arranged in this way: the New-York Mercantile, for example, and the State Library at Albanylibraries not, we believe, considered to be specially conveniently arranged for students. The novelty is this: G. P., in order, apparently, to restore the learned and scientific flavor which is lost by discarding classification, proposes to break up his alphabet chronologically, dividing his books by the centuries in which they were written, and even by the decades. Every student, thinks the confiding author of this plan, knows nearly when the book he wants was written. The whole course and tendency of modern thought is to the historical treatment of all subjects: why not make the library not merely its own catalogue but a history of literature in itself? Indeed, a chronological arrangement is, after all, the most logical. The difference between Dante, the poet, and St. Thomas Aquinas, the theologian, is much less than between St. Thomas Aquinas and Strauss, or Dante and Leopardi. This concluding argument is ingenious and not without force; and yet we fear that when G. P.'s scheme shall have been carried out, and some large library has arranged its books in decades, it will be found that, whatever were in past times the defects of subject classification, the unsatisfactoriness of the new system will be greater, and the last state of the classifier and the reader will be worse than their first.

In the Nation, Dec. 25, two other chronologically arranged libraries are noted, (1), the Philadelphia Library, which is primarily divided into folios, 4tos, 8vos, 12mos, and then arranged by date of accession, and (2) the University Library, Cambridge, England, in which that part of the copyright accessions, which are not deemed worthy to be incorporated in the classified library are arranged by years as received. It will be seen, however, that neither of these plans has any similarity other than the name "chronological," with G. P.'s plan, which is an arrangement of books by the time of their writing, not of their publication, nor of their reception in any given library. This latter arrangement would utterly defeat G. P.'s intention, which was so to place books that at least those who know their literary history could find them. But the most profound student of literary history could not be expected to know in what year the Philadelphian Library received Cary's Dante or Strauss's Jesus, or in what other year the Cambridge University Library received the same works.'

Les ENNEMIS des livres; par un bibliophile. Lyon, Georg, 1879. 68 p. 8°. (200 copies.) FOSTER, W. E. Right reading; a lecture. (In Providence d. journal, Dec. 11.) 35 cm.

A. The right selection of books. (1) Personal adaptation should guide us. (2) Our reading should have a tendency toward symmetrical development; it should not be exclusively technical, nor exclusively general. (3) We should begin where we are interested. An investigation of a subject will lead from that into other fields. It may be objected that this requires a suggestive habit of mind. But a suggestive habit of mind is not born in any man [?], and it may be acquired by any man. Let once a beginning be made, and the further we go, the surer we are of recognizing some familiar event or topic; the dread of unfa

miliarity vanishes after we have taken the first few steps. (4) There must be discrimination in our reading; aimlessness is one of the worst evils. B. Right methods of reading. (1) Definiteness of purpose is as necessary here as in the selection. We must have a clear idea of just what we wish to get out of each book. (2) System, a scientific adjustment of means to ends. (3) We must read in a comparative way. It is not safe to judge any question apart from its relations. The reader must take a survey of the whole field before beginning at any one point. (4) In using reference lists, such as are issued by the Providence Library, it is not necessary to read every book and every chapter referred to. We must select what on the whole would best serve our purpose. We are not to ignore our interest, however some one book might particularly attract the attention of some one reader. The plan of reading by a reference list does not apply to all books. Imagine a man going through Paradise Lost or Shakespeare in this ruthless manner! The plan applies to the works of "the literature of knowledge." "The literature of power," needs a different treatment. Books which have an organic unity, following out one central subject or thought, must be read as a whole. (5) We should review our reading at times.

MADISON (Wis.) FREE LIBRARY AND READING ROOM. 4th an. report, July 1. Mad., 1879.

14+ [1] p. O.

Established 1874, receiving 3,170 v. from the Madison Institute; present total 5,620; added during the year 652; issued 51,000, to a population of less than 1,200.

"Our public schools are so constituted and managed, and are so numerously attended, that there is very little opportunity to study, act upon, and develop the peculiar mental gifts of individual scholars. They are all formed in the same mold. This inherent defect in our schools is partly cured by a free access to a well-selected library, wherein a scholar may follow his bent in the selection of books to read, acceptable to his tastes and in the line of his aptitudes, giving scope to individuality." MANCHESTER (Eng.) PUB. FREE LIBRARIES. 27th an. report. Man., 1879. 31 p. O.

Added 8,954 v.; worn-out, 3,795; replaced 2,215; duplicate and unused v. withdrawn 3,959; total 146,477 (61,171 Ref., 85,306 Lend. Lib.); 9,435 bd.; borrowers' cards lapsed 9,542; issued 12,125; total 30,817; used 173,137 v.; in Ref. Lib. 243,401, in R. R. of the branches; 568,541 at home; visits to the magazine and newspaper R. R. 1,876,300; total of issues since the commencement in 1852, 27 years, 13,898,371 v.

The libraries of the English Dialect Society, and of the Manchester Statistical Society, have been deposited in the Reference Library, to become its property at the dissolution of the societies; the articles of agreement are given in this report.

MILWAUKEE (Wis.) P. L. 2d an. report, Oct. 1.
O.
Milw., 1879. 47 p.

Total 15,290 v. Among the purchases were 3,304 second-hand German books at 20 c. a vol. Issues 91,296 (70.2 per cent of Fiction and Juveniles).

The librarian copies a table prepared by Mr. Crunden, of the St. Louis Public School Library, of the turn-over of 17 libraries, varying from .87 (Astor) to 9.45 (Lawrence, Mass.), and adds the turn-over of Milwaukee, 5.97. Mr. Crunden had found the average cost of issue per volume (basing his calculation on salary expense alone) to be, for eight of the leading libraries in this country, 6.2 cents, and for the St. Louis Public School Library 4.8. In Milwaukee the cost was 3.5. PROVIDENCE (R. I.) ATHENÆUM. 44th an. report, Sept. 22. Prov., 1879. 22 and 249-264 P. O.

Added 627 v.; issued 23,148; expenses $5365.65. Av. cost of v. bought $1.82. There has been considerable falling off in the circulation of works of fiction, and corresponding increase in that of voyages and travels, and slightly of religion, philosophy, social science, and education.

The services of the librarian, Mr. J. Dunham Hedge (Aug. 23, 1879, æt. 71) are warmly acknowledged. "Mr. Hedge placed his ample store of knowledge of the contents of books at the service of every inquirer with a cordial readiness which enhanced the value of the assistance. The aggregate number of volumes given to the Athenæum by Mr. Hedge would form a respectable fraction of the whole library, and it was only his extreme modesty which prevented the directors from giving, in the annual reports, frequent and emphatic expression to their appreciation of his generosity."

QUESADA, Vicente G. La Biblioteca Publica de Buenos Aires; projecto de reorganizacion. Buenos Aires, imp. de Biedma, 1879. 43 p. 8°. (100 copies.)

SWEETSER, M. F. Hints for home reading. What the people read. 1. (In Christian union, Dec. 3.) 21⁄2 col.

TOURNEUX, Maurice. Prosper Mérimée, ses portraits, ses dessins, sa bibliothèque. Paris, Charavay frères, 1879. 158 p. br. D., with vign. and 2 etchings. 6 fr.

"Sa bibliothèque," p. 65-142, contains an account of Mérimée's share in the Libri controversy and in the reorganization of the Bibliothèque Nationale.

B. Catalogs.

JOHN HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, Balt. List of periodicals taken by public institutions in Baltimore. 2d ed. n. p., Dec. 1878. 20 p. O. 579 titles. NEWBURGH (N. Y.) FREE LIB. Supplement no. 1. Catalogue, Jan. 1, 1878-Nov. 1, 1879. N., 1879. 51 p. O.

The TICKNOR library, Boston. (In Saturday rev., Dec. 20). 34 col.

"The compiler has never lost sight of what should be the cardinal rule of catalogue-making-that,

whether an intending reader approaches a book by the way of subject, title, author, or editor, he should either find it or else a finger-post pointing to where it may be found. It may be said, of course, that this is easy where there are only 7000 or 8000 books to deal with, and that to compare a work of this sort with the catalogue of a colossal collection like the British Museum Library, or the Bibliothèque Nationale of Paris, is like comparing the handling of a brigade on a field-day with the command of an army in a campaign. There are, however, some minor matters in which catalogues, on whatever scale they may work, might imitate Mr. Whitney with advantage; and one of them is the exercise of common sense in describing authors. Of course, real names, assumed names, and pseudonyms must all be recorded; but cataloguemakers are too prone to the puerile pedantry of insisting, for example, on Molière's works appearing under Poquelin, or sending the Voltaire reader to the other end of the alphabet to look for him under Arouet, where not one in a thousand of those who are perfectly aware of the relation of the two names would think of going in the first instance. Our own British Museum Catalogue now and then goes even a step further. What would be thought of a catalogue which put The school for scandal under the heading of "Brinsley." And yet this is rational compared with registering all Quevedo's writings under the heading of Gomez," the least distinctive of all the component parts of Quevedo's somewhat complex name.

66

"Spanish names are generally complicated, and their composition and currency are governed by no law, so that the common-sense rule of following the name most widely recognized is especially imperative in their case. Even in such an instance as "Montemayor," it probably would have been better had Mr. Whitney followed the general usage. Every student of Spanish literature knows that" Monte-mór" is the correct Portuguese name of the author of Diana; but it was as the work of Montemayor that it was given to and has always been received by the world, and it is under that name that the vast majority of readers would first look for it."

UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS. LIBRARY. Catalogue of books added, 1878-9. Edin., 1879. 63 p. O.

c. Bibliografy.

AVEZAC-LAVIGNE, Ch. L'histoire moderne par la gravure; catalogue raisonné des portraits historiques. Paris, Leroux, 1879. 239 p. 8°. 4 fr. BACCHI DELLA LEGA, Alberto. Bibliografia dei vocabolarii nei dialetti italiani rac. e posseduti da Gaetano Romagnoli. 2a ed. Bologna, Gaet. Romagnoli, 1879. [4]+103 p. 8°. 31.

The collection of 216 articles is for sale at 2000 lire. BARBIER, A. A. Dict. des ouvrages anonymes. 3e éd. Tome 4. R-Z. Tableau. Anonymes latins. Paris, Daffis, 1879, p. 321-705. O. (For subscribers 10 fr., for non-subs. 12.)

BONGHI, Ruggiero. Bibliografia storica di Roma antica; saggio e proposta. Roma, tip. elzev. nel Minist. delle Finanze. 11.+177 p. 4°. 5 m. "Titles arranged chronologically under the several subjects, which, as there is no table of contents nor index, is thoroughly inconvenient."-N. Anzeiger. CHRYSANDER, F. Abriss e. Geschichte des Musikdruckes 15.-19. Jahrh. (In Allgem. musikal. Zeitung, v. 14, p. 177-83, 193-200, 209-14, 225-32, 241-48).

"Von ebenso tüchtiger Sachkenntniss wie vom grossen Interesse."-Petzholdt.

CIVEZZA, Marcellino da. Saggio di bibliografia geog.-stor.-etnog. sanfrancescana. Prato, tip. Guasti, 1879. 16+698 p. 8°. 10 l. DRUJON, Fernand. Catalogue des ouvrages condamnés, etc. 21 oct. 1814-31 juil., 1877. Éd. augm. Paris, Rouveyre, 1879. 37+432 p. 10 fr. (50 cop. on l. p. @ 15 fr.; 10 cop. on China paper @ 25 fr.)

DZIATZKO, K: Caspar Elyan, Breslau's erster Drucker. Breslau, Druck von Nischkowsky, 1879. 21.+32 p. 8°.

GRACKLAUER, O. Bibliographie f. Hundefreunde u. Jäger, Verzeichniss sämmtl. Schriften üb. Hundezucht, Dressur, Krankheit, etc., welche von 1840 bis 1879 im deutschen Buchhandel erschienen sind, nebst einigen älteren guten Werken, u. Angabe der besten Kunstblätter dieses Faches. Lpz., Gracklauer, 1879. 16 p. 8°. 35 m. GRACKLAUER, O. Verzeichniss sämmtlicher Schriften üb. Fischerei, Fischzucht, etc., welche von 1820 bis 1879 im deutschen Buchhandel erschienen sind, nebst Angabe einiger älterer Werke. Lpz., Gracklauer, 1879. 18 p. 8°. 35 m. GRACKLAUER, O. Verzeichniss v. 570 Titeln der gangbarsten Kalender, Jahrbücher, u. Almanachs. In 33 Rubriken systematisch zusammengestellt. 3. verm. Aufl. Lpz., Gracklauer, 1879. 15 p. 35 m.

8.

KLÜFEL, K: 3r Nachtrag zu d. 4n Aufl. des Wegweiser's durch die Literatur der Deutschen. Lpz., Klinkhardt, 1879. 6+138 p. 8°. 3 m. With the 2d title: Lit. Wegweiser, 1876-79. MEULEN, R. van d. Bibliographie. (In Nieuwsbl. v. d. boekhandel, 4, 7 nov.) 334 +3 col.

An enumeration of the national bibliografies now published and the chief subject bibliografies issued in the last decade.

PRIME, F, Jr. Catalogue of official reports upon geological surveys of the U. S. and Territories, and of British N. America. (Pages 455-525 of AMER. INST. OF MINING ENGINEERS. Transactions, v. 7, 1878-9.)

TRÜBNER & Co. Catalogue of leading books on
Egypt and Egyptology and on Assyria and
Assyriology. London, 1880. [2] + 40 p. O.
"Extremely full and accurate."

J. L. E. DREYER writes to Nature: “I am preparing for publication by the Royal Dublin Society, a classified index catalogue of books, memoirs, and notes on astronomical subjects published since the beginning of the year, and a short account of the contents of the more important papers in the various branches of astronomy.

C. ESTREICHER's bibliographical table of the works of Kraszewcki is also printed to the extent of a few copies on a band of cloth nine metres long.

J. C. HOUZEAU and A. LANCASTER have prepared and are about to publish at Brussels, a 'Bibliographie de l'astronomie' in parts each of 16 p. O. at 30 centimes. It appears from the prospectus to be a work of great fullness, indispensable to astronomers, useful to bibliographers.

A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF OHIO is to be published by P: G. Thomson, Cincinnati. It will make an octavo of 5-600 p., the body full titles with descriptive notes and prices at noted sales, alphabetical by authors, with an index by subject. It will include about 1300 works.

M. PAWLOWSKI has received the Brunet prize for a "systematic bibliography of the works in French verse earlier than Charles VIII. that have been printed, with indication of the mss. from which they were taken."

"The RUSSIAN official journal 'Pravitelist venni viestnik," gives weekly an official list of books published in Russia. Dr. Harkavy, of the Imperial Library, has taken charge of the Oriental portion, and will furnish the titles of the Hebrew books published at Wilna, Warsaw, Odessa, etc." -Nieuwsbl. v. d. boekhandel.

D. Indexes.

MORONI, Gaetano. Indice generale alfabetico delle materie del Dizionario di erudizione storicoecclesiastica. Venezia, tipog. Emiliana, 1879. 6 v. (of about 540 p. each). O. 48 lire.

CUSHING, W: Index to the Christian examiner, v. 1-87, 1824-69; 1, subjects; 2, writers. Boston, J. S. Cushing, printer, 1879. 4+156 p. O.

The only reliable test of an index is use, and that test we have not yet applied to this work, but at first glance it looks as if it would be useful, even after the subject part has been to a degree superseded by Mr. Poole's general index. The author part will not appear in Poole's index at all, and the subject part probably not so fully, tho we hope a little more scientifically.

NOTES AND QUERIES.

EDITED BY MELVIL DUI.

LIBRARY LADDERS.-All library ladders I have yet seen are either dangerous or clumsy. Can any ingenious reader devise a ladder that shall be at once safe and handy?

H: R. T., in Monthly Notes. SIZE NOTATION.-The word "size" to indicate the dimensions of a book also serves in English for the "format." Would not some of the misunderstandings of size notation be done away with if we adopted the word "form" in technically describing the size or arrangement of the sheets and signatures, while restricting "size" to indicate actual outside height, breadth, and thickness?

H: R. T., in Monthly Notes. [WE use "size" and "fold," the shortest, simplest words, each expressing exactly what is meant. Some might blunder over the word "form." None could mistake the meaning of "fold." M. D.]

BOOK TAG.--What is the best form of book tag that will answer the following conditions? I. Adhere closely, especially under the action of friction and heat. 2. Thin in material, and yet durable in wear and tear. J. C. H., in Monthly Notes.

[We used Van Everen's ready-gummed, printed and perforated numbers, and found them, when properly applied, the best, cheapest, and quickest applied. M. D.]

-

PICKING UP VAN EVEREN NUMBERS. - We find, on experiment, that a pair of delicate tweezers, or pincers, made for picking up fine chemical weights, is the wisest investment for those putting small numbers on the backs of books. In the regular number cases of envelopes fastened together, the finger is too large to reach into the bottom without danger of tearing, and if the numbers are spread out on the table, or are kept in boxes, there is all the more need of the pincers in picking up single numbers, the fingers get more than one number, stick to them, wipe off some of the gum, and are annoying. With the pincers a single number can be picked up instantly from any position, immersed in the water (as it must be to secure the best results, for wetting with the tongue, or on a sponge, takes off much of the gum) and applied to the exact spot on the book. These forceps are so made that they do not crack or get out of order, and can be had of the Supply Department for 30 cents each of brass, or 50 cents nickel plated. It is well to roughen the surface. Schoolbooks with much varnish or sizing on the books can be wet a little where the number is to go. It is vastly easier to put the numbers on properly, using all necessary care, than to have them coming off every hour in the day.

GENERAL NOTES.

UNITED STATES.

POOLE'S INDEX.-The arrangement of the matter for the new Index to Periodical Literature is so far advanced that the editors can receive no new ms. after April 1. They have notified the contributors to send in, as early as practicable, the concluding portions of their work, which will bring the references to the current periodicals down to January, 1880. The editors report that the collaborators are zealously responding to their engagements, and the work is being pressed on with all possible dispatch.

ASTOR LIBRARY.-The annual report mentions Mr. J. J. Astor's intention to build upon the three lots, recently given by him to the library, an extension to shelve 120,000 v., giving the building a frontage of 195 and depth of 100 feet. The entrance will be then in the center of the façade, with an enlarged entrance hall. John L. Cadwalader and Lewis M. Rutherford have been appointed to fill vacancies in the Board of Trustees, and Professor Henry Drisler has been made secretary. The fund for the maintenance of the library is now $421,000, and the endowment $1,112,957. The insurance on the books is $220,000, and on the building $100,000. The income during the year was $27,597.89; expenditures for books, catalogue, equipment, etc., $16,995.52. The total number of v. Dec. 31, 1879, was 189,114; accessions, 1879, 5,869, of which over 1,000 was in oriental literature, the specialty of the year. Readers, 59,042, a daily average of 214.

FRANKLIN COLLECTION, BOSTON PUB. LIB. Dr. Samuel A. Green has presented to the Public Library of Boston a valuable collection designed to include everything which Benjamin Franklin wrote and printed, and everything which has been written about him, besides portraits, prints, medals, autographs and other personal memorials. The collection comprises 140 books and pamphlets, by or about Franklin, and eighty different portraits, and is to be added to as occasion serves by the trustees of the library. It is said that hitherto no adequate public collection of Frankliniana has been planned in Boston.

N. E. HISTORIC GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY.— The Society has re-elected Hon. Marshall P. Wilder President, and John Ward Dean Librarian. The latter reports 16,040 v. and 41,830 pam. in the library, of which 573 v. and 3414 pam. had been gifts, and 146 v. and 225 pam. purchased. Additional accommodations are now under discussion.

WORCESTER (Mass.) PUB. LIB.-A year ago Mr. Green, of the Free Public Library of Worcester, requested the Board of Directors to reduce his salary $500 and make it $2,000 for the year then ensuing, because he feared the library would suffer in consequence of criticism of the amount paid him. The board acceded to the request, although nearly every member was ready, if he desired it, to vote to give him the sum he was then receiving. This year Mr. Green, in consideration of the fact that better times are returning, asked the board to restore his salary to its old amount of $2,500. It has just done so, we are happy to see, by a vote that was almost unanimous.

R. I. INST. OF INSTRUCTION.—At the 35th_annual meeting, held at Providence, Jan. 15-17, 1880, the session of the second morning was devoted to the relations of libraries and supplementary reading to school education. Mr. W. E. Foster opened with a paper complementing, from the side of the teacher, his paper at the Boston Conference (JOURNAL, V. 4, p. 319) and Amos M. Leonard, Master of Lawrence School, Boston, read one on supplementary reading in primary and grammar schools, urging that each school should have its own library for reading in class, which would not cost more than the fourth and fifth readers now in use. In the discussions on these papers, the importance

of small reference libraries in each school was also emphasized. Superintendent Leach thought that ninety-nine hundredths of the current fiction was injurious, and should be kept away from children.

MR. JOHN SAVARY, of the Library of Congress, Washington, recently published in the Literary World an acrostic poem on Thoreau.

THE fact that Goethe once presented a set of his works to Harvard Library has been brought to light in the process of recataloguing the German literature of the library.

NOVA SCOTIA.

HISTORICAL LIB.-The Local Government of Nova Scotia have determined on following the policy adopted by many of the American States, by amalgamating the Legislative Library with that of the Historical Society, in Halifax. Mr. J. T. Bulmer, the indefatigable Secretary of the Historical Society, has been appointed Chief Librarian, and the Library room will be closed for a few weeks, while the useless rubbish in the present Library is cleared out, and the valuable collections of the Society moved in and arranged.

GREAT BRITAIN.

SOCIETY OF TELEGRAPH ENGINEERS.-The Ronalds Library, described by Mr. Frost in the

JOURNAL, v. 3, p. 283, is in course of binding, for which purpose it was decided to use half-morocco and cloth, after experimenting with buckram. The printing of the catalogue has reached M.

GROSVENOR LIBRARY.-A prospectus has been issued of the proposed Grosvenor Library, London, in rivalry of Mudie's. It is proposed to form a company with a capital of 100,000l., of which Sir Coutts Lindsay, Mr. A. Rivington, Mr. Comyns Carr, Mr. Sala, and Mr. E. S. Power will be the directors. The scheme includes a reference as well as a circulating library.

WORCESTER.-Mr. Samuel Smith, of Leeds, has been appointed Librarian to the newly established Free Library. The corporation has purchased the building, collections, books, and pictures belonging to the Natural History Society for £2,820. These collections, with the 11,000 volumes already purchased from the Old City Library, will afford the new librarian an unusual amount of good material upon which to begin work, and the people of Worcester may be congratulated on the success attending the adoption of the Acts.

MITCHELL LIBRARY, GLASGOW.-The Return for the week ending 10th January, 1880, showed a larger issue than for any week since the opening of the library, distributed as follows: Theology and philosophy, 802; history, biography, etc., 2362; law, politics, and commerce, 283; arts and sciences, 1837; poetry and the drama, 721; language, 225; prose fiction, 1094; miscellaneous literature, 3003— total, 10,327. Daily average, 1721; corresponding week last year, 1220; issued to ladies, 38; total from commencement (5th November, 1877), 606,089.

A LADY has been appointed to the post of librarian at the recently established Free Library at Blackpool, Lancashire.

A VIEW of the Bradford Free Library and Museum Building is given in The Architect (London) of Jan. 10.

Mr. SCHWARTZ'S "combined charging system" (JOURNAL, v. 4, p. 275) has been introduced with satisfaction at the Horncastle Mechanics Institute.

PUBLISHER'S NOTE.

THE Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., Hartford, Ct., will as usual bind the JOURNAL volume for 1879, in the binding recommended by the Association, and uniform with the fashion of previous volumes. In consequence of the rise in labor and material, the price will be $1.25, and the price for binding the three previous volumes will of course be the same, instead of the $1.00 heretofore charged. The index is in preparation in Boston and will be furnished shortly.