collated, and +prepared for the shelves. This room may well be in a dry and well lighted +basement. Two small cloak-rooms for wraps will be needed, one for each +sex. Two toilet rooms or lavatories should be provided. A room for the +library directors or trustees, and one for the librarian, are essential +in libraries of much extent. A janitor's room or sleeping quarters +sometimes needs to be provided. A storage room for blanks, stationery, +catalogues, etc., will be necessary in libraries of much extent. A +periodical room is sometimes provided, distinct from the reading-room or +the delivery department. In this case, if several hundred periodicals are +taken, an attendant should be always present to serve them to readers, +from the shelves or cases where they should be kept in alphabetical +order. Without this, and a ticket system to keep track of what are in +use, no one can readily find what is needed, nor ascertain whether it is +in a reader's hands when sought for. System and the alphabet alone will +solve all difficulties. + +As to the space required for readers in a periodical room, it may be +assumed that about five hundred square feet will accommodate twenty-five +readers, and the same proportion for a larger number at one time. A room +twenty-five by forty would seat fifty readers, while one twenty-five by +twenty would accommodate twenty-five readers, with proper space for +tables, &c. The files for newspapers are referred to in another chapter +on periodicals. + +In a library building, the heating and ventilation are of prime +importance. Upon their proper regulation largely depends the health and +consequently the efficiency of all employed, as well as the comfort of +the reading public. There is no space to enter upon specific +descriptions, for which the many conflicting systems, with experience of +their practical working, should be examined. Suffice it to say in +general, that a temperature not far below nor above 70 degrees Fahrenheit +should be aimed at; that the furnace, with its attendant nuisances of +noise, dust, and odors, should be outside the library building--not under +it; and that electric lighting alone should be used, gas being highly +injurious to the welfare of books. + +In calculating the space required for books shelved as has been +heretofore suggested, it may be approximately stated that every one +thousand volumes will require at least eighty to one hundred square feet +of floor measurement. Thus, a library of 10,000 volumes would occupy an +area of nearly one thousand square feet. But it is necessary to provide +also for the continual growth of the collection. To do this, experience +shows that in any flourishing public library, space should be reserved +for three or four times the number of volumes in actual possession. If +rooms are hired for the books, because of inability to build, the library +should be so arranged as to leave each alternate shelf vacant for +additions, or, in the more rapidly growing divisions, a still greater +space. This will permit accessions to be shelved with their related +books, without the trouble of frequently moving and re-arranging large +divisions of the library. This latter is a very laborious process, and +should be resorted to only under compulsion. The preventive remedy, of +making sure of space in advance, by leaving a sufficiency of unoccupied +shelves in every division of the library, is the true one. + +In some libraries, a separate reading-room for ladies is provided. Mr. W. +F. Poole records that in Cincinnati such a room was opened at the +instance of the library directors. The result was that the ladies made it +a kind of social rendezvous, where they talked over society matters, and +exhibited the bargains made in their shopping excursions. Ladies who came +to study preferred the general reading room, where they found every +comfort among well conducted gentlemen, and the "ladies' reading-room" +was abandoned, as not fulfilling its object. The same experiment in the +Chicago Public Library had the same result. + +Some libraries in the larger towns provide a special reading-room for +children; and this accomplishes a two-fold object, namely, to keep the +public reading-room free from flocks of little people in pursuit of books +under difficulties, and to furnish the boys and girls with +accommodations of their own. It may be suggested as an objection, that +the dividing line as to age is difficult to be drawn: but let each +applicant be questioned, and if falling below twelve, or fifteen, or +whatever the age limit may be, directed to the juvenile reading-room, and +there need be no trouble. Of course there will be some quite young +readers who are gifted with intelligence beyond their years, and who may +dislike to be reckoned as children; but library rules are not made to +suit exceptions, but for the average; and as no book need be refused to +any applicant in the juvenile department, no just cause of complaint can +arise. + +In some libraries, and those usually of the larger size, an art room is +provided, where students of works on painting, sculpture, and the +decorative arts can go, and have about them whatever treasures the +library may contain in that attractive field. The advantages of this +provision are, first, to save the necessity of handling and carrying so +many heavy volumes of galleries of art and illustrated books to the +general reading-room, and back again, and secondly, to enable those in +charge of the art department to exercise more strict supervision in +enforcing careful and cleanly treatment of the finest books in the +library, than can be maintained in the miscellaneous crowd of readers in +the main reading-room. The objections to it concern the general want of +room to set apart for this purpose, and the desirability of concentrating +the use of books in one main hall or reading-room. Circumstances and +experience should determine the question for each library. + +Some public libraries, and especially those constructed in recent years, +are provided with a lecture-hall, or a large room for public meetings, +concerts, or occasionally, even an opera-house, in the same building with +the library. There are some excellent arguments in favor of this; and +especially where a public benefactor donates to a city a building which +combines both uses. The building given by Mr. Andrew Carnegie to the +Public Library of Washington will be provided with a small hall suited to +meetings, &c. But in all cases, such a public hall should be so isolated +from the library reading-room as not to annoy readers, to whom quiet is +essential. This end can be effected by having the intervening walls and +floors so constructed as completely to deaden sound. A wholly distinct +entrance should also be provided, not communicating with the doors and +passages leading to the library. + +Comparisons are sometimes made as to the relative cost of library +buildings to the number of volumes they are designed to accommodate; but +such estimates are misleading. The cost of an edifice in which +architectural beauty and interior decoration concur to make it a +permanent ornament to a city or town, need not be charged up at so much +per volume. Buildings for libraries have cost all the way from +twenty-five cents up to $4. for each volume stored. The Library of +Congress, which cost six million dollars, and will ultimately accommodate +4,500,000 volumes, cost about $1.36 per volume. But it contains besides +books, some half a million musical compositions, works of graphic art, +maps and charts, etc. + +The comparative cost of some library buildings erected in recent years, +with ultimate capacity of each, may be of interest. Kansas City Public +Library, 132+144, 125,000 vols., $200,000. Newark, N. J. Free Library, +138+216, 400,000 vols., $188,000. Forbes Library, Northampton, Mass. +(granite), 107+137, 250,000 vols., $134,000. Fall River, Ms. Library, +80+130, 250,000 vols., $100,000. Peoria, Ill. Public Library (brick), +76+135, $70,000. Smiley Memorial Library, Redlands, Cal. (brick), 96+100, +$50,000. Reuben Hoar Library, Littleton, Mass. (brick), 50+57, 25,000 +vols., $25,000. Rogers Memorial Library, Southworth, N. Y. 70+100, 20,000 +vols., $20,000. Belfast (Me.) Free Library (granite), 27+54, $10,000. +Gail-Borden Public Library, Elgin, Ill. (brick), 28+52, $9,000. Warwick, +Mass. Public Library (wood), 45+60, 5,000 vols., $5,000. + +The largely increased number of public library buildings erected in +recent years is a most cheering sign of the times. Since 1895, eleven +extensive new library buildings have been opened: namely, the Library of +Congress, the Boston Public Library, the Pratt Institute Library, +Brooklyn, the Columbia University Library, New York, the Princeton, N. J. +University Library, the Hart Memorial Library, of Troy, N. Y., the +Carnegie Library, Pittsburgh, the Chicago Public Library, the Peoria, +Ill. Public Library, the Kansas City, Mo. Public Library, and the Omaha, +Neb. Public Library. + +And there are provided for eight more public library buildings, costing +more than $100,000 each; namely, the Providence, R. I. Public Library, +the Lynn, Mass. Public Library, the Fall River, Mass. Public Library, the +Newark, N. J. Free Public Library, the Milwaukee, Wis. Public Library and +Museum, the Wisconsin State Historical Society Library, Madison, the New +York Public Library, and the Jersey City Public Library. + +To these will be added within the year 1900, as is confidently expected, +the Washington City Public Library, the gift of Andrew Carnegie, to cost +$300,000. + +No philanthropist can ever find a nobler object for his fortune, or a +more enduring monument to his memory, than the founding of a free public +library. The year 1899 has witnessed a new gift by Mr. Carnegie of a one +hundred thousand dollar library to Atlanta, the Capital of Georgia, on +condition that the city will provide a site, and $5,000 a year for the +maintenance of the library. Cities in the east are emulating one another +in providing public library buildings of greater or less cost. If the +town library cannot have magnificence, it need not have meanness. A +competition among architects selected to submit plans is becoming the +favorite method of preparing to build. Five of the more extensive +libraries have secured competitive plans of late from which to +select--namely, the New York Public Library, the Jersey City Public +Library, the Newark Free Public Library, the Lynn Public Library, and the +Phoebe Hearst building for the University of California, which is to be +planned for a library of 750,000 volumes. It is gratifying to add that in +several recent provisions made for erecting large and important +structures, the librarian was made a member of the building +committee--_i. e._, in the New York Public Library, the Newark Free +Public Library, and the Lynn Public Library. + + + + +CHAPTER 17. + +LIBRARY MANAGERS OR TRUSTEES. + + +We now come to consider the management of libraries as entrusted to +boards of directors, trustees or library managers. These relations have a +most intimate bearing upon the foundation, the progress and the +consequent success of any library. Where a liberal intelligence and a +hearty cooeperation are found in those constituting the library board, the +affairs of the institution will be managed with the best results. Where +a narrow-minded and dictatorial spirit is manifested, even by a portion +of those supervising a public library, it will require a large endowment +both of patience and of tact in the librarian, to accomplish those aims +which involve the highest usefulness. + +Boards of library trustees vary in number, usually from three to nine or +more. A board of three or five is found in practice more active and +efficient than a larger number. The zeal and responsibility felt is apt +to diminish in direct proportion to the increased numbers of the board. +An odd number is preferable, to avoid an equal division of opinion upon +any question to be determined. + +In town or city libraries, the mode of selection of library trustees +varies much. Sometimes the mayor appoints the library board, sometimes +they are chosen by the city council, and sometimes elected by the people, +at the annual selection of school or municipal officers. The term of +service (most usually three years) should be so arranged that retirement +of any members should always leave two at least who have had experience +on the board. Library trustees serve without salary, the high honor of so +serving the public counting for much. + +The librarian is often made secretary of the trustees, and then he keeps +the record of their transactions. He should never be made treasurer of +the library funds, which would involve labor and responsibility +incompatible with the manifold duties of the superintendent of a library. +In case of a library supported by municipal taxation, the town treasurer +may well serve as library treasurer also, or the trustees can choose one +from their own board. The librarian, however, should be empowered to +collect book fines or other dues, to be deposited with the treasurer at +regular intervals, and he should have a small fund at disposal for such +petty library expenses as constantly arise. All bills for books and +other purchases, and all salaries of persons employed in the library +should be paid by the treasurer. + +The meetings of the trustees should be attended by the librarian, who +must always be ready to supply all information as to the workings of the +library, the needs for books, etc. Frequently the trustees divide up the +business before them, appointing sub-committees on book selections, on +library finances, on administration, furnishings, &c., with a view to +prompt action. + +If a library receives endowments, money gifts or legacies, they are held +and administered by the trustees as a body corporate, the same as the +funds annually appropriated for library maintenance and increase. Their +annual report to the council, or municipal authorities, should exhibit +the amount of money received from all sources in detail, and the amount +expended for all purposes, in detail; also, the number of books purchased +in the year, the aggregate of volumes in the library, the number of +readers, and other facts of general interest. + +All accounts against the library are first audited by the proper +sub-committee, and payment ordered by the full board, by order on the +treasurer. The accounts for all these expenditures should be kept by the +treasurer, who should inform the librarian periodically as to balances. + +The selection of books for a public library is a delicate and responsible +duty, involving wider literary and scientific knowledge than falls to the +lot of most trustees of libraries. There are sometimes specially +qualified professional men or widely read scholars on such boards, whose +services in recruiting the library are of great value. More frequently +there are one or more men with hobbies, who would spend the library funds +much too freely upon a class of books of no general interest. Thus, one +trustee who plays golf may urge the purchase of all the various books +upon that game, when one or at most two of the best should supply all +needful demands. Another may want to add to the library about all the +published books on the horse; another, who is a physician, may recommend +adding a lot of medical books to the collection, utterly useless to the +general reader. Beware of the man who has a hobby, either as librarian or +as library trustee; he will aim to expend too much money on books which +suit his own taste, but which have little general utility. Two mischiefs +result from such a course: the library gets books which very few people +read, and its funds are diverted from buying many books that may be of +prime importance. + +Trustees, although usually, (at least the majority of them) persons of +culture and intelligence, cannot be expected to be bibliographers, nor to +be familiar with the great range of new books that continually pour from +the press. They have their own business or profession to engage them, and +are commonly far too busy to study catalogues, or to follow the journals +of the publishing world. So these busy men, charged with the oversight of +the library interests, call to their aid an expert, and that expert is +the librarian. It is his interest and his business to know far more than +they do both of what the library already contains, and what it most +needs. It is his to peruse the critical journals and reviews, as well as +the literary notices of the select daily press, and to be prepared to +recommend what works to purchase. He must always accompany his lists of +wants with the prices, or at least the approximate cost of each, and the +aggregate amount. If the trustees or book committee think the sum too +large to be voted at any one time from the fund at their disposal, the +librarian must know what can best be postponed, as well as what is most +indispensable for the immediate wants of the library. If they object to +any works on the list, he should be prepared to explain the quality and +character of those called in question, and why the library, in his +judgment, should possess them. If the list is largely cut down, and he +considers himself hardly used, he should meet the disappointment with +entire good humor, and try again when the members of the committee are in +better mood, or funds in better supply. + +It is very customary for boards of library officers to assume the charge +of the administration so far as regards the library staff, and to make +appointments, promotions or removals at their own pleasure. In most +libraries, however, this power is exercised mainly on the advice or +selection of the librarian, his action being confirmed when there is no +serious objection. In still other cases, the librarian is left wholly +free to choose the assistants. This is perhaps the course most likely to +secure efficient service, since his judgment, if he is a person of tried +capacity and mature experience, will lead to the selection of the fittest +candidates, for the work which he alone thoroughly knows. No library +trustee can put himself fully in the place of a librarian, and see for +himself the multitude of occasions arising in the daily work of the +library, where promptness, tact, and wide knowledge of books will make a +success, and the want of any of these qualities a failure. Still less can +he judge the competency or incompetency of one who is to be employed in +the difficult and exact work of cataloguing books. Besides, there is +always the hazard that trustees, or some of them, may have personal +favorites or relatives to prefer, and will use their influence to secure +the appointment or promotion of utterly uninstructed persons, in place of +such candidates as are known to the librarian to be best qualified. In no +case should any person be employed without full examination as to fitness +for library work, conducted either by the librarian, or by a committee +of which the librarian is a member or chief examiner. A probationary +trial should also follow before final appointment. + +The power of patronage, if unchecked by this safeguard, will result in +filling any library with incompetents, to the serious detriment of the +service on which its usefulness depends. The librarian cannot keep a +training school for inexperts: he has no time for this, and he +indispensably needs and should have assistants who are competent to their +duties, from their first entrance upon them. As he is held responsible +for all results, in the conduct of the library, both by the trustees and +by the public, he should have the power, or at least the approximate +power, to select the means by which those results are to be attained. + +In the Boston Public Library, all appointments are made by the trustees +upon nomination by the librarian, after an examination somewhat similar +to that of the civil service, but by a board of library experts. In the +British Museum Library, the selection and promotion of members of the +staff are passed upon by the trustees, having the recommendation of the +principal librarian before them. In the Library of Congress, appointments +are made directly by the librarian after a probationary trial, with +previous examination as to education, former experience or employments, +attainments, and fitness for library service. + +In smaller libraries, both in this country and abroad, a great diversity +of usage prevails. Instances are rare in which the librarian has the +uncontrolled power of appointment, promotion and removal. The requirement +of examinations to test the fitness of candidates is extending, and since +the establishment of five or six permanent schools of library science in +the United States, with their graduates well equipped for library work, +there is no longer any excuse for putting novices in charge of +libraries--institutions where wide knowledge and thorough training are +more indispensable than in any other profession whatever. + +In State libraries, no uniformity prevails as to control. In some States, +the governor has the appointment of the librarian, while in others, he is +an elective officer, the State Legislature being the electors. As +governors rarely continue in office longer than two or three years, the +tenure of a librarian under them is precarious, and a most valuable +officer may at any time be superseded by another who would have to learn +all that the other knows. The result is rarely favorable to the efficient +administration of the library. In a business absolutely demanding the +very largest compass of literary and scientific knowledge, frequent +rotation in office is clearly out of place. In a public or State library, +every added year of experience adds incalculably to the value of a +librarian's services, provided he is of active habits, and full of zeal +to make his acquired knowledge constantly useful to those who use the +library. Partizan politics, with their frequent changes, if suffered to +displace a tried librarian and staff, will be sure to defeat the highest +usefulness of any library. What can a political appointee, a man totally +without either library training or library experience, do with the tools +of which he has never learned the use? It will take him years to learn, +and by the time he has learned, some other political party coming +uppermost will probably displace him, to make room for another novice, on +the principle that "to the victors belong the spoils" of office. +Meanwhile, "the hungry sheep look up and are not fed," as Milton +sings--that is, readers are deprived of expert and intelligent guidance. + +This bane of political jobbery has not been confined to the libraries of +States, but has invaded the management of many city and town libraries +also. We have yet to learn of any benefit resulting to those who use the +libraries. + +In the case of a few of the State libraries, trustees or library +commissioners or boards of control have been provided by law, but in +others, a joint library committee, composed of members of both houses of +the Legislature, has charge of the library interests. This is also the +case in the Library of Congress at Washington, where three Senators and +three Representatives constitute the Joint Committee of both Houses of +Congress on the Library. The membership of this committee, as of all +others in Congress, is subject to change biennially. It has been proposed +to secure a more permanent and careful supervision of this National +Library by adding to the Joint Committee of Congress three or more +trustees of eminent qualifications, elected by Congress, as the Regents +of the Smithsonian Institution now are, for a longer term of years. The +trustees of the British Museum are appointed by the Crown, their tenure +of office being for life. + +In several States the librarian is appointed by the supreme court, as the +State libraries are composed more largely of law books, than of +miscellaneous literature, and special knowledge of case law, and the +principles of jurisprudence, is demanded of the librarian. + +Where the trustees of a public library are elected by the people, they +have in their own hands the power of choosing men who are far above party +considerations, and they should exercise it. In no department of life is +the maxim--"the tools to the hands that can use them," more important +than in the case of librarians and boards of managers of libraries. The +value of skilled labor over the unskilled is everywhere recognized in the +business of the world, by more certain employment and larger +compensation: and why should it not be so in libraries? + + + + +CHAPTER 18. + +LIBRARY REGULATIONS. + + +No feature in library administration is more important than the +regulations under which the service of the library is conducted. Upon +their propriety and regular enforcement depends very much of the utility +of the collection. + +Rules are of two kinds, those which concern the librarian and assistants, +and those which concern the public resorting to the library. Of the first +class are the regulations as to hours, division of labor, leaves or +vacations of employees, &c. The larger the library, and consequently the +force employed, the more important is a careful adjustment of relative +duties, and of the times and seasons to be devoted to them. The +assignment of work to the various assistants will naturally depend upon +their respective qualifications. Those who know Latin, and two or more of +the modern languages, would probably be employed upon the catalogue. +Those who are familiar with the range of books published, in literature +and science, will be best qualified for the service of the reading-room, +which involves the supply of books and information. In direct proportion +to the breadth of information possessed by any one, will be his +usefulness in promptly supplying the wants of readers. Nothing is so +satisfactory to students in libraries, or to the casual seekers of +information of any kind, as to find their wants immediately supplied. The +reader whom an intelligent librarian or assistant answers at once is +grateful to the whole establishment; while the reader who is required to +wait ten to twenty minutes for what he wants, becomes impatient and +sometimes querulous, or leaves the library unsatisfied. + +One rule of service at the library desk or counter should be that every +assistant there employed should deem it his duty to aid immediately any +one who is waiting, no matter what other concerns may engage his +attention. In other words, the one primary rule of a public library +should be that the service of the public is always paramount. All other +considerations should be subordinate to that. + +It is desirable that assistants in every library should learn all +departments of library work, cataloguing, supplying books and +information, preparing books for the shelves, etc. This will enable each +assistant to take the place of another in case of absence, a most +important point. It will also help to qualify the more expert for +promotion. + +A second rule for internal administration in any library should be that +all books are to be distributed, or replaced upon their shelves, daily. +If this is not systematically done, the library will tend to fall into +chaos. And even a small number of volumes not in their places will +embarrass the attendants seeking them, and often deprive readers of their +use--a thing to be always sedulously avoided. + +In the Library of Congress, the replacement of books upon the shelves is +carried out much more frequently than once daily. As fast as books come +in at the central desk by the returns of readers, they are sent back +through the book-carriers, to the proper floors, where the outside +label-numbers indicate that they belong, and replaced by the attendant +there on their proper shelves. These mechanical book-carriers run all +day, by electric power, supplied by a dynamo in the basement, and, with +their endless chain and attached boxes constantly revolving, they furnish +a near approach to perpetual motion. Thus I have seen a set of Macaulay's +England, called for by ticket from the reading-room, arrive in three +minutes from the outlying book-repository or iron stack, several hundreds +of feet distant on an upper floor, placed on the reader's table, +referred to, and returned at once, then placed in the book-carrier by the +desk attendant, received back on its proper floor, and distributed to its +own shelf by the attendant there, all within half an hour after the +reader's application. Another rule to be observed by the reading-room +attendants is to examine all call-slips, or readers' tickets, remaining +uncalled for at the close of each day's business, and see if the books on +them are present in the library. This precaution is demanded by the +security of the collection, as well as by the good order and arrangement +of the library. Neglect of it may lead to losses or misplacements, which +might be prevented by careful and unremitting observance of this rule. + +Another rule of eminent propriety is that librarians or assistants are +not to read newspapers during library hours. When there happen to be no +readers waiting to be helped, the time should be constantly occupied with +other library work. There is no library large enough to be worthy of the +name, that does not have arrears of work incessantly waiting to be done. +And while this is the case, no library time should be wasted upon +periodicals, which should be perused only outside of library hours. If +one person employed in a library reads the newspaper or magazine, the bad +example is likely to be followed by others. Thus serious inattention to +the wants of readers, as well as neglect of library work postponed, will +be sure to follow. + +A fourth rule, resting upon the same reason, should prevent any long +sustained gossip or conversation during library hours. That time belongs +explicitly to the public or to the work of the library. The rule of +silence which is enforced upon the public in the interest of readers +should not be broken by the library managers themselves. Such brief +question and answer as emergency or the needful business of the library +requires should be conducted in a low tone, and soon ended. Library +administration is a business, and must be conducted in a business way. No +library can properly be turned into a place of conversation. + +All differences or disputes between attendants as to the work to be done +by each, or methods, or any other question leading to dissension, should +be promptly and decisively settled by the librarian, and of course +cheerfully submitted to by all. Good order and discipline require that +there should be only one final authority in any library. Controversies +are not only unseemly in themselves, but they are time-consuming, and are +liable to be overheard by readers, to the prejudice of those who engage +in them. + +Another rule to be observed is to examine all books returned, as +carefully as a glance through the volume will permit, to detect any +missing or started leaves, or injury to bindings. No volume bearing marks +of dilapidation of any kind should be permitted to go back to the +shelves, or be given to readers, but placed in a bindery reserve for +needful repairs. + +It should hardly be necessary to say that all those connected with a +public library should be carefully observant of hours, and be always in +their places, unless excused. The discipline of every library should be +firm in this respect, and dilatory or tardy assistants brought to regard +the rule of prompt and regular service. "No absence without leave" should +be mentally posted in the consciousness and the conscience of every one. + +Another rule should limit the time for mid-day refreshment, and so +arrange it that the various persons employed go at different hours. As to +time employed, half-an-hour for lunch, as allowed in the Washington +departments, is long enough in any library. + +Furloughs or vacations should be regulated to suit the library service, +and not allow several to be absent at the same time. As to length of +vacation time, few libraries can afford the very liberal fashion of +twelve months wages for eleven months work, as prevalent in the +Washington Departments. The average vacation time of business +houses--about two weeks--more nearly corresponds to that allowed in the +smaller public libraries. Out of 173 libraries reporting in 1893, 61 +allowed four weeks or more vacation, 27 three weeks, 54 two weeks, and 31 +none. But in cases of actual illness, the rule of liberality should be +followed, and no deduction of wages should follow temporary disability. + +Where many library attendants are employed, all should be required to +enter on a daily record sheet or book, the hour of beginning work. Then +the rule of no absence without special leave should be enforced as to all +during the day. + +We now come to such rules of library administration as concern the +readers, or the public. The rule of silence, or total abstinence from +loud talking, should be laid down and enforced. This is essential for the +protection of every reader from annoyance or interruption in his +pursuits. The rule should be printed on all readers' tickets, and it is +well also to post the word SILENCE, in large letters, in two or more +conspicuous places in the reading-room. This will give a continual +reminder to all of what is expected, and will usually prevent any loud +conversation. While absolute silence is impossible in any public library, +the inquiries and answers at the desk can always be made in a low and +even tone, which need attract no attention from any readers, if removed +only a few feet distant. As there are always persons among readers who +will talk, notwithstanding rules, they should be checked by a courteous +reminder from the librarian, rather than from any subordinate. This--for +the obvious reason that admonition from the highest authority carries the +greatest weight. + +Another rule, which should always be printed on the call-slips, or +readers' tickets, is the requirement to return books and receive back +their tickets always before leaving the library. This duty is very +commonly neglected, from the utter carelessness of many readers, who do +not realize that signing their ticket for any book holds them responsible +for it until it is returned. Many are unwilling to spend a moment's time +in waiting for a ticket to be returned to them. Many will leave their +books on tables or seats where they were reading, and go away without +reclaiming their receipts. While complete observance of this rule is of +course hopeless of attainment in a country where free and easy manners +prevail, every librarian should endeavor to secure at least an +approximate compliance with a rule adopted alike for the security and +good order of the library, and the efficient service of the reader. + +All readers should be privileged to reserve books from day to day which +they have not completed the use of, and instructed always to give notice +of such reservation before leaving the library. This saves much time, +both to the reader and to the librarian in sending repeatedly for books +put away needlessly. + +In a circulating library, a fixed rule limiting the time for which a book +may be kept, is essential. This may be from three days to two weeks, +according to the demand for the book, but it should not exceed the latter +period. Still, a renewal term may be conceded, provided the book is not +otherwise called for. A small fine of so much a day for each volume kept +out beyond the time prescribed by the rule, will often secure prompt +return, and is the usage in most libraries where books are lent out. In +the Boston Public Library no renewals are allowed. A rule requiring the +replacement or repair of books damaged while in the hands of a reader +should be printed and enforced. It may properly be waived where the +damage is slight or unavoidable. + +In public circulating libraries, a rule of registration is required, and +in some libraries of reference also; but in the Library of Congress all +readers over sixteen are admitted without any formality or registration +whatever. + +In popular libraries, the need of a registry list of those entitled to +borrow books, is obvious, to prevent the issue to improper or +unauthorized persons; as, for example, residents of another town, or +persons under the prescribed age of admission to library privileges. A +printed library card should be issued to each person privileged to draw +books; corresponding in number to the page or index-card of the library +record. Each card should bear the full name and address of the applicant, +and be signed with an obligation to obey the rules of the library. On +this card all books drawn may be entered, always with month and day date, +and credited with date of return, the parallel entries being at the same +time made in the library charging record. + +Library cards of registration should be issued for a limited period, say +twelve months, in order to bring all persons to a systematic review of +their privilege, and should be renewed annually, so long as the holder is +entitled to registration. No books should be issued except to those +presenting registration cards, together with a call-slip or ticket for +the book wanted. + +Another rule should fix a limit to the number of volumes to be drawn by +any reader. Two volumes out at any one time would be a fair limit. If +made more to all readers, there is likely to be sometimes a scarcity of +books to be drawn upon; and if a few readers are permitted to draw more +than others, the charge of undue favoritism will be justified. + +Another rule should be that any incivility or neglect on the part of any +library attendant should be reported to the librarian. In such cases, the +attendant should always be heard, before any admonition or censure is +bestowed. + +An almost necessary rule in most libraries is that no book should be +taken from the shelves by any person not employed in the library. The +exceptions are of course, the books provided expressly for the free and +open reference of the readers. + +Another essential rule is that no writing or marks may be made in any +library book or periodical; nor is any turning down of leaves permitted. +A printed warning is important to the effect that any cutting or defacing +of library books or periodicals is a penal offense, and will be +prosecuted according to law. + +The regulations for admission to library privileges are important. In +this country the age limitation is more liberal than in Europe. The +Boston Public Library, for example, is free to all persons over twelve +years of age. In the Library of Congress, the age limit is sixteen years +or upward, to entitle one to the privileges of a reader. In the Astor +Library, none are admitted under nineteen, and in the British Museum +Library none below twenty-one years. + +The hours during which the library is open should be printed as part of +the regulations. + +All the library rules should be printed and furnished to the public. The +most essential of them, if carefully expressed in few words, can be +grouped in a single small sheet, of 16mo. size or less, and pasted in the +inside cover of every book belonging to the library. Better still, (and +it will save expense in printing) let the few simple rules, in small but +legible type, form a part of the book plate, or library label, which goes +on the left-hand inner cover of each volume. Thus every reader will have +before him, in daily prominence, the regulations which he is to observe, +and no excuse can be pleaded of ignorance of the rules. + +As no law is ever long respected unless it is enforced, so no regulations +are likely to be observed unless adhered to in every library. Rules are a +most essential part of library administration, and it should be a primary +object of every librarian or assistant to see that they are observed by +all. + + + + +CHAPTER 19. + +LIBRARY REPORTS AND ADVERTISING. + + +We now come to consider the annual reports of librarians. These should be +made to the trustees or board of library control, by whatever name it may +be known, and should be addressed to the chairman, as the organ of the +board. In the preparation of such reports, two conditions are equally +essential--conciseness and comprehensiveness. Every item in the +administration, frequentation, and increase of the library should be +separately treated, but each should be condensed into the smallest +compass consistent with clear statement. Very long reports are costly to +publish, and moreover, have small chance of being read. In fact, the wide +perusal of any report is in direct proportion to its brevity. + +This being premised, let us see what topics the librarian's report should +deal with. + +1. The progress of the library during the year must be viewed as most +important. A statistical statement of accessions, giving volumes of +books, and number of pamphlets separately, added during the year, should +be followed by a statement of the aggregate of volumes and pamphlets in +the collection. This is ascertained by actual count of the books upon the +shelves, adding the number of volumes charged out, or in the bindery, or +in readers' hands at the time of the enumeration. This count is far from +a difficult or time-consuming affair, as there is a short-hand method of +counting by which one person can easily arrive at the aggregate of a +library of 100,000 volumes, in a single day of eight to ten hours. This +is done by counting by twos or threes the rows of books as they stand on +the shelves, passing the finger rapidly along the backs, from left to +right and from top to bottom of the shelves. As fast as one hundred +volumes are counted, simply write down a figure one; then, at the end of +the second hundred, a figure two, and so on, always jotting down one +figure the more for each hundred books counted. The last figure in the +counter's memorandum will represent the number of hundreds of volumes the +library contains. Thus, if the last figure is 92, the library has just +9,200 volumes. This rapid, and at the same time accurate method, by which +any one of average quickness can easily count two hundred volumes a +minute, saves all counting up by tallies of five or ten, and also all +slow additions of figures, since one figure at the end multiplied by one +hundred, expresses the whole. + +2. Any specially noteworthy additions to the library should be briefly +specified. + +3. A list of donors of books during the year, with number of volumes +given by each, should form part of the report. This may properly come at +the end as an appendix. + +4. A brief of the money income of the year, with sources whence derived, +and of all expenditures, for books, salaries, contingent expenses, etc., +should form a part of the report, unless reported separately by a +treasurer of the library funds. + +5. The statistics of a librarian's report, if of a lending library, +should give the aggregate number of volumes circulated during the year, +also the number of borrowers recorded who have used and who have not used +the privilege of borrowing. The number of volumes used by readers in the +reference or reading-room department should be given, as well as the +aggregate of readers. It is usual in some library reports to classify the +books used by readers, as, so many in history, poetry, travels, natural +science, etc., but this involves labor and time quite out of proportion +to its utility. Still, a comparative statement of the aggregate volumes +of fiction read or drawn out, as against all other books, may be highly +useful as an object lesson, if embodied in the library report. + +6. A statement of the actual condition of the library, as to books, +shelving accommodations, furniture, etc., with any needful suggestions +for improvement, should be included in the annual report. + +7. A well-considered suggestion of the value of contributions to the +library in books or funds to enrich the collection, should not be +overlooked. + +8. The librarian should not forget a word of praise for his assistants, +in the great and useful work of carrying on the library. This will tend +to excite added zeal to excel, when the subordinates feel that their +services are appreciated by their head, as well as by the public. + +The preparation of an annual report affords some test of the librarian's +skill and judgment. It should aim at plain and careful statement, and all +rhetoric should be dispensed with. Divided into proper heads, a condensed +statement of facts or suggestions under each should be made, and all +repetition avoided. + +Such a library report should never fail to set forth the great benefit to +the community which a free use of its treasures implies, while urging the +importance of building up the collection, through liberal gifts of books, +periodicals, or money, thus enabling it to answer the wants of readers +more fully, year by year. It will sometimes be a wise suggestion to be +made in a librarian's report, that the library still lacks some specially +important work, such as Larned's "History for Ready Reference," or the +extensive "Dictionary of National Biography," or Brunet's _Manuel du +Libraire_, or a set of Congressional Debates from the beginning; and such +a suggestion may often bear fruit in leading some public-spirited citizen +to supply the want by a timely contribution. + +Of course, the annual report of every public library should be printed, +and as pamphlets are seldom read, and tend rapidly to disappear, its +publication in the newspapers is vastly more important than in any other +form. While a pamphlet report may reach a few people, the newspaper +reaches nearly all; and as a means of diffusing information in any +community, it stands absolutely without rival. Whether the library +reports shall be printed in pamphlet form or not is a matter of +expediency, to be determined by the managing board. Funds are rarely +ample enough, in the smaller town libraries, to justify the expense, in +view of the small circulation which such reports receive, and it is much +better to put the money into printing library catalogues, which every +body needs and will use, than into library reports, which comparatively +few will make any use of. A judicious compromise may be usefully made, by +inducing some newspaper, which would print a liberal share of the report +free of charge, as news, for public information, to put the whole in type +and strike off a few hundred copies in sheet form or pages, at a moderate +charge. + +This would enable the library officers to distribute a goodly number, and +to keep copies of each annual report for reference, without the expense +of a pamphlet edition. + +In some of the larger and more enterprising of city libraries, reports +are made quarterly or monthly by the librarian. These of course are much +more nearly up to date, and if they publish lists of books added to the +library, they are correspondingly useful. Frequently they contain special +bibliographies of books on certain subjects. Among these, the monthly +bulletins of the Boston Public Library, Harvard University Library, New +York Public Library, Salem, Mass., Public Library, and the Providence +Public Library are specially numerous and important. + +The relations of a public library to the local press of the city or town +where it is situated will now be noticed. It is the interest of the +librarian to extend the usefulness of the library by every means; and the +most effective means is to make it widely known. In every place are found +many who are quite ignorant of the stores of knowledge which lie at their +doors in the free library. And among those who do know it and resort to +it, are many who need to have their interest and attention aroused by +frequent notices as to its progress, recent additions to its stores, etc. +The more often the library is brought before the public by the press, the +more interest will be taken in it by the community for whose information +it exists. + +It is of the utmost importance that the library conductors should have +the active good will of all the newspaper editors in its vicinity. This +will be acquired both by aiding them in all researches which the daily or +frequent wants of their profession render necessary; and also, by giving +them freely and often items of intelligence about the library for +publication. Enterprising journals are perpetually on the hunt for new +and varied matter to fill their columns. They send their reporters to the +library to make "a story," as it is called, out of something in it or +about it. These reporters are very seldom persons versed in books, or +able to write understandingly or attractively about them. Left to +themselves to construct "a story" out of a half hour's conversation with +the librarian, the chances are that an article will be produced which +contains nearly as many errors as matters of fact, with the names of +authors or the titles of their books mis-spelled or altered, and with +matters manufactured out of the reporter's fancy which formed no part of +the interview, while what did form important features in it are perhaps +omitted. The remedy, or rather the preventive of such inadequate reports +of what the librarian would say to the public is to become his own +reporter. The papers will willingly take for publication short "library +notes," as they may be called, containing information about the library +or its books, carefully type-written. This course at once secures +accurate and authentic statements, and saves the time of the press +reporters for other work. + +Bear in mind always that the main object of such library notices is to +attract attention, and encourage people to use the library. Thus there +should be sought frequent opportunities of advertising the library by +this best of all possible means, because it is the one which reaches the +largest number. To do it well requires some skill and practice, and to do +it often is quite as essential as to do it well. Keep the library +continually before the public. What are the business houses which are +most thronged with customers? They are those that advertise most +persistently and attractively. So with the library; it will be more and +more resorted to, in proportion as it keeps its name and its riches +before the public eye. + +A certain timeliness in these library notices should be cultivated. The +papers are eager to get anything that illustrates what is uppermost in +the public mind. If a local fair is in progress or preparing, give them a +list of the best books the library has in that field; the history of the +Philadelphia Exposition, the Chicago World's Fair, the Paris Expositions, +&c. On another day, set forth the books on manufactures, horses, cattle, +domestic animals, decorative art, &c. If there is a poultry exhibition, +or a dog show, call public attention to the books on poultry or dogs. If +an art exhibition, bring forward the titles of books on painting, +sculpture, drawing, and the history of art, ancient and modern. + +If some great man has died, as Bismarck or Gladstone, give the titles of +any biographies or books about him, adding even references to notable +magazine articles that have appeared. When the summer vacation is coming +around, advertise your best books of travel, of summer resorts, of ocean +voyages, of yachting, camping, fishing and shooting, golf and other +out-door games, etc. If there is a Presidential campaign raging, make +known the library's riches in political science, the history of +administrations, and of nominating conventions, lives of the Presidents, +books on elections, etc. If an international dispute or complication is +on foot, publish the titles of your books on international law, and those +on the history or resources of the country or countries involved; and +when a war is in progress, books on military science, campaigns, battles, +sieges, and the history of the contending nations will be timely and +interesting. + +Whatever you do in this direction, make it short and attractive. Organize +your material, describe a specially interesting work by a reference to +its style, or its illustrations, or its reputation, etc. Distribute your +library notes impartially; that is, if several papers are published, be +careful not to slight any of them. Find out the proper days to suit their +want of matter, and never send in your notes when the paper is +overcrowded. Always read a proof-slip of each article; time spent in +going to a newspaper office to correct proof is well spent, for misprints +always await the unwary who trusts to the accuracy of types. + +If the library acquires any extensive or notable book, whether old or +new, do not fail to make it known through the press. If any citizen gives +a number of volumes to the library, let his good deeds have an +appreciative notice, that others may go and do likewise. + +Another feature of library advertising is the publication in the press of +the titles of new books added to the library. As this is merely catalogue +printing, however abbreviated in form the titles may be, it will usually +(and very properly) be charged for by the newspapers. But it will pay, in +the direction of inducing a much larger use of the library, and as the +sole object of the institution is to contribute to public intelligence, +it becomes library managers not to spare any expense so conducive to that +result. + + + + +CHAPTER 20. + +THE FORMATION OF LIBRARIES. + + +In the widely extended and growing public interest in libraries for the +people, and in the ever increasing gatherings of books by private +collectors, I may be pardoned for some suggestions pertaining specially +to the formation of libraries. I do not refer to the selection of books, +which is treated in the first chapter, nor to the housing and care of +libraries, but to some important points involved in organizing the +foundation, so to speak, of a library. + +The problem, of course, is a widely different one for the private +collector of an individual or family library, and for the organizers of a +public one. But in either case, it is important, first of all, to have a +clearly defined and well considered plan. Without this, costly mistakes +are apt to be made, and time, energy and money wasted, all of which might +be saved by seeing the end from the beginning, and planning accordingly. + +Let us suppose that a resident in a community which has never enjoyed the +benefit of a circulating library conceives the idea of using every means +to secure one. The first question that arises is, what are those means? +If the State in which his residence lies has a Library law, empowering +any town or city to raise money by taxation for founding and maintaining +a free library, the way is apparently easy, at first sight. But here +comes in the problem--can the requisite authority to lay the tax be +secured? This may involve difficulties unforeseen at first. If there is a +city charter, does it empower the municipal authorities (city council or +aldermen) to levy such a tax? If not, then appeal must be made to a +popular vote, at some election of municipal officers, at which the +ballots for or against a Library tax should determine the question. This +will at once involve a campaign of education, in which should be enlisted +(1) The editors of all the local papers. (2) The local clergymen, lawyers +and physicians. (3) All literary men and citizens of wealth or influence +in the community. (4) All teachers in the public schools and other +institutions of learning. (5) The members of the city or town government. +These last will be apt to feel any impulse of public sentiment more +keenly than their own individual opinions on the subject. In any case, +the public-spirited man who originates the movement should enlist as many +able coadjutors as he can. If he is not himself gifted with a ready +tongue, he should persuade some others who are ready and eloquent talkers +to take up the cause, and should inspire them with his own zeal. A public +meeting should be called, after a goodly number of well-known and +influential people are enlisted (not before) and addresses should be +made, setting forth the great advantage of a free library to every +family. Its value to educate the people, to furnish entertainment that +will go far to supplant idleness and intemperance, to help on the work of +the public schools, and to elevate the taste, improve the morals, quicken +the intellect and employ the leisure hours of all, should be set forth. + +With all these means of persuasion constantly in exercise, and +unremitting diligence in pushing the good cause through the press and by +every private opportunity, up to the very day of the election, the +chances are heavily in favor of passing the library measure by a good +majority. It must be a truly Boeotian community, far gone in stupidity +or something worse, which would so stand in its own light as to vote down +a measure conducing in the highest degree to the public intelligence. +But even should it be defeated, its advocates should never be +discouraged. Like all other reforms or improvements, its progress may be +slow at first, but it is none the less sure to win in the end. One defeat +has often led to a more complete victory when the conflict is renewed. +The beaten party gathers wisdom by experience, finds out any weakness +existing in its ranks or its management, and becomes sensible where its +greatest strength should be put forth in a renewal of the contest. The +promoters of the measure should at once begin a fresh agitation. They +should pledge every friend of the library scheme to stand by it himself, +and to secure at least one new convert to the cause. And the chances are +that it will be carried triumphantly through at the next trial, or, if +not then, at least within no long time. + +But we should consider also the case of those communities where no State +Library law exists. These are unhappily not a few; and it is a remarkable +fact that even so old, and rich, and well-developed a State as +Pennsylvania had no such provision for public enlightenment until within +three years. In the absence of a law empowering local governments or +voters to lay a tax for such a purpose, the most obvious way of founding +a library is by local subscription. This is of course a less desirable +method than one by which all citizens should contribute to the object in +proportion to their means. But it is better to avail of the means that +exist in any place than to wait an indefinite period for a State +Legislature to be educated up to the point of passing measures which +would render the formation of libraries easy in all places. + +Let the experiment be tried of founding a library by individual effort +and concert. With only two or three zealous and active promoters, even +such a plan can be carried into successful operation in almost any +community. A canvass should be made from house to house, with a short +prospectus or agreement drawn up, pledging the subscribers to give a +certain sum toward the foundation of a library. If a few residents with +large property can be induced to head the list with liberal +subscriptions, it will aid much in securing confidence in the success of +the movement, and inducing others to subscribe. No contributions, however +small, should fail to be welcomed, since they stand for a wider interest +in the object. After a thorough canvass of the residents of the place, a +meeting of those subscribing should be called, and a statement put before +them of the amount subscribed. Then an executive committee, say of three +or five members, should be chosen to take charge of the enterprise. This +committee should appoint a chairman, a secretary, and a treasurer, the +latter to receive and disburse the funds subscribed. The chairman should +call and preside at meetings of the committee, of which the secretary +should record the proceedings in a book kept for the purpose. + +The first business of the Library committee should be to confer and +determine upon the ways and means of organizing the library. This +involves a selection of books suitable for a beginning, a place of +deposit for them, and a custodian or librarian to catalogue them and keep +the record of the books drawn out and returned. Usually, a room can be +had for library purposes in some public building or private house, +centrally located, without other expense than that of warming and +lighting. The services of a librarian, too, can often be secured by +competent volunteer aid, there being usually highly intelligent persons +with sufficient leisure to give their time for the common benefit, or to +share that duty with others, thus saving all the funds for books to +enrich the library. + +The chief trouble likely to be encountered by a Library committee will +lie in the selection of books to form the nucleus or starting point of +the collection. Without repeating anything heretofore suggested, it may +be said that great care should be taken to have books known to be +excellent, both interesting in substance and attractive in style. To so +apportion the moderate amount of money at disposal as to give variety and +interest to the collection, and attract readers from the start, is a +problem requiring good judgment for its solution. Much depends upon the +extent of the fund, but even with so small a sum as two or three hundred +dollars, a collection of the very best historians, poets, essayists, +travellers and voyagers, scientists, and novelists can be brought +together, which will furnish a range of entertaining and instructive +reading for several hundred borrowers. The costlier encyclopaedias and +works of reference might be waited for until funds are recruited by a +library fair, or lectures, or amateur concerts, plays, or other evening +entertainments. + +Another way of recruiting the library which has often proved fruitful is +to solicit contributions of books and magazines from families and +individuals in the vicinity. This should be undertaken systematically +some time after the subscriptions in money have been gathered in. It is +not good policy to aim at such donations at the outset, since many might +make them an excuse for not subscribing to the fund for founding the +library, which it is to the interest of all to make as large as possible. +But when once successfully established, appeals for books and periodicals +will surely add largely to the collection, and although many of such +accessions may be duplicates, they will none the less enlarge the +facilities for supplying the demands of readers. Families who have read +through all or nearly all the books they possess will gladly bestow them +for so useful a purpose, especially when assured of reaping reciprocal +benefit by the opportunity of freely perusing a great variety of choice +books, new and old, which they have never read. Sometimes, too, a +public-spirited citizen, when advised of the lack of a good cyclopaedia, +or of the latest extensive dictionary, or collective biography, in the +library, will be happy to supply it, thereby winning the gratitude and +good will of all who frequent the library. All donations should have +inserted in them a neat book-plate, with the name of the donor inscribed, +in connection with the name of the Library. + +Many a useful library of circulation has been started with a beginning of +fifty to a hundred volumes, and the little acorn of learning thus planted +has grown up in the course of years to a great tree, full of fruitful and +wide-spreading branches. + + + + +CHAPTER 21. + +CLASSIFICATION. + + +If there is any subject which, more than all others, divides opinion and +provokes endless controversy among librarians and scholars, it is the +proper classification of books. From the beginning of literature this has +been a well-nigh insoluble problem. Treatise after treatise has been +written upon it, system has been piled upon system, learned men have +theorised and wrangled about it all their lives, and successive +generations have dropped into their graves, leaving the vexed question as +unsettled as ever. Every now and then a body of _savans_ or a convention +of librarians wrestles with it, and perhaps votes upon it, + + "And by decision more embroils the fray" + +since the dissatisfied minority, nearly as numerous and quite as +obstinate as the majority, always refuses to be bound by it. No sooner +does some sapient librarian, with the sublime confidence of conviction, +get his classification house of cards constructed to his mind, and stands +rapt in admiration before it, when there comes along some wise man of the +east, and demolishes the fair edifice at a blow, while the architect +stands by with a melancholy smile, and sees all his household gods lying +shivered around him. + +Meanwhile, systems of classification keep on growing, until, instead of +the thirty-two systems so elaborately described in Edwards's Memoirs of +Libraries, we have almost as many as there are libraries, if the endless +modifications of them are taken into account. In fact, one begins to +realise that the schemes for the classification of knowledge are becoming +so numerous, that a classification of the systems themselves has fairly +become a desideratum. The youthful neophyte, who is struggling after an +education in library science, and thinks perhaps that it is or should be +an exact science, is bewildered by the multitude of counsellors, gets a +head-ache over their conflicting systems, and adds to it a heart-ache, +perhaps, over the animosities and sarcasms which divide the warring +schools of opinion. + +Perhaps there would be less trouble about classification, if the +system-mongers would consent to admit at the outset that no infallible +system is possible, and would endeavor, amid all their other learning, to +learn a little of the saving grace of modesty. A writer upon this subject +has well observed that there is no man who can work out a scheme of +classification that will satisfy permanently even himself. Much less +should he expect that others, all having their favorite ideas and +systems, should be satisfied with his. As there is no royal road to +learning, so there can be none to classification; and we democratic +republicans, who stand upon the threshold of the twentieth century, may +rest satisfied that in the Republic of Letters no autocrat can be +allowed. + +The chief difficulty with most systems for distributing the books in a +library appears to lie in the attempt to apply scientific minuteness in a +region where it is largely inapplicable. One can divide and sub-divide +the literature of any science indefinitely, in a list of subjects, but +such exhaustive sub-divisions can never be made among the books on the +shelves. Here, for example, is a "Treatise on diseases of the heart and +lungs." This falls naturally into its two places in the subject +catalogue, the one under "Heart," and the second under "Lungs;" but the +attempt to classify it on the shelves must fail, as regards half its +contents. You cannot tear the book to pieces to satisfy logical +classification. Thousands of similar cases will occur, where the same +book treats of several subjects. Nearly all periodicals and transactions +of societies of every kind refuse to be classified, though they can be +catalogued perfectly on paper by analysing their contents. To bring all +the resources of the library on any subject together on the shelves is +clearly impossible. They must be assembled for readers from various +sections of the library, where the rule of analogy or of superior +convenience has placed them. + +What is termed close classification, it will be found, fails by +attempting too much. One of the chief obstacles to its general use is +that it involves a too complicated notation. The many letters and figures +that indicate position on the shelves are difficult to remember in the +direct ratio of their number. The more minute the classification, the +more signs of location are required. When they become very numerous, in +any system of classification, the system breaks down by its own weight. +Library attendants consume an undue amount of time in learning it, and +library cataloguers and classifiers in affixing the requisite signs of +designation to the labels, the shelves, and the catalogues. Memory, too, +is unduly taxed to apply the system. While a superior memory may be found +equal to any task imposed upon it, average memories are not so fortunate. +The expert librarian, in whose accomplished head the whole world of +science and literature lies cooerdinated, so that he can apply his +classification unerringly to all the books in a vast library, must not +presume that unskilled assistants can do the same. + +One of the mistakes made by the positivists in classification is the +claim that their favorite system can be applied to all libraries alike. +That this is a fallacy may be seen in an example or two. Take the case of +a large and comprehensive Botanical library, in which an exact scientific +distribution of the books may and should be made. It is classified not +only in the grand divisions, such as scientific and economic botany, +etc., but a close analytical treatment is extended over the whole +vegetable kingdom. Books treating of every plant are relegated to their +appropriate classes, genera, and species, until the whole library is +organised on a strictly scientific basis. But in the case, even of what +are called large libraries, so minute a classification would be not only +unnecessary, but even obstructive to prompt service of the books. And the +average town library, containing only a shelf or two of botanical works, +clearly has no use for such a classification. The attempt to impose a +universal law upon library arrangement, while the conditions of the +collections are endlessly varied, is foredoomed to failure. + +The object of classification is to bring order out of confusion, and to +arrange the great mass of books in science and literature of which every +library is composed, so that those on related subjects should be as +nearly as possible brought together. Let us suppose a collection of some +hundred thousand volumes, in all branches of human knowledge, thrown +together without any classification or catalogue, on the tables, the +shelves, and the floor of an extensive reading-room. Suppose also an +assemblage of scholars and other readers, ready and anxious to avail +themselves of these literary treasures, this immense library without a +key. Each wants some certain book, by some author whose name he knows, or +upon some subject upon which he seeks to inform himself. But how vain and +hopeless the effort to go through all this chaos of learning, to find the +one volume which he needs! This illustration points the prime necessity +of classification of some kind, before a collection of books can be used +in an available way. + +Then comes in the skilled bibliographer, to convert this chaos into a +cosmos, to illumine this darkness with the light of science. He +distributes the whole mass, volume by volume, into a few great distinct +classes; he creates families or sub-divisions in every class; he +assembles together in groups all that treat of the same subject, or any +of its branches; and thus the entire scattered multitude of volumes is at +length cooerdinated into a clear and systematic collection, ready for use +in every department. A great library is like a great army: when +unorganized, your army is a mere undisciplined mob: but divide and +sub-divide it into army corps, divisions, brigades, regiments, and +companies, and you can put your finger upon every man. + +To make this complete organization of a library successful, one must have +an organising mind, a wide acquaintance with literature, history, and the +outlines, at least, of all the sciences; a knowledge of the ancient and +of various modern languages; a quick intuition, a ripe judgment, a +cultivated taste, a retentive memory, and a patience and perseverance +that are inexhaustible. + +Even were all these qualities possessed, there will be in the arrangement +elements of discord and of a failure. A multitude of uncertain points in +classification, and many exceptions will arise; and these must of +necessity be settled arbitrarily. The more conversant one becomes with +systems of classification, when reduced to practice, the more he becomes +assured that a perfect bibliographical system is impossible. + +Every system of classification must find its application fraught with +doubts, complications, and difficulties; but the wise bibliographer will +not pause in his work to resolve all these insoluble problems; he will +classify the book in hand according to his best judgment at the moment it +comes before him. He can no more afford to spend time over intricate +questions of the preponderance of this, that, or the other subject in a +book, than a man about to walk to a certain place can afford to debate +whether he shall put his right foot forward or his left. The one thing +needful is to go forward. + +Referring to the chapter on bibliography for other details, I may here +say that the French claim to have reached a highly practical system of +classification in that set forth in J. C. Brunet's _Manuel du Libraire_. +This is now generally used in the arrangement of collections of books in +France, with some modifications, and the book trade find it so well +adapted to their wants, that classified sale and auction catalogues are +mostly arranged on that system. It has only five grand divisions: +Theology, Law, Arts and Sciences, Belles-lettres, and History. Each of +these classes has numerous sub-divisions. For example, geography and +voyages and travels form a division of history, between the philosophy of +history and chronology, etc. + +The classification in use in the _Bibliotheque nationale_ of France +places Theology first, followed by Law, History, Philosophy and +Belles-lettres. The grand division of Philosophy includes all which is +classified under Arts and Sciences in the system of Brunet. + +In the Library of the British Museum the classification starts with +Theology, followed by 2. Jurisprudence; 3. Natural History (including +Botany, Geology, Zooelogy, and Medicine); 4. Art (including Archaeology, +Fine Arts, Architecture, Music, and Useful Arts); 5. Philosophy +(including Politics, Economics, Sociology, Education, Ethics, +Metaphysics, Mathematics, Military and Naval Science, and Chemistry); 6. +History (including Heraldry and Genealogy); 7. Geography (including +Ethnology); 8. Biography (including Epistles); 9. Belles-lettres +(including Poetry, Drama, Rhetoric, Criticism, Bibliography, Collected +Works, Encyclopaedias, Speeches, Proverbs, Anecdotes, Satirical and +facetious works, Essays, Folklore and Fiction); 10. Philology. + +Sub-divisions by countries are introduced in nearly all the classes. + +In the Library of Congress the classification was originally based upon +Lord Bacon's scheme for the division of knowledge into three great +classes, according to the faculty of the mind employed in each. 1. +History (based upon memory); 2. Philosophy (based upon reason); 3. Poetry +(based upon imagination). This scheme was much better adapted to a +classification of ideas than of books. Its failure to answer the ends of +a practical classification of the library led to radical modifications of +the plan, as applied to the books on the shelves, for reasons of logical +arrangement, as well as of convenience. A more thorough and systematic +re-arrangement is now in progress. + +Mr. C. A. Cutter has devised a system of "Expansive classification," now +widely used in American libraries. In this, the classes are each +indicated by a single letter, followed by numbers representing divisions +by countries, and these in turn by letters indicating sub-divisions by +subjects, etc. It is claimed that this method is not a rigid unchangeable +system, but adaptable in a high degree, and capable of modification to +suit the special wants of any library. In it the whole range of +literature and science is divided into several grand classes, which, with +their sub-classes, are indicated by the twenty-six letters of the +alphabet. Thus Class A embraces Generalia; B to D, Spiritual sciences +(including philosophy and religion); E to G, Historical sciences +(including, besides history and biography, geography and travels); H to +K, Social sciences (including law and political science and economics); L +to P, Natural sciences; Q, Medicine; and R to Z, Arts (including not only +mechanical, recreative and fine arts, but music, languages, literature, +and bibliography). + +The sub-divisions of these principal classes are arranged with +progressive fullness, to suit smaller or larger libraries. Thus, the +first classification provides only eleven classes, suited to very small +libraries: the second is expanded to fifteen classes, the third to thirty +classes, and so on up to the seventh or final one, designed to provide +for the arrangement of the very largest libraries. + +This is the most elaborate and far-reaching library classification yet +put forth, claiming superior clearness, flexibility, brevity of notation, +logical cooerdination, etc., while objections have been freely made to it +on the score of over-refinement and aiming at the unattainable. + +What is known as the decimal or the Dewey system of classification was +originally suggested by Mr. N. B. Shurtleff's "Decimal system for the +arrangement and administration of libraries," published at Boston in +1856. But in its present form it has been developed by Mr. Melvil Dewey +into a most ingenious scheme for distributing the whole vast range of +human knowledge into ten classes, marked from 0 to 9, each of which +sub-divides into exactly ten sub-classes, all divisible in their turn +into ten minor divisions, and so on until the material in hand, or the +ingenuity of the classifier is exhausted. The notation of the books on +the shelves corresponds to these divisions and sub-divisions. The claims +of this system, which has been quite extensively followed in the smaller +American libraries, and in many European ones, are economy, simplicity, +brevity of notation, expansibility, unchanging call-numbers, etc. It has +been criticised as too mechanical, as illogical in arrangement of +classes, as presenting many incongruities in its divisions, as +procrustean, as wholly inadequate in its classification of jurisprudence, +etc. It is partially used by librarians who have had to introduce radical +changes in portions of the classification, and in fact it is understood +that the classification has been very largely made over both in Amherst +College library and in that of Columbia University, N. Y., where it was +fully established. + +This only adds to the cumulative proofs that library classification +cannot be made an exact science, but is in its nature indefinitely +progressive and improvable. Its main object is not to classify knowledge, +but books. There being multitudes of books that do not belong absolutely +to any one class, all classification of them is necessarily a compromise. +Nearly all the classification schemers have made over their schemes--some +of them many times. I am not arguing against classification, which is +essential to the practical utility of any library. An imperfect +classification is much better than none: but the tendency to erect +classification into a fetish, and to lay down cast-iron rules for it, +should be guarded against. In any library, reasons of convenience must +often prevail over logical arrangement; and he who spends time due to +prompt library service in worrying over errors in a catalogue, or vexing +his soul at a faulty classification, is as mistaken as those fussy +individuals who fancy that they are personally responsible for the +obliquity of the earth's axis. + +It may be added that in the American Library Association's Catalogue of +5,000 books for a popular library, Washington, 1893, the classification +is given both on the Dewey (Decimal) system, and on the Cutter expansive +system, so that all may take their choice. + +The fixed location system of arrangement, by which every book is assigned +by its number to one definite shelf, is objectionable as preventing +accessions from being placed with their cognate books. This is of such +cardinal importance in every library, that a more elastic system of some +kind should be adopted, to save continual re-numbering. No system which +makes mere arithmetical progression a substitute for intrinsic qualities +can long prove satisfactory. + +The relative or movable location on shelves is now more generally adopted +than the old plan of numbering every shelf and assigning a fixed location +to every volume on that shelf. The book-marks, if designating simply the +relative order of the volumes, permit the books to be moved along, as +accessions come in, from shelf to shelf, as the latter become crowded. +This does not derange the numbers, since the order of succession is +observed. + +For small town libraries no elaborate system of classification can +properly be attempted. Here, the most convenient grouping is apt to prove +the best, because books are most readily found by it. Mr. W. I. Fletcher +has outlined a scheme for libraries of 10,000 volumes or less, as +follows: + +A. Fiction (appended, J. Juvenile books); B. English and American +literature; C. History; D. Biography; E. Travels; F. Science; G. Useful +arts; H. Fine and recreative arts; I. Political and social science; K. +Philosophy and religion; L. Works on language and in foreign languages; +R. Reference books. + +Numerous sub-divisions would be required to make such a scheme (or indeed +any other) fit any collection of books. + +In arranging the main classes, care should be taken to bring those most +drawn upon near to the delivery desk, or charging system of the library. + +The alphabet is usefully applied in the arrangement of several of the +great classes of books, and in many sub-divisions of other classes. Thus, +all English and American fiction may be arranged in a single alphabet of +authors, including English translations of foreign works. All collected +works, or polygraphy, may form an alphabet, as well as poetry, dramatic +works, collections of letters, and miscellanea, arranged by authors' +names. In any of these classes, sub-divisions by languages may be made, +if desired. + +The class biography may best be arranged in an alphabet of the subjects +of the biographies, rather than of writers, for obvious reasons of +convenience in finding at once the books about each person. + + + + +CHAPTER 22. + +CATALOGUES. + + +Catalogues of libraries are useful to readers in direct proportion to +their fulfilment of three conditions: (1) Quick and ready reference. (2) +Arranging all authors' names in an alphabet, followed by titles of their +works. (3) Subjects or titles in their alphabetical order in the same +alphabet as the authors. This is what is known as a "Dictionary +catalogue"; but why is it preferable to any other? Because it answers +more questions in less time than any other. + +The more prevalent styles of catalogues have been, 1. A list of authors, +with titles of their works under each. 2. A catalogue of subjects, in a +classified topical or alphabetical order, the authors and their works +being grouped under each head. 3. A catalogue attempting to combine these +two, by appending to the author-catalogue a classed list of subjects, +with a brief of authors under each, referring to the page on which the +titles of their works may be found; or else, 4. Appending to the +subject-catalogue an alphabet of authors, with similar references to +pages under subjects. + +Each of these methods of catalogue-making, while very useful, contrives +to miss the highest utility, which lies in enabling the reader to put his +finger on the book he wants, at one glance of the eye. The catalogue of +authors will not help him to subjects, nor will the catalogue of +subjects, as a rule, give the authors and titles with the fullness that +may be needed. In either case, a double reference becomes necessary, +consuming just twice the time, and in a two-column catalogue, three +times the time required in a dictionary catalogue. + +The reader who wants Darwin's "Origin of Species" finds it readily enough +by the author-catalogue; but he wants, at the same time, to find other +works on the same subject, and all the author-catalogues in the world +will not help him to them. But give him a dictionary catalogue, and he +has, in the same alphabet with his Darwin, (if the library is large) +dozens of books discussing the theory of that great naturalist, under +species, evolution, Darwinism, etc. + +Thus he finds that there is no key which so quickly unlocks the stores of +knowledge which a library contains, as a dictionary catalogue. + +The objections to it are chiefly brought by minds schooled in systems, +who look askance on all innovations, and instinctively prefer round-about +methods to short-hand ones. + +Ask such an objector if he would prefer his dictionary of the English +language arranged, not alphabetically, but subjectively, so that all +medical terms should be defined only under medicine, all species of fish +described only under fishes, etc., and he will probably say that there is +no analogy in the case. But the analogy becomes apparent when we find, in +what are called systematic catalogues, no two systems alike, and the +finding of books complicated by endless varieties of classification, with +no common alphabet to simplify the search. The authors of systems +doubtless understand them themselves, but no one else does, until he +devotes time to learn the key to them; and even when learned, the +knowledge is not worth the time lost in acquiring it, since the field +covered in any one catalogue is so small. Alphabetical arrangement, on +the other hand, strictly adhered to, is a universal key to the authors +and subjects and titles of all the books contained in the library it +represents. The devotee of a bibliographical system may be as mistaken as +the slave of a scientific terminology. He forgets that bibliography is +not a school for teaching all departments of knowledge, but a brief and +handy index to books that may contain that knowledge. A student who has +once made a thorough comparative test of the merits, as aids to wide and +rapid research, of the old-fashioned bibliographies and the best modern +dictionary catalogues, will no more deny the superiority of the latter, +than he will contest the maxim that a straight line is the nearest road +between two points. Meantime, "while doctors disagree, disciples are +free;" and the disciples who would follow the latest guides in the art +"how to make and use a catalogue," must get rid of many formulas. + +The reader will find in the chapter on bibliography, notes on some +classes of catalogues, with the more notable examples of them. We are +here concerned with the true method of preparing catalogues, and such +plain rules as brevity will permit to be given, will be equally adapted +to private or public libraries. For more ample treatment, with reasons +for and against many rules laid down, reference is made to the able and +acute work, "Rules for a Dictionary Catalogue," by C. A. Cutter, +published by the U. S. Bureau of Education, 3d ed. 1891. + + +CONDENSED RULES FOR AN AUTHOR AND TITLE CATALOGUE. + +_Prepared by the Co-operation Committee of the American Library +Association._ + + ENTRY. + + Books are to be entered under the: + + Surnames of authors when ascertained, the abbreviation "_Anon._" + being added to the titles of anonymous works. + + Initials of authors' names when these only are known, the last + initial being put first. + + Pseudonyms of the writers when the real names are not + ascertained. + + Names of editors of collections, each separate item to be at the + same time sufficiently catalogued under its own heading. + + Names of countries, cities, societies, or other bodies which are + responsible for their publication. + + First word (not an article or serial number) of the titles of + periodicals and of anonymous books, the names of whose authors + are not known. And a motto or the designation of a series may be + neglected when it begins a title, and the entry may be made under + the first word of the real title following. + + Commentaries accompanying a text, and translations, are to be + entered under the heading of the original work; but commentaries + without the text under the name of the commentator. A book + entitled "Commentary on ...." and containing the text, should be + put under both. + + The Bible, or any part of it (including the Apocrypha), in any + language, is to be entered under the word Bible. + + The Talmud and Koran (and parts of them) are to be entered under + those words; the sacred books of other religions are to be + entered under the names by which they are generally known; + references to be given from the names of editors, translators, + etc. + + The respondent or defender of an academical thesis is to be + considered as the author, unless the work unequivocally appears + to be the work of the _praeses_. + + Books having more than one author to be entered under the one + first named in the title, with a reference from each of the + others. + + Reports of civil actions are to be entered under the name of the + party to the suit which stands first on the title page. Reports + of crown and criminal proceedings are to be entered under the + name of the defendant. Admiralty proceedings relating to vessels + are to be put under the name of the vessel. + + Noblemen are to be entered under their titles, unless the family + name is decidedly better known. + + Ecclesiastical dignitaries, unless popes or sovereigns, are to be + entered under their surnames. + + Sovereigns (other than Greek or Roman), ruling princes, Oriental + writers, popes, friars, persons canonized, and all other persons + known _only_ by their first name, are to be entered under this + first name. + + Married women, and other persons who have changed their names, + are to be put under the last well-known form. + + A pseudonym may be used instead of the surname (and only a + reference to the pseudonym made under the surname) when an author + is much more known by his false than by his real name. In case of + doubt, use the real name. + + A society is to be entered under the first word, not an article, + of its corporate name, with references from any other name by + which it is known, especially from the name of the place where + its headquarters are established, if it is often called by that + name. + + + REFERENCES. + + When an author has been known by more than one name, references + should be inserted from the name or names not to be used as + headings to the one used. + + References are also to be made to the headings chosen: + asked for by their titles; + + from other striking titles; + + from noticeable words in anonymous titles, especially from the + names of subjects of anonymous biographies; + + from the names of editors of periodicals, when the periodicals are + generally called by the editor's name; + + from the names of important translators (especially poetic + translators) and commentators; + + from the title of an ecclesiastical dignitary, when that, and not + the family name, is used in the book catalogued; + + and in other cases where a reference is needed to insure the ready + finding of the book. + + + HEADINGS. + + In the heading of titles, the names of authors are to be given in + full, and in their vernacular form, except that the Latin form + may be used when it is more generally known, the vernacular form + being added in parentheses; except, also, that sovereigns and + popes may be given in the English form. + + English and French surnames beginning with a prefix (except the + French de and d') are to be recorded under the prefix; in other + languages under the word following. + + English compound surnames are to be entered under the last part + of the name; foreign ones under the first part. + + Designations are to be added to distinguish writers of the same + name from each other. + + Prefixes indicating the rank or profession of writers may be + added in the heading, when they are part of the usual designation + of the writers. + + Names of places to be given in the English form. When both an + English and a vernacular form are used in English works, prefer + the vernacular. + + + TITLES. + + The title is to be an exact transcript of the title-page, neither + amended, translated, nor in any way altered, except that mottos, + titles of authors, repetitions, and matter of any kind not + essential, are to be omitted. Where great accuracy is desirable, + omissions are to be indicated by three dots (...). The titles of + books especially valuable for antiquity or rarity may be given in + full, with all practicable precision. The phraseology and + spelling, but not necessarily the punctuation, of the title are + to be exactly copied. + + Any additions needed to make the title clear are to be supplied, + and inclosed by brackets. + + Initial capitals are to be given in English: + noted events, and periods (each separate word not an article, + conjunction, or preposition, may be capitalized in these cases); + + to adjectives and other derivatives from proper names when they + have a direct reference to the person, place, etc., from which + they are derived; + + to the first word of every sentence and of every quoted title; + + to titles of honor when standing instead of a proper name + (_e. g._, the Earl of Derby, but John Stanley, earl of Derby); + + In foreign languages, according to the local usage; + + In doubtful cases capitals are to be avoided. + + Foreign languages.--Titles in foreign characters may be + transliterated. The languages in which a book is written are to be + stated when there are several, and the fact is not apparent from the + title. + + + IMPRINTS. + + After the title are to be given, in the following order, those in + [ ] being optional: + + the place of publication; + + [and the publisher's name] (these three in the language of + the title); + + the year as given on the title-page, but in Arabic figures; + + [the year of copyright or actual publication, if known to be + different in brackets, and preceded by c. or p. as the case may be]; + + the number of volumes, or of pages if there is only one volume; + + [the number of maps, portraits, or illustrations not included in the + text]; + + and either the approximate size designated by letter, or the + exact size in centimeters; + + the name of the series to which the book belongs is to be given in + parentheses after the other imprint entries. + + After the place of publication, the place of printing may be + given if different. This is desirable only in rare and old books. + + The number of pages is to be indicated by giving the last number + of each paging, connecting the numbers by the sign +; the + addition of unpaged matter may be shown by a +, or the number of + pages ascertained by counting may be given in brackets. When + there are more than three pagings, it is better to add them + together and give the sum in brackets. + + These imprint entries are to give the facts, whether ascertained + from the book or from other sources; those which are usually + taken from the title (edition, place, publisher's name, and + series) should be in the language of the title, corrections and + additions being inclosed in brackets. It is better to give the + words, "maps," "portraits," etc., and the abbreviations for + "volumes" and "pages," in English. + + + CONTENTS, NOTES. + + Notes (in English) and contents of volumes are to be given when + necessary to properly describe the works. Both notes and lists of + contents to be in a smaller type. + + + MISCELLANEOUS. + + A single dash or indent indicates the omission of the preceding + heading; a subsequent dash or indent indicates the omission of a + subordinate heading, or of a title. + + A dash connecting numbers signifies to and including; following a + number it signifies continuation. + + A ? following a word or entry signifies probably. + + Brackets inclose words added to titles or imprints, or changed in + form. + + Arabic figures are to be used rather than Roman; but small + capitals may be used after the names of sovereigns, princes, and + popes. + + A list of abbreviations to be used was given in the Library + journal, Vol. 3: 16-20. + + + ARRANGEMENT. + + The surname when used alone precedes the same name used with + forenames; where the initials only of the forenames are given, + they are to precede fully written forenames beginning with the + same initials (_e. g._, Brown, Brown, J.; Brown, J. L.; Brown, + James). + + The prefixes M and Mc, S., St., Ste., Messrs., Mr., and Mrs., are + to be arranged as if written in full, Mac, Sanctus, Saint, + Sainte, Messieurs, Mister, and Mistress. + + The works of an author are to be arranged in the following order: + + 2. Partial collections. + + 3. Single works, alphabetically, by the first word of the title. + + The order of alphabeting is to be that of the English alphabet. + + The German ae, oe, ue, are always to be written as ae, oe, ue, and + arranged as a, o, u. + + Names of persons are to precede similar names of places, which in turn + precede similar first words of titles. + +A few desirable modifications or additions to these rules may be +suggested. + +1. In title-entries, let the year of publication stand last, instead of +the indication of size. + +2. Noblemen to be entered under their family names, with reference from +their titles. + +3. Instead of designations of title, profession, residence, or family, to +distinguish authors, let every name be followed by the chronology, as-- + + James (Henry) 1811-82. + James (Henry) 1843- + +It is highly desirable to give this information as to the author's period +in every title-heading, without exception, when ascertainable. If +unknown, the approximate period to be given, with a query. + +4. All titles to be written in small letters, and printed in lower case, +whether in English, German, or any other language, avoiding capitals +except in cases named in the rule. + +5. Works without date, when the exact date is not found, are to be +described conjecturally, thus: + + [1690?] or [about 1840.] + +6. In expressing collations, use commas rather than the sign + between +the pagings, as--xvi, 452, vii pp.--not xvi+452+vii pp. + +7. Forenames should be separated from the surnames which precede them by +parenthesis rather than commas, as a clearer discrimination: as-- + + Alembert (Jean Baptiste le Rond d')--not + Alembert, Jean Baptiste le Rond d'. + +The printed catalogue of the British Museum Library follows this method, +as well as that in the preceding paragraph. + +8. All books of history, travels, or voyages to have the period covered +by them inserted in brackets, when not expressed in the title-page. + +9. All collected works of authors, and all libraries or collections of +different works to be analysed by giving the contents of each volume, +either in order of volumes, or alphabetically by authors' names. + +Of course there are multitudes of points in catalogue practice not +provided for in the necessarily brief summary preceding: and, as books on +the art abound, the writer gives only such space to it as justice to the +wide range of library topics here treated permits. + +Probably the most important question in preparing catalogue titles, is +what space to give to the author's frequently long-drawn-out verbiage in +his title-page. There are two extremes to be considered: (1) Copying the +title literally and in full, however prolix; and (2) reducing all +title-pages, by a Procrustean rule, to what we may call "one-line +titles." Take an example: + +"Jones (Richard T.) A theoretical and practical treatise on the benefits +of agriculture to mankind. With an appendix containing many useful +reflections derived from practical experience. iv, 389 pp. 8 deg.. London, +MDCCXLIV." As abridged to a short title, this would read: "Jones (Richard +T.) Benefits of agriculture, iv, 389 pp. 8 deg.. Lond. 1744." Who will say +that the last form of title does not convey substantially all that is +significant of the book, stripped of superfluous verbiage? But we need +not insist upon titles crowded into a single line of the catalogue, +whether written or printed. This would do violence to the actual scope of +many books, by suppressing some significant or important part of their +titles. The rule should be to give in the briefest words selected out of +the title (never imported into it) the essential character of the book, +so far as the author has expressed it. Take another example: + +"Bowman (Thomas) A new, easy, and complete Hebrew course; containing a +Hebrew grammar, with copious Hebrew and English exercises, strictly +graduated: also, a Hebrew-English and English-Hebrew lexicon. In two +parts. Part I. Regular verbs. Edinburgh, 1879." + +This might be usefully condensed thus: + + Bowman, (Thomas) Hebrew course: grammar, exercises, lexicon, + [&c.] Part I. Regular verbs. Edinburgh, 1879. + +One objection brought against the dictionary catalogue is that it widely +separates subjects that belong together. In the Boston Athenaeum +catalogue, for example, the topic Banks is found in Vol. 1, while Money +is in Vol. 3; and for Wages, one must go to Vol. 5, while Labor is in +Vol. 3. But there are two valid reasons for this. First, the reader who +wants to know about banks or wages may care nothing about the larger +topics of money or of labor; and secondly, if he does want them, he is +sent to them at once by cross-reference, where they belong in the +alphabet; whereas, if they were grouped under Political Economy, as in +classed catalogues, he must hunt for them through a maze of unrelated +books, without any alphabet at all. + +It is often forgotten by the advocates of systematic subject catalogues +rather than alphabetical ones, that catalogues are for those who do not +know, more than for those who do. The order of the alphabet is settled +and familiar; but no classification by subjects is either familiar or +settled. Catalogues should aim at the greatest convenience of the +greatest number of readers. + +It is noteworthy that the English Catalogue (the one national +bibliography of the current literature of that country) has adopted, +since 1891, the dictionary form of recording authors, titles and subjects +in one alphabet, distinguishing authors' names by antique type. It is +hoped that the American Catalogue, an indispensable work in all +libraries, will adopt in its annual and quinquennial issues the +time-saving method of a single alphabet. + +It is not claimed that the dictionary catalogue possesses fully all the +advantages in educating readers that the best classed catalogues embody. +But the chief end of catalogues being to find books promptly, rather than +to educate readers, the fact that the dictionary catalogue, though far +from perfect, comes nearer to the true object than any other system, +weighs heavily in its favor. Edward Edwards said--"Many a reader has +spent whole days in book-hunting [in catalogues] which ought to have been +spent in book-reading." It is to save this wasted time that catalogues +should aim. + +Nothing can be easier than to make a poor catalogue, while nothing is +more difficult than to make a good one. The most expert French +bibliographers who have distinguished themselves by compiling catalogues +have been most severely criticised by writers who no doubt would have +been victimized in their turn if they had undertaken similar work. Byron +says + + "A man must serve his time to every trade, + Save censure;--critics all are ready made." + +When De Bure and Van Praet, most accomplished bibliographers, published +the catalogue of the precious library of the duke de La Valliere, the +abbe Rive boasted that he had discovered a blunder in every one of the +five thousand titles of their catalogue. Barbier and Brunet have both +been criticised for swarms of errors in the earlier editions of their +famous catalogues. The task of the exact cataloguer is full of +difficulty, constantly renewed, and demanding almost encyclopaedic +knowledge, and incessant care of minute particulars. + +The liability to error is so great in a kind of work which, more than +almost any other, demands the most scrupulous accuracy, lest a catalogue +should record a book with such mistakes as to completely mislead a +reader, that rules are imperatively necessary. And whatever rules are +adopted, a rigid adherence to them is no less essential, to avoid +misapprehension and confusion. A singular instance of imperfect and +misleading catalogue work was unwittingly furnished by Mr. J. Payne +Collier, a noted English critic, author, and librarian, who criticised +the slow progress of the British Museum catalogue, saying that he could +himself do "twenty-five titles an hour without trouble." His twenty-five +titles when examined, were found to contain almost every possible error +that can be made in cataloguing books. These included using names of +translators or editors as headings, when the author's name was on the +title-page; omitting christian names of authors; omitting to specify the +edition; using English instead of foreign words to give the titles of +foreign books; adopting titled instead of family names for authors (which +would separate Stanhope's "England under Queen Anne" from the same +writer's "History of England," published when he was Lord Mahon); errors +in grammar, etc. These ridiculous blunders of a twenty-five-title-an-hour +man exemplify the maxim "the more haste, the worse speed," in +catalogue-making. + +That our British brethren are neither adapted nor inclined to pose as +exemplars in the fine art of cataloguing, we need only cite their own +self-criticisms to prove. Here are two confessions found in two authors +of books on catalogue-making, both Englishmen. Says one: "We are +deficient in good bibliographies. It is a standing disgrace to the +country that we have no complete bibliography of English authors, much +less of English literature generally." Says another: "The English are a +supremely illogical people. The disposition to irregularity has made +English bibliography, or work on catalogues, a by-word among those who +give attention to these matters." + +An American may well add, "They do these things better in France and +Germany," while declining to claim the meed of superiority for the United +States. + +Too much prominence should not be given to place-numbers in library +catalogues. The tendency to substitute mere numerical signs for authors +and subjects has been carried so far in some libraries, that books are +called for and charged by class-numbers only, instead of their +distinctive names. An English librarian testifies that assistants trained +in such libraries are generally the most ignorant of literature. When +mechanical or mnemonical signs are wholly substituted for ideas and for +authors, is it any wonder that persons incessantly using them become +mechanical? Let catalogue and classification go hand in hand in bringing +all related books together, and library assistants will not stunt their +intellects by becoming bond-slaves to the nine digits, nor lose the power +of thought and reflection by never growing out of their _a b c's_. + +There are two forms of catalogue not here discussed, which are adjuncts +to the library catalogue proper. The accession catalogue, kept in a large +volume, records the particulars regarding every volume, on its receipt by +the library. It gives author, title, date, size, binding, whence +acquired, cost, etc., and assigns it an accession number, which it ever +after retains. The shelf catalogue (or shelf-list) is a portable one +divided into sections representing the cases of shelves in the library. +It gives the shelf classification number, author, brief title and number +of volumes of each book, as arranged on the shelves; thus constituting an +inventory of each case, or stack, throughout the library. + +To check a library over is to take an account of stock of all the books +it should contain. This is done annually in some libraries, and the +deficiencies reported. All libraries lose some books, however few, and +these losses will be small or great according to the care exercised and +the safe-guards provided. The method is to take one division of the +library at a time, and check off all books on the shelves by their +numbers on the shelf-list, supplemented by careful examination of all +numbers drawn out, or at bindery, or in other parts of the library. Not a +volume should be absent unaccounted for. Those found missing after a +certain time should be noted on the shelf-list and accession book, and +replaced, if important, after the loss is definitely assured. + +The reason for writing and printing all catalogue titles in small +letters, without capitals (except for proper names) is two-fold. First, +there can be no standard prescribing what words should or should not be +capitalized, and the cataloguer will be constantly at a loss, or will use +capitals in the most unprincipled way. He will write one day, perhaps, +"The Dangers of great Cities," and the next, "The dangers of Great +cities"--with no controlling reason for either form. Secondly, the +symmetry of a title or a sentence, whether written or printed, is best +attained by the uniform exclusion of capitals. That this should be +applied to all languages, notwithstanding the habit of most German +typographers of printing all nouns with capitals, is borne out by no less +an authority than the new Grimm's _Deutsches Woerterbuch_, which prints +all words in "lower case" type except proper names. Nothing can be more +unsightly than the constant breaking up of the harmony of a line by the +capricious use of capitals. + +To discriminate carefully the various editions of each work is part of +the necessary duty of the cataloguer. Many books have passed through +several editions, and as these are by no means always specified on the +title-page, one should establish the sequence, if possible, by other +means. The first edition is one which includes all copies printed from +the plates or the type as first set; the second, one which is reprinted, +with or without changes in the text or the title. First editions often +acquire a greatly enhanced value, in the case of a noted author, by +reason of changes made in the text in later issues of the work. For +though the latest revision may and should be the author's best improved +expression, his earliest furnishes food for the hunters of literary +curiosities. Every catalogue should distinguish first editions thus [1st +ed.] in brackets. + +In the arrangement of titles in catalogues, either of the various works +of the same writer, or of many books on the same subject, some compilers +follow the alphabetical order, while others prefer the chronological--or +the order of years of publication of the various works. The latter has +the advantage of showing the reader the earlier as distinguished from the +recent literature, but in a long sequence of authors (in a +subject-catalogue) it is more difficult to find a given writer's work, or +to detect its absence. + +The task of accurately distributing the titles in a catalogue of subjects +would be much simplified, if the books were all properly named. But it is +an unhappy failing of many writers to give fanciful or far-fetched titles +to their books, so that, instead of a descriptive name, they have names +that describe nothing. This adds indefinitely to the labor of the +cataloguer, who must spend time to analyse to some extent the contents of +the book, before he can classify it. This must be done to avoid what may +be gross errors in the catalogue. Familiar examples are Ruskin's Notes on +Sheep-folds (an ecclesiastical criticism) classified under Agriculture; +and Edgeworth's Irish Bulls under Domestic animals. + +The work of alphabeting a large number of title-cards is much simplified +and abbreviated by observing certain obvious rules in the distribution. +(1) Gather in the same pile all the cards in the first letter of the +alphabet, A, followed in successive parallel rows by all the B's, and so +on, to the letter Z. (2) Next, pursue the same course with all the +titles, arranging under the second letter of the alphabet, Aa, Ab, Ac, +etc., and so with all the cards under B. C. &c. for all the letters. (3) +If there still remain a great many titles to distribute into a closer +alphabetic sequence, the third operation will consist in arranging under +the third letter of the alphabet, _e. g._, Abb, Abc, Abd, etc. The same +method is pursued throughout the entire alphabet, until all the +title-cards are arranged in strict order. + +Too much care cannot be taken to distinguish between books written by +different authors, but bearing the same name. Many catalogues are full of +errors in this respect, attributing, for example, works written by +Jonathan Edwards, the younger, (1745-1801) to Jonathan Edwards the elder, +(1703-58); or cataloguing under Henry James, Jr., the works of his +father, Henry James. The abundant means of identification which exist +should cause such errors to be avoided; and when the true authorship is +fixed, every author's chronology should appear next after his name on +every card-title: _e. g._ James (Henry, 1811-82) Moralism and +Christianity, New York, 1850. James (Henry, 1843- ) Daisy Miller, N. Y. +1879. + +The designation of book sizes is a vexed question in catalogues. The +generally used descriptions of size, from folio down to 48mo. signify no +accurate measurement whatever, the same book being described by different +catalogues as 12mo. 8vo, crown 8vo. &c., according to fancy; while the +same cataloguer who describes a volume as octavo to-day, is very likely +to call it a duodecimo to-morrow. Library catalogues are full of these +heterogeneous descriptions, and the size-notation is the _bete noir_ of +the veteran bibliographer, and the despair of the infant librarian. Yet +it is probable that the question has excited a discussion out of all +proportion to its importance. Of what consequence is the size of a book +to any one, except to the searcher who has to find it on the shelves? +While the matter has been much exaggerated, some concert or uniformity in +describing the sizes of books is highly desirable. + +A Committee of the American Library Association agreed to a +size-notation, figured below, adopting the metric system as the standard, +to which we add the approximate equivalents in inches. + + _Centimetres_ + _Size_ _outside_ +_Sizes._ _abbreviations._ _height._ _Inches._ + +Folio, F deg.. F 40 16 +Quarto, 4 deg.. Q 30 12 +Octavo, 8 deg.. O 25 10 +Duodecimo, 12 deg.. D 20 8 +Sixteen mo., 16 deg.. S 17.5 7 +Twenty-four mo., 24 deg.. T 15 6 +Thirty-two mo., 32 deg.. Tt 12.3 5 +Forty-eight mo., 48 deg.. Fe 10 4 + +It will be understood that the figure against each size indicated +represents the maximum measure: _e. g._ a volume is octavo when above 20 +and below 25 centimetres (8 to 10 inches high). + +As this question of sizes concerns publishers and booksellers, as well as +librarians, and the metric system, though established in continental +Europe, is in little use in the United States and England, it remains +doubtful if any general adherence to this system of notation can be +reached--or, indeed, to any other. The Publishers' Weekly (N. Y.) the +organ of the book trade, has adopted it for the titles of new books +actually in hand, but follows the publishers' descriptions of sizes as to +others. Librarian J. Winter Jones, of the British Museum, recommended +classing all books above twelve inches in height as folios, those +between ten and twelve inches as quartos, those from seven to ten inches +as octavos, and all measuring seven inches or under as 12mos. Mr. H. B. +Wheatley, in his work, "How to Catalogue a Library," 1889, proposed to +call all books small octavos which measure below the ordinary octavo +size. As all sizes "run into each other," and the former classification +by the fold of the sheets is quite obsolete, people appear to be left to +their own devices in describing the sizes of books. While the metric +notation would be exact, if the size of every book were expressed in +centimetres, the size-notation in the table given is wholly wanting in +precision, and has no more claim to be adopted than any other arbitrary +plan. Still, it will serve ordinary wants, and the fact that we cannot +reach an exact standard is no reason for refusing to be as nearly exact +as we can. + +And while we are upon the subject of notation may be added a brief +explanation of the method adopted in earlier ages, (and especially the +years reckoned from the Christian era) to express numbers by Roman +numerals. The one simple principle was, that each letter placed after a +figure of greater equal value adds to it just the value which itself has; +and, on the other hand, a letter of less value placed before (or on the +left of) a larger figure, diminishes the value of that figure in the same +proportion. For example: + +These letters--VI represent six; which is the same as saying V+I. On the +contrary, these same letters reversed represent four; thus--IV: that is +V-I=4. Nine is represented by IX, _i. e._, X-I, ten minus one. On the +same principle, LX represents 60--or L+N: whereas XL means 40--being L-X. +Proceeding on the same basis, we find that LXX=L+XX=70; and LXXX or L+XXX +is 80. But when we come to ninety, instead of adding four X's to the L, +they took a shorter method, and expressed it in two figures instead of +five, thus, XC, _i. e._ 100 or C-X=90. + +The remarkable thing about this Roman notation is that only six letters +sufficed to express all numbers up to one thousand, and even beyond, by +skilful and simple combinations: namely the I, the V, the X, the L, the +C, and the M, and by adding or subtracting some of these letters, when +placed before or after another letter, they had a whole succession of +numbers done to their hand--thus: + + I, 1 XX, 20 CC, 200 + II, 2 XXX, 30 CCC, 300 + III, 3 XL, 40 CCCC, 400 + IV, 4 L, 50 D, 500 + V, 5 LX, 60 DC, 600 + VI, 6 LXX, 70 DCC, 700 + VII, 7 LXXX, 80 DCCC, 800 +VIII, 8 XC, 90 CM, 900 + IX, 9 C (centum), 100 M, (mille), 1,000 + X, 10 + +Now, when the early printers came to apply dates of publication to the +books they issued, (and here is where their methods of notation become +most important to librarians) they used precisely these methods. For +example, to express the year 1695, they printed it thus: MDCVC, that +is--1000+500+100+100-5. But the printers of the 15th century and later, +often used complications of letters, dictated by caprice rather than by +any fixed principles, so that it is sometimes difficult to interpret +certain dates in the colophons or title-pages of books, without +collateral aid of some kind, usually supplied to the librarian by +bibliographies. One of the simpler methods of departure from the regular +notation as above explained, was to substitute for the letter D (500) two +letters, thus--I[inverted C], an I and a C inverted, supposed to resemble +the letter D in outline. Another fancy was to replace the M, standing for +1,000, by the symbols CI[inverted C]--which present a faint approach to +the outline of the letter M, for which they stand. Thus, to express the +year 1610, we have this combination--CI[inverted C] I[inverted C] CX, +which would be indecipherable to a modern reader, uninstructed in the +numerical signs anciently used, and their values. In like manner, 1548 is +expressed thus: MDXLIIX, meaning 1000+500+40+10-2. And for 1626, we have +CI[inverted C] I[inverted C] C XXVI. + +As every considerable library has early printed books, a librarian must +know these peculiarities of notation, in order to catalogue them +properly, without mistake as to their dates. In some books, where a +capricious combination of Roman numerals leaves him without a precedent +to guide him to the true date, reference must be had to the +bibliographies of the older literature, (as Hain, Panzer, etc.), which +will commonly solve the doubt. + +As to the mechanics of catalogue-making, widely different usages and +materials prevail. In America, the card or title-slip system is well nigh +universal, while in England it is but slowly gaining ground, as against +the ledger or blank book catalogue. Its obvious advantage lies in +affording the only possible means of maintaining a strict alphabetical +sequence in titles, whether of authors or subjects. The title-cards +should be always of uniform size, and the measure most in vogue is five +inches in length by three inches in breadth. They should not be too +stiff, though of sufficient thickness, whether of paper or of thin card +board, to stand upright without doubling at the edges. They may be ruled +or plain, at pleasure, and kept in drawers, trays, or (in case of a small +catalogue) in such paste-board boxes as letter envelopes come in. + +The many advantages of the card system, both for catalogues and indexes, +should not lead us to overlook its palpable defects. These are (1) It +obliges readers to manipulate many cards, to arrive at all the works of +an author, or all the books on any subject, instead of having them under +his eye at once, as in printed catalogues. (2) It can be used only in the +library, and in only one place in the library, and by only one person at +a time in the same spot, while a printed catalogue can be freely used +anywhere, and by any numbers, copies being multiplied. (3) It entails +frequent crowding of readers around the catalogue drawers, who need to +consult the same subjects or authors at the same time. (4) It requires +immeasurably more room than a printed catalogue, and in fact, exacts +space which in some libraries can be ill afforded. (5) It obliges readers +to search the title-cards at inconvenient angles of vision, and often +with inadequate light. (6) It is cumbersome in itself, and doubly +cumbersome to searchers, who must stand up instead of sitting to consult +it, and travel from drawer to drawer, interfering with other searchers +almost constantly, or losing time in waiting. (7) To this is added the +inconvenience of constant insertion of new title-cards by members of the +library staff, and the time-consuming process of working the rods which +keep the cards in place, if they are used, and if not used, the risk of +loss of titles, or misplacement equivalent to loss for a time. + +Says Mr. H. B. Wheatley: "I can scarcely imagine anything more maddening +than a frequent reference to cards in a drawer." But it is to be +considered that all systems have defects, and the problem of choosing the +least defective is ever before us. Most of the suggested defects of the +card catalogue, as concerns the readers, can be obviated by making a +two-fold catalogue, the type-written titles being manifolded, and one set +arranged in card-drawers for the use of the library staff, while another +is mounted on large sheets in bound volumes for use of the public. This +would secure the advantages of a printed catalogue, with no more expense +than the manuscript titles would cost. If desired, a number of copies +could be bound up for reading-room use. Accessions of new books could be +incorporated from month to month, by leaving the right-hand pages blank +for that purpose. This would be near enough to alphabetical order for +most readers, with the immense advantage of opening at one glance before +the eye, any author or subject. It would go far to solve the problem how +to unite the flexibility and perfect alphabeting of the card system, with +the superior comfort, safety, and ease of reference of the book. It would +also be a safe-guard against the loss or displacement of titles, a danger +inherent in the card system, as they could be replaced by copying missing +titles from the catalogue volumes. + +While the undoubted merits of the card system have been much overrated, +it would be as unwise to dispense with it as the complete official +catalogue of the library, as it would be to tie down the public to its +use, when there is a more excellent way, saving time and patience, and +contributing to the comfort of all. + +To print or not to print? is a vital question for libraries, and it is in +most cases decided to forego or to postpone printing, because of its +great expense. Yet so manifest are the advantages of a printed catalogue, +that all public libraries should make every effort to endow their readers +with its benefits. These advantages are (1) Greater facility of reading +titles. (2) Much more rapid turning from letter to letter of the +catalogue alphabet. (3) Ability to consult it outside of the library. (4) +Unlimited command of the catalogue by many readers at once, from the +number of copies at hand, whereas card catalogues or manuscript volumes +involve loss of time in waiting, or interfering with the researches of +others. A part of these advantages may be realized by printing +type-written copies of all titles in duplicate, or by carbon paper in +manifold, thus furnishing the library with several copies of its +catalogue: but why not extend this by multiplying copies through the +ingenious processes now in use, by which the printing of titles can be +effected far more cheaply than in any printing office? Might not every +library become its own printer, thus saving it from the inconvenience and +risk of sending its titles outside, or the great expense of copying them +for the printer? + +The titles thus manifolded could be combined into volumes, by cutting +away all superfluous margins and mounting the thin title-slips +alphabetically on paper of uniform size, which, when bound, would be +readily handled. All the titles of an author's works would be under the +eye at a glance, instead of only one at a time, as in the card catalogue. +And the titles of books on every subject would lie open, without slowly +manipulating an infinite series of cards, one after another, to reveal +them to the eye. The classification marks could be readily placed against +each title, or even printed as a part of the manifold card titles. + +Not that the card catalogue system would be abolished: it would remain as +the only complete catalogue of the library, always up to date, in a +single alphabet. Daily accessions inserted in it would render it the +standard of appeal as to all that the library contained, and it would +thus supplement the printed catalogue. + +Of course, large and increasing accessions would require to be combined +in occasional supplementary volumes of the catalogue; and in no long +number of years the whole might be re-combined in a single alphabet, +furnishing a printed dictionary catalogue up to its date. + +The experience of the great British Museum Library in this matter of +catalogues is an instructive one. After printing various incomplete +author-catalogues in the years from 1787 to 1841, the attempt to print +came to a full stop. The extensive collection grew apace, and the +management got along somehow with a manuscript catalogue, the titles of +which (written in script with approximate fullness) were pasted in a +series of unwieldy but alphabetically arranged volumes. To incorporate +the accessions, these volumes had continually to be taken apart by the +binder, and the new titles combined in alphabetical order, entailing a +literally endless labor of transcribing, shifting, relaying and +rebinding, to secure even an imperfect alphabetical sequence. In 1875, +the catalogue had grown to over two thousand thick folio volumes, and it +was foreseen, by a simple computation of the rate of growth of the +library, that in a very few years its catalogue could no longer be +contained in the reading-room. The bulky manuscript catalogue system +broke down by its own weight, and the management was compelled to resort +to printing in self defence. Before the printing had reached any where +near the concluding letters of the alphabet, the MS. catalogue had grown +to three thousand volumes, and was a daily and hourly incubus to +librarians and readers. + +This printed catalogue of the largest library in the world, save one, is +strictly a catalogue of authors, giving in alphabetical order the names, +followed by the titles of all works by each writer which that library +possesses. In addition, it refers in the case of biographies or comments +upon any writer found in the index, to the authors of such works; and +also from translators or editors to the authors of the translated or +edited work. The titles of accessions to the library (between thirty and +forty thousand volumes a year) were incorporated year by year as the +printing went on. All claim to minute accuracy had to be ignored, and the +titles greatly abridged by omitting superfluous words, otherwise its cost +would have been prohibitory. The work was prosecuted with great energy +and diligence by the staff of able scholars in the service of the Museum +Library. As the catalogue embraces far more titles of books, pamphlets, +and periodicals than any other ever printed, it is a great public boon, +the aid it affords to all investigators being incalculable. And any +library possessing it may find, with many titles of rare and unattainable +works, multitudes of books now available by purchase in the market, to +enrich its own collection. It is said to contain about 3,500,000 titles +and cross-references. It is printed in large, clear type, double columns, +well spaced, and its open page is a comfort to the eye. Issued in paper +covers, the thin folios can be bound in volumes of any thickness desired +by the possessor. + +It has several capital defects: (1) It fails to discriminate authors of +the same name by printing the years or period of each; instead of which +it gives designations like "the elder", "the younger", or the residence, +or occupation, or title of the author. The years during which any writer +flourished would have been easily added to the name in most cases, and +the value of such information would have been great, solving at once many +doubts as to many writers. (2) The catalogue fails to print the +collations of all works, except as to a portion of those published since +1882, or in the newer portions issued. This omission leaves a reader +uncertain whether the book recorded is a pamphlet or an extensive work. +(3) The letters I and J and U and V are run together in the alphabet, +after the ancient fashion, thus placing Josephus before Irving, and Utah +after Virginia; an arrangement highly perplexing, not to say +exasperating, to every searcher. To follow an obsolete usage may be +defended on the plea that it is a good one, but when it is bad as well as +outworn, no excuse for it can satisfy a modern reader. (4) No analysis is +given of the collected works of authors, nor of many libraries made up of +monographs. One cannot find in it the contents of the volumes of any of +Swift's Works, nor even of Milton's Prose Writings. (5) It fails to +record the names of publishers, except in the case of some early or rare +books. + +The printing of this monumental catalogue began in 1881, the volumes of +MS. catalogue being set up by the printer without transcription, which +would have delayed the work indefinitely, and it is now substantially +completed. Its total cost will be not far from L50,000. There are about +374 volumes or parts in all. Only 250 copies were printed, part of which +were presented to large libraries, and others were offered for sale at +L3.10 per annum, payable as issued, so that a complete set costs about +L70. One learns with surprise that only about forty copies have been +subscribed for. This furnishes another evidence of the low estate of +bibliography in England, where, in a nation full of rich book-collectors +and owners of fine libraries, almost no buyers are found for the most +extensive bibliography ever published, a national work, furnishing so +copious and useful a key to the literature of the world in every +department of human knowledge. + + + + +CHAPTER 23. + +COPYRIGHT AND LIBRARIES. + + +The preservation of literature through public libraries has been and will +ever be one of the most signal benefits which civilization has brought to +mankind. When we consider the multitude of books which have perished from +the earth, from the want of a preserving hand, a lively sense of regret +comes over us that so few libraries have been charged with the duty of +acquiring and keeping every publication that comes from the press. Yet we +owe an immeasurable debt to the wisdom and far-sightedness of those who, +centuries ago, provided by this means for the perpetuity of literature. + +The earliest step taken in this direction appears to have been in France. +By an ordinance proclaimed in 1537, regulating the printing of books, it +was required that a copy of each work issued from the press should be +deposited in the royal library. And it was distinctly affirmed that the +ground of this exaction was to preserve to posterity the literature of +the time, which might otherwise disappear.[2] This edict of three +centuries and a half ago was the seed-grain from which has grown the +largest library yet gathered in the world--the _Bibliotheque Nationale_ +of France. It antedated by more than two hundred years, any similar +provision in England for the preservation of the national literature. + +It is a notable fact that the United States of America was the first +nation that ever embodied the principle of protection to the rights of +authors in its fundamental law. "The Congress shall have power to promote +the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to +authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings +and discoveries." Thus anchored in the Constitution itself, this +principle has been further recognized by repeated acts of Congress, aimed +in all cases at giving it full practical effect. + +If it is asked why the authors of the Constitution gave to Congress no +plenary power, which might have authorized a grant of copyright in +perpetuity, the answer is, that in this, British precedent had a great, +if not a controlling influence. Copyright in England, by virtue of the +statute of Anne, passed in 1710 (the first British copyright act), was +limited to fourteen years, with right of renewal, by a living author, of +only fourteen years more; and this was in full force in 1787, when our +Constitution was framed. Prior to the British statute of 1710, authors +had only what is called a common law right to their writings; and however +good such a right might be, so long as they held them in manuscript, the +protection to printed books was extremely uncertain and precarious. + +It has been held, indeed, that all copyright laws, so far from +maintaining an exclusive property right to authors, do in effect deny it +(at least in the sense of a natural right), by explicitly limiting the +term of exclusive ownership, which might otherwise be held (as in other +property) to be perpetual. But there is a radical distinction between the +products of the brain, when put in the concrete form of books and +multiplied by the art of printing, and the land or other property which +is held by common law tenure. Society views the absolute or exclusive +property in books or inventions as a monopoly. While a monopoly may be +justified for a reasonable number of years, on the obvious ground of +securing to their originators the pecuniary benefit of their own ideas, a +perpetual monopoly is generally regarded as odious and unjust. Hence +society says to the author or inventor: "Put your ideas into material +form, and we will guarantee you the exclusive right to multiply and sell +your books or your inventions for a term long enough to secure a fair +reward to you and to your family; after that period we want your +monopoly, with its individual benefits, to cease in favor of the greatest +good of all." If this appears unfair to authors, who contribute so +greatly to the instruction and the advancement of mankind, it is to be +considered that a perpetual copyright would (1) largely increase the cost +of books, which should be most widely diffused for the public benefit, +prolonging the enhanced cost indefinitely beyond the author's lifetime; +(2) it would benefit by a special privilege, prolonged without limit, a +class of book manufacturers or publishers who act as middle-men between +the author and the public, and who own, in most cases, the entire +property in the works of authors deceased, and which they did not +originate; (3) it would amount in a few centuries to so vast a sum, taxed +upon the community who buy books, that the publishers of Shakespeare's +works, for example, who under perpetual copyright could alone print the +poet's writings, might have reaped colossal fortunes, perhaps unequalled +by any private wealth yet amassed in the world. + +If it is said that copyright, thus limited, is a purely arbitrary right, +it may be answered that all legal provisions are arbitrary. That which is +an absolute or natural right, so long as held in idea or in manuscript, +becomes, when given to the world in multiplied copies, the creature of +law. The most that authors can fairly claim is a sufficiently prolonged +exclusive right to guarantee them for a lifetime the just reward of their +labors, with a reversion for their immediate heirs. That such exclusive +rights should run to their remotest posterity, or, _a fortiori_, to mere +merchants or artificers who had no hand whatever in the creation of the +intellectual work thus protected, would be manifestly unjust. The +judicial tribunals, both in England and America, have held that copyright +laws do not affirm an existing right, but create a right, with special +privileges not before existing, and also with special limitations. + +The earliest copyright enactment of 1790 granted the exclusive privilege +of printing his work to the author or his assigns for 14 + 14, or +twenty-eight years in all. + +The act further required entry of the title, before publication, in the +office of the Clerk of the United States District Court in the State +where the author or proprietor resided. + +This remained the law, with slight amendment, until 1831, when a new +copyright act extended the duration of copyright from fourteen to +twenty-eight years for the original, or first term, with right of renewal +to the author (now first extended to his widow or children, in case of +his decease) for fourteen additional years, making forty-two years in +all. + +By the same act the privilege of copyright was extended to cover musical +compositions, as it had been earlier extended (in 1802) to include +designs, engravings, and etchings. Copyright was further extended in 1856 +to dramatic compositions, and in 1865 to photographs and negatives +thereof. In 1870 a new copyright code, to take the place of all existing +and scattered statutes, was enacted, and there were added to the lawful +subjects of copyright, paintings, drawings, chromos, statues, statuary, +and models or designs intended to be perfected as works of the fine +arts. And finally, by act of March 3, 1891, the benefits of copyright +were extended so as to embrace foreign authors. In 1897, Congress created +the office of Register of Copyrights, but continued the Copyright office, +with its records, in the Library of Congress. + +In 1846, the first enactment entitling the Library of the United States +Government to a copy of every work protected by copyright was passed. +This act, to establish the Smithsonian Institution, required that one +copy of each copyright publication be deposited therein, and one copy in +the Library of Congress. No penalties were provided, and in 1859, on +complaint of the authorities of the Smithsonian Institution that the law +brought in much trash in the shape of articles which were not books, the +law was repealed, with the apparent concurrence of those in charge of the +Congressional Library. + +This left that Library without any accessions of copyright books until +1865, when, at the instance of the present writer, the Library Committee +recommended, and Congress passed an act restoring the privilege to the +Library of Congress. But it was found to require, in order to its +enforcement, frequent visits to the records of the clerks of United +States District Courts in many cities, with costly transcripts of records +in more than thirty other offices, in order to ascertain what books had +actually been copyrighted. To this was added the necessity of issuing +demands upon delinquent authors or publishers for books not sent to the +Library; no residence of the delinquents, however, being found in any of +the records, which simply recorded those claiming copyright as "of the +said District." + +It resulted that no complete, nor even approximate compliance with the +law was secured, and after five years' trial, the Librarian was obliged +to bring before the committees of Congress the plan of a copyright +registry at the seat of government, as had been the requirement in the +case of Patents from the beginning. + +The law of copyright, as codified by act of July 8, 1870, made an epoch +in the copyright system of the United States. It transferred the entire +registry of books and other publications, under copyright law, to the +city of Washington, and made the Librarian of Congress sole register of +copyrights, instead of the clerks of the District Courts of the United +States. Manifold reasons existed for this radical change, and those which +were most influential with Congress in making it were the following: + +1. The transfer of the copyright records to Washington it was foreseen +would concentrate and simplify the business, and this was a cardinal +point. Prior to 1870 there were between forty and fifty separate and +distinct authorities for issuing copyrights. The American people were put +to much trouble to find out where to apply, in the complicated system of +District Courts, several of them frequently in a single State, to enter +titles for publication. They were required to make entry in the district +where the applicant resided, and this was frequently a matter of doubt. +Moreover, they were required to go to the expense and trouble of +transmitting a copy of the work, after publication, to the District +clerk, and another copy to the Library of Congress. Were both copies +mailed to Washington (post-free by law) this duty would be diminished by +one-half. + +2. A copyright work is not an invention nor a patent; it is a +contribution to literature. It is not material, but intellectual, and has +no natural relation to a department which is charged with the care of the +mechanic arts; and it belongs rather to a national library system than to +any other department of the civil service. The responsibility of caring +for it would be an incident to the similar labors already devolved upon +the Librarian of Congress; and the receipts from copyright certificates +would much more than pay its expense, thus leaving the treasury the +gainer by the change. + +3. The advantage of securing to our national library a complete +collection of all American copyright publications can scarcely be +over-estimated. If such a law as that enacted in 1870 had been enforced +since the beginning of the government, we should now have in the Library +of Congress a complete representation of the product of the American mind +in every department of science and literature. Many publications which +are printed in small editions, or which become "out of print" from the +many accidents which continually destroy books, would owe to such a +library their sole chance of preservation. We ought to have one +comprehensive library in the country, and that belonging to the nation, +whose aim it should be to preserve the books which other libraries have +not the room nor the means to procure. + +4. This consideration assumes additional weight when it is remembered +that the Library of Congress is freely open to the public day and evening +throughout the year, and is rapidly becoming the great reference library +of the country, resorted to not only by Congress and the residents of +Washington, but by students and writers from all parts of the Union, in +search of references and authorities not elsewhere to be found. The +advantage of having all American publications accessible upon inquiry +would be to build up at Washington a truly national library, +approximately complete and available to all the people. + +These considerations prevailed with Congress to effect the amendment in +copyright registration referred to. + +By enactment of the statute of 1870 all the defects in the methods of +registration and deposit of copies were obviated. The original records of +copyright in all the States were thenceforward kept in the office of the +Librarian of Congress. All questions as to literary property, involving a +search of records to determine points of validity, such as priority of +entry, names and residence of actual owners, transfers or assignments, +timely deposit of the required copies, etc., could be determined upon +inquiry at a single office of record. These inquiries are extremely +numerous, and obviously very important, involving frequently large +interests in valuable publications in which litigation to establish the +rights of authors, publishers or infringers has been commenced or +threatened. By the full records of copyright entries thus preserved, +moreover, the Library of Congress (which is the property of the nation) +has been enabled to secure what was before unattainable, namely, an +approximately complete collection of all American books, etc., protected +by copyright, since the legislation referred to went into effect. The +system has been found in practice to give general satisfaction; the +manner of securing copyright has been made plain and easy to all, the +office of record being now a matter of public notoriety; and the test of +experience during thirty years has established the system so thoroughly +that none would be found to favor a return to the former methods. + +The Act of 1870 provided for the removal of the collection of copyright +books and other publications from the over-crowded Patent Office to the +Library of Congress. These publications were the accumulations of about +eighty years, received from the United States District Clerks' offices +under the old law. By request of the Commissioner of Patents all the law +books and a large number of technical works were reserved at the +Department of the Interior. The residue, when removed to the Capitol, +were found to number 23,070 volumes, a much smaller number than had been +anticipated, in view of the length of time during which the copy tax had +been in operation. But the observance of the acts requiring deposits of +copyright publications with the Clerks of the United States District +Courts had been very defective (no penalty being provided for +non-compliance), and, moreover, the Patent Office had failed to receive +from the offices of original deposit large numbers of publications which +should have been sent to Washington. From one of the oldest States in the +Union not a single book had been sent in evidence of copyright. The +books, however, which were added to the Congressional Library, although +consisting largely of school books and the minor literature of the last +half century, comprised many valuable additions to the collection of +American books, which it should be the aim of a National Library to +render complete. Among them were the earliest editions of the works of +many well-known writers, now out of print and scarce. + +The first book ever entered for copyright privileges under the laws of +the United States was "The Philadelphia Spelling Book," which was +registered in the Clerk's Office of the District of Pennsylvania, June 9, +1790, by John Barry as author. The spelling book was a fit introduction +to the long series of books since produced to further the diffusion of +knowledge among men. The second book entered was "The American +Geography," by Jedediah Morse, entered in the District of Massachusetts +on July 10, 1790, a copy of which is preserved in the Library of +Congress. The earliest book entered in the State of New York was on the +30th of April, 1791, and it was entitled "The Young Gentleman's and +Lady's Assistant, by Donald Fraser, Schoolmaster." + +Objection has occasionally, though rarely, been made to what is known as +the copy-tax, by which two copies of each publication must be deposited +in the National Library. This requirement rests upon two valid grounds: +(1) The preservation of copies of everything protected by copyright is +necessary in the interest of authors and publishers, in evidence of +copyright, and in aid of identification in connection with the record of +title; (2) the library of the government (which is that of the whole +people) should possess and permanently preserve a complete collection of +the products of the American press, so far as secured by copyright. The +government makes no unreasonable exaction in saying to authors and +publishers: "The nation gives you exclusive right to make and sell your +publication, without limit as to quantity, for forty-two years; give the +nation in return two copies, one for the use and reference of Congress +and the public in the National Library, the other for preservation in the +copyright archives, in perpetual evidence of your right." + +In view of the valuable monopoly conceded by the public, does not the +government in effect give far more than a _quid pro quo_ for the +copy-tax? Of course it would not be equitable to exact even one copy of +publications not secured by copyright, in which case the government gives +nothing and gets nothing; but the exaction of actually protected +publications, while it is almost unfelt by publishers, is so clearly in +the interest of the public intelligence, as well as of authors and +publishers themselves, that no valid objection to it appears to exist. In +Great Britain five copies of every book protected by copyright are +required for five different libraries, which appears somewhat +unreasonable. + +Regarding the right of renewal of the term of copyright, it is a +significant fact that it is availed of in comparatively few instances, +compared with the whole body of publications. Multitudes of books are +published which not only never reach a second edition, but the sale of +which does not exhaust more than a small part of the copies printed of +the first. In these cases the right of renewal is waived and suffered to +lapse, from defect of commercial value in the work protected. In many +other cases the right of renewal expires before the author or his assigns +bethink them of the privilege secured to them under the law. It results +that more than nine-tenths, probably, of all books published are free to +any one to print, without reward or royalty to their authors, after a +very few years have elapsed. On the other hand, the exclusive right in +some publications of considerable commercial value is kept alive far +beyond the forty-two years included in the original and the renewal term, +by entry of new editions of the work, and securing copyright on the same. +While this method may not protect any of the original work from +republication by others, it enables the publishers of the copyright +edition to advertise such unauthorized reprints as imperfect, and without +the author's or editor's latest revision or additions. + +The whole number of entries of copyright in the United States since we +became a nation considerably exceeds a million and a half. It may be of +interest to give the aggregate number of titles of publications entered +for copyright in each year since the transfer of the entire records to +Washington in 1870. + + COPYRIGHTS REGISTERED IN THE UNITED STATES, + 1870-1899. + +1870 5,600 1874 16,283 1878 15,798 +1871 12,688 1875 14,364 1879 18,125 +1872 14,164 1876 14,882 1880 20,686 +1873 15,352 1877 15,758 1881 21,075 +1882 22,918 1888 38,225 1894 62,762 +1883 25,273 1889 40,777 1895 67,572 +1884 26,893 1890 42,758 1896 72,470 +1885 28,410 1891 48,908 1897 74,321 +1886 31,241 1892 54,735 1898 76,874 +1887 35,083 1893 58,936 1899 86,492 + + Total, 30 years, 1,079,445 + +It will readily be seen that this great number of copyrights does not +represent books alone. Many thousands of entries are daily and weekly +periodicals claiming copyright protection, in which case they are +required by law to make entry of every separate issue. These include a +multitude of journals, literary, political, scientific, religious, +pictorial, technical, commercial, agricultural, sporting, dramatic, etc., +among which are a number in foreign languages. These entries also embrace +all the leading monthly and quarterly magazines and reviews, with many +devoted to specialties--as metaphysics, sociology, law, theology, art, +finance, education, and the arts and sciences generally. Another large +class of copyright entries (and the largest next to books and +periodicals) is musical compositions, numbering recently some 20,000 +publications yearly. Much of this property is valuable, and it is nearly +all protected by entry of copyright, coming from all parts of the Union. +There is also a large and constantly increasing number of works of +graphic art, comprising engravings, photographs, photogravures, chromos, +lithographs, etchings, prints, and drawings, for which copyright is +entered. The steady accumulation of hundreds of thousands of these +various pictorial illustrations will enable the government at no distant +day, without a dollar of expense, to make an exhibit of the progress of +the arts of design in America, which will be highly interesting and +instructive. An art gallery of ample dimensions for this purpose is +provided in the new National Library building. + +It remains to consider briefly the principles and practice of what is +known as international copyright. + +Perhaps there is no argument for copyright at all in the productions of +the intellect which is not good for its extension to all countries. The +basis of copyright is that all useful labor is worthy of a recompense; +but since all human thought when put into material or merchantable form +becomes, in a certain sense, public property, the laws of all countries +recognize and protect the original owners, or their assigns to whom they +may convey the right, in an exclusive privilege for limited terms only. +Literary property therefore is not a natural right, but a conventional +one. The author's right to his manuscript is, indeed, absolute, and the +law will protect him in it as fully as it will guard any other property. +But when once put in type and multiplied through the printing-press, his +claim to an exclusive right has to be guarded by a special statute, +otherwise it is held to be abandoned (like the articles in a newspaper) +to the public. This special protection is furnished in nearly all +civilized countries by copyright law. + +What we call "copyright" is an exclusive right to multiply copies of any +publication for sale. Domestic copyright, which is all we formerly had in +this country, is limited to the United States. International copyright, +which has now been enacted, extends the right of American authors to +foreign countries, and recognizes a parallel right of foreign authors in +our own. There is nothing in the constitutional provision which restrains +Congress from granting copyright to other than American citizens. Patent +right, coming under the same clause of the Constitution, has been +extended to foreigners. Out of over 20,000 patents annually issued, about +2,500 (or 12 per cent.) are issued to foreigners, while American patents +are similarly protected abroad. If we have international patent right, +why not international copyright? The grant of power is the same; both +patent right and copyright are for a limited time; both rights during +this time are exclusive; and both rest upon the broad ground of the +promotion of science and the useful arts. If copyright is justifiable at +all, if authors are to be secured a reward for their labors, they claim +that all who use them should contribute equally to this result. The +principle of copyright once admitted, it cannot logically be confined to +State lines or national boundaries. There appears to be no middle ground +between the doctrine of common property in all productions of the +intellect--which leads us to communism by the shortest road--and the +admission that copyright is due, while its limited term lasts, from all +who use the works of an author, wherever found. + +Accordingly, international copyright has become the policy of nearly all +civilized nations. The term of copyright is longer in most countries than +in the United States, ranging from the life of the author and seven years +beyond, in England, to a life term and fifty years additional in France +and Russia. Copyright is thus made a life tenure and something more in +all countries except our own, where its utmost limit is forty-two years. +This may perhaps be held to represent a fair average lifetime, reckoned +from the age of intellectual maturity. There have not been wanting +advocates for a perpetual copyright, to run to the author and his heirs +and assigns forever. This was urged before the British Copyright +Commission in 1878 by leading British publishers, but the term of +copyright is hitherto, in all nations, limited by law. + +Only brief allusion can be made to the most recent (and in some respects +most important) advance step which has been taken in copyright +legislation in the United States. This act of Congress is aimed at +securing reciprocal protection to American and foreign authors in the +respective countries which may comply with its provisions. There is here +no room to sketch the hitherto vain attempt to secure to authors, here +and abroad, an international protection to their writings. Suffice it to +say that a union of interests was at last effected, whereby authors, +publishers and manufacturers are supposed to have secured some measure of +protection to their varied interests. The measure is largely +experimental, and the satisfaction felt over its passage into law is +tempered by doubt in various quarters as to the justice, or liberality, +or actual benefit to authors of its provisions. What is to be said of a +statute which was denounced by some Senators as a long step backward +toward barbarism, and hailed by others as a great landmark in the +progress of civilization? + +The main features added to the existing law of copyright by this act, +which took effect July 1, 1891, are these: + +1. All limitation of the privilege of copyright to citizens and residents +of the United States is repealed. + +2. Foreigners applying for copyright are to pay fees of $1 for record, or +$1.50 for certificate of copyright. + +3. Importation of books, photographs, chromos or lithographs entered here +for copyright is prohibited, except two copies of any book for use and +not for sale. + +4. The two copies of books, photographs, chromos or lithographs deposited +with the Librarian of Congress must be printed from type set, or plates, +etc., made in the United States. It follows that all foreign works +protected by American copyright must be wholly manufactured in this +country. + +5. The copyright privilege is restricted to citizens or subjects of +nations permitting the benefit of copyright to Americans on +substantially the same terms as their own citizens, or of nations who +have international agreements providing for reciprocity in the grant of +copyright, to which the United States may at its pleasure become a party. + +6. The benefit of copyright in the United States is not to take effect as +to any foreigner until the actual existence of either of the conditions +just recited, in the case of the nation to which he belongs, shall have +been made known by a proclamation of the President of the United States. + +One very material benefit has been secured through international +copyright. Under it, authors are assured the control of their own text, +both as to correctness and completeness. Formerly, republication was +conducted on a "scramble" system, by which books were hastened through +the press, to secure the earliest market, with little or no regard to a +correct re-production. Moreover, it was in the power of the American +publisher of an English book, or of a British publisher of an American +one, to alter or omit passages in any work reprinted, at his pleasure. +This license was formerly exercised, and imperfect, garbled, or truncated +editions of an author's writings were issued without his consent, an +outrage against which international copyright furnishes the only +preventive. + +Another benefit of copyright between nations has been to check the +relentless flood of cheap, unpaid-for fiction, which formerly poured from +the press, submerging the better literature. The Seaside and other +libraries, with their miserable type, flimsy paper, and ugly form, were +an injury alike to the eyesight, to the taste, and in many cases, to the +morals of the community. More than ninety per cent. of these wretched +"Libraries" were foreign novels. An avalanche of English and translated +French novels of the "bigamy school" of fiction swept over the land, +until the cut-throat competition of publishers, after exhausting the +stock of unwholesome foreign literature, led to the failure of many +houses, and piled high the counters of book and other stores with +bankrupt stock. Having at last got rid of this unclean brood, (it is +hoped forever) we now have better books, produced on good paper and type, +and worth preserving, at prices not much above those of the trash +formerly offered us. + +At the same time, standard works of science and literature are being +published in England at prices which tend steadily toward increased +popular circulation. Even conservative publishers are reversing the rule +of small editions at high prices, for larger editions at low prices. The +old three-volume novel is nearly supplanted by the one volume, +well-printed and bound book at five or six shillings. Many more +reductions would follow in the higher class of books, were not the +measure of reciprocal copyright thus far secured handicapped by the +necessity of re-printing on this side at double cost, if a large American +circulation is in view. + +The writers of America, with the steady and rapid progress of the art of +making books, have come more and more to appreciate the value of their +preservation, in complete and unbroken series, in the library of the +government, the appropriate conservator of the nation's literature. +Inclusive and not exclusive, as this library is wisely made by law, so +far as copyright works are concerned, it preserves with impartial care +the illustrious and the obscure. In its archives all sciences and all +schools of opinion stand on equal ground. In the beautiful and ample +repository, now erected and dedicated to literature and art through the +liberal action of Congress, the intellectual wealth of the past and the +present age will be handed down to the ages that are to follow. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] G. H. Putnam, "Books and their makers in the Middle Ages," N. Y. +1897, vol. 2, p. 447. + + + + +CHAPTER 24. + +POETRY OF THE LIBRARY. + + +THE LIBRARIAN'S DREAM. + + 1. + He sat at night by his lonely bed, + With an open book before him; + And slowly nodded his weary head, + As slumber came stealing o'er him. + + 2. + And he saw in his dream a mighty host + Of the writers gone before, + And the shadowy form of many a ghost + Glided in at the open door. + + 3. + Great Homer came first in a snow-white shroud, + And Virgil sang sweet by his side; + While Cicero thundered in accents loud, + And Caesar most gravely replied. + + 4. + Anacreon, too, from his rhythmical lips + The honey of Hybla distilled, + And Herodotus suffered a partial eclipse, + While Horace with music was filled. + + 5. + The procession of ancients was brilliant and long, + Aristotle and Plato were there, + Thucydides, too, and Tacitus strong, + And Plutarch, and Sappho the fair. + + 6. + Aristophanes elbowed gay Ovid's white ghost, + And Euripides Xenophon led, + While Propertius laughed loud at Juvenal's jokes, + And Sophocles rose from the dead. + + 7. + Then followed a throng to memory dear, + Of writers more modern in age, + Cervantes and Shakespeare, who died the same year, + And Chaucer, and Bacon the sage. + + 8. + Immortal the laurels that decked the fair throng, + And Dante moved by with his lyre, + While Montaigne and Pascal stood rapt by his song, + And Boccaccio paused to admire. + + 9. + Sweet Spenser and Calderon moved arm in arm, + While Milton and Sidney were there, + Pope, Dryden, and Moliere added their charm, + And Bunyan, and Marlowe so rare. + + 10. + Then Gibbon stalked by in classical guise, + And Hume, and Macaulay, and Froude, + While Darwin, and Huxley, and Tyndall looked wise, + And Humboldt and Comte near them stood. + + 11. + Dean Swift looked sardonic on Addison's face, + And Johnson tipped Boswell a wink, + Walter Scott and Jane Austen hobnobbed o'er a glass, + And Goethe himself deigned to drink. + + 12. + Robert Burns followed next with Thomas Carlyle, + Jean Paul paired with Coleridge, too, + While De Foe elbowed Goldsmith, the master of style, + And Fielding and Schiller made two. + + 13. + Rousseau with his eloquent, marvellous style, + And Voltaire, with his keen, witty pen, + Victor Hugo so grand, though repellent the while, + And Dumas and Balzac again. + + 14. + Dear Thackeray came in his happiest mood, + And stayed until midnight was done, + Bulwer-Lytton, and Reade, and Kingsley and Hood, + And Dickens, the master of fun. + + 15. + George Eliot, too, with her matter-full page, + And Byron, and Browning, and Keats, + While Shelley and Tennyson joined youth and age, + And Wordsworth the circle completes. + + 16. + Then followed a group of America's best, + With Irving, and Bryant, and Holmes, + While Bancroft and Motley unite with the rest, + And Thoreau with Whittier comes. + + 17. + With his Raven in hand dreamed on Edgar Poe, + And Longfellow sweet and serene, + While Prescott, and Ticknor, and Emerson too, + And Hawthorne and Lowell were seen. + + 18. + While thus the assembly of witty and wise + Rejoiced the librarian's sight, + Ere the wonderful vision had fled from his eyes, + From above shone a heavenly light: + + 19. + And solemn and sweet came a voice from the skies, + "All battles and conflicts are done, + The temple of Knowledge shall open all eyes, + And law, faith, and reason are one!" + + When the radiant dawn of the morning broke, + From his glorious dream the librarian woke. + + * * * * * + +THE LIBRARY. + + That place that does contain my books, + My books, the best companions, is to me, + A glorious court, where hourly I converse + With the old sages and philosophers; + And sometimes, for variety I confer + With kings and emperors, and weigh their counsels. + BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER. + + * * * * * + + The bard of every age and clime, + Of genius fruitful and of soul sublime, + Who from the glowing mint of fancy pours + No spurious metal, fused from common ores, + But gold to matchless purity refined, + And stamped with all the Godhead in his mind. + JUVENAL. + + * * * * * + + Books, we know, + Are a substantial world, both pure and good; + Round these, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood, + Our pastime and our happiness will grow. + WORDSWORTH. + + * * * * * + +QUAINT LINES ON A BOOK-WORM. + + The Bokeworme sitteth in his celle, + He studyethe all alone, + And burnethe oute the oile, + 'Till ye midnight hour is gone + Then gethe he downe upon his bedde, + Ne mo watch will he a-keepe, + He layethe his heade on ye pillowe, + And eke he tryes to sleepe. + Then swyfte there cometh a vision grimme, + And greetythe him sleepynge fair, + And straighte he dreameth of grislie dreames, + And dreades fellowne and rayre. + Wherefore, if cravest life to eld + Ne rede longe uppe at night, + But go to bed at Curfew bell + And ryse wythe mornynge's lyte. + + * * * * * + +BALLADE OF THE BOOK-HUNTER. + + In torrid heats of late July, + In March, beneath the bitter _bise_, + He book-hunts while the loungers fly,-- + He book-hunts, though December freeze; + In breeches baggy at the knees, + And heedless of the public jeers, + For these, for these, he hoards his fees,-- + Aldines, Bodonis, Elzevirs. + + No dismal stall escapes his eye, + He turns o'er tomes of low degrees, + There soiled romanticists may lie, + Or Restoration comedies; + Each tract that flutters in the breeze + For him is charged with hopes and fears, + In mouldy novels fancy sees + Aldines, Bodonis, Elzevirs. + + With restless eyes that peer and spy, + Sad eyes that heed not skies nor trees, + In dismal nooks he loves to pry, + Whose motto evermore is _Spes_! + But ah! the fabled treasure flees; + Grown rarer with the fleeting years, + In rich men's shelves they take their ease,-- + Aldines, Bodonis, Elzevirs! + + Prince, all the things that tease and please,-- + Fame, hope, wealth, kisses, jeers and tears, + What are they but such toys as these-- + Aldines, Bodonis, Elzevirs? ANDREW LANG. + + * * * * * + + 'Tis in books the chief + Of all perfections to be plain and brief. + SAMUEL BUTLER. + + Of all those arts in which the wise excel, + Nature's chief master-piece is writing well. + BUCKINGHAM. + + Books should to one of these four ends conduce: + For wisdom, piety, delight, or use. + SIR JOHN DENHAM. + + * * * * * + +MY BOOKS. + + Oh, happy he who, weary of the sound + Of throbbing life, can shut his study door, + Like Heinsius, on it all, to find a store + Of peace that otherwise is never found! + Such happiness is mine, when all around + My dear dumb friends in groups of three or four + Command my soul to linger on the shore + Of those fair realms where they reign monarchs crowned. + To-day the strivings of the world are naught, + For I am in a land that glows with God, + And I am in a path by angels trod. + Dost ask what book creates such heavenly thought? + Then know that I with Dante soar afar, + Till earth shrinks slowly to a tiny star. + J. WILLIAMS. + + * * * * * + +THOUGHTS IN A LIBRARY. + + Speak low! tread softly through these halls; + Here genius lives enshrined; + Here reign in silent majesty + The monarchs of the mind. + + A mighty spirit host they come + From every age and clime; + Above the buried wrecks of years + They breast the tide of time. + + Here shall the poets chant for thee + Their sweetest, loftiest lays, + And prophets wait to guide thy steps + In Wisdom's pleasant ways. + + Come, with these God-anointed kings + Be thou companion here; + And in the mighty realm of mind + Thou shalt go forth a peer! + ANNE C. LYNCH BOTTA. + + * * * * * + +VERSES IN A LIBRARY. + + Give me that book whose power is such + That I forget the north wind's touch. + + Give me that book that brings to me + Forgetfulness of what I be. + + Give me that book that takes my life + In seeming far from all its strife. + + Give me that book wherein each page + Destroys my sense of creeping age. + JOHN KENDRICK BANGS. + + * * * * * + +A BOOK BY THE BROOK. + + Give me a nook and a book, + And let the proud world spin round; + Let it scramble by hook or by crook + For wealth or a name with a sound. + You are welcome to amble your ways, + Aspirers to place or to glory; + May big bells jangle your praise, + And golden pens blazon your story; + For me, let me dwell in my nook, + Here by the curve of this brook, + That croons to the tune of my book: + Whose melody wafts me forever + On the waves of an unseen river. + WILLIAM FREELAND. + + The love of learning, the sequestered nooks, + And all the sweet serenity of books. + H. W. LONGFELLOW. + + Oh for a booke and a shady nooke + Eyther in door or out, + With the greene leaves whispering overhead, + Or the streete cryes all about: + Where I maie reade all at my ease + Both of the newe and olde, + For a jollie goode booke whereon to looke + Is better to me than golde! + + * * * * * + +TO DANIEL ELZEVIR. + +(_From the Latin of Menage._) + + What do I see! Oh! gods divine + And Goddesses--this Book of mine-- + This child of many hopes and fears, + Is published by the Elzevirs! + Oh Perfect publishers complete! + Oh dainty volume, new and neat! + The Paper doth outshine the snow, + The Print is blacker than the crow, + The Title-page, with crimson bright, + The vellum cover smooth and white, + All sorts of readers to invite; + Ay, and will keep them reading still, + Against their will, or with their will! + Thus what of grace the Rhymes may lack + The Publisher has given them back, + As Milliners adorn the fair + Whose charms are something skimp and spare. + + Oh dulce decus, Elzevirs! + The pride of dead and dawning years, + How can a poet best repay + The debt he owes your House to-day? + May this round world, while aught endures, + Applaud, and buy, these books of yours. + May purchasers incessant pop, + My Elzevirs, within your shop, + And learned bards salute, with cheers, + The volumes of the Elzevirs, + Till your renown fills earth and sky, + Till men forget the Stephani, + And all that Aldus wrought, and all + Turnebus sold in shop or stall, + While still may Fate's (and Binders') shears + Respect, and spare, the Elzevirs! + + * * * * * + + Blessings be with them, and eternal praise, + Who gave us nobler loves and nobler cares! + The Poets, who on earth have made us heirs + Of truth and pure delight by heavenly lays. + WORDSWORTH. + + * * * * * + +COMPANIONS. + + But books, old friends that are always new, + Of all good things that we know are best; + They never forsake us, as others do, + And never disturb our inward rest. + Here is truth in a world of lies, + And all that in man is great and wise! + Better than men and women, friend, + That are dust, though dear in our joy and pain, + Are the books their cunning hands have penned, + For they depart, but the books remain. + RICHARD HENRY STODDARD. + + * * * * * + +THE PARADOX OF BOOKS. + + I'm strange contradictions; I'm new and I'm old, + I'm often in tatters, and oft decked with gold. + Though I never could read, yet lettered I'm found; + Though blind, I enlighten; though loose, I am bound. + I'm always in black, and I'm always in white; + I am grave and I'm gay, I am heavy and light. + In form too I differ,--I'm thick and I'm thin; + I've no flesh and no bone, yet I'm covered with skin; + I've more points than the compass, more stops than the flute; + I sing without voice, without speaking confute; + I'm English, I'm German, I'm French, and I'm Dutch; + Some love me too fondly, some slight me too much; + I often die soon, though I sometimes live ages, + And no monarch alive has so many pages. + HANNAH MORE. + + * * * * * + + I love my books as drinkers love their wine; + The more I drink, the more they seem divine; + With joy elate my soul in love runs o'er, + And each fresh draught is sweeter than before: + Books bring me friends where'er on earth I be,-- + Solace of solitude, bonds of society. + + I love my books! they are companions dear, + Sterling in worth, in friendship most sincere; + Here talk I with the wise in ages gone, + And with the nobly gifted in our own: + If love, joy, laughter, sorrow please my mind, + Love, joy, grief, laughter in my books I find. + FRANCIS BENNOCH. + + * * * * * + +MY LIBRARY. + + All round the room my silent servants wait,-- + My friends in every season, bright and dim + Angels and seraphim + Come down and murmur to me, sweet and low, + And spirits of the skies all come and go + Early and late; + From the old world's divine and distant date, + From the sublimer few, + Down to the poet who but yester-eve + Sang sweet and made us grieve, + All come, assembling here in order due. + And here I dwell with Poesy, my mate, + With Erato and all her vernal sighs, + Great Clio with her victories elate, + Or pale Urania's deep and starry eyes. + Oh friends, whom chance or change can never harm, + Whom Death the tyrant cannot doom to die, + Within whose folding soft eternal charm + I love to lie, + And meditate upon your verse that flows, + And fertilizes wheresoe'er it goes. + BRYAN WALLER PROCTER. + + * * * * * + +RATIONAL MADNESS. + +_A Song, for the Lover of Curious and Rare Books._ + + Come, boys, fill your glasses, and fill to the brim, + Here's the essence of humor, the soul, too, of whim! + Attend and receive (and sure 'tis no vapour) + A "hap' worth of wit on a pennyworth of paper." + + Those joys which the Bibliomania affords + Are felt and acknowledged by Dukes and by Lords! + And the finest estate would be offer'd in vain + For an exemplar bound by the famed Roger Payne! + + To a proverb goes madness with love hand in hand, + But our senses we yield to a double command; + The dear frenzy in both is first rous'd by fair looks,-- + Here's our sweethearts, my boys! not forgetting our books! + + Thus our time may we pass with rare books and rare friends, + Growing wiser and better, till life itself ends: + And may those who delight not in black-letter lore, + By some obsolete act be sent from our shore! + + * * * * * + +BALLADE OF TRUE WISDOM. + + While others are asking for beauty or fame, + Or praying to know that for which they should pray, + Or courting Queen Venus, that affable dame, + Or chasing the Muses the weary and grey, + The sage has found out a more excellent way-- + To Pan and to Pallas his incense he showers, + And his humble petition puts up day by day, + For a house full of books, and a garden of flowers. + + Inventors may bow to the God that is lame, + And crave from the fire on his stithy a ray; + Philosophers kneel to the God without name, + Like the people of Athens, agnostics are they; + The hunter a fawn to Diana will slay, + The maiden wild roses will wreathe for the Hours; + But the wise man will ask, ere libation he pay, + For a house full of books, and a garden of flowers. + + Oh grant me a life without pleasure or blame + (As mortals count pleasure who rush through their day + With a speed to which that of the tempest is tame) + O grant me a house by the beach of a bay, + Where the waves can be surly in winter, and play + With the sea-weed in summer, ye bountiful powers! + And I'd leave all the hurry, the noise, and the fray, + For a house full of books, and a garden of flowers. + +ENVOY. + + Gods, grant or withhold it; your "yea" and your "nay" + Are immutable, heedless of outcry of ours: + But life is worth living, and here we would stay + For a house full of books, and a garden of flowers. + ANDREW LANG. + + * * * * * + +THE LIBRARY. + + They soothe the grieved, the stubborn they chastise, + Fools they admonish, and confirm the wise: + Their aid they yield to all: they never shun + The man of sorrow, nor the wretch undone: + Unlike the hard, the selfish, and the proud, + They fly not sullen from the suppliant crowd; + Nor tell to various people various things, + But show to subjects, what they show to kings. + + Blest be the gracious Power, who taught mankind + To stamp a lasting image of the mind! + + With awe, around these silent walks I tread; + These are the lasting mansions of the dead:-- + "The dead!" methinks a thousand tongues reply; + "These are the tombs of such as cannot die! + Crown'd with eternal fame, they sit sublime, + And laugh at all the little strife of time." + + Lo, all in silence, all in order stand, + And mighty folios first, a lordly band; + Then quartos their well-order'd ranks maintain, + And light octavos fill a spacious plain: + See yonder, ranged in more frequent rows, + A humbler band of duodecimos; + While undistinguished trifles swell the scene, + The last new play and fritter'd magazine. + + Here all the rage of controversy ends, + And rival zealots rest like bosom friends: + An Athanasian here, in deep repose, + Sleeps with the fiercest of his Arian foes; + Socinians here with Calvinists abide, + And thin partitions angry chiefs divide; + Here wily Jesuits simple Quakers meet, + And Bellarmine has rest at Luther's feet. + GEORGE CRABBE. + + * * * * * + +ETERNITY OF POETRY. + + For deeds doe die, however noblie donne, + And thoughts do as themselves decay; + But wise words, taught in numbers for to runne + Recorded by the Muses, live for ay; + Ne may with storming showers be washt away, + Ne bitter breathing windes with harmful blast, + Nor age, nor envie, shall them ever wast. + SPENSER. + + * * * * * + +THE OLD BOOKS. + + The old books, the old books, the books of long ago! + Who ever felt Miss Austen tame, or called Sir Walter slow? + We did not care the worst to hear of human sty or den; + We liked to love a little bit, and trust our fellow-men. + The old books, the old books, as pure as summer breeze! + We read them under garden boughs, by fire-light on our knees, + They did not teach, they did not preach, or scold us into good; + A noble spirit from them breathed, the rest was understood. + + The old books, the old books, the mother loves them best; + They leave no bitter taste behind to haunt the youthful breast: + They bid us hope, they bid us fill our hearts with visions fair; + They do not paralyze the will with problems of despair. + And as they lift from sloth and sense to follow loftier planes, + And stir the blood of indolence to bubble in the veins: + Inheritors of mighty things, who own a lineage high, + We feel within us budding wings that long to reach the sky: + To rise above the commonplace, and through the cloud to soar, + And join the loftier company of grander souls of yore. + THE SPECTATOR. + + + + +CHAPTER 25. + +HUMORS OF THE LIBRARY.[3] + +SOME THOUGHTS ON CLASSIFICATION. + +_By Librarian F. M. Crunden._ + + Classification is vexation, + Shelf-numbering is as bad; + The rule of D + Doth puzzle me; + Mnemonics drives me mad. + +_Air--The Lord Chancellor's Song._ + + When first I became a librarian, + Says I to myself, says I, + I'll learn all their systems as fast as I can, + Says I to myself, says I; + The Cutter, the Dewey, the Schwartz, and the Poole, + The alphabet, numeral, mnemonic rule, + The old, and the new, and the eclectic school, + Says I to myself, says I. + + Class-numbers, shelf-numbers, book-numbers, too, + Says I to myself, says I, + I'll study them all, and I'll learn them clear thro', + Says I to myself, says I; + I'll find what is good, and what's better and best, + And I'll put two or three to a practical test; + And then--if I've time--I'll take a short rest, + Says I to myself, says I. + + But art it is long and time it doth fly, + Says I to myself, says I, + And three or four years have already passed by, + Says I to myself, says I; + And yet on those systems I'm not at all clear, + While new combinations forever appear, + To master them all is a life-work, I fear, + Says I to myself, says I. + + * * * * * + +Classification in a Library in Western New York: Gail Hamilton's +"Woolgathering," under Agriculture. + + * * * * * + +Book asked for. "An attack philosopher in Paris." + +A changed title. A young woman went into a library the other day and +asked for the novel entitled "She combeth not her head," but she finally +concluded to take "He cometh not, she said." + + * * * * * + +Labor-saving devices. The economical catalogue-maker who thus set down +two titles-- + + "Mill on the Floss, + do. Political economy." + +has a sister who keeps a universal scrap-book into which everything goes, +but which is carefully indexed. She, too, has a mind for saving, as +witness: + + "Patti, Adelina. + do. Oyster." + + * * * * * + +From a New York auction catalogue: + +"267. Junius Stat Nominis Umbrii, with numerous splendid portraits." + + * * * * * + +At the New York Free Circulating Library, a youth of twenty said +Shakespeare made him tired. "Why couldn't he write English instead of +indulging in that _thee_ and _thou_ business?" Miss Braddon he pronounced +"a daisy". A pretty little blue-eyed fellow "liked American history best +of all," but found the first volume of Justin Winsor's history too much +for him. "The French and German and Hebrew in it are all right, but +there's Spanish and Italian and Latin, and I don't know those." + + * * * * * + +A gentleman in Paris sent to the bookbinder two volumes of the French +edition of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." The title in French is "L'Oncle Tom," and +the two volumes were returned to him marked on their backs: + +L'Oncle, L'Oncle, +Tome I. Tome II. + + * * * * * + +HOW A BIBLIOMANIAC BINDS HIS BOOKS. + + I'd like my favorite books to bind + So that their outward dress + To every bibliomaniac's mind + Their contents should express. + + Napoleon's life should glare in red, + John Calvin's life in blue; + Thus they would typify bloodshed + And sour religion's hue. + + The Popes in scarlet well may go; + In jealous green, Othello; + In gray, Old Age of Cicero, + And London Cries in yellow. + + My Walton should his gentle art + In salmon best express, + And Penn and Fox the friendly heart + In quiet drab confess. + + Crimea's warlike facts and dates + Of fragrant Russia smell; + The subjugated Barbary States + In crushed Morocco dwell. + + But oh! that one I hold so dear + Should be arrayed so cheap + Gives me a qualm; I sadly fear + My Lamb must be half-sheep! + IRVING BROWNE. + + * * * * * + +In a Wisconsin library, a young lady asked for the "Life of National +Harthorne" and the "Autograph on the breakfast table." + + * * * * * + +"Have you a poem on the Victor of Manengo, by Anon?" + + * * * * * + +Library inquiry--"I want the catalogue of temporary literature." + +Query--What did she want? + +A friend proposes to put Owen's "Footfalls on the Boundaries of Another +World" in Travels. Shall we let him? + + * * * * * + +A poet, in Boston, filled out an application for a volume of Pope's +works, an edition reserved from circulation, in the following tuneful +manner: + + "You ask me, dear sir, to a reason define + Why you should for a fortnight this volume resign + To my care.--_I am also a son of the nine._" + + * * * * * + +A worthy Deutscher, confident in his mastery of the English tongue, sent +the following quaint document across the sea: + +"I send you with the Post six numbers, of our Allgemeine Militaer-Zeitung, +which is published in the next year to the fifty times. Excuse my bath +english I learned in the school and I forgot so much. If you have +interest to german Antiquariatskataloge I will send to you some. I remain +however yours truly servant." + + * * * * * + +A gentlemanly stranger once asked the delivery clerk for "a genealogy." +"What one?" she asked. "Oh! any," he said. "Well--Savage's?" "No; white +men." + + * * * * * + +Said Melvil Dewey: "To my thinking, a great librarian must have a clear +head, a strong hand, and, above all, a great heart. Such shall be +greatest among librarians; and, when I look into the future, I am +inclined to think that most of the men who will achieve this greatness +will be women." + + * * * * * + +A LIBRARY HYMN. + +_By an Assistant Librarian._ + +I have endeavored to clothe the dull prose of the usual Library Rules +with the mantle of poetry, that they may be more attractive, and more +easily remembered by the great public whom we serve. + + Gently, reader, gently moving, + Wipe your feet beside the door; + Hush your voice to whispers soothing, + Take your hat off, I implore! + Mark your number, plainly, rightly, + From the catalogue you see; + With the card projecting slightly, + Then your book bring unto me. + Quickly working, + With no shirking, + Soon another there will be. + + If above two weeks you've left me, + Just two cents a day I'll take, + And, unless my mind's bereft me, + Payment you must straightway make. + Treat your books as if to-morrow, + Gabriel's trump would surely sound, + And all scribbling, to your sorrow, + 'Gainst your credit would be found. + Therefore tear not, + Spot and wear not + All these books so neatly bound. + + These few simple rules abiding, + We shall always on you smile: + There will be no room for chiding, + No one's temper will you rile. + And when Heaven's golden portals + For you on their hinges turn, + With the books for all immortals, + There will be no rules to learn. + Therefore heed them, + Often read them, + Lest your future weal you spurn. + + * * * * * + +TITLES OF BOOKS ASKED FOR BY WRITTEN SLIPS IN A POPULAR LIBRARY. + + Aristopholus translated by Buckley. + Alfreri Tragedus. + Bertall Lavie Hors De Ches Soi. + Cooke M. C. M. A. L. L. D. their nature and uses. + Edited by Rev. J. M. Berkeley M. A. F. R. S. (Fungi.) + Caralus Note Book (A Cavalier's). + Gobden Club-Essays. + Specie the origin of Darwin. + An Epistropal Prayer Book. + + * * * * * + +BLUNDERS IN CATALOGUING. + + Gasparin. The uprising of a great many people. + Hughes, Tom. The scouring of the White House. + Mayhew. The pheasant boy. + Wind in the lower animals (Mind.) + + * * * * * + +RECENT CALLS FOR BOOKS AT A WESTERN LIBRARY. + + Account of Monte Cristo. + Acrost the Kontinent by Boles. + Bula. + Count of Corpus Cristy. + Dant's Infernal comedy. + Darwin's Descent on man. + Feminine Cooper's works. + Infeleese. + Less Miserable. + Some of Macbeth's writings. + Something in the way of friction. + Squeal to a book. + + * * * * * + +In Vol. 3 of Laporte's "Bibliographie contemporaine," Dibdin's famous +book is entered thus: "Bibliomania, or boock, madnss: a bibliographical +romance...ilustrated with cats." + + * * * * * + +A well-known librarian writes: + +"The Catalogue of the Indiana State Library for the year 1859 has long +been my wonder and admiration. "Bank's History of the Popes" appears +under the letter B. Strong in the historical department, it offers a +choice between the "Life of John Tyler, by Harper & Brothers," "Memoirs +of Moses Henderson, by Jewish Philosophers," "Memoirs and Correspondence +of Viscount Castlereach, by the Marquis of Londonderry," and "Memoirs of +Benvenuto, by Gellini." In fiction, you may find "Tales of My Landlord by +Cleishbotham," and "The Pilot, by the Author of the Pioneers;" while, if +your passion for plural authorship is otherwise unappeasable--if Beaumont +and Fletcher or Erckman-Chatrian seem to you too feeble a combination of +talents--you may well be captivated by the title "Small Arms, by the +United States Army." + +"The State of Indiana has undoubtedly learned a good many things since +1859; but whosoever its present librarian may be, it is hardly probable +that its highest flight in bibliography has surpassed the catalogue from +which the above are quoted." + + * * * * * + +Books demanded at a certain public library: + + "The Stuck-up Minister"--(Stickit Minister.) + "From Jessie to Ernest" (Jest to Earnest). + + * * * * * + +A country order for books called for "The Thrown of David," "Echo of +Hummo" (Ecce Homo) and "Echo of Deas" (Ecce Deus). + + * * * * * + +The Nation mentions as an instance of "the havoc which types can make +with the titles of books, that a single catalogue gives us 'Clara Reeve's +Old English Barn,' 'Swinburne's Century of Scoundrels,' and 'Una and her +Papuse.' But this is outdone by the bookseller who offered for sale +"Balvatzky, Mrs. Izis unveiled." Another goddess is offended in "Transits +of Venice, by R. A. Proctor." + + * * * * * + +In a certain city, an examination of applicants for employment in the +public library was held. The following is an exact copy of the answer to +a question, asking for the title of a work written by each of the authors +named: "John Ruskin, 'The Bread Winners;' William H. Prescott, 'The +Frozen Pirate;' Charles Darwin, 'The Missing Link;' Thomas Carlyle, +'Caesar's Column.'" The same man is responsible for saying that "B. C." +stands for the Creation, and "A. D." for the Deluge. + +Who wants this bright young man? + + * * * * * + +A STORY ABOUT STORIES. + + "When A Man's Single," all "Vanity Fair" + Courts his favor and smiles, + And feminine "Moths" "In Silk Attire" + Try on him "A Woman's Wiles." + + "The World, the Flesh and the Devil" + Were "Wormwood" and gall to me, + Weary and sick of "The Passing Show," + No "Woman's Face" was "Fair to See." + + I fled away to "The Mill on the Floss" + "Two Years Ago," "In an Evil Hour," + For "The Miller's Daughter" there I met, + Who "Cometh Up as a Flower." + + She was a simple "Rose in June," + And I was "An Average Man;" + "We Two" were "Far From the Madding Crowd" + When our "Love and Life" began. + + It was but "A Modern Instance" + Of true "Love's Random Shot," + And I, "The Heir of Redclyffe" + Was "Kidnapped": and "Why Not"? + + We cannot escape the hand of "Fate," + And few are "Fated to be Free," + But beware of "A Social Departure"-- + You'll live "Under the Ban," like me. + + I tried to force the "Gates Ajar" + For my "Queen of Curds and Cream," + But "The Pillars of Society" + Shook with horror at my "Dream." + + I am no more "A Happy Man," + Though blessed with "Heavenly Twins," + Because "The Wicked World" maintains + "A Low Marriage" the worst of sins. + + "Pride and Prejudice" rule the world, + "A Marriage for Love" is "A Capital Crime," + Beware of "A Country Neighborhood" + And shun "Mad Love" in time. + + * * * * * + +Says the Nation: + +A Philadelphia catalogue, whose compiler must have been more interested +in current events than in his task, offers for sale "Intrigues of the +Queen of Spain with McKinley, the Prince of Peace, Boston, 1809." How +Godoy should become McKinley, or McKinley should become the Prince of +Peace, is a problem for psychologists. + + * * * * * + +CONFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE. + +The following are some specimens of answers to Examinations of candidates +for Library employment, given within the past five years: + +"A sonnet is a poem which is adapted to music, as Petrarch's sonnets"; "a +sonnet is a short poem sometimes and sometimes a long one and generally a +reflection, or thoughts upon some inanimate thing, as Young's 'Night +thoughts.'" "An epic is a critical writing, as 'Criticism on man'"; "an +epic is a literary form written in verse, and which teaches us some +lesson not necessarily of a moral nature"; "an epic is a dramatic poem." + +Epigrammatic writing is very clearly defined as "critical in a +grammatical way." "Allegory is writing highly colored, as Pope's works"; +"allegory is writing of something that never happened, but it is purely +imaginary, often a wandering from the main point." A common mistake +regarding the meaning of the word bibliography results in such answers as +"bibliography--a study of the Bible;" or "gives the lives of the people +in the Bible." An encyclopaedia was aptly defined as "a storehouse of +knowledge for the enlightenment of the public," while another answer +reads "Book of Books, giving the life of famous persons, life and habits +of animals and plants, and some medical knowledge." A collection of works +of any author is termed "an anthropology." "Anthology is the study of +insects." Folklore is defined as "giving to animals and things human +sense"; an elegy means "a eulogy," oratory, "the deliverance of words." +Belles-lettres is to one applicant "beautiful ideas," to another "the +title of a book," to another "short stories"; again "are the letters of +French writers," and still another writes "French for prominent +literature and light literature." A concordance "is the explication or +definition of something told in a simpler form," is the extremely lucid +answer to one question, which was answered by another candidate as "a +table of reference at back of book." + +The titles of books are too seldom associated with their authors' names, +resulting in such answers as "Homer is the author of the Aeneid"; "Lalla +Rookh" was written by James Blackmore; "Children of the Abbey," by Walter +Besant (while another attributed it to Jane Porter); "Bow of orange +Ribbon," by George Meredith; "Hon. Peter Stirling," by Fielding; "Quo +Vadis," by Browning; "Pamela," by Frank Stockton (according to another by +Marie Edgworth); "Love's Labour's Lost," by Bryant (another gives Thomas +Reade as the author, while still another guesses Schiller); "Descent of +Man," by Alexander Pope (another gives Dryden); "The Essay on Man," by +Francis Bacon. + +One candidate believes "Hudibras" to be an early Saxon poem; another that +"Victor Hugo's best known work is William Tell"; another that "Aesop's +Fables is a famous allegory." Charlotte Bronte is described as an +"American--nineteenth century--children's book." Cicero was "known for +Latin poetry." "Dante is an exceedingly bitter writer; he takes you into +hell and describes Satan and his angels. He wrote his play for the +stage." Another's idea of the Divine Comedy is "a play which could be +acted by the priests on the steps of a church for the benefit of the +poorer class." + +Civil service in the mind of one young woman was "the service done by the +government in a country, domesticly." + +A Christian socialist is "an advocate of Christian science." "A limited +monarchy is a kingdom whose ruler is under the ruler of another country." +Legal tender is "the legal rate of interest"; another considers it "Paper +money." In economics, some of the answers were "profit-sharing, a term +used in socialism, the rich to divide among the poor." "Monopolies is the +money gained by selling church properties"; while "a trust is usually a +place where a person puts some money where it will be safe to keep it." + +About noted personages and historic events and places the answers are +equally startling. "Moliere was a French essayist and critic" (also "a +French writer of the nineteenth century,") Cecil Rhodes, "the founder of +Bryn Mawr College"; "Seth Low--England, eighteenth century;" Attila "a +woman mentioned in the Bible for her great cruelty to her child;" Warren +Hastings "was a German soldier" (also "was a discoverer; died about +1870"); "Nero was a Roman emperor B. C. 450." Perhaps the most unique +guess in this line was "Richard Wagner invented the Wagner cars;" +Abbotsford is "the title of a book by Sir Walter Scott;" "Vassar College +is a dream, high-up and unattainable;" "Tammany Hall is a political +meeting place in London;" "the Parthenon, an art gallery in Athens." + +Pedagogy seemed one of the most perplexing of words. It was defined by +one as "the science of religion," by another as "learned pomposity;" but +the most remarkable of all was "pedagogy is the study of feet." + + * * * * * + + +SONG OF SOME LIBRARY SCHOOL SCHOLARS. + + Three little maids from school are we, + Filled to the brim with economy-- + Not of the house but library, + Learnt in the Library School. + + _1st Maid_--I range my books from number one. + _2nd Maid_--Alphabetically I've begun. + _3rd Maid_--In regular classes mine do run. + _All_--Three maids from the Library School. + + _All_--Three little maidens all unwary, + Each in charge of a library, + Each with a system quite contrary + To every other school. + + Our catalogues, we quite agree, + From faults and errors must be free, + If only we our way can see + To find the proper rule. + + * * * * * + +Boy's remark on returning a certain juvenile book to the library: "I +don't want any more of them books. The girls is all too holy." + + * * * * * + +"Half the books in this library are not worth reading," said a +sour-visaged, hypercritical, novel-satiated woman.--"Read the other half, +then," advised a bystander. + + * * * * * + +THE WOES OF A LIBRARIAN. + + Let us give a brief rehearsal + Of the learning universal, + Which men expect to find + In Librarians to their mind. + + He must undergo probation, + Before he gets a situation; + Must begin at the creation, + When the world was in formation, + And come down to its cremation, + In the final consummation + Of the old world's final spasm: + He must study protoplasm, + And bridge over every chasm + In the origin of species, + Ere the monkey wore the breeches, + Or the Simian tribe began + To ascend from ape to man. + + He must master the cosmology, + And know all about psychology, + And the wonders of biology, + And be deep in ornithology, + And develop ideology, + With the aid of craniology. + He must learn to teach zooelogy, + And be skilled in etymology, + And the science of philology, + And calculate chronology, + While he digs into geology, + And treats of entomology, + And hunts up old mythology, + And dips into theology, + And grows wise in sociology, + And expert in anthropology. + + He must also know geography, + And the best works on photography, + And the science of stenography, + And be well up on cosmography, + And the secrets of cryptography. + Must interpret blind chirography, + Know by heart all mens' biography, + And the black art of typography, + And every book in bibliography. + + These things are all essential + And highly consequential. + + If he's haunted by ambition + For a library position, + And esteems it a high mission, + To aspire to erudition; + He will find some politician + Of an envious disposition, + Getting up a coalition + To secure his non-admission, + And send him to perdition, + Before he's reached fruition. + + If he gets the situation, + And is full of proud elation + And of fond anticipation, + And has in contemplation + To enlighten half the nation, + He may write a dissertation + For the public information + On the laws of observation, + And the art of conversation. + + He must know each famed oration, + And poetical quotation, + And master derivation, + And the science of translation, + And complex pagination, + And perfect punctuation, + And binomial equation, + And accurate computation, + And boundless permutation, + And infinite gradation, + And the craft of divination, + And Scripture revelation, + And the secret of salvation. + + He must know the population + Of every separate nation, + The amount of immigration, + And be wise in arbitration, + And the art of navigation, + And colonial annexation, + And problems Australasian. + + He must take his daily ration + Of catalogue vexation, + And endless botheration + With ceaseless complication + Of decimal notation, + Or Cutter combination. + + To complete his education, + He must know the valuation + Of all the publications + Of many generations, + With their endless variations, + And true interpretations. + + When he's spent a life in learning, + If his lamp continues burning, + When he's mastered all philosophy, + And the science of theosophy, + Grown as learned as Mezzofanti, + As poetical as Dante, + As wise as Magliabecchi, + As profound as Mr. Lecky-- + Has absorbed more kinds of knowledge + Than are found in any college; + He may take his full degree + Of Ph. or LL. D. + And prepare to pass the portal + That leads to life immortal. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] Mostly from the Library Journal, New York. + + + + +CHAPTER 26. + +RARE BOOKS. + + +There is perhaps no field of inquiry concerning literature in which so +large an amount of actual mis-information or of ignorance exists as that +of the rarity of many books. The makers of second-hand catalogues are +responsible for much of this, in describing the books which they wish to +sell as "rare," "very scarce," etc., but more of it proceeds from +absolute ignorance of the book-markets of the world. I have had +multitudes of volumes offered for sale whose commercial value was hardly +as many cents as was demanded in dollars by their ill-informed owners, +who fancied the commonest book valuable because they "had never seen +another copy." No one's ideas of the money value of any book are worth +anything, unless he has had long experimental knowledge of the market for +books both in America and in Europe. + +What constitutes rarity in books is a question that involves many +particulars. Thus, a given book may be rare in the United States which is +abundant in London; or rare in London, when common enough in Germany. So +books may be rare in one age which were easily found in another: and +again, books on certain subjects may be so absorbed by public demand when +events excite interest in that subject, as to take up most of the copies +in market, and enhance the price of the remainder. Thus, Napoleon's +conquering career in Egypt created a great demand for all books on Egypt +and Africa. The scheme for founding a great French colony in Louisiana +raised the price of all books and pamphlets on that region, which soon +after fell into the possession of the United States. President Lincoln's +assassination caused a demand for all accounts of the murder of the heads +of nations. Latterly, all books on Cuba, the West Indies, and the +Philippines have been in unprecedented demand, and dealers have raised +the prices, which will again decline after the recent public interest in +them has been supplanted by future events. + +There is a broad distinction to be drawn between books which are +absolutely rare, and those which are only relatively scarce, or which +become temporarily rare, as just explained. Thus, a large share of the +books published in the infancy of printing are _rare_; nearly all which +appeared in the quarter century after printing began are _very_ rare; and +several among these last are _superlatively_ rare. I may instance the +Mazarin Bible of Gutenberg and Schoeffer (1455?) of which only +twenty-four copies are known, nearly all in public libraries, where they +ought to be; the Mentz Psalter of the same printers, 1457, the first book +ever printed with a date; and the first edition of Livy, Rome [1469] the +only copy of which printed on vellum is in the British Museum Library. + +One reason of the scarcity of books emanating from the presses of the +fifteenth century is that of many of them the editions consisted of only +two hundred to three hundred copies, of which the large number absorbed +in public libraries, or destroyed by use, fire or decay, left very few in +the hands of booksellers or private persons. Still, it is a great mistake +to infer that all books printed before A. D. 1500 are rare. The editions +of many were large, especially after about 1480, many were reprinted in +several editions, and of such incunabula copies can even now be picked up +on the continent at very low prices. + +Contrary to a wide-spread belief, mere age adds very little to the value +of any book, and oft-times nothing at all. All librarians are pestered +to buy "hundred year old" treatises on theology or philosophy, as dry as +the desert of Sahara, on the ground that they are both old and rare, +whereas such books, two hundred and even three hundred years old, swarm +in unsalable masses on the shelves of London and provincial booksellers +at a few pence per volume. The reason that they are comparatively rare in +this country is that nobody wants them, and so they do not get imported. + +A rare book is, strictly speaking, only one which is found with +difficulty, taking into view all the principal book markets of various +countries. Very few books printed since 1650 have any peculiar value on +account of their age. Of many books, both old and new, the reason of +scarcity is that only a few copies actually remain, outside of public +libraries, and these last, of course, are not for sale. This scarcity of +copies is produced by a great variety of causes, most of which are here +noted. + +(1) The small number of the books originally printed leads to rarity. +This is by no means peculiar to early impressions of the press: on the +contrary, of some books printed only last year not one tenth as many +exist as of a multitude of books printed four centuries ago. Not only +privately printed books, not designed for publication, but some family or +personal memoirs, or original works circulated only among friends, and +many other publications belong to this class of rarities. The books +printed at private presses are mostly rare. Horace Walpole's Strawberry +Hill press produced some thirty works from 1757 to 1789, in editions +varying from fifty to six hundred copies. The Lee Priory press of Sir E. +Brydges printed many literary curiosities, none of which had more than +one hundred impressions. Most of the editions of the Shakespearean and +other critical essays of J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps were limited to forty +copies, or even less. The genealogical and heraldic imprints of Sir +Thomas Phillipps, at the Middle Hill press, 1819-59, numbering some +hundreds of different works, were mostly confined to twenty copies each, +and some to only six copies. Some of them are as rare as many +manuscripts, of which several copies have been made, and sell at prices +dictated by their scarcity. Most of them are in the Library of Congress. +The Kelmscott press of William Morris printed in sumptuous style, +improved upon the finest models of antique typography, a number of +literary works, which now bring enhanced prices. Of the many historical +and literary publications of the Roxburghe Club, the Percy Society, the +Maitland, the Abbotsford, and the Bannatyne Clubs abroad, only thirty to +one hundred copies were printed. Of those of the Prince Society, the +Grolier Club, and others in America, only from 150 to 300 copies were +printed, being for subscribers only. Rarity and enhanced prices +necessarily result in all these cases. Of some books, only five to ten +copies have been printed, or else, out of fifty or more printed, all but +a very few have been ruthlessly destroyed, in order to give a fanciful +value to the remainder. In these extreme instances, the rarity commonly +constitutes almost the sole value of the work. + +(2) Even where many copies have been printed, the destruction of the +greater part of the edition has rendered the book very rare. Printing +offices and book binderies are peculiarly subject to fires, and many +editions have thus been consumed before more than a few copies have been +issued. The great theological libraries edited by the Abbe J. P. Migne, +the _Patrologie Grecque, et Latine_, owe their scarcity and advanced +prices to a fire which consumed the entire remainder of the edition. All +the copies of a large edition of "Twenty years among our savage Indians," +by J. L. Humfreville, were destroyed by fire in a Hartford printing +office in 1899, except two, which had been deposited in the Library of +Congress, to secure the copyright. The whole edition of the _Machina +coelestis_ of Hevelius was burned, except the few copies which the author +had presented to friends before the fire occurred. The earlier issues in +Spanish of the Mexican and Peruvian presses prior to 1600 are exceedingly +rare. And editions of books printed at places in the United States where +no books are now published are sought for their imprint alone and seldom +found. + +(3) Many books have become rare because proscribed and in part destroyed +by governmental or ecclesiastical authority. This applies more especially +to the ages that succeeded the application of printing to the art of +multiplying books. The freedom of many writers upon politics and popular +rights led to the suppression of their books by kings, emperors or +parliaments. At the same time, books of church history or doctrinal +theology which departed, in however slight a degree, from the standard of +faith proclaimed by the church, were put in the Index Expurgatorius, or +list of works condemned in whole or in part as heretical and unlawful to +be read. A long and melancholy record of such proscriptions, civil and +ecclesiastical, is found in Gabriel Peignot's two volumes--_Dictionnaire +des livres condamnes au feu, supprimes, ou censures_, etc. Works of +writers of genius and versatile ability were thus proscribed, until it +gave rise to the sarcasm among the scholars of Europe, that if one wanted +to find what were the books best worth reading, he should look in the +Index Expurgatorius. It appears to have been quite forgotten by those in +authority that persecution commonly helps the cause persecuted, and that +the best way to promote the circulation of a book is to undertake to +suppress it. This age finds itself endowed with so many heretics that it +is no longer possible to find purchasers at high prices for books once +deemed unholy. Suppressed passages in later editions lead to a demand for +the uncastrated copies which adds an element of enhanced cost in the +market. + +(4) Another source of rarity is the great extent and cost of many works, +outrunning the ability of most collectors to buy or to accommodate them +on their shelves. These costly possessions have been commonly printed in +limited numbers for subscribers, or for distribution by governments under +whose patronage they were produced. Such are some of the notable +collections of early voyages, the great folios of many illustrated +scientific works on natural history, local geography, etc. That great +scholar, Baron von Humboldt, used jocosely to say that he could not +afford to own a set of his own works, most of which are folios +sumptuously printed, with finely engraved illustrations. The collection +known as the "_Grands et petits Voyages_" of De Bry, the former in 13 +volumes, relating to America, and finely illustrated with copper-plates +produced in the highest style of that art, are among the rarest sets of +books to find complete. The collection of voyages by Hulsius is equally +difficult to procure. A really perfect set of Piranesi's great +illustrated work on the art and architecture of ancient Rome is very +difficult to acquire. The _Acta Sanctorum_, in the original edition, is +very seldom found. But there is no room to multiply examples. + +(5) What adds to the rarity and cost of certain books is the peculiarly +expensive style or condition in which they are produced or preserved. +Some few copies of an edition, for example, are printed on vellum, or on +China or India or other choice paper, in colored ink or bronze, on +colored paper, (rose-tinted, or green, blue or yellow,) on large paper, +with broad margins, etc. Uncut copies always fetch a higher price than +those whose edges are trimmed down in binding. To some book-collecting +amateurs cut edges are an abomination. They will pay more for a book "in +sheets," which they can bind after their own taste, than for the finest +copy in calf or morocco with gilt edges. Some books, also, are +exceptionally costly because bound in a style of superior elegance and +beauty, or as having belonged to a crowned head or a noble person, +("books with a pedigree") or an eminent author, or having autographs of +notable characters on the fly-leaves or title-pages, or original letters +inserted in the volume. Others still are "extra-illustrated" works, in +which one volume is swelled to several by the insertion of a multitude of +portraits, autographs, and engravings, more or less illustrative of the +contents of the book. This is called "Grangerising," from its origin in +the practice of thus illustrating Granger's Biographical History of +England. Book amateurs of expensive tastes are by no means rare, +especially in England, France, and America, and the great commercial +value placed upon uncut and rarely beautiful books, on which the highest +arts of the printer and book-binder have been lavished, evinces the fact. + +(6) The books emanating from the presses of famous printers are more +sought for by collectors and libraries than other publications, because +of their superior excellence. Sometimes this is found in the beauty of +the type, or the clear and elegant press-work; sometimes in the printers' +marks, monograms, engraved initial letters, head and tail-pieces, or +other illustrations; and sometimes in the fine quality of the choice +paper on which the books are printed. Thus, the productions of the +presses of Aldus, Giunta, Bodoni, Etienne, Elzevir, Froben, Gutenberg, +Fust and Schoeffer, Plantin, Caxton, Wynkyn de Worde, Bulmer, Didot, +Baskerville, Pickering, Whittingham, and others, are always in demand, +and some of the choicer specimens of their art, if in fine condition, +bring great prices in the second-hand book-shops, or the auction room. An +example of Caxton's press is now almost unattainable, except in +fragmentary copies. There are known to be only about 560 examples of +Caxtons in the world, four-fifths of which are in England, and thirty-one +of these are unique. His "King Arthur" (1485) brought L1950 at auction in +1885, and the Polychronicon (1482) was sold at the Ives sale (N. Y.) in +1891, for $1,500. + +(7) In the case of all finely illustrated works, the earlier impressions +taken, both of text and plates, are more rare, and hence more valuable, +than the bulk of the edition. Thus, copies with "proofs before letters" +of the steel engravings or etchings, sometimes command more than double +the price of copies having only the ordinary plates. Each added +impression deteriorates a little the sharp, clear outlines and brilliant +impressions which are peculiar to the first copies printed. + +(8) Of some books, certain volumes only are rare, and very costly in +consequence. Thus, Burk's History of Virginia is common enough in three +volumes, but volume 4 of the set, by Jones and Girardin, (1816,) is +exceedingly rare, and seldom found with the others. The fifth and last +volume of Bunsen's Egypt's Place in Universal History is very scarce, +while the others are readily procured. Of De Bry's Voyages, the 13th or +final part of the American voyages is so rare as to be quite +unattainable, unless after long years of search, and at an unconscionable +price. + +(9) The condition of any book is an unfailing factor in its price. Many, +if not most books offered by second-hand dealers are shop-worn, soiled, +or with broken bindings, or some other defect. A pure, clean copy, in +handsome condition without and within, commands invariably an extra +price. Thus the noted Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493, a huge portly folio, +with 2,250 wood-cuts in the text, many of them by Albert Duerer or other +early artists, is priced in London catalogues all the way from L7.15 up +to L35, for identically the same edition. The difference is dependent +wholly on the condition of the copies offered. Here is part of a +description of the best copy: "Nuremberg Chronicle, by Schedel, printed +by Koberger, first edition, 1493, royal folio, with fine original +impressions of the 2,250 large wood-cuts of towns, historical events, +portraits, etc., very tall copy, measuring 181/2 inches by 121/2, beautifully +bound in morocco super extra, full gilt edges, by Riviere, L35. All the +cuts are brilliant impressions, large and spirited. The book is genuine +and perfect throughout; _no washed leaves_, and all the large capitals +filled in by the rubricator by different colored inks: it has the six +additional leaves at end, which Brunet says are nearly always wanting." + +(10) The first editions printed of many books always command high prices. +Not only is this true of the _editio princeps_ of Homer, Virgil, Tacitus +and other Greek and Roman writers, published in the infancy of printing, +but of every noted author, of ancient or modern date. The edition printed +during the life of the writer has had his own oversight and correction. +And when more than one issue of his book has thus appeared, one sees how +his maturer judgment has altered the substance or the style of his work. +First editions of any very successful work always tend to become scarce, +since the number printed is smaller, as a rule, and a large part of the +issue is absorbed by public libraries. The earliest published writings of +Tennyson, now found with difficulty, show how much of emendation and +omission this great poet thought proper to make in his poems in after +years. A first edition of Ivanhoe, 3 vols., 1820, brings L7 or more, in +the original boards, but if rebound in any style, the first Waverley +novels can be had at much less, though collectors are many. + +(11) Another class of rare books is found in many local histories, both +among the county histories of Great Britain, and those of towns and +counties in the United States. Jay Gould's History of Delaware County, N. +Y., published in 1856, and sought after in later times because of his +note as a financier, is seldom found. Of family genealogies, too, printed +in small editions, there are many which cannot be had at all, and many +more which have risen to double or even quadruple price. The market value +of these books, always dependent on demand, is enhanced by the wants of +public libraries which are making or completing collections of these much +sought sources of information. + +(12) There is a class of books rarely found in any reputable book shop, +and which ought to be much rarer than they are--namely, those that belong +to the domain of indecent literature. Booksellers who deal in such wares +often put them in catalogues under the head of _facetiae_, thus making a +vile use of what should be characteristic only of books of wit or humor. +Men of prurient tastes become collectors of such books, many of which are +not without some literary merit, while many more are neither fit to be +written, nor printed, nor read. + +(13) There is a large variety of books that are sought mainly on account, +not of their authors, nor for their value as literature, but for their +illustrators. Many eminent artists (in fact most of those of any period) +have made designs for certain books of their day. The reputation of an +artist sometimes rests more upon his work given to the public in +engravings, etchings, wood-cuts, etc., that illustrate books, than upon +his works on canvas or in marble. Many finely illustrated works bear +prices enhanced by the eagerness of collectors, who are bent upon +possessing the designs of some favorite artist, while some amateurs covet +a collection of far wider scope. This demand, although fitful, and +sometimes evanescent, (though more frequently recurrent,) lessens the +supply of illustrated books, and with the constant drafts of new +libraries, raises prices. Turner's exquisite pictures in Rogers's Italy +and Poems (1830-34) have floated into fame books of verse which find very +few readers. Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz") designed those immortal Wellers in +Pickwick, which have delighted two whole generations of readers. The +"Cruikshankiana" are sought with avidity, in whatever numerous volumes +they adorn. Books illustrated with the designs of Bartolozzi, Marillier, +Eisen, Gravelot, Moreau, Johannot, Grandville, Rowlandson, Bewick, +William Blake, Stothard, Stanfield, Harvey, Martin, Cattermole, Birket +Foster, Mulready, Tenniel, Maclise, Gilbert, Dalziel, Leighton, Holman +Hunt, Doyle, Leech, Millais, Rossetti, Linton, Du Maurier, Sambourne, +Caldecott, Walter Crane, Kate Greenaway, Haden, Hamerton, Whistler, Dore, +Anderson, Darley, Matt Morgan, Thos. Nast, Vedder, and others, are in +constant demand, especially for the early impressions of books in which +their designs appear. + +(14) Finally, that extensive class of books known as early _Americana_ +have been steadily growing rarer, and rising in commercial value, since +about the middle of the nineteenth century. Books and pamphlets relating +to any part of the American continent or islands, the first voyages, +discoveries, narratives or histories of those regions, which were hardly +noted or cared for a century ago, are now eagerly sought by collectors +for libraries both public and private. In this field, the keen +competition of American Historical Societies, and of several great +libraries, besides the ever increasing number of private collectors with +large means, has notably enhanced the prices of all desirable and rare +books. Nor do the many reprints which have appeared much affect the +market value of the originals, or first editions. + +This rise in prices, while far from uniform, and furnishing many examples +of isolated extravagance, has been marked. Witness some examples. The +"Bay Psalm Book," Cambridge, Mass., A. D. 1640, is the Caxton of New +England, so rare that no perfect copy has been found for many years. In +1855, Henry Stevens had the singular good fortune to find this +typographical gem sandwiched in an odd bundle of old hymn books, unknown +to the auctioneers or catalogue, at a London book sale. Keeping his own +counsel, he bid off the lot at nine shillings, completed an imperfection +in the book, from another imperfect copy, had it bound in Bedford's best, +and sold it to Mr. Lenox's library at L80. In 1868, Stevens sold another +copy to George Brinley for 150 guineas, which was bought for $1,200 in +1878, by C. Vanderbilt, at the Brinley sale. + +John Smith's folio "Historie of Virginia," 1st ed., 1624, large paper, +was sold to Brinley in 1874 at $1,275, and re-sold in 1878 for $1,800 to +Mr. Lenox. In 1884 a copy on large paper brought L605 at the Hamilton +Library sale in London. In 1899, a perfect copy of the large paper +edition was presented to the Library of Congress by Gen. W. B. Franklin. +Perfect copies of Smith's Virginia of 1624 on small paper have sold for +$1,000, and those wanting some maps at $70 to $150. + +The earlier English tracts relating to Virginia and New England, printed +between 1608 and 1700, command large prices: _e. g._, Lescarbot's New +France, [Canada,] 1609, $50 to $150; Wood's New England's Prospect, 1635, +$50 to $320; Hubbard's Present State of New England, Boston, 1677, $180 +to $316. + +It is curious to note, in contrast, the following record of prices at the +sale of Dr. Bernard's Library in London, in 1686: + +T. Morton's New England, 1615, eight pence; Lescarbot's New France, 1609, +ten pence; Wood's New England's Prospect, 1635, and three others, 5 s. 8 +d.; nine Eliot Tracts, &c., 5 s. 2 d.; Hubbard's Present State of New +England, 1677, 1 s.; Smith's Historie of Virginia, 1624, 4 s. 2 d. + +The numerous and now rare works of Increase and Cotton Mather, printed +from 1667 to 1728, though mostly sermons, are collected by a sufficient +number of libraries to maintain prices at from $4 to $25 each, according +to condition. They number over 470 volumes. + +Several collections have been attempted of Frankliniana, or works printed +at Benjamin Franklin's press, and of the many editions of his writings, +with all books concerning the illustrious printer-statesman of America. +His "Poor Richard's Almanacs," printed by him from 1733 to 1758, and by +successors to 1798, are so rare that Mr. P. L. Ford found a visit to +three cities requisite to see all of them. The Library of Congress +possesses thirty-five years of these issues. + +A word may be added as to early newspapers, of some special numbers of +which prices that are literally "fabulous" are recorded. There are many +reprints afloat of the first American newspaper, and most librarians have +frequent offers of the Ulster County, (N. Y.) Gazette of Jan. 10, 1800, +in mourning for the death of Washington, a genuine copy of which is worth +money, but the many spurious reprints (which include all those offered) +are worth nothing. + +Of many rare early books reprints or facsimiles are rife in the market, +especially of those having but few leaves; these, however, are easily +detected by an expert eye, and need deceive no one. + +Of some scarce books, it may be said that they are as rare as the +individuals who want them: and of a very few, that they are as rare as +the extinct dodo. In fact, volumes have been written concerning extinct +books, not without interest to the bibliomaniac who is fired with the +passion for possessing something which no one else has got. Some books +are quite as worthless as they are rare. But books deemed worthless by +the common or even by the enlightened mind are cherished as treasures by +many collectors. The cook-book, entitled _Le Pastissier francois_, an +Elzevir of 1655, is so rare as to have brought several times its weight +in gold. Nearly all the copies of some books have been worn to rags by +anglers, devout women, cooks, or children. + +When a book is sold at a great price as "very rare," it often happens +that several copies come into the market soon after, and, there being no +demand, the commercial value is correspondingly depressed. The books most +sure of maintaining full prices are first editions of master-pieces in +literature. Fitzgerald's version of Omar Khayyam was bought by nobody +when Quaritch first published it in 1859. After eight years, he put the +remainder of the edition,--a paper-covered volume--down to a penny each. +When the book had grown into fame, and the many variations in later +issues were discovered, this first edition, no longer procurable, rose to +L21, the price actually paid by Mr. Quaritch himself at a book auction in +1898! + +Auction sales of libraries having many rare books have been frequent in +London and Paris. The largest price yet obtained for any library was +reached in 1882-3, when that of Mr. Wm. Beckford brought L73,551, being +an average of nearly $40 a volume. But W. C. Hazlitt says of this sale, +"the Beckford books realized perfectly insane prices, and were afterwards +re-sold for a sixth or even tenth of the amount, to the serious loss of +somebody, when the barometer had fallen." + +The second-hand bookseller, having the whole range of printed literature +for his field, has a great advantage in dealing with book collectors over +the average dealer, who has to offer only new books, or such as are "in +print." + +It may be owned that the love of rare books is chiefly sentimental. He +who delights to spend his days or his nights in the contemplation of +black-letter volumes, quaint title-pages, fine old bindings, and curious +early illustrations, may not add to the knowledge or the happiness of +mankind, but he makes sure of his own. + +The passion for rare books, merely because of their rarity, is a low +order of the taste for books. But the desire to possess and read wise old +books which have been touched by the hoar frost of time is of a higher +mood. The first impression of Paradise Lost (1667) with its quarto page +and antique orthography, is it not more redolent of the author's age than +the elegant Pickering edition, or the one illustrated by John Martin or +Gustave Dore? When you hold in your hand Shakespeare's "Midsommer Night's +Dream" (A. D. 1600) and read with fresh admiration and delight the +exquisite speeches of Oberon and Titania, may not the thought that +perhaps that very copy may once have been held in the immortal bard's own +hand send a thrill through your own? + +When you turn over the classic pages of Homer illustrated by Flaxman, +that "dear sculptor of eternity," as William Blake called him, or drink +in the beauty of those delicious landscapes of Turner, that astonishing +man, who shall wonder at your desire to possess them? + +The genuine book lover is he who reads books; who values them for what +they contain, not for their rarity, nor for the preposterous prices which +have been paid for them. To him, book-hunting is an ever-enduring +delight. Of all the pleasures tasted here below, that of the book lover +in finding a precious and long sought volume is one of the purest and +most innocent. In books, he becomes master of all the kingdoms of the +world. + + + + +CHAPTER 27. + +BIBLIOGRAPHY. + + +To the book collector and the Librarian, books of bibliography are the +tools of the profession. Without them he would be lost in a maze of +literature without a clue. With them, his path is plain, and, in exact +proportion to his acquaintance with them, will his knowledge and +usefulness extend. Bibliography may be defined as the science which +treats of books, of their authors, subjects, history, classification, +cataloguing, typography, materials (including paper, printing and +binding) dates, editions, etc. This compound word, derived from two Greek +roots, _Biblion_, book, and _graphein_, to write, has many analogous +words, some of which, ignorantly used to express a bibliographer, may be +set down for distinction: as, for example--Bibliopole--a seller of books, +often erroneously applied to a librarian, who buys but never sells: +Bibliophile, a lover of books, a title which he should always exemplify: +Bibliopegist, a book-binder: Bibliolater, a worshipper of books: +Bibliophobe, a hater of books: Bibliotaph, a burier of books--one who +hides or conceals them: Bibliomaniac, or bibliomane, one who has a mania +or passion for collecting books. (Bibliomania, some one has said, is a +disease: Bibliophily is a science: The first is a parody of the second.) +Bibliophage, or bibliophagist, a book-eater, or devourer of books. +Bibliognost, one versed in the science of books. Biblioklept, a book +thief. (This, you perceive, is from the same Greek root as kleptomaniac.) +Bibliogist, one learned about books, (the same nearly as bibliographer); +and finally, Bibliothecary, a librarian. + +This brings me to say, in supplementing this elementary list (needless +for some readers) that _Bibliotheca_ is Latin for a library; +_Bibliotheque_ is French for the same; _Bibliothecaire_ is French for +Librarian, while the French word _Libraire_ means book seller or +publisher, though often mistaken by otherwise intelligent persons, for +librarian, or library. + +The word "bibliotechny" is not found in any English dictionary known to +me, although long in use in its equivalent forms in France and Germany. +It means all that belongs to the knowledge of the book, to its handling, +cataloguing, and its arrangement upon the shelves of a library. It is +also applied to the science of the formation of libraries, and their +complete organization. It is employed in the widest and most extended +sense of what may be termed material or physical bibliography. +Bibliotechny applies, that is to say, to the technics of the librarian's +work--to the outside of the books rather than the inside--to the +mechanics, not the metaphysics of the profession. The French word +"_Bibliotheconomie_," much in use of late years, signifies much the same +thing as _Bibliotechnie_, and we translate it, not into one word, but +two, calling it "library economy." This word "economy" is not used in the +most current sense--as significant of saving--but in the broad, modern +sense of systematic order, or arrangement. + +There are two other words which have found their way into Murray's Oxford +Dictionary, the most copious repository of English words, with +illustrations of their origin and history, ever published, namely, +Biblioclast--a destroyer of books (from the same final root as +iconoclast) and Bibliogony, the production of books. I will add that out +of the fifteen or more words cited as analogous to Bibliography, only +three are found used earlier than the last quarter century, the first use +of most having been this side of 1880. This is a striking instance of the +phenomenal growth of new words in our already rich and flexible English +tongue. Carlyle even has the word "Bibliopoesy," the making of +books,--from _Biblion_, and _poiein_--to make. + +Public libraries are useful to readers in proportion to the extent and +ready supply of the helps they furnish to facilitate researches of every +kind. Among these helps a wisely selected collection of books of +reference stands foremost. Considering the vast extent and opulence of +the world of letters, and the want of experience of the majority of +readers in exploring this almost boundless field, the importance of every +key which can unlock its hidden stores becomes apparent. The printed +catalogue of no single library is at all adequate to supply full +references, even to its own stores of knowledge; while these catalogues +are, of course, comparatively useless as to other stores of information, +elsewhere existing. Even the completest and most extensive catalogue in +the world, that of the British Museum Library, although now extended to +more than 370 folio volumes in print, representing 3,000 volumes in +manuscript, is not completed so as to embrace the entire contents of that +rich repository of knowledge. + +From lack of information of the aid furnished by adequate books of +reference in a special field, many a reader goes groping in pursuit of +references or information which might be found in some one of the many +volumes which may be designated as works of bibliography. The diffidence +and reserve of many students in libraries, and the mistaken fear of +giving trouble to librarians, frequently deprives them of even those aids +which a few words of inquiry might bring forth from the ready knowledge +of the custodians in charge. + +That is the best library, and he is the most useful librarian, by whose +aid every reader is enabled to put his finger on the fact he wants, just +when it is wanted. In attaining this end it is essential that the more +recent, important, and valuable aids to research in general science, as +well as in special departments of each, should form a part of the +library. In order to make a fit selection of books (and all libraries are +practically reduced to a selection, from want of means to possess the +whole) it is indispensable to know the relative value of the books +concerned. Many works of reference of great fame, and once of great +value, have become almost obsolete, through the issue of more extensive +and carefully edited works in the same field. While a great and +comprehensive library should possess every work of reference, old or new, +which has aided or may aid the researches of scholars, (not forgetting +even the earlier editions of works often reprinted), the smaller +libraries, on the other hand, are compelled to exercise a close economy +of selection. The most valuable works of reference, among which the more +copious and extensive bibliographies stand first, are frequently +expensive treasures, and it is important to the librarian furnishing a +limited and select library to know what books he can best afford to do +without. If he cannot buy both the _Manuel du libraire_ by Brunet, in +five volumes, and the _Tresor des livres rares et precieux_ of Graesse, +seven volumes, both of which are dictionaries of the choicer portions of +literature, it is important to know that Brunet is the more indispensable +of the two. From the 20,000 reference books lying open to the +consultation of all readers in the great rotunda of the British Museum +reading room, to the small and select case of dictionaries, catalogues, +cyclopaedias, and other works of reference in a town or subscription +library, the interval is wide indeed. But where we cannot have all, it +becomes the more important to have the best; and the reader who has at +hand for ready reference the latest and most copious dictionary of each +of the leading languages of the world, two or three of the best general +bibliographies, the most copious catalogue raisonne of the literature in +each great department of science, the best biographical dictionaries, and +the latest and most copious encyclopaedias issued from the press, is +tolerably well equipped for the prosecution of his researches. + +Next in importance to the possession in any library of a good selection +of the most useful books of reference, is the convenient accessibility of +these works to the reading public. Just in proportion to the +indispensability and frequency of use of any work should be the facility +to the reader of availing himself of its aid. The leading encyclopaedias, +bibliographies, dictionaries, annuals, and other books of reference +should never be locked up in cases, nor placed on high or remote shelves. +There should be in every library what may be termed a central bureau of +reference. Here should be assembled, whether on circular cases made to +revolve on a pivot, or on a rectangular case, with volumes covering both +sides, or in a central alcove forming a portion of the shelves of the +main library, all those books of reference, and volumes incessantly +needed by students in pursuit of their various inquiries. It is important +that the custodians of all libraries should remember that this ready and +convenient supply of the reference books most constantly wanted, serves +the double object of economizing the time of the librarian and assistants +for other labor, and of accommodating in the highest degree the readers, +whose time is also economized. The misplacement of volumes which will +thus occur is easily rectified, while the possibility of loss through +abstraction is so extremely small that it should not be permitted to +weigh for a moment in comparison with the great advantages resulting from +the rule of liberality in aiding the wants of readers. + +Bibliography, in its most intimate sense, is the proper science of the +librarian. To many it is a study--to some, it is a passion. While the +best works in bibliography have not always been written by librarians, +but by scholars enamored of the science of books, and devotees of +learning, it is safe to say that the great catalogues which afford such +inestimable aid to research, have nearly all been prepared in libraries, +and not one of the books worthy of the name of bibliography, could have +been written without their aid. + +In viewing the extensive field of bibliographies, regard for systematic +treatment requires that they be divided into classes. Beginning first +with general bibliographies, or those claiming to be universal, we should +afterwards consider the numerous bibliographies of countries, or those +devoted to national literature; following that by the still more numerous +special bibliographies, or those embracing works on specially designated +subjects. The two classes last named are by far the most numerous. + +Although what may be termed a "universal catalogue" has been the dream of +scholars for many ages, it is as far as ever from being realized--and in +fact much farther than ever before, since each year that is added to the +long roll of the past increases enormously the number of books to be +dealt with, and consequently the difficulties of the problem. We may set +down the publication of a work which should contain the titles of all +books ever printed, as a practical impossibility. The world's literature +is too vast and complex to be completely catalogued, whether on the +cooeperative plan, or any other. Meanwhile the many thousands of volumes, +each of which has been devoted to some portion of the vast and +ever-increasing stores of literature and science which human brains have +put in print, will serve to aid the researches of the student, when +rightly guided by an intelligent librarian. + +Notwithstanding the hopeless nature of the quest, it is true that some +men of learning have essayed what have been termed universal +bibliographies. The earliest attempt in this direction was published at +Zuerich in 1545, under the title of "Bibliotheca Universalis," by Conrad +Gesner, a Swiss scholar whose acquisition of knowledge was so extensive +that he was styled "a miracle of learning." This great work gave the +titles of all books of which its author could find trace, and was +illustrated by a mass of bibliographical notes and criticism. It long +held a high place in the world of letters, though it is now seldom +referred to in the plethora of more modern works of bibliography. In +1625, the bookseller B. Ostern put forth at Frankfort, his _Bibliotheque +Universelle_, a catalogue of all books from 1500 to 1624. In 1742, Th. +Georgi issued in eleven folio volumes, his _Allgemeines Europaeisches_ +_Buecher-lexikon_, claiming to represent the works of nearly all writers +from 1500 down to 1739. This formidable catalogue may perhaps be said to +embrace more forgotten books than any other in the literary history of +the world. + +Almost equally formidable, however, is the bibliography of that erudite +scholar, Christian G. Joecher, who put forth in 1750, at Leipzig, his +_Allgemeines Gelehrten-lexicon_, in which, says the title page, "the +learned men of all classes who have lived from the beginning of the world +up to the present time, are described." This book, with its supplement, +by Adelung and Rotermund, (completed only to letter R), makes ten +ponderous quarto volumes, and may fairly be styled a thesaurus of the +birth and death of ancient scholars and their works. It is still largely +used in great libraries, to identify the period and the full names of +many obscure writers of books, who are not commemorated in the catalogues +of universal bibliography, compiled on a more restrictive plan. + +We come now to the notable catalogues of early-printed books, which aim +to cover all the issues of the press from the first invention of +printing, up to a certain period. One of the most carefully edited and +most readily useful of these is Hain, (L.) _Repertorium Bibliographicum_, +in four small and portable octavo volumes, published at Stuttgart in +1826-38. This gives, in an alphabet of authors, all the publications +found printed (with their variations and new editions), from A. D. 1450 +to A. D. 1500. + +More extensive is the great catalogue of G. W. Panzer, entitled _Annales +Typographici_, in eleven quarto volumes, published at Nuremberg from 1793 +to 1803. This work, which covers the period from 1457 (the period of the +first book ever printed with a date) up to A. D. 1536, is not arranged +alphabetically (as in Hain's Repertorium) by the names of authors, but in +the order of the cities or places where the books catalogued were +printed. The bibliography thus brings together in one view, the +typographical product of each city or town for about eighty years after +the earliest dated issues of the press, arranged in chronological order +of the years when printed. This system has undeniable advantages, but +equally obvious defects, which are sought to be remedied by many copious +indexes of authors and printers. + +Next in importance comes M. Maittaire's _Annales Typographici, ab artis +inventae origine ad annum 1664_, printed at The Hague (Hagae Comitum) and +completed at London, from 1722-89, in eleven volumes, quarto, often bound +in five volumes. There is besides, devoted to the early printed +literature of the world, the useful three volume bibliography by La Serna +de Santander, published at Brussels in 1805, entitled _Dictionnaire +bibliographique choisie du quinzieme siecle_, Bruxelles, 1803, embracing +a selection of what its compiler deemed the more important books +published from the beginning of printing up to A. D. 1500. All the four +works last named contain the titles and descriptions of what are known as +_incunabula_, or cradle-books (from Latin _cunabula_, a cradle) a term +applied to all works produced in the infancy of printing, and most +commonly to those appearing before 1500. These books are also sometimes +called fifteeners, or 15th century books. + +Of general bibliographies of later date, only a few of the most useful +and important can here be named. At the head of these stands, deservedly, +the great work of J. C. Brunet, entitled _Manuel du Libraire et de +l'amateur des livres_, the last or 5th edition of which appeared at Paris +in 1860-64, in five thick octavo volumes. The first edition of Brunet +appeared in 1810, and every issue since has exhibited not only an +extensive enlargement, but great improvement in careful, critical +editorship. It embraces most of the choicest books that have appeared in +the principal languages of Europe, and a supplement in two volumes, by P. +Deschamps and G. Brunet, appeared in 1878. + +Next to Brunet in importance to the librarian, is J. G. T. Graesse's +_Tresor des Livres rares et precieux_, which is more full than Brunet in +works in the Teutonic languages, and was published at Dresden in six +quarto volumes, with a supplement, in 1861-69. Both of these +bibliographies aim at a universal range, though they make a selection of +the best authors and editions, ancient and modern, omitting however, the +most recent writers. The arrangement of both is strictly alphabetical, or +a dictionary of authors' names, while Brunet gives in a final volume a +classification by subjects. Both catalogues are rendered additionally +valuable by the citation of prices at which many of the works catalogued +have been sold at book auctions in the present century. + +In 1857 was published at Paris a kind of universal bibliography, on the +plan of a _catalogue raisonne_, or dictionary of subjects, by Messrs. F. +Denis, Pincon, and De Martonne, two of whom were librarians by +profession. This work of over 700 pages, though printed in almost +microscopic type, and now about forty years in arrears, has much value as +a ready key to the best books then known on nearly every subject in +science and literature. It is arranged in a complete index of topics, the +books under each being described in chronological order, instead of the +alphabetical. The preponderance is given to the French in the works cited +on most subjects, but the literature of other nations is by no means +neglected. It is entitled _Nouveau Manuel de Bibliographie universelle_, +and being a subjective index, while Brunet and Graesse are arranged by +authors' names, it may be used to advantage in connection with these +standard bibliographies. + +While on this subject, let me name the books specially devoted to lists +of bibliographical works--general and special. These may be termed the +catalogues of catalogues,--and are highly useful aids, indeed +indispensable to the librarian, who seeks to know what lists of books +have appeared that are devoted to the titles of publications covering any +period, or country, or special subject in the whole circle of sciences or +literatures. The first notably important book of reference in this field, +was the work of that most industrious bibliographer, Gabriel Peignot, who +published at Paris, in 1812, his _Repertoire bibliographique +universelle_, in one volume. This work contains the titles of most +special bibliographies, of whatever subject or country, published up to +1812, and of many works bibliographical in character, devoted to literary +history. + +Dr. Julius Petzholdt, one of the most learned and laborious of +librarians, issued at Leipzig in 1866, a _Bibliotheca bibliographica_, +the fuller title of which was "a critical catalogue, exhibiting in +systematic order, the entire field of bibliography covering the +literature of Germany and other countries." The rather ambitious promise +of this title is well redeemed in the contents: for very few catalogues +of importance issued before 1866, are omitted in this elaborate book of +931 closely printed pages. Most titles of the bibliographies given are +followed by critical and explanatory notes, of much value to the +unskilled reader. These notes are in German, while all the titles cited +are in the language of the books themselves. After giving full titles of +all the books in general bibliography, he takes up the national +bibliographies by countries, citing both systematic catalogues and +periodicals devoted to the literature of each in any period. This is +followed by a distributive list of scientific bibliographies, so full as +to leave little to be desired, except for later issues of the press. One +of the curiosities of this work is its catalogue of all the issues of the +"Index Librorum Prohibitorum", or books forbidden to be read, including +185 separate catalogues, from A. D. 1510 to A. D. 1862. + +The next bibliographical work claiming to cover this field was in the +French language, being the _Bibliographie des bibliographies_ of Leon +Vallee, published in 1883 at Paris. This book, though beautifully +printed, is so full of errors, and still fuller of omissions, that it is +regarded by competent scholars as a failure, though still having its uses +to the librarian. It is amazing that any writer should put forth a book +seventeen years after the great and successful work of Petzholdt, +purporting to be a catalogue of bibliographies, and yet fail to record +such a multitude of printed contributions to the science of sciences as +Vallee has overlooked. + +Some ten years later, or in 1897, there came from the French press, a far +better bibliographical work, covering the modern issues of books of +bibliography more especially, with greater fullness and superior plan. +This is the _Manuel de Bibliographie generale_, by Henri Stein. This work +contains, in 915 well-printed pages, 1st. a list of universal +bibliographies: 2d. a catalogue of national bibliographies, in +alphabetical order of countries: 3d. a list of classified bibliographies +of subjects, divided into seventeen classes, namely, religious sciences, +philosophical sciences, juridical, economic, social, and educational +sciences, pure and applied sciences, medical sciences, philology and +belles lettres, geographical and historical sciences, sciences auxiliary +to history, archaeology and fine arts, music, and biography. Besides +these extremely useful categories of bibliographical aids, in which the +freshest publications of catalogues and lists of books in each field are +set forth, M. Stein gives us a complete geographical bibliography of +printing, on a new plan. This he entitles "_Geographie bibliographique_," +or systematic lists of localities in every part of the world which +possessed a printing press prior to the 19th century. It gives, after the +modern or current name of each place, the Latin, or ancient name, the +country in which located, the year in which the first printed publication +appeared in each place, and finally, the authority for the statement. +This handy-list of information alone, is worth the cost of the work, +since it will save much time of the inquirer, in hunting over many +volumes of Panzer, Maittaire, Hain, Dibdin, Thomas, or other authors on +printing, to find the origin of the art, or early name of the place where +it was introduced. The work contains, in addition, a general table of the +periodicals of all countries, (of course not exhaustive) divided into +classes, and filling seventy-five pages. It closes with a "repertory of +the principal libraries of the entire world," and with an index to the +whole work, in which the early names in Latin, of all places where books +were printed, are interspersed in the alphabet, distinguished by italic +type, and with the modern name of each town or city affixed. This +admirable feature will render unnecessary any reference to the _Orbis +Latinus_ of Graesse, or to any other vocabulary of geography, to identify +the place in which early-printed books appeared. Stein is by no means +free from errors, and some surprising omissions. One cardinal defect is +the absence of any full index of authors whose books are cited. + +There are also quite brief catalogues of works on bibliography in J. +Power's Handy Book about Books, London, 1870, and in J. Sabin's +Bibliography: a handy book about books which relate to books, N. Y., +1877. The latter work is an expansion of the first-named. + +We come now to the second class of our bibliographies, _viz._: those of +various countries. Here the reader must be on his guard not to be misled +into too general an interpretation of geographical terms. Thus, he will +find many books and pamphlets ambitiously styled "_Catalogue +Americaine_", which are so far from being general bibliographies of books +relating to America, that they are merely lists of a few books for sale +by some book-dealer, which have something American in their subject. To +know what catalogues are comprehensive, and what period they cover, as +well as the limitations of nearly all of them, is a necessary part of the +training of a bibliographer, and is essential to the librarian who would +economize his time and enlarge his usefulness. + +Let us begin with our own country. Here we are met at the outset by the +great paucity of general catalogues of American literature, and the utter +impossibility of finding any really comprehensive lists of the books +published in the United States, during certain periods. We can get along +tolerably well for the publications within the last thirty years, which +nearly represent the time since systematic weekly bibliographical +journals have been published, containing lists of the current issues of +books. But for the period just before the Civil War, back to the year +1775, or for very nearly a century, we are without any systematic +bibliography of the product of the American press. The fragmentary +attempts which have been made toward supplying an account of what books +have been published in the United States from the beginning, will +hereafter be briefly noted. At the outset, you are to observe the wide +distinction that exists between books treating of America, or any part of +it, and books printed in America. The former may have been printed +anywhere, at any time since 1492, and in any language: and to such books, +the broad significant term "_Americana_" may properly be applied, as +implying books relating to America. But this class of works is wholly +different from that of books written or produced by Americans, or printed +in America. It is these latter that we mean when we lament the want of a +comprehensive American catalogue. There have been published in the United +States alone (to go no farther into America at present) thousands of +books, whose titles are not found anywhere, except widely scattered in +the catalogues of libraries, public and private, in which they exist. +Nay, there are multitudes of publications which have been issued in this +country during the last two hundred years, whose titles cannot be found +anywhere in print. This is not, generally, because the books have +perished utterly,--though this is unquestionably true of some, but +because multitudes of books that have appeared, and do appear, wholly +escape the eye of the literary, or critical, or bibliographical +chronicler. It is, beyond doubt true even now, that what are commonly +accepted as complete catalogues of the issues of the press of any year, +are wofully incomplete, and that too, through no fault of their +compilers. Many works are printed in obscure towns, or in newspaper +offices, which never reach the great eastern cities, where our principal +bibliographies, both periodical and permanent, are prepared. Many books, +too, are "privately printed," to gratify the pride or the taste of their +authors, and a few copies distributed to friends, or sometimes to +selected libraries, or public men. In these cases, not only are the +public chroniclers of new issues of the press in ignorance of the +printing of many books, but they are purposely kept in ignorance. Charles +Lamb, of humorous and perhaps immortal memory, used to complain of the +multitudes of books which are no books; and we of to-day may complain, if +we choose, of the vast number of publications that are not published. + +Take a single example of the failure of even large and imposing volumes +to be included in the "American Catalogue," for whose aid, librarians are +so immeasurably indebted to the enterprise of its publishers. A single +publishing house west of New York, printed and circulated in about four +years time, no less than thirty-two elaborate and costly histories, of +western counties and towns, not one of which was ever recorded by title +in our only comprehensive American bibliography. Why was this? Simply +because the works referred to were published only as subscription books, +circulated by agents, carefully kept out of booksellers' hands, and never +sent to the Eastern press for notice or review. When circumstances like +these exist as to even very recent American publications (and they are +continually happening) is it any wonder that our bibliographies are +incomplete? + +Perhaps some will suggest that there must be one record of American +publications which is complete, namely, the office of Copyright at +Washington. It is true that the titles of all copyright publications are +required by law to be there registered, and copies deposited as soon as +printed. It is also true that a weekly catalogue of all books and other +copyright publications is printed, and distributed by the Treasury, to +all our custom-houses, to intercept piratical re-prints which might be +imported. But the books just referred to were not entered for copyright +at all, the publishers apparently preferring the risk of any rival's +reprinting them, rather than to incur the cost of the small copyright +fee, and the deposit of copies. In such cases, there is no law requiring +publishers to furnish copies of their books. The government guarantees no +monopoly of publication, and so cannot exact a _quid pro quo._, however +much it might inure to the interest of publisher and author to have the +work seen and noticed, and preserved beyond risk of perishing (unless +printed on wood-pulp paper) in the Library of the United States. + +If such extensive omissions of the titles of books sometimes important, +can now continually occur in our accepted standards of national +bibliography, what shall we say of times when we had no critical +journals, no publishers' trade organs, and no weekly, nor annual, nor +quinquennial catalogues of American books issued? Must we not allow, in +the absence of any catalogues worthy of the name, to represent such +periods, that all our reference books are from the very necessity of the +case deplorably incomplete? Only by the most devoted, indefatigable and +unrewarded industry have we got such aids to research as to the existence +of American publications, as Haven's Catalogue of American publications +prior to 1776, Sabin's Bibliotheca Americana, and the American Catalogues +of Leypoldt, Bowker, and their coadjutors. + +These illustrations are cited to guard against the too common error of +supposing that we have in the numerous American catalogues that exist, +even putting them all together, any full bibliography of the titles of +American books. While it cannot be said that the _lacunae_ or omissions +approach the actual entries in number, it must be allowed that books are +turning up every day, both new and old, whose titles are not found in any +catalogue. The most important books--those which deserve a name as +literature, are found recorded somewhere--although even as to many of +these, one has to search many alphabets, in a large number of volumes, +before tracing them, or some editions of them. + +One principal source of the great number of titles of books found +wanting in American catalogues, is that many books were printed at places +remote from the great cities, and were never announced in the columns of +the press at all. This is especially true as to books printed toward the +close of the 18th century, and during the first quarter of the 19th. Not +only have we no bibliography whatever of American issues of the press, +specially devoted to covering the long period between 1775 and 1820, but +multitudes of books printed during that neglected half-century, have +failed to get into the printed catalogues of our libraries. As +illustrations we might give a long catalogue of places where +book-publication was long carried on, and many books of more or less +importance printed or reprinted, but in which towns not a book has been +produced for more than three-quarters of a century past. One of these +towns was Winchester, and another Williamsburg, in Virginia; another was +Exeter, New Hampshire, and a fourth was Carlisle, Pa. In the last-named +place, one Archibald Loudon printed many books, between A. D. 1798, and +1813, which have nearly all escaped the chroniclers of American +book-titles. Notable among the productions of his press, was his own +book, A History of Indian Wars, or as he styled it in the title page, "A +selection of some of the most interesting narratives of outrages +committed by the Indians in their wars with the white people." This +history appeared in two volumes from the press of A. Loudon, Carlisle, +Pa., in 1808 and 1811. It is so rare that I have failed to find its title +anywhere except in Sabin's Bibliotheca Americana, Field's Indian +Bibliography, and the Catalogue of the Library of Congress. Not even the +British Museum Library, so rich in Americana, has a copy. Sabin states +that only six copies are known, and Field styles it, "this rarest of +books on America," adding that he could learn of only three perfect +copies in the world. A Harrisburg reprint of 1888 (100 copies to +subscribers) is also quite rare. + +Continuing the subject of American bibliography, and still lamenting the +want of any comprehensive or finished work in that field which is worthy +of the name, let us see what catalogues do exist, even approximating +completeness for any period. The earlier years of the production of +American books have been partially covered by the "Catalogue of +publications in what is now the United States, prior to 1776." This list +was compiled by an indefatigable librarian, the late Samuel F. Haven, who +was at the head of the Library of the American Antiquarian Society, at +Worcester, Mass. It gives all titles by sequence of years of publication, +instead of alphabetical order, from 1639 (the epoch of the earliest +printing in the United States) to the end of 1775. The titles of books +and pamphlets are described with provoking brevity, being generally +limited to a single line for each, and usually without publishers' names, +(though the places of publication and sometimes the number of pages are +given) so that it leaves much to be desired. Notwithstanding this, Mr. +Haven's catalogue is an invaluable aid to the searcher after titles of +the early printed literature of our country. It appeared at Albany, N. +Y., in 1874, as an appendix [in Vol 2] to a new (or second) edition of +Isaiah Thomas's History of Printing in America, which was first published +in 1810. In using it, the librarian will find no difficulty, if he knows +the year when the publication he looks for appeared, as all books of each +year are arranged in alphabetical order. But if he knows only the +author's name, he may have a long search to trace the title, there being +no general alphabet or index of authors. This chronological arrangement +has certain advantages to the literary inquirer or historian, while for +ready reference, its disadvantages are obvious. + +While there were several earlier undertakings of an American bibliography +than Haven's catalogue of publications before the American revolution, +yet the long period which that list covers, and its importance, entitled +it to first mention here. There had, however, appeared, as early as the +year 1804, in Boston, "A Catalogue of all books, printed in the United +States, with the prices, and places where published, annexed." This large +promise is hardly redeemed by the contents of this thin pamphlet of 91 +pages, all told. Yet the editor goes on to assure us-- + + "This Catalogue is intended to include all books of general sale + printed in the United States, whether original, or reprinted; + that the public may see the rapid progress of book-printing in a + country, where, twenty years since, scarcely a book was + published. Local and occasional tracts are generally omitted. + Some of the books in the Catalogue are now out of print, and + others are scarce. It is contemplated to publish a new edition of + this Catalogue, every two years, and to make the necessary + additions and corrections; and it is hoped the time is not far + distant, when useful Libraries may be formed of American editions + of Books, well printed, and handsomely bound. + + Printed at Boston, for the Book sellers, Jan., 1804." + +The really remarkable thing about this catalogue is that it was the very +first bibliographical attempt at a general catalogue, in separate form, +in America. It is quite interesting as an early booksellers' list of +American publications, as well as for its classification, which is as +follows: "Law, Physic, Divinity, Bibles, Miscellanies, School Books, +Singing Books, Omissions." + +The fact that no subsequent issues of the catalogue appeared, evinces the +very small interest taken in bibliographic knowledge in those early days. + +This curiosity of early American bibliography gives the titles of 1338 +books, all of American publication, with prices in 1804. Here are +samples: Bingham's Columbian Orator, 75 cts.: Burney's Cecilia, 3 vols. +$3: Memoirs of Pious Women, $1.12: Belknap's New Hampshire, 3 vols. $5: +Mrs. Coghlan's Memoirs, 621/2 cts.: Brockden Brown's Wieland, $1: +Federalist, 2 vols. $4.50: Dilworth's Spelling Book, 121/2 cts.: Pike's +Arithmetic, $2.25. + +The number of out-of-the-way places in which books were published in +those days is remarkable. Thus, in Connecticut, we have as issuing books, +Litchfield, New London and Fairhaven: in Massachusetts, Leominster, +Dedham, Greenfield, Brookfield, and Wrentham: in New Hampshire, Dover, +Walpole, Portsmouth, and Exeter: in Pennsylvania, Washington, Carlisle, +and Chambersburg: in New Jersey, Morristown, Elizabethtown, and +Burlington. At Alexandria, Va., eight books are recorded as published. + +This historical nugget of the Boston bookmongers of a century ago is so +rare, that only two copies are known in public libraries, namely, in the +Library of Congress, and in that of the Massachusetts Historical Society. +It was reprinted in 1898, for the Dibdin Club of New York, by Mr. A. +Growoll, of the Publishers' Weekly, to whose curious and valuable notes +on "Booktrade Bibliography in the United States in the 19th century," it +forms a supplement. + +The next catalogue of note claiming to be an American catalogue, or of +books published in America, was put forth in 1847, at Claremont, N. H., +by Alexander V. Blake. This was entitled, "The American Bookseller's +complete reference trade-list, and alphabetical catalogue of books, +published in this country, with the publishers' and authors' names, and +prices." This quarto volume, making 351 pages (with its supplement issued +in 1848) was the precursor of the now current "Trade List Annual," +containing the lists of books published by all publishers whose lists +could be secured. The titles are very brief, and are arranged in the +catalogue under the names of the respective publishers, with an +alphabetical index of authors and of anonymous titles at the end. It +served well its purpose of a book-trade catalogue fifty years ago, being +the pioneer in that important field. It is now, like the catalogue of +1804, just noticed, chiefly interesting as a bibliographical curiosity, +although both lists do contain the titles of some books not elsewhere +found. + +Mr. Orville A. Roorbach, a New York bookseller, was the next compiler of +an American bibliography. His first issue of 1849 was enlarged and +published in 1852, under this title: "Bibliotheca Americana: a catalogue +of American publications, including reprints and original works, from +1820 to 1852, inclusive." This octavo volume of 663 pages, in large, +clear type, closely abbreviates nearly all titles, though giving in one +comprehensive alphabet, the authors' names, and the titles of the books +under the first word, with year and place of publication, publisher's +name, and price at which issued. No collation of the books is given, but +the catalogue supplies sufficient portions of each title to identify the +book. It is followed in an appendix by a catalogue of law books, in a +separate alphabet, and a list of periodicals published in the United +States in 1852. + +Roorbach continued his catalogue to the year 1861, by the issue of three +successive supplements: (1) covering the American publications of 1853 to +1855: (2) from 1855 to 1858: (3) from 1858 to 1861. These four +catalogues, aiming to cover, in four different alphabets, the issues of +the American press for forty years, or from 1820 to 1861, are extremely +useful lists to the librarian, as finding lists, although the rigorously +abbreviated titles leave very much to be desired by the bibliographer, +and the omissions are exceedingly numerous of books published within the +years named, but whose titles escaped the compiler. + +Following close upon Roorbach's Bibliotheca Americana in chronological +order, we have next two bibliographies covering American book issues +from 1861 to 1871. These were compiled by a New York book dealer named +James Kelly, and were entitled The American Catalogue of Books, (original +and reprint) published in the United States from Jan., 1861, to Jan., +1866, [and from Jan., 1866, to Jan., 1871] with date of publication, +size, price, and publisher's name. The first volume contained a +supplement, with list of pamphlets on the civil war, and also a list of +the publications of learned societies. These very useful and important +catalogues cover ten years of American publishing activity, adding also +to their own period many titles omitted by Roorbach in earlier years. +Kelly's catalogues number 307 and 444 pages respectively, and, like +Roorbach's, they give both author and title in a single alphabet. Names +of publishers are given, with place and year of publication, and retail +price, but without number of pages, and with no alphabet of subjects. + +Next after Kelly's catalogue came the first issue of the "American +Catalogue," which, with its successive volumes (all published in quarto +form) ably represents the bibliography of our country during the past +twenty-five years. The title of the first volume, issued in 1880, reads +"American Catalogue of books in print and for sale (including reprints +and importations) July 1, 1876. Compiled under direction of F. Leypoldt, +by L. E. Jones." This copious repository of book-titles was in two parts: +(1) Authors, and (2) Subject-index. Both are of course in alphabetical +order, and the titles of books are given with considerable abbreviation. +The fact that its plan includes many titles of books imported from Great +Britain, (as supplying information to book-dealers and book-buyers) +prevents it from being considered as a bibliography of strictly American +publications. Still, it is the only approximately full American +bibliography of the publications current twenty-five years ago. As such, +its volumes are indispensable in every library, and should be in its +earliest purchase of works of reference. The limitation of the catalogue +to books still in print--_i. e._, to be had of the publishers at the time +of its issue, of course precludes it from being ranked as a universal +American bibliography. + +The first issue in 1880 was followed, in 1885, by the "American +Catalogue, 1876-1884: books recorded (including reprints and +importations), under editorial direction of R. R. Bowker, by Miss A. I. +Appleton." This appeared in one volume, but with two alphabets; one being +authors and titles, and the other an alphabet of subjects. As this volume +included eight years issues of the American press, the next bibliography +published covered the next ensuing six years, and included the books +recorded from July, 1884 to July, 1890. This appeared in 1891, edited +with care by Miss Appleton and others. + +In 1896 appeared its successor, the "American Catalogue, 1890-95. +Compiled under the editorial direction of R. R. Bowker." This catalogue +records in its first volume, or alphabet of authors: (1) author; (2) size +of book; (3) year of issue; (4) price; (5) publisher's name. The names of +places where published are not given with the title, being rendered +unnecessary by the full alphabetical list of publishers which precedes, +and fixes the city or town where each published his books. This same +usage is followed in succeeding issues of the American Catalogue. + +This indispensable bibliography of recent American books, in addition to +its regular alphabets of authors and titles (the latter under first words +and in the same alphabet with the authors) and the succeeding alphabet of +subjects, prints a full list of the publications of the United States +government, arranged by departments and bureaus; also a list of the +publications of State governments, of Societies, and of books published +in series. + +This last issue has 939 pages. Its only defects (aside from its +inevitable omissions of many unrecorded books) are the double alphabet, +and the want of collation, or an indication of the number of pages in +each work, which should follow every title. Its cost in bound form is +$15, at which the two preceding American catalogues 1876-84, and 1884 to +1890 can also be had, while the catalogue of books in print in 1876, +published in 1880, is quite out of print, though a copy turns up +occasionally from some book-dealer's stock. + +The American Catalogue has now become a quinquennial issue, gathering the +publications of five years into one alphabet; and it is supplemented at +the end of every year by the "Annual American Catalogue," started in +1886, which gives, in about 400 pages, in its first alphabet, collations +of the books of the year (a most important feature, unfortunately absent +from the quinquennial American Catalogue.) Its second alphabet gives +authors, titles, and sometimes subject-matters, but without the +distribution into subject-divisions found in the quinquennial catalogue; +and the titles are greatly abridged from the full record of its first +alphabet. Its price is $3.50 each year. + +And this annual, in turn, is made up from the catalogues of titles of all +publications, which appear in the _Publishers' Weekly_, the carefully +edited organ of the book publishing interests in the United States. This +periodical, which will be found a prime necessity in every library, +originated in New York, in 1855, as the "American Publishers' Circular," +and has developed into the recognized authority in American publications, +under the able management of R. R. Bowker and A. Growoll. For three +dollars a year, it supplies weekly and monthly alphabetical lists of +whatever comes from the press, in book form, as completely as the titles +can be gathered from every source. It gives valuable notes after most +titles, defining the scope and idea of the work, with collations, +features which are copied into the Annual American Catalogue. + +I must not omit to mention among American bibliographies, although +published in London, and edited by a foreigner, Mr. N. Truebner's +"Bibliographical Guide to American literature: a classed list of books +published in the United States during the last forty years." This book +appeared in 1859, and is a carefully edited bibliography, arranged +systematically in thirty-two divisions of subjects, filling 714 pages +octavo. It gives under each topic, an alphabet of authors, followed by +titles of the works, given with approximate fullness, followed by place +and year of publication, but without publishers' names. The number of +pages is also given where ascertained, and the price of the work quoted +in sterling English money. This work, by a competent German-English +book-publisher of London, is preceded by a brief history of American +literature, and closes with a full index of authors whose works are +catalogued in it. + +We come now to by far the most comprehensive and ambitious attempt to +cover not only the wide field of American publications, but the still +more extensive field of books relating to America, which has ever yet +been made. I refer to the "Bibliotheca Americana; a dictionary of books +relating to America," by Joseph Sabin, begun more than thirty years ago, +in 1868, and still unfinished, its indefatigable compiler having died in +1881, at the age of sixty. This vast bibliographical undertaking was +originated by a variously-gifted and most energetic man, not a scholar, +but a bookseller and auctioneer, born in England. Mr. Sabin is said to +have compiled more catalogues of private libraries that have been +brought to the auctioneer's hammer, than any man who ever lived in +America. He bought and sold, during nearly twenty years, old and rare +books, in a shop in Nassau street, New York, which was the resort of book +collectors and bibliophiles without number. He made a specialty of +Americana, and of early printed books in English literature, crossing the +Atlantic twenty-five times to gather fresh stores with which to feed his +hungry American customers. During all these years, he worked steadily at +his _magnum opus_, the bibliography of America, carrying with him in his +many journeys and voyages, in cars or on ocean steamships, copy and +proofs of some part of the work. There have been completed about ninety +parts, or eighteen thick volumes of nearly 600 pages each; and since his +death the catalogue has been brought down to the letter S, mainly by Mr. +Wilberforce Eames, librarian of the Lenox Library, New York. Though its +ultimate completion must be regarded as uncertain, the great value to all +librarians, and students of American bibliography or history, of the work +so far as issued, can hardly be over-estimated. Mr. Sabin had the benefit +in revising the proofs of most of the work, of the critical knowledge and +large experience of Mr. Charles A. Cutter, the librarian of the Boston +Athenaeum Library, whose catalogue of the books in that institution, in +five goodly volumes, is a monument of bibliographical learning and +industry. Sabin's Dictionary is well printed, in large, clear type, the +titles being frequently annotated, and prices at auction sales of the +rarer and earlier books noted. Every known edition of each work is given, +and the initials of public libraries in the United States, to the number +of thirteen, in which the more important works are found, are appended. +In not a few cases, where no copy was known to the compiler in a public +collection, but was found in a private library, the initials of its owner +were given instead. + +This extensive bibliography was published solely by subscription, only +635 copies being printed at $2.50 a part, so that its cost to those +subscribing was about $225 unbound, up to the time of its suspension. The +first part appeared January 1, 1867, although Vol. I. bears date New +York, 1868. It records most important titles in full, with (usually) +marks denoting omissions where such are made. In the case of many rare +books relating to America (and especially those published prior to the +18th century) the collations are printed so as to show what each line of +the original title embraces, _i. e._ with vertical marks or dashes +between the matter of the respective lines. This careful description is +invaluable to the bibliographical student, frequently enabling him to +identify editions, or to solve doubts as to the genuineness of a +book-title in hand. The collation by number of pages is given in all +cases where the book has been seen, or reported fully to the editor. The +order of description as to each title is as follows: (1) Place of +publication (2) publisher (3) year (4) collation and size of book. Notes +in a smaller type frequently convey information of other editions, of +prices in various sales, of minor works by the same writer, etc. + +The fullness which has been aimed at in Sabin's American bibliography is +seen in the great number of sermons and other specimens of pamphlet +literature which it chronicles. It gives also the titles of most early +American magazines, reviews, and other periodicals, except newspapers, +which are generally omitted, as are maps also. As an example of the often +minute cataloguing of the work, I may mention that no less than eight +pages are occupied with a list of the various publications and editions +of books by Dr. Jedediah Morse, an author of whom few of the present +generation of Americans have ever heard. He was the earliest American +geographer who published any comprehensive books upon the subject, and +his numerous Gazetteers and Geographies, published from 1784 to 1826, +were constantly reprinted, until supplanted by more full, if not more +accurate works. + +Upon the whole, Sabin's great work, although so far from being finished, +is invaluable as containing immeasurably more and fuller titles than any +other American bibliography. It is also the only extensive work on the +subject which covers all periods, although the books of the last thirty +years must chiefly be excepted as not represented. As a work of +reference, while its cost and scarcity may prevent the smaller public +libraries from possessing it, it is always accessible in the libraries of +the larger cities, where it is among the foremost works to be consulted +in any research involving American publications, or books of any period +or country relating to America, or its numerous sub-divisions. + +I may now mention, much more cursorily, some other bibliographies +pertaining to our country. The late Henry Stevens, who died in 1886, +compiled a "Catalogue of the American Books in the Library of the British +Museum." This was printed by the Museum authorities in 1856, and fills +754 octavo pages. Its editor was a highly accomplished bibliographer and +book-merchant, born in Vermont, but during the last forty years of his +life resided in London, where he devoted himself to his profession with +great learning and assiduity. He published many catalogues of various +stocks of books collected by him, under such titles as "Bibliotheca +historica," "Bibliotheca Americana," etc., in which the books were +carefully described, often with notes illustrating their history or their +value. He became an authority upon rare books and early editions, and +made a valuable catalogue of the Bibles in the Caxton exhibition at +London, in 1877, with bibliographical commentary. He was for years chief +purveyor of the British Museum Library for its American book purchases, +and aided the late James Lenox in building up that rich collection of +Americana and editions of the Scriptures which is now a part of the New +York Public Library. His catalogue of the American books in the British +Museum, though now over forty years old, and supplanted by the full +alphabetical catalogue of that entire library since published, is a +valuable contribution to American bibliography. + +Mr. Stevens was one of the most acute and learned bibliographers I have +known. He was a man of marked individuality and independent views; with a +spice of eccentricity and humor, which crept into all his catalogues, and +made his notes highly entertaining reading. Besides his services to the +British Museum Library, in building up its noble collection of Americana, +and in whose rooms he labored for many years, with the aid of Panizzi and +his successors, whom he aided in return, Stevens collected multitudes of +the books which now form the choice treasures of the Lenox library, the +Carter Brown library, at Providence, the Library of Congress, and many +more American collections. To go with him through any lot of Americana, +in one of his enterprising visits to New York, where he sometimes came to +market his overflowing stores picked up in London and on the continent, +was a rare treat. Every book, almost, brought out some verbal criticism, +anecdote or reminiscence of his book-hunting experiences, which began in +America, and extended all over Europe. + +He was not only an indefatigable collector, but a most industrious and +accurate bibliographer, doing more work in that field, probably, than any +other American. He wrote a singularly careful, though rapid hand, as +plain and condensed as print, and in days before modern devices for +manifolding writing were known, he copied out his invoices in duplicate +or triplicate in his own hand, with titles in full, and frequent +descriptive notes attached. His many catalogues are notable for the +varied learning embodied. He was a most intelligent and vigilant book +collector for more than forty years, his early labors embracing towns in +New York and New England, as purveyor for material for Peter Force, of +Washington, whose American Archives were then in course of preparation. +Among the library collectors who absorbed large portions of his gathered +treasures, were James Lenox, Jared Sparks, George Livermore, John Carter +Brown, Henry C. Murphy, George Brinley, the American Geographical +Society, and many historical societies. He was an authority on all the +early voyages, and wrote much upon them. No one knew more about early +Bibles than Henry Stevens. + +His enterprise and ambition for success led him to bold and sometimes +extensive purchases. He bought about 1865, the library of Baron von +Humboldt, and this and other large ventures embarrassed him much in later +years. He became the owner of the Franklin manuscripts, left in London by +the great man's grandson, and collected during many years a library of +Frankliniana, which came to the Library of Congress when the Franklin +manuscripts were purchased for the State Department in 1881. + +He was proud of his country and his State, always signing himself "Henry +Stevens, of Vermont." His book-plate had engraved beneath his name, the +titles, "G. M. B.: F. S. A." The last, of course, designated him as +Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, but the first puzzled +even his friends, until it was interpreted as signifying "Green Mountain +Boy." His brother used jocosely to assure me that it really meant +"Grubber of Musty Books." + +As to his prices for books, while some collectors complained of them as +"very stiff," they appear, when compared with recent sales of Americana, +at auction and in sale catalogues, to be quite moderate. The late +historian Motley told me that Mr. Stevens charged more than any one for +Dutch books relating to America; but Mr. Motley's measure of values was +gauged by the low prices of Dutch booksellers which prevailed during his +residence in the Netherlands, for years before the keen demand from +America had rendered the numerous Dutch tracts of the West India Company, +etc., more scarce and of greater commercial value than they bore at the +middle of this century. + +As treating of books by American authors, though not so much a complete +bibliography of their works, as a critical history, with specimens +selected from each writer, Duyckinck's "Cyclopaedia of American +Literature" deserves special mention. The last edition appeared at +Philadelphia, in 1875, in two large quarto volumes. Equally worthy of +note is the compilation by E. C. Stedman and Ellen M. Hutchinson, in +eleven volumes, entitled "Library of American Literature," New York, +1887-90. A most convenient hand-book of bibliographical reference is +Oscar F. Adams's "Dictionary of American Authors," Boston, 1897, which +gives in a compact duodecimo volume, the name and period of nearly every +American writer, with a brief list of his principal works, and their date +of publication, in one alphabet. + +Of notable catalogues of books relating to America, rather than of +American publications, should be named White Kennet's "Bibliotheca +Americana primordia," the earliest known catalogue devoted to American +bibliography, London, 1713; O. Rich, Catalogue of Books relating to +America, 1500-1700, London, 1832; Rich, "Bibliotheca Americana nova," +books printed between 1700 and 1844, two volumes, London, 1835-46; H. +Harrisse, "Bibliotheca Americana vetustissima," New York, 1866, and its +supplement, Paris, 1872, both embracing rare early Americana, published +from 1492 to 1551. This is a critically edited bibliography of the rarest +books concerning America that appeared in the first half century after +its discovery. + +The important field of American local history has given birth to many +bibliographies. The earliest to be noted is H. E. Ludewig's "Literature +of American Local History," New York, 1846. Thirty years later came F. B. +Perkins's "Check List for American Local History," Boston, 1876; followed +by A. P. C. Griffin's "Index of articles upon American Local History in +historical collections," Boston, 1889, and by his "Index of the +literature of American local history in collections published in +1890-95," Boston, 1896. Closely allied to the catalogues of city, town, +and county histories, come the bibliographies of genealogies and family +histories, of which the last or 4th edition of D. S. Durrie's +"Bibliographia genealogica Americana; an alphabetical index to American +genealogies in county and town histories, printed genealogies, and +kindred works," Albany, 1895, is the most comprehensive and +indispensable. This work gives us an alphabet of family names, under each +of which are grouped the titles of books in which that special name is +treated, with citation of the page. It also gives the name and date of +publication of the special family genealogies which are separately +printed, whether book or pamphlet, with number of pages in each. The +work is by a librarian, to whose laborious diligence Americans are deeply +indebted. + +Among other bibliographies of genealogy are Munsell's "American +Genealogist: a catalogue of family histories," Albany, 1897. This work +aims to give the titles of all separately printed American genealogies, +in an alphabet of family names, giving titles in full, with place and +year of publication, name of publisher, and collation, or number of +pages. + +For the multitudinous public documents of the United States, consult B. +P. Poore's "Descriptive catalogue of the government publications of the +United States, 1775-1881," Washington, 1885, and F. A. Crandall, Check +list of public documents, debates and proceedings from 1st to 53d +Congress (1789-1895), Washington, 1895; also, + +Comprehensive index to the publications of the United States government, +1889-1893. The same--United States Catalogue of Public Documents, 1893 to +1895, Washington, 1896. Several biennial or annual lists of United States +Documents have followed. + +As supplementing these extensive catalogues, we have in the Appendix to +the "American Catalogue" of 1885 a List of United States Government +publications from 1880 to 1884; in that of 1891 a List from 1884 to 1890; +and in that of 1896 a List covering the years 1891 to 1895. + +A most important recent bibliography is found in H. C. Bolton's +"Catalogue of Scientific and Technical Periodicals, 1665-1895," +Washington, 1897. + +There are also many sale catalogues of American books, with prices, some +of which may be noted, _e. g._ J. R. Smith, Bibliotheca Americana, +London, 1865; F. Mueller, Catalogue of books and pamphlets relating to +America, Amsterdam, 1877, and later years. Ternaux-Compans, "Bibliotheque +Americaine;" books printed before 1700, Paris, 1837: P. Troemel, +"Bibliotheque Americaine," Leipzig, 1861: D. B. Warden, "Bibliotheque +Americaine," Paris, 1840: R. Clarke & Co., "Bibliotheca Americana," +Cincinnati, 1874, 1878, 1887, 1891, and 1893. + +There are, besides, important catalogues of some private libraries, +devoted wholly or chiefly to books relating to America. Among these, the +most extensive and costly is John R. Bartlett's catalogue of the library +of J. Carter Brown, of Providence, in four sumptuous volumes, with +fac-similes of early title-pages, of which bibliography only fifty copies +were printed. It is entitled, "Bibliotheca Americana: a catalogue of +books relating to North and South America," 1482-1800, 4 vols. large +8vo., Providence, 1870-82. The Carter Brown Library is now the richest +collection of Americana in any private library in the world. + +Among catalogues of libraries sold by auction, and composed largely of +American books, are those of John A. Rice, New York, 1870: W. Menzies, +New York, 1875: George Brinley, in five volumes, sold 1878 to 1886: Henry +C. Murphy, New York, 1884: S. L. M. Barlow, New York, 1889: and Brayton +Ives, New York, 1891. + +The wide field of bibliography of English literature has given birth to +many books. Only the more comprehensive can here be noted. + +R. Watt's Bibliotheca Britannica, in four quarto volumes, Edinburgh, +1824, although now old, is still an indispensable work of reference, +giving multitudes of titles of English books and pamphlets not found in +any other bibliography. It of course abounds in errors, most of which +have been copied in Allibone's Dictionary of English literature. This +extensive work is a monument of labor, to which the industrious compiler +devoted many years, dying of too intense study, at Glasgow, at the early +age of forty-five, in the year 1819. The issue of the work in 1824, being +thus posthumous, its errors and omissions are largely accounted for by +the author's inability to correct the press. The plan of the work is +unique. Vols. 1 and 2 contain the alphabet of authors and titles, with +dates and publishers' prices when known. Vols. 3 and 4 contain an +alphabet of subjects, in which the titles re-appear, with a key alphabet +in italic letters attached to each title, by which reference is made to +the author-catalogue, at a fixed place, where all the works of the author +are recorded. + +The work is printed in small type, with two crowded columns on a page, +thus containing an enormous amount of matter. The key is quickly learned, +and by its aid, and the alphabet of subjects, the librarian can find out +the authors of many anonymous books. Watt is the only general +bibliography of English literature which gives most of the obscure +writers and their works. + +Lowndes' Bibliographer's Manual of English Literature, in its second +edition, enlarged by H. G. Bohn, is a most indispensable bibliography. +This work is arranged alphabetically by authors' names, and aims to +record all important books published in Great Britain, from the earliest +times to about A. D. 1834. It is in eleven parts, or 6 vols. 16 mo. of +very portable size, Lond., 1857-65. While it gives collations of the more +important works, with publishers and dates, it fails to record many +editions of the same work. Its quoted prices represent the original +publisher's price, with very frequent additions of the sale prices +obtained at book auctions. The chief defect of Lowndes' Manual is its +total lack of any index of subjects. + +S. Austin Allibone's "Critical Dictionary of English literature," +Philadelphia, 1858-71, 3 volumes, with supplement by John F. Kirk, in 2 +vols., Philadelphia, 1891, is a copious reference book, which, in spite +of its many errors and crudities, should be in all libraries. It contains +in abbreviated form most of the titles in Watt and Lowndes, with the +addition of American authors, and of British books published since the +period covered by Lowndes. The three volumes of Allibone accompany the +titles of works by noted authors with many critical remarks, copied +mostly from reviews and literary journals. This feature of the book, +which makes it rather a work of literary history and criticism than a +bibliography pure and simple, has been dropped in Mr. Kirk's supplement, +which thus becomes properly a bibliography. The publications of England +and America, from about 1850 to 1890, are more fully chronicled in this +work of Kirk than in any other bibliography. + +The important "English Catalogue of Books," from A. D. 1835 to 1897, in 5 +vols., with its valuable Index of Subjects, in 4 vols., from 1857 up to +1889, is so constantly useful as to be almost indispensable in a public +library. It records, in provokingly brief one-line titles, with +publisher's name, year of issue, and price, all books published in Great +Britain whose titles could be secured. It thus subserves the same purpose +for English publications, which the American Catalogue fulfills for those +of the United States. Both are in effect greatly condensed +bibliographies, enabling the librarian to locate most of the published +literature in the English language for many years back. The English +catalogue, from 1897 to date, is supplemented by its annual issues, +entitled "the English Catalogue of Books for 1898," etc. + +I have said that accuracy should be one of the cardinal aims of the +librarian: and this because in that profession it is peculiarly +important. Bibliography is a study which approaches very nearly to the +rank of an exact science; and the practice of it, in application to the +daily work of the librarian, is at once a school of accuracy, and a test +of ability. A habit of analytical methods should be assiduously +cultivated, without which much time will be lost in fruitless searches in +the wrong books to find what one wants. As a single illustration of this +need of method, suppose that you want to find the title of a certain book +with its full description, a want likely to occur every hour in the day, +and sometimes many times an hour. The book is perhaps Sir Walter Scott's +Life of Napoleon,--9 vols., London, 1827, and your object is to trace its +title, published price, etc., among the numerous bibliographies of +literature. You begin by a simple act of analysis--thus. This is a +London, not an American book--hence it is useless to look in any American +catalogue. It is written in English, so you are dispensed from looking +for it in any French or other foreign bibliography. Its date is 1827, +London. Therefore among the three leading English reference books in +bibliography, which are Watt's Bibliotheca Britannica, Lowndes' +Bibliographer's Manual, and the English Catalogue, you at once eliminate +the former as not containing the book. Why do you do this? Because Watt's +great work, in four huge quartos, though invaluable for the early English +literature, stops with books published before the date of its issue, +1824. Your book is published in 1827, and of course could not appear in a +catalogue of 1824. Shall you refer then to the English Catalogue for its +title? No, because the five volumes of that useful work (though some +imperfect book lists were published earlier), begin with the year 1835, +and the book you seek bears date of 1827. You are then reduced, by this +simple process of analyzing in your mind the various sources of +information, and rejecting all except one, namely Lowndes' +Bibliographer's Manual, to a search in a single catalogue for your title. +This simplifies matters greatly, and saves all the time which might +otherwise have been lost in hunting fruitlessly through several works of +reference. Lowndes' invaluable Manual was published in 1834, and though a +second edition, edited by Bohn, appeared thirty years later, it does not +contain books published after that date, unless they are later editions +of works issued earlier. You find in it your Scott's Napoleon, date 1827, +with its published price, L4. 14. 6, and an account of other later +editions of the book. Of course you will observe that it is necessary to +know what period of years is covered by the various bibliographies, and +to carry those dates perpetually in your memory, in order thus to +simplify searches, and save time. Once learned, you will have the comfort +of knowing where to turn for light upon any book, and the faculty of +accurate memory will reward the pains taken to acquire it. + +I must not omit to include, in noting the more useful and important +English bibliographies, the very copious list of works appended to each +biography of British writers, in the new "Dictionary of National +Biography," Lond., 1885-1900. This extensive work is nearly finished in +about 65 volumes, and constitutes a rich thesaurus of information about +all British authors, except living ones. + +Living characters, considered notable, and brief note of their books, are +recorded in "Men and Women of the Time," 15th ed. London, 1899--but this +book, although highly useful, is far from being a bibliography. + +I should not omit to mention among useful librarians' aids, the "Book +Prices Current; record of prices at which books have been sold at +auction." This London publication began with the year 1887. No sales are +reported of books bringing less than one pound sterling. The book-sales +of 1898 were reported in 1899 of this issue, and the book is published in +each case the next year. The similar catalogue entitled "American Book +Prices Current" was begun with 1895, being compiled from the sale +catalogues of American auctioneers, for that year, and the prices brought +at auction in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago, are recorded +for all notable books, but limited to works bringing as much as $3 or +upward. Five years' reports, in as many volumes, have now been issued, +and the publication is to be continued. Its utility of course consists in +informing librarians or collectors of the most recent auction values of +books. At the same time, a word of caution is required, since it is not +safe to judge of average commercial values, from any isolated bid at an +auction sale. + +A very useful classed catalogue, published by the British Museum library, +and edited by G. K. Fortescue, an assistant librarian, is the so-called +"Subject-index to modern works," of which three volumes have appeared, +beginning with the accessions of 1880-85, each covering five years +additions of new works, in all European languages, to that library. The +third volume embraces the years 1890 to 1895, and appeared in 1896. As +this is not confined to works in English, it should be classed with +universal bibliography. As containing most of the latest books of any +note, all three volumes are important aids to research. They are printed +in large type, in which it is a refreshment to the eye to read titles, +after the small and obscure print of Watt's Bibliotheca Britannica, and +the but little better type of Lowndes' Manual, and of the English +Catalogue. A collation of pages is also added in most cases, and the +importance of this can hardly be overrated. These catalogues of the +British Museum Library abound in pamphlets, English, French, German, +Italian, etc., evincing how large a share of attention is given to the +minor literature coming from the press in the more recent years. + +W. H. D. Adams's "Dictionary of English Literature," London, 1880, and +later, in a compact volume, gives authors and titles of the more +important English and American books. Also, in the same alphabet, an +index to the titles, as well as authors, by the first word, and to many +sayings or quotations, with their original sources. It is a highly useful +book, although its small bulk leaves it far from being a comprehensive +one. + +Chambers' Cyclopaedia of English Literature, in 2 vols., London, 1876, +has an account of the most notable British writers, with specimens of +their works, and forms what may be termed an essential part of the +equipment of every public library. + +The Library Association of the United Kingdom, since 1888, the date of +its organization, has published Transactions and Proceedings; also, since +1889, "The Library," a periodical with bibliographical information. + +It may be noted, without undue expression of pride, that America first +set the example of an organized national association of Librarians +(founded in 1876) followed the same year by a journal devoted to Library +interests. That extremely useful periodical, the _Library Journal_, is +now in its twenty-fourth volume. Its successive issues have contained +lists of nearly all new bibliographical works and catalogues published, +in whatever language. + +The London Publisher's Circular, first established in 1838, is a weekly +organ of the book-publishing trade, aiming to record the titles of all +British publications as they appear from the press. It gives, in an +alphabet by authors' names, the titles in much abbreviated form, with +publisher, size in inches, collation, price, and date, with a fairly good +index of titles or subjects, in the same alphabet. Covering much the same +ground, as a publishers' periodical, is "The Bookseller," issued monthly +since 1858, with lists of the new issues of the British press, and +critical notices. In addition to the English catalogue, there is the +extensive Whitaker's "Reference catalogue of current literature," +published every year, which now makes two large volumes, and embraces the +trade catalogues of English publishers, bound up in alphabetical order, +with a copious index, by authors and titles, in one alphabet, prefixed. + +While on English bibliographies, I must note the important work on local +history, by J. P. Anderson, "Book of British Topography," London, 1881. +This gives, in an alphabet of counties, titles of all county histories or +descriptive works of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, followed in +each county by a list of town histories or topographical works. The +arrangement under each town is chronological. Its only want is a +collation of the books. British genealogy, or the history of families, is +treated bibliographically in G. W. Marshall's "The Genealogist's Guide," +London, 1893, which gives an alphabet of family names, with references in +great detail to county and town histories, pedigrees, heralds' +visitations, genealogies, etc., all over Great Britain, in which any +family is treated. + +The wide field of foreign bibliography, by countries, cannot here be +entered upon, nor can I now treat of the still more extensive range of +works devoted to the bibliography of various subjects. + + + + +INDEX. + + + Access to shelves, 215-225 + Accuracy, rarity of, 254-257 + Adams (O. F.) Dictionary of American authors, 490 + Adams (W. H. D.) Dictionary of English literature, 499 + Administration, faculty of, 249 + Advertising, library, 353-356 + Aids to readers, 190-214 + Alexandrian library, 107, 289 + Allibone (S. A.) Critical dictionary of English literature, 494-495 + Alphabeting titles, 380, 388-389 + American book prices, current, 1895-99, 498 + American catalogue, 1876-1899, 481-484 + American Library Association + catalogue of 5,000 books, 25, 371 + foundation of, 499 + list of novelists, 22 + on open shelves, 223 + on size-notation, 390 + Americana, + bibliographies of, 472-493 + rare, 454-456 + what are, 473 + Anderson (J. P.) book of British topography, 500 + Arabic figures, 81 + Art of reading, 171-189 + Art, lesson from, 24 + Assistants in libraries + appointment of, 337-339 + qualifications of, 242-274 + regulations for, 341-345 + Astor library, N. Y., 35, 306 + mutilation in, 137, 140 + Auction sales, 38-40, 45-47, 457 + Authorship, 271-2 + + Bad books, 20-24, 281-2 + Bartlett (J. R.) catalogue of J. Carter Brown library, 493 + Bay Psalm book, 455 + Beckford library sale, 74, 457-8 + Beecher (H. W.) on books, 15 + Bibliography, 459-500 + accessibility of, 463-464 + bibliographies of, 469-471 + classification of, 464-5 + definition of, 459 + earliest American, 478 + early works in, 465 + no full American, 475 + of American publications, 472-493 + selection of works in, 462 + Binding of books, 50-87, 93-94 + colors in, 57 + desiderata in, 52 + how a bibliomaniac binds, 432 + importance of, 87 + lettering titles, 72, 78-83 + machine methods, 62-3 + marbling and gilding, 68-69, 73 + materials for, 53 + rebinding methods, 64 + Biography, 4-7, 17 + discrepancies in, 210-212 + living characters, 197 + Blake (A. V.) American booksellers' trade-list catalogue, 479 + Boccaccio of 1471, sale of, 46 + Bolton (H. C.) catalogue of scientific and technical periodicals, 492 + Book binding, 50-87, 93-94 + Book buying, 33-49 + Book covering, 97 + Book-marks, 115 + Book plates, 90-93, 97-100 + Book prices + current, 1887-99, 497-498 + American, 1895-99, 498 + Book shops, second hand, 42-45, 458 + Book supports, 96, 110 + Book worms, 108 + Books, cheap and poor editions of, 30 + Books, choice of, 3-32 + Books for public libraries, selection of, 15-32, 361 + Books of reference, 16, 462-463 + Books, three classes of, 182 + Books which have helped me, 183 + Books,--_see_ Reading + Bores, how to treat, 259 + Boston Athenaeum library, 305, 485 + early pamphlets in, 149 + Boston public library, 315 + appointments in, 338 + languages demanded, 247 + Bowker (R. R.) + American catalogue, 482-483 + Publishers' weekly, 483 + British Museum library + appointments in, 338 + catalogue of, 396-399, 498 + its defects, 398 + classification, 367 + mutilation in, 137-138 + trustees of, 340 + Brown (J. Carter) library of Americana, 493 + Brunet (J. C.) Manuel du libraire, 467 + Bry (De) Voyages, 449, 451 + Buildings, library, 321-333 + cost of, 331 + light in, 325 + location of, 323-324 + many mistakes in, 321 + materials for, 324 + periodical room, 328 + shelving, 325 + Bulwer-Lytton (E. L.) writings of, 23, 174 + Burnham (T. O. H. P.), 44 + Bury, Richard de, 292 + Buying of books, 33-49 + methods of, 36-37 + + Calf binding, 55 + Campbell (John), 45 + Capitals, how to be used in catalogues, 378, 387 + Card catalogue system, 393 + its defects, 393-394 + how obviated, 394-396 + Cards, for catalogues, 393 + Carlyle (Thomas) + life of Cromwell, 148 + on librarians, 249 + on reading, 171 + Carnegie (Andrew) gifts to libraries, 315 + Catalogue of all books printed in the U. S. 1804, 478-479 + Catalogues, 373-399 + abridging titles, 382-383 + accession, 386 + auction, 38-39 + card system for, 393 + chronology of authors, 381, 389, 398 + classed, 374-5, 383 + collations in, 379 + cross references, 377 + Cutter's rules for, 375 + deficiencies of American, 473-476 + dictionary, 373-5, 383-384 + English, 383, 495 + errors in, 384-385, 388 + imprints, how given, 379 + kinds of, 373 + of British Museum library, 396-399, 498 + printing, advantages of, 395-396 + rules for, 375-381 + sale, value of, 33-34, 37 + shelf, 386 + size-notation in, 389-391 + use of capitals in, 378, 387 + Caxton's press, books, 451 + Census of wealth, futility of, 194-196 + Chambers' Cyclopaedia of English literature, 499 + Children's books, 276, 278 + reading-rooms, 329-330 + Choice of books, 3-32, 277, 335 + Chronology of authors, 381, 398 + Classic authors, 30 + Classification of books, 362-372 + application of, 366 + Bibliotheque nationale, system of, 368 + British museum, system of, 368 + Brunet's system of, 367 + close classification, 364-365 + conflict of systems, 362-363 + Crunden's verses on, 430 + Cutter, system of, 369 + Dewey, system of, 370 + Fletcher, system of, 372 + fixed shelf location, 371 + Library of Congress, system of, 368 + Cleaning books, 103-104, 127-130 + Clergymen, some book-abusing, 138, 140 + Cleveland public library + fiction experience, 27 + methods of selections, 31 + Cogswell (J. G.), 35 + Collation, 61, 379 + Collier, J. Payne, as a cataloguer, 385 + Congressional library--_see_ Library of Congress + Copy tax, + origin of, 400 + rationale of, 406, 409 + Copyright + and libraries, 400-416 + aggregate copyrights entered, 410 + and Library of Congress, 404-411 + books not entered, 474 + duration of, 413 + foundation of, 402, 412 + history of, 403 + in the Constitution, 401 + international, why, 412-413 + origin of, 401 + perpetual, 402, 413 + provisions of, 414 + Counting a library, 350, 386 + Courtesy, in libraries, 250, 261 + Croton bug, 109 + Crowding of books on shelves, 116-117 + Crunden (F. M.) verses on classification, 430 + Cutter (C. A.) Boston Athenaeum catalogue, 485 + classification, 430 + rules for catalogue, 375 + Sabin's Bibliotheca Americana, 485 + Cutting edges, 60-61, 67 + + Damage to books, _see_ Injuries + Damp, an enemy of books, 104 + Dates, errors in, 210-212 + Dates of books, ancient expression of, 391-393 + Decimal system, 370, 390 + Denis (F.) Nouveau manuel de bibliographie, 468-469 + Dewey (Melvil) + classification, 370 + remark by, 433 + Dictionary catalogues, 373-375, 383-384 + Dictionary of national biography, 197, 497 + Dime novels, 21, 281 + Documents (U. S. public) catalogues, 492 + Dogs-earing books, 114 + "Dont's," list of proper warnings, 134 + Duplicates in libraries, 31, 167-168 + Durrie (D. S.) Bibliographia genealogica Americana, 491 + Dust, + in libraries, 101-103 + to remove from books, 103 + Duyckink's Cyclopaedia of American literature, 490 + + Eames (W.) continuation of Sabin's Bibliotheca Americana, 485 + Editions, + to be always noted, 387 + first, 46, 388, 452 + Education, 245, 282-283 + Egypt, libraries of, 287-289 + Elzevirs, 424, 457 + Emerson (R. W.) cited, 172, 185 + Encyclopaedia Britannica, scope and limitations of, 14, 197-199, 245 + Enemies of books, 101-118 + English catalogue, + 1835-1899, 383, 495 + uses dictionary form, 383 + Errors + in books, 210-212, 255 + in librarians, 256-257 + Essays, 9, 17 + + Facsimile reproduction, 132-134 + Fiction, 12, 18-28, 179 + Fires, + in libraries, 106-108, 131, 297 + destruction of books by, 448-449 + First editions, 46, 388, 452 + Fletcher (W. I.), + classification, 372 + index to periodicals, 169 + Force (Peter) historical library of, 304 + rich in pamphlets, 150 + Formation of libraries, 357-362 + Franklin (B.) + collections of Frankliniana, 456 + his manuscripts, 489 + on Philadelphia library, 299 + French language, need of, 246-248, 257 + Furnishings of libraries, 326 + + Gas, an enemy of books, 105 + Genealogy, bibliographies of, 491-492, 500 + George IV, library of, 212 + Georgi (T.) Allgemeines Europaeisches buecher-lexikon, 465 + Gesner (C.) Bibliotheca universalis, 465 + Gould (Jay) History of Delaware county, N. Y., 453 + Gowans (William), 43 + Graesse, Tresor des livres rares et precieux, 468 + Grangerising, 450 + Greece, libraries of, 288-289 + Griffin (A. P. C.) indexes of American local history, 491 + Grolier bindings, 73, 75 + Grolier club, N. Y., 85, 447 + Growoll (A.) + Book trade bibliography in the U. S., 479 + Publishers' weekly, 483 + + Hain (L.) Repertorium bibliographicum, 466 + Halliwell-Phillipps (J. O.), privately printed books, 446 + Harris (W. T.) experience with memory, 239 + Harrisse (H.) Bibliotheca Americana, 491 + Harvard university library, 296 + Haven (S. F.) Catalogue of American publications, 1639-1775, 477 + Heat, an enemy of books, 104 + Heber library, 34 + Helps to readers, 191-214 + History, 7-8, 17 + of libraries, 287-320 + (local) bibliography, 491, 500 + Homer, 173, 184, 458 + Horace, perfection of his odes, 184 + Humboldt (Baron von), 449 + Humors of the library, 430-443 + Hurst (J. F.) on choice books, 15 + + Illustrated books, 279, 450, 451, 453-454 + Immoral books, 20, 22, 453 + Index expurgatorius, 448, 470 + Indexes, + use of, 205-206 + how to make, 388-389 + substitutes for, 207 + Injuries to books, _See_ Crowding, Cutting, Dogs-earing, Enemies, + Ink, Margins, Mutilations, Soiling, Tracing, Torn leaves + Ink, + use of, 113 + how removed, 128-129 + Inquiries, innumerable, 191-201 + International copyright, 412-416 + Iron construction, 106 + + Joecher (C. G.) Allgemeines gelehrten-lexikon, 466 + Juvenile books, 276, 278, 279 + + Kelly (J.) American catalogue, 1861-1871, 481 + Khayyam (Omar), 457 + Kirk (J. F.) Supplement to Allibone, 1850-1890, 495 + + La Bedoyere, French revolution collection, 149 + Labelling books, 90-93 + Ladies' reading-rooms, 329 + Languages, foreign, 246-248 + La Serna de Santander, Dictionnaire bibliographique, 467 + Law books, binding, 76 + Letters, 8-9 + Leypoldt (F.) Books of all time, 481 + Librarian + a constant aid, 200 + ancient idea of, 273 + as an author, 271-272 + as preserver and restorer of books, 120-121 + benefits to, of inquiries, 202 + high standard for, 272 + indispensable, how to become, 200, 203 + intercourse with readers, 199 + librarian's dream, 417 + qualifications of, 242-274 + accuracy, 254 + business habits, 249, 258 + courtesy, 250, 261 + energy and industry, 262 + foreign languages, 246-248 + good temper, 250 + habits of order, 257-260 + health, 251 + impartial liberality, 264-265 + knowledge of books, 248 + love of his work, 253 + patience inexhaustible, 261 + sound common sense, 252 + tact unfailing, 262 + reserve in recommending books, 213 + "who reads is lost," 242, 274 + woes of a, 441-443 + Librarianship, + attractions of, 193, 268-271 + drawbacks attending, 266-268 + opens avenues to growth, 269 + school of human nature, 270 + + Libraries, + ancient, of clay, 287-288 + and copyright, 400-416 + and schools, 275, 282 + and universities, 282, 293 + annual reports of, 349-356 + catalogues of, 373-399 + classification of, 362-372 + exaggeration of volumes in, 212-213 + formation of, 357-362 + founded by individual gift, 311-313 + history of, 287-320 + historical, 319 + list of, over 100,000 vols., 309-310 + mercantile, 319 + monastic, 290-292 + picture of ancient, 273 + poetry of, 417-430 + professional, 319 + prompt service in, 341-342 + readers in, 186, 285-286 + special report on, 1876, 309 + state libraries, 316-317 + statistics of American, 308 + subscription libraries, 360 + ten largest, 293 + travelling libraries, 319-320 + uses of, 275-286 + Library, how to count a, 350, 386 + Library, humors of the, 430 + Library, poetry of the, 417 + Library advertising, 353-356 + Library association of United Kingdom, 499 + Library buildings and furnishings, 321-333 + _See_ Buildings + Library bulletins, 353 + Library commissioners, 345 + Library committees, 333-340, 360 + Library donations, 361 + Library Journal, N. Y., 1876-99, 499 + Library laws (State), 357, 359 + Library of Congress + and copyright books, 404-411, 416 + appointments in, 338 + joint committee on, 340 + our national conservatory of books, 181-182 + restriction of MSS. and rare books, 225 + sketch of its history, 303-305 + Library regulations, 341-349, 433-434 + Library reports, 349 + Library science schools, 338 + Library trustees or boards of managers, 333-340 + Literature, history of, 12-14 + Loudon (A.) History of Indian wars, 476 + Lowndes (W. T.) Bibliographer's Manual, 494 + + Macaulay (T. B.) memory, 229 + Maittaire (M.) Annales typographici, 467 + Marbling, 68 + Margins, writing or marking on, 114, 124-125, 136 + Mazarin Bible, 46, 445 + Memory, + the faculty of, 226-241 + attention and association, its corner-stones, 236-237 + cardinal qualification of a librarian, 226-227 + discursive reading impairs it, 240-241 + improvement of, 236-240 + intuitive memory, 230 + local memory, 229 + verbal memory, 228 + Migne (J. P. _abbe_) Patrologie, 447 + Milton, 11, 147, 184, 187, 458 + Mnemonic systems, 234-236 + Morocco binding, 56 + Morris (William) Kelmscott press, 447 + Mutilation of books, 111, 124-126 + penal laws for, 135-136 + posting offenders, 138 + + New Hampshire library law, 314 + Newspapers, _see_ Periodicals + New York Mercantile Library, selections for, 32 + New York Public library, 307 + Notation + of book sizes, 390 + of book dates, 381, 391 + Novels, _see_ Fiction + Nuremberg chronicle, 452 + + Omar (Caliph) sentence imputed to, 107, 171, 289 + Omniscience, no human, 172 + Open shelves, 215-225 + American library association on, 223 + an open question, 222 + benefits of, 215-222, 224 + evils of, 216-224 + international library conference on, 220-221 + Opinions on books, 27 + Ostend manifesto, 196-197 + + Pamphlets, + literature of, 145-156 + binding of, 153-155 + British museum, wealth in, 149, 499 + classification of, 152, 155 + definitions of, 145 + dignity and power of, 148 + embarrassments of, 146 + great works printed as, 147 + how to acquire, 151 + La Bedoyere collection of, 149 + Peter Force, collection of, 150 + swift disappearance of, 151 + Thomason collection of, 148 + Panzer (G. W.) Annales typographici, 466 + Parchment, 54 + Peignot (G.) + Repertoire bibliographique universelle, 469 + Dictionnaire des livres condamnes, 448 + Periodicals, + literature of, 157-170 + binding of, 84-85 + cardinal importance of, 153-154, 157, 161, 285 + check list for, 168 + compared with books, 164 + completeness of, 158-159 + continuous reading of impairs the memory, 241 + indexes to, 169-170 + lettering by Poole index, 84 + limited library circulation, 167-168 + newspapers + abuses of, 180 + destruction of, 62 + filing for readers' use, 166 + library notices in, 353-356 + mutilation of, 112 + number of, 157, 160 + over-reading of, 180, 241 + percentage of, to books, 157 + syndicate publication, 165 + value of, 301-302 + Perkins (F. B.) check-list for American local history, 491 + Petzholdt (J.) Bibliotheca bibliographica, 469 + Philadelphia library company's library, 299-302 + Philadelphia Mercantile Library fire, 131-132 + Phillipps (Sir T.) privately printed books, 447 + Plato, reading of, 172, 178 + Plutarch's lives, 3, 184 + Poetical quotations, 193, 204-205 + Poetry, 9-11, 18 + Poetry of the library, 417-429 + Politics in libraries, 265 + Poole (W. F.) + plan of library building, 327 + on ladies' reading-rooms, 329 + Poole's indexes to periodical literature, 169 + Poor Richard's almanac, 456 + Pratt Institute library, thefts in, 144 + Preparation for the shelves, 88-97 + Press, the, and the library, 353-356 + Prices of books, 36, 46-48, 444-451, 455-456, 497-498 + Privately printed books, 446-447, 473 + Problems, insoluble, 194-196 + Pseudonyms, 376-377 + Publishers' Circular (London), 499 + Publishers' Weekly, N. Y., 483 + + Qualifications of librarians, 242-274 + Questions asked, innumerable, 191, 204, 206-209 + Quotations, search for, 193, 204 + + Rare books, 113, 114, 224, 444-459 + causes of rarity, 445-457 + mere age not a cause, 446 + Readers, + aids to, 190-214 + classification of, 186-187, 190-191, 206, 285-286 + favoritism among, 217 + limitations of aid, 204, 208 + Reading, + art of, 171-189 + best, not the latest, 178-179 + choice of, 3-32, 181-2, 277-278 + formative power of, 183-185 + passion for, 458-459 + inspiration of, 183-185 + librarian's, 121, 243-244, 248 + methods of, 175-178, 186-187 + the literal, 175 + the intuitive, 176 + novel reading, 179 + over-much reading of newspapers, 180, 241 + perils of too great absorption in, 185-186 + pleasures of, 182-189 + reading aloud, 177-178, 280 + taste in, 181 + time to read, 173 + Reading rooms, 326 + Reclamation of books, 119-144 + Recommending books, 32 + to be done sparingly, 213, 244 + Reference, books of, 16, 461-463 + Religion, questions about, 201, 265 + Reports, librarians', 349-356 + comprehensive, 349 + printing of, 352 + Reserved books, 224-245 + Restoration and reclamation of books, 119-144 + Rich (O.) Bibliotheca Americana, 491 + Roman libraries, 290 + Roman numerals, 81, 391-392 + Roorbach (O. A.) Bibliotheca Americana, 1820-1861, 480 + Rubber bands, untrustworthy, 155 + Rules, library, 341-349 + call slips or tickets, 346 + circulation, limit, 346-347 + done into verse, 433-434 + hours, 344 + prompt service, 341-342 + registration, 347 + vacations, 345 + Rush (James) bequest to Philadelphia Library Co., 301-302 + Ruskin on collecting books, 14 + Russia binding, 56 + + Sabin (J.) Bibliotheca Americana, 484-487 + School district libraries a failure, 317-319 + Schools and libraries, 275-282 + Science, books of, 11, 18 + Scott's Napoleon, bibliographical object-lesson, 496-497 + Second-hand book shops, 42-45 + Selection of books, 3-32, 277 + _See_ Choice of books + Shakespeare, 10, 46, 184, 188, 458 + Sheep binding, 55 + Shelves, library, 325 + access to, 215 + preparation of books for, 88 + Shelves, open, 215-225 + Signatures, 65 + Size-notation of books, 389-391 + Sizing paper, 128 + Smith's Historie of Virginia, 455 + Smithsonian Institution + collection in Library of Congress, 304 + copyright privilege of, 404 + Soiling of books, 116 + how removed, 127 + Spelling, facility in, 232 + Stack system, 216, 325 + Stamps in books, 88-90, 114 + State libraries, 316-317 + appointments in, 339 + Stealing of books, 111 + _See_ thefts + Stedman (E. C.) Library of American literature, 490 + Stein (H.) Manuel de bibliographie, 470-471 + Stevens (Henry) characteristics of, 487, 489 + Story (A) about stories, 436-437 + Style, + importance of, 175-176, 226 + sample of prose run mad, 26 + Sunday-school books, 276 + Syndicate publishing, 165-166 + + Teaching, 269 + Tennyson (Alfred) early editions of poems, 452 + Thackeray (W. M.) curious question of, 205 + Thefts, + book, 111, 136-144 + leniency in case of, 142-144 + methods of reclamation, 141-144 + Time, use of, 173-174, 258-259 + Titles, + abridgment of, 382-383 + alphabeting of, 388-389 + entry of, in catalogues, 375-377 + headings of, 377 + lettering of, 72-73, 78-83 + use of capitals in, 378, 381, 387 + Titles of novels, done into verse, 436-437 + Torn leaves, how repaired, 122 + Tracing of maps or plates, 113 + Travels, 11, 18 + Tree calf binding, 74 + Truebner (N.) Bibliographical guide to American literature, 484 + Trustees, boards of library, 268, 333-340 + Turner's illustrations, 454, 458 + + Ulster Co. Gazette, 1800, 456 + Universal catalogue, 465 + Universities, use of the library to, 282-285 + University libraries, 294 + Uses of libraries, 275-286 + + Vallee (L.) Bibliographie des bibliographies, 470 + Vellum binding, 54 + Voyages, 11, 18 + + Walpole (Horace) Strawberry hill press, 446 + Washing soiled books, 127, 129 + Watt (R.) Bibliotheca Britannica, 493-494 + Wealth, all estimates of, futile, 194-196 + Winsor (Justin) + a prolific author, 272 + on librarians' instructions, 284 + Woes of a librarian, 441-443 + Worcester, Massachusetts, public library + methods of selection, 31 + theft in, 143 + use of by schools, 281 + + Yale university library, 298 + + + + +Books for Authors + + +AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS + +[Sidenote: Authors and Publishers] + +A MANUAL OF SUGGESTIONS FOR BEGINNERS IN LITERATURE + +Comprising a description of publishing methods and arrangements, +directions for the preparation of MSS. for the press, explanations of the +details of book-manufacturing, instructions for proof-reading, specimens +of typography, the text of the United States Copyright Law, and +information concerning International Copyrights, together with general +hints for authors. By G. H. P. and J. B. P. + +_Seventh Edition, re-written with additional material._ +_8 deg., gilt top_ _net, $1.75_ + +CHIEF CONTENTS + + PART I.--Publishing arrangements--Books published at the risk and + expense of the publisher--Books published for the account of the + author, _i. e._, at the author's risk and expense, or in which he + assumes a portion of the investment--Publishing arrangements for + productions first printed in periodicals or cyclopaedias--The + literary agent--Authors' associations--Advertising--On securing + copyright. + + PART II.--The Making of + Books--Composition--Electrotyping--Presswork--Bookbinding--Illustrations. + + "Full of valuable information for authors and writers. . . . A + most instructive and excellent manual."--GEORGE WM. CURTIS in + _Harper's Magazine_. + + "This handy and useful book is written with perfect fairness and + abounds in hints which writers will do well to 'make a note of.' + . . . There is a host of other matters treated succinctly and + lucidly which it behoves beginners in literature to know, and we + can recommend it most heartily to them."--_London Spectator._ + +G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, NEW YORK AND LONDON + + +BY GEO. HAVEN PUTNAM + + * * * * * + + +AUTHORS AND THEIR PUBLIC IN ANCIENT TIMES + +A Sketch of Literary Conditions and of the Relations with the +Public of Literary Producers, from the Earliest Times to the Fall +of the Roman Empire. + +Second edition, revised, 12 deg., gilt top, $1.50. + +The book abounds in information, is written in a delightfully succinct +and agreeable manner, with apt comparisons that are often humorous, and +with scrupulous exactness to statement, and without a sign of partiality +either from an author's or a publisher's point of view.--_New York +Times._ + + +BOOKS AND THEIR MAKERS DURING THE MIDDLE AGES + +A Study of the Conditions of the Production and Distribution of +Literature from the Fall of the Roman Empire to the Close of the +Seventeenth Century. + +In two volumes, 8 deg., cloth extra (sold separately), each $2.50 +Vol. I., 476-1600--Vol. II., 1500-1709. + +It is seldom that such wide learning, such historical grasp and insight, +have been employed in their service.--_Atlantic Monthly._ + +It is a book to be studied rather than merely praised. . . . That its +literary style is perfect is acceptable as a matter of course, and +equally of course is it that the information it contains bears the stamp +of historical verification.--_N. Y. Sun._ + + +THE QUESTION OF COPYRIGHT + +Comprising the text of the Copyright Law of the United States, +and a summary of the Copyright laws at present in force in +the chief countries of the world; together with a report of the +legislation now pending in Great Britain, a sketch of the contest +in the United States, 1837-1891, in behalf of International +Copyright, and certain papers on the development of the +conception of literary property and on the results of the +American law of 1891. + +Second edition, revised, with additions, and with the record of +legislation brought down to March, 1896. 8 deg., gilt top, $1.75. + +A perfect arsenal of facts and arguments, carefully elaborated and very +effectively presented. . . . Altogether it constitutes an extremely +valuable history of the development of a very intricate right of +property, and it is as interesting as it is valuable.--_N. Y. Nation._ + + * * * * * + +G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS +NEW YORK: 27 West 23rd Street. LONDON: 24 Bedford St., Strand. + + +BY MOSES COIT TYLER + + * * * * * + +A HISTORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE DURING THE COLONIAL TIME + +New Edition, revised, in two volumes. +Volume I.--1607-1676. Volume II.--1676-1765. Each $2.50. +Agawam edition, 2 vols. in one. 8 deg., half leather, $3.00. + +"In the execution of his work thus far, Professor Tyler has evinced a +skill in the arrangement of his materials, and a masterly power of +combination, which will at once place it in a very eminent rank among +American historical compositions. It is not so much the history of a +special development of literature, as a series of profound and brilliant +studies on the character and genius of a people of whom that literature +was the natural product. The work betrays acute philosophical insight, a +rare power of historical research, and a cultivated literary habit, which +was perhaps no less essential than the two former conditions, to its +successful accomplishment. The style of the author is marked by vigor, +originality, comprehensiveness, and a curious instinct in the selection +of words. In this latter respect, though not in the moulding of +sentences, the reader may perhaps be reminded of the choice and fragrant +vocabulary of Washington Irving, whose words alone often leave an +exquisite odor like the perfume of sweet-brier and arbutus."--GEORGE +RIPLEY, in _The Tribune_. + + +THE LITERARY HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION + +1763-1783 + +Two volumes, large octavo. Sold separately. +Volume I.--1763-1776. Volume II.--1776-1783. Each $3.00. + +This work is the result of an altogether new and original treatment of +the American Revolution. The outward history of that period has been many +times written, and is now, by a new school of American historians, being +freshly re-written in the light of larger evidence, and after a more +disinterested and judicial method. In the present work, for the first +time in a systematic and complete way, is set forth the inward history of +our Revolution,--the history of its ideas, its spiritual moods, its +passions, as these uttered themselves at the time in the writings of the +two parties of Americans who either promoted or resisted that great +movement. + + +THREE MEN OF LETTERS + +Chapters in Literary Biography and Criticism devoted to +George Berkeley, Timothy Dwight, and Joel Barlow. + +12 deg., gilt top, $1.25. + +"Though more lengthy than most of the sketches in Professor Tyler's +well-known 'History,' these monographs have much of the brevity of their +original purpose; and they are marked by the same picturesqueness of +treatment, the same vivacity of expression, and the same felicity of +statement, that characterize the author's larger volumes."--_The Nation._ + + * * * * * + +G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, NEW YORK AND LONDON. + + +LANGUAGE. + + * * * * * + + +SOME COMMON ERRORS OF SPEECH. + +Suggestions for the Avoiding of Certain Classes of Errors, together with +Examples of Bad and of Good Usage. By ALFRED G. COMPTON, +Professor in College of the City of New York. 12 deg. $ .75 + +"The book calls up many interesting, not to say fascinating, lapses from +strict grammar, and is very valuable. In its index expurgatorius will be +found many surprises by the self-supposed learned."--_Chicago +Times-Herald._ + + +A SIMPLE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH NOW IN USE. + +By JOHN EARLE, A.M., LL.D., Professor of Anglo-Saxon, University +of Oxford, author of "English Prose: Its Elements, History, and +Usage." 12 deg. $1.50 + +"The book is a clear, careful, and scholarly treatise on the English +Language and its use, rather than a work of science. It is a book that +will be valuable to teachers and to students of language +everywhere."--_Washington Times._ + + +THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND ENGLISH GRAMMAR. + +An Historical Study of the Sources, Development, and Analogies of the +Language, and of the Principles Covering its Usages. Illustrated +by Copious Examples by Writers of all Periods. By SAMUEL +RAMSEY. 8 deg. $2.00 + +"Mr. Ramsey's work will appeal especially to those that desire to know +something more about the history and philology, the growth and +mistakes of their native tongue than is given in the ordinary +text-books."--_Baltimore Sun._ + + +ORTHOMETRY. + +A Treatise on the Art of Versification and the Technicalities of Poetry, +with a New and Complete Rhyming Dictionary. By R. F. BREWER, +B.A. 12 deg., pp. xv. + 376 $2.00 + +"It is a good book for its purpose, lucid, compact, and well arranged. It +lays bare, we believe, the complete anatomy of poetry. It affords +interesting quotations, in the way of example, and interesting comments +by distinguished critics upon certain passages from the distinguished +poets."--_N. Y. Sun._ + + +MANUAL OF LINGUISTICS. + +An Account of General and English Phonology. By JOHN CLARK, A.M. +8 deg., pp. lxiii. + 314 $2.00 + +"Mr. Clark has traced the English language back to its foundations in his +work 'Manual of Linguistics.' It is an interesting theme, and his book +will prove very useful for reference, for he has culled from many sources +and gone over a wide territory."--_Detroit Free Press._ + + +COMPOSITION IN THE SCHOOL-ROOM. + +A Practical Treatise. By E. GALBRAITH. 16 deg., cloth $1.00 + +"The author has drawn fully from the best writers on the subject, and her +book is an epitome of the best thought of all."--_Boston Transcript._ + + * * * * * + +G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, NEW YORK AND LONDON. + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + +1. Punctuation for abbreviations such as per cent., viz. has been +standardised. + +2. There are spelling inconsistencies in proper and place names as well +as within accented characters and hyphenated words. These have been left +as printed. + +3. Obvious punctuation errors have been corrected. + +4. The remaining corrections are: + +Page 36, "Edinburg" changed to "Edinburgh" +Page 153, "faciliate" changed to "facilitate" +Page 202, "conspiciously" changed to "conspicuously" +Page 258, "responsibile" changed to "responsible" +Page 269, "reasearches" changed to "researches" +Page 342, "adminstration" changed to "administration" +Page 392, "substracting" changed to "subtracting" +Page 393, "univeral" changed to "universal" +Page 404, "ieft" changed to "left" +Page 441, "pyschology" changed to "psychology" +Page 452, "polittics" changed to "politics" +Page 457, "at" changed to "as" +Page 470, "Thus" changed to "This" +Page 471, "vocabularly" changed to "vocabulary" +Page 478, "Columbiau" changed to "Columbian" +Page 481, "approxmiately" changed to "approximately" +Page 490, "guaged" changed to "gauged" +Page 490, "Duyckincks" changed to "Duyckinck's" +Page 493, "Meuzies" changed to "Menzies" +Page 494, "I" changed to "1" +Page 497, "pubished" changed to "published" +Page 504, "Allgemeinas" changed to "Allgemeines" + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Book for All Readers, by Ainsworth Rand Spofford + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BOOK FOR ALL READERS *** + +***** This file should be named 22608.txt or 22608.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/6/0/22608/ + +Produced by Michael Ciesielski and the booksmiths at +http://www.eBookForge.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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