BIBLIOGRAFY.

EDITED BY CHARLES A. CUTTER.

[The extracts made in this department are much condensed, and connecting words are often altered or inserted in order to piece the sentences together.]

A. Library economy, history, and reports. CARLOS, E. S. The Library of Christ's Hospital. (In Notes and q., Aug. 7.) I p. CORAZZINI, F. Proposta di un ordinamento metodico delle publiche biblioteche del regno. (In the Preludio, Ancona, 16 Sept., and abstracted in the Cronaca della bibliografia italiana, 15 Nov.) CINCINNATI (O.) P. L. Annual report of the librarian and treasurer, for the year ending June 30, 1880. n. p., n. d. 18 p. O. Added, 11,117 v., 1,248 pm.; total, 118,955 v., 13,852 pm.; issued (home use) 257,591, (ref.) 151,082, (periodicals and newspapers) 360,694. The percentage of fiction was 62.7. The librarian suggests preparing either a brief dictionary catalog or a finding-list, the public having no catalog beyond that of 1871, which contains but one-fourth of the library, and the fiction and dramatic lists and the bulletins. The card catalog cannot be put before the public, because the Board of Education will not grant a room for the purpose.

"When it is considered that over two thousand people daily make use of the library, it is apparent that the money spent is very far from being wasted. It is seldom that we can measure in dollars and cents the usefulness of an institution whose benefits silently permeate the whole community, but occasionally an illustration presents itself. I am authorized by Judge M. W. Oliver and E. W. Kittredge, Esq., to state that the information derived from three volumes in the Library, which could not have been obtained elsewhere at the time, saved the people of Cincinnati, in the contract with the Gas Company, at least $33,500 annually for the next ten years. How much more of the reduction of the price of gas was due to these books, cannot be certainly known. There can be no doubt that seven cents per thousand feet reduction was due to the assistance rendered by these books. This one item is alone more than one-half the annual cost of the library."

FAGAN, L: Life of Sir Anthony Panizzi, K. C. B., late Principal Librarian of the British Museum, Senator of Italy, etc., etc. 2d ed. London: Remington & Co., 1880. 2 v. 8°. [1]+ 4+ [6] + 389 p. + portrait of Panizzi, etc.; [5]+336 +20 p.

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Panizzi taught the institution the way it should go. He found it feebly and illiberally managed. The principal librarian of that day deemed it selfevident that the building could not be opened on general holidays, ' when the most mischievous part of the population was abroad.' The secretary was equally clear that men professionally engaged in literary and scientific pursuits' were ipso facto disqualified for a seat among the governing body.

One influential trustee was so tender of the sinews of war that it was extremely difficult to get any assent on his part to any purchase that was of any amount.' Panizzi set himself from the first against this pettiness. He was not the man to tie up with red tape, or be tied by it. Whatever he did, right or wrong (and it was seldom wrong), was daringly done.

"Panizzi's personal relation to the Museum cannot be better defined than by the portrait of the ideal librarian, sketched by Mr. Carlyle before the Royal Commission of 1849: All must depend upon the kind of management you get within the library itself. In fact, after all one has said, everything must depend upon that. You must get a good pilot to steer the ship, or you will never get into the harbor. You can never direct the people on board by a speaking-trumpet from the shore. 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.' Mr. Carlyle had not, it should be observed, the faintest idea that he was drawing Panizzi's portrait while caviling at his management.

"It is not, of course, to be supposed that the administration which earned this guerdon was in all respects above criticism. Those who regard the removal of the natural history collections to South Kensington as a mistake must regret that it had Panizzi's advocacy, even though it would have been effected without it. The strength of the purely literary instinct disabled him from recognizing the advantages which literature and science derived from association under the same roof. He would,' said Macaulay, at any time give three mammoths for an Aldus.'

"The one point where Panizzi's practical instinct failed him was his imperfect appreciation of the value of classification. He accumulated treasures, and provided for their safe custody; but the treasure-house was necessarily a labyrinth, to which he neglected to furnish the clue. He repeatedly admitted the utility of a classified index in theory, but he did nothing to carry it out in practice. He was no doubt biased by his long and successful struggle against the far more pernicious error of those who would have drawn up the entire catalogue solely on a principle of classification. remains for his successors to repair his oversight.” -St. James Gazette.

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"He was endowed with a remarkable memory and an amount of brain power which enabled him to work hard and long, and so to accumulate knowledge with little fatigue. He had the love of power which leads a man to spurn frivolous delights; his intellect was clear, his will was strong, his temper was hot. He possessed most of the requisites for victory in the battle of life, especially the rare power of ruling, the capacity for conciliating where it is expedient, and for crushing where it is necessary. Seldom doubting, never wavering, he steadily ascended until he had reached a height as remarkable as enviable."—Athenæum, Oct. 16. FALL RIVER, Mass. Ann. report. F. R., 1880. 12 p. O.

Added, 2,133 v. : total, 19,405; issued 108,061 v., 79,473 periodicals. A classed catalog is preparing.

"The two principal lamentations of your correspondent are that the purchases of costly and valuable books are conducted 'exclusively in the interests of scholars, and that a very large proportion of the money available for books is spent for works not intended for general use.' Mr. Hubbard has, as all truly good men have, a haughty disdain for 'scholars'-everything should be for the people,' but forgetting thereby completely that, if through a public library only one scholar is benefited, there will be, at the same time, thousands of others indirectly through him; that the facilitating of one single writer's working will produce its direct effect on all his readers. Now, I would like to know what a public library should be for, if not, in the first instance, to afford to those wishing to instruct themselves, or to make researches, the necessary means to this end? But your correspondent does not forget to raise also the cry: Too many novels, too much fiction! Would he please tell us now what he would give to the people'?

He is denouncing costly and valuable books-too much stuff; fiction, too-too much nonsense; but very carefully avoiding to tell us of what else a public library could possibly consist. Everybody knows perfectly that the class of popu lar science, or other books of instruction, written so that they could be understood without much elementary knowledge, is in general very limited, and, as far as I can judge, nearly all kept at the Public Library.

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But even Mr. Hubbard cannot deny that, out of the whole circulation of books for home use, only 70 per cent. were of the fiction (including the juvenile) character. I consider this a percentage which, even if the purchase of this class of books should be extremely restricted, could not possibly be reduced, and which is, in my opinion, a very satisfactory proportion. When 30 per cent. of the circulation of a library is of a scientific and instructive character, we may fairly presume that this is all that could be expected. Your correspondent further pretends that, relating to French books, a steady stream, small but dirty, of vile books has been poured' into the library. I followed the acquisition of French books during the last year with great interest, but I am decidedly at a loss to know what he could possibly mean by that assertion, for I find that even Zola is not given out for home use, and that the whole modern naturalistic school, such as Huysmans, Vast-Ricouard, Hennique, Gros-Kost, Henry Céard, Guy de Maupassant, whose so-called immorality is still open to question, are not represented by a single work. His remark, finally, about the catalogue I consider -and I am justified in saying so-a mere nonsense. I have worked at the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris, and the British Museum, and can assure him that nowhere the search for a book is so simplified as at the Boston Public Library."

HARTWIG, O. Die Pflichtexemplare d. deutschen Buchhändler. (In Neuer Anzeiger, May, June.) 2 + 3 P.

HUBBARD, James M. The Public Library. (In Sunday herald, Boston, Nov. 21.) 1⁄2 col.

'... The Boston Public Library was formed to carry out a certain definite end-the education of the people. Are the trustees still carrying out this object? To answer this question will be my endeavor, a task for which my qualifications are long service in the library and a hearty interest in its welfare. I will treat of the subject under the three heads-the purchase of books, the catalogues, and the administration; first, however, calling attention to the radical differences between a public library having such an aim and one like the British Museum. The latter is intended for scholars, and not for the people. It aims to be a storehouse of literature and historical material-a place where the preservation of books is an end of equal importance with their use. The former subordinates every end to the instruction and elevation of the people. In a library where this is the chief object, while scrupulous care will be taken in the purchase of all books, the greatest pains will be given to the selection of books for the studious clerks, mechanics, and school-children. Publishers' lists, literary and trades' journals, will be regularly examined by efficient persons, and the best books for these classes will be bought-without, however, neglecting the reasonable claims of the scholar. This being the general principle upon which a wise expenditure of the public funds would rest, the method actually pursued in past years is as follows: A small proportion is bought by direct order, and on the recommendation of the public. The most are sent in by agents, to whom general instructions are given, and, after a hasty inspection, some of the American books may be rejected, but all the foreign have been, as a rule, accepted. The result is that, so far as my experience goes, there has rarely been a foreign invoice which did not contain some practically worthless books. Not only so, but the French agent has been enabled by this means to pour a steady stream, small but dirty, of vile books into the library. This has been and is now the system, notwithstanding repeated protests, and in entire disregard of the advice of the superintendent in the report for 1878. Great labor is spent in searching sales catalogues, but it is exclusively in the interests of scholars, and a very large proportion of the money available for books is spent for works not intended for general use. Last spring a trustee-on his own responsibility, I have good reason to believe-took $2,400, nearly a tenth of the annual appropriation, to a sale to spend for books not one of which could be of general use. Seven years ago, $34,000 was paid for a collection still inaccessible to the public, and not fit for circulation, many of the books on account of their value, many on account of their character. Investigation alone will show how much money goes for mere curiosities, old newspapers and pamphlets, costly illustrated works, and unused foreign periodicals. What is done for the classes to whom the library was to be the means to attain a higher education? Novels and story-books, principally, are bought for them. Out

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of 18,335 volumes purchased for the lower hall in six years, 13,098 were fiction and juveniles. If the branches are included, the amount probably exceeds 40,000, exclusive of those stories published in magazines and papers and those bought for the Bates Hall. Their circulation in the same time has amounted to over 5,500,000. The trustees call particular attention, in their last report, to the fact that 70 per cent. only of their popular circulation was of this character. A table appended, however, gives 74 per cent. as the total, while, if the averages were correctly estimated, 80 per cent. would probably be nearer the truth. This annual circulation of more than 750,000 novels and story-books would be appalling, even if the books were carefully chosen. But they are bought, good and bad indiscriminately, in utter disregard of the principle once in force, to buy only good novels... after their value had been fairly ascertained.' (Rep. 1866.) In consequence, many distinctly bad books, openly attacking morality and religion, and giving lively descriptions of the demi-monde,' are put into the hands even of the children. Considering this, the work of the popular department of the library assumes the proportions of a public calamity."

HUBBARD. Further facts. (In Sunday herald, Nov. 28.) 1⁄2 col.

"The catalogues of a library whose main object is the education of the people will be designed to give the easiest possible access to the books. The trustees, alive to the fact that the value of the library to the studious clerks, mechanics, and school-children will be just in proportion to the ease with which they can get at its contents, will regard as their first duty the putting a simple key to these contents into their hands. There is no com

prehensive printed catalogue for the lower hall, but there are five lists, two with notes, to part of the books, the latest printed over three, the oldest over ten, years ago. For the books not in these, readers must consult posters, 55 bulletins, and an assistant who alone has access to a card catalogue. For the Bates Hall there is no comprehensive printed catalogue, but there are, in addition to Jewett's Index and Supplement, three printed catalogues to about 12,000 books. That is, as the copies of the Index are nearly gone, the public will soon have a simple key to less than 50,000 of the 220,000 books. For the others, readers must consult posters, 55 bulletins, and "nearly 750,000" cards. (The branches, one excepted, have good printed catalogues.) Now this card catalogue, originally intended only as a makeshift to record the newest books, is entirely unsuited to the clerk and mechanic. It lacks simplicity. It follows a scientific method hard to understand, and is made with such mechanical obedience to rules as to often outrage the first principles of common sense. Being in great part written, tens of thousands of cards are illegible to those who do not read writing easily. It fills 75 badly lighted drawers, to which 30 persons can have convenient access at once. On busy days, to wait while some one slowly spells over the cards in his vain search, say, for the Iliad,' under Homer, is enough to discourage all but the most eager students. Had the trustees intended to invent a catalogue which should afford the most difficulties to readers, they could not have been more successful.

At the best, it is an uncertain guide, for, if a card is lost or misplaced, the book is practically lost. It is expensive. . . The costly bibliographical details introduced, which serve only to confuse the reader, are proper only in the catalogue of the private collection of some millionaire. . . . The Prince, Ticknor, and Shakespeare catalogues, . . . in all three catalogues of 836 pages and about 12,000 books, cost $50,000. Prof. Jewett, with half the force, in nine years printed catalogues of 1,943 pages and 120,000 books, costing less, I believe, than $60,000. His catalogues embraced the whole library; these are for collections of early New England, Spanish, and Portuguese literature, interesting to a few scholars, and the Shakespeariana. . . . In 1873, Mr. Winsor introduced the system of popular catalogues with notes. This excellent and successful work ceased, with a few insignificant exceptions, when he left, three years ago. His idea of guiding the people in their reading is now used in the bulletins simply in the interests of the scholar, in costly lists of works, chiefly in foreign languages on learned subjects. When the reasonable wants of the mechanic or clerk or school-boy, who comes to the library thirsting for knowledge, and stands helpless and bewildered in the sight of the books he needs, have been satisfied, then, and not till then, will it be time to print lists of erudite books on the Renaissance or the Maya civilization. In a word, the chief strength of the catalogue department has been spent for years in a manner directly opposed to the principle of first making the contents of the library easily accessible to the ordinary reader."

HUBBARD. Its management. (In Sunday herald, Dec. 5.) 1⁄2 col.

"To manage, with a definite educational aim, a library which spends $120,000 a year, employs 140 persons, and circulates annually over 1,000,000 of books, is no easy task. The natural method will be to place a strong and capable man at the head, with full powers and responsible to the trustees, who will have a general oversight. What is the course pursued at the Public Library? The whole administrative power is carefully vested in four standing committees of the trustees, the librarian being without power save as he may receive it from them. Though this method is condemned by all experience as unbusiness-like and inefficient, still it might be assumed that the trustees will have reduced its necessary evils to the smallest possible amount by constantly using the knowledge and experience of the various officers. Especially would this be the case with those on the committee on books and catalogues.' I was second in rank in the catalogue department nearly six years, and during that time not only was never consulted by any member of this committee in respect to its work (except by the president of the board, ex officio a member), but I never even knew who composed it. Exactly similar to this was the experience up to March, 1880, of the head of this department. Now, here are three or four gentlemen of various occupations, who can devote a little spare time to business often involving details of the most technical character and demanding special knowledge and large experience for its wise management, who have discharged their duties for years without consultation with the responsible

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heads of the department. With such a system and so administered that the boy who runs for books and the trained scholar are of equal value, so far as shaping the policy of the library is concerned, to carry out any aim save the simplestthe accumulation of books-is impossible. deadens the powers of the men who serve under it and effectually blocks all progress in library economy. The work of the library is carried on to-day almost as it was thirteen years ago, the principal changes being in the forming of branches, the printing only of costly special catalogues, and the reckless purchase of books. With no individual responsibility, there can be no rigid oversight of the departments. For instance, three years ago the cost of work in the bindery was 25 per cent. less than when done out of the library (Rep., 1877); now it is said to cost 30 per cent. more. One of the contracts for foreign books has been long held by a New York importer, though a Boston book-seller, supplying other libraries, stood ready to do the same work at a less price. The statistics are untrustworthy. I have already called attention to the fact that 70 per cent. is given in one place in the report, 74 in another, neither of which are correct, as representing the fiction and juveniles circulated; so an examination of the figures relating to a single collection in the lower hall, assuming them to be correct, reveals an unreported deficit of over 800 books. In a government by committees it is inevitable that the power should fall into the hands of that member having the largest experience and the most time. Naturally, important matters will be decided by him without proper reference, employés will be dismissed at his command alone, his views and tastes will have an overwhelming influence on the policy of the library. It needs no prophet's gift to foresee that if this system, in which the power, even to the smallest details, is exercised by one, and the responsibility rests upon another who is really powerless, prevails much longer, that dangers must arise which will threaten not only its good name but its very existence."

KREHL, Ludolf. Ueber die Sage v. d. Verbrennung d. Alexandrinischen Bibliothek durch die Araber. Florenz, 1880. 24 p. 8°.

Extract from the "Atti del iv. Congresso Int. degli Orientalisti." Rejects the legend of the burning, and maintains that there was very little left of the library when the Arabs captured Alexandria. LASINIO, F. I codici orientali delle biblioteche italiane. (In Bibliofilo, no. 10.)

A MODEL library; the treasure-house of Brown University. (In Sunday herald, Boston, Nov. 7.) 22 col.

PETZHOLDT, J. Alcuni pensieri sull'ordinamento delle biblioteche tratti dall' opera Die Bibliothekenlehre del Dott. P. per F. Garbelli. Brescia, tip. Apollonio, 1880. 26 p. 8°. PETZHOLDT, J. Das Library journal und der Anzeiger für Bibliographie. (In Neuer Anzeiger.) 1 p.

Inquires how it is that two Library Associations, both with a large roll of members, could not support the LIBRARY JOURNAL for more than five years,

while he, without any such support, has conducted the Anzeiger for 41 years. The answer is that his periodical owes its long life to an extraordinarily self-sacrificing publisher, an encouraging thought for the publisher of the LIBRARY JOURNAL, who has sacrificed so much for it. Petzholdt apparently does not know that the "two Library Associations" have done nothing whatever for the JOURNAL, except to allow it to print their proceedings gratis.

WARE, H. Harvard College Library, No. 1. (In Harvard register, Sept.) 11⁄2 col. No. 2. (Oct.) 41⁄2 col., with a portrait of Justin Winsor. To the BIBLIOTHÈQUE de l'Arsenal, says the Polybiblion, already so rich in historical documents, has been added a new section, that of political journals published at Paris. All these, which are deposited in it by law, may hereafter be consulted, —not, indeed, day by day and in single numbers, but in bound yearly, semi-annual, or quarterly vol

umes.

AT CAMBRIDGE the Library Committee reports that during the past year the libraries have been enlarged by 1,180 volumes. To the University of Oxford the Committee is indebted for a selection from the publications issued from the Clarendon Press, to the value of £50.

The Graphic for Nov. 6 contains (p. 452-3) cuts of the public library and museum at Melbourne. The Illustrated London news for Nov. 6 has a cut of the Cardiff Free Library and School of Art, and a note of half a column about it.

B. Catalogs.

BROOKLYN LIBRARY. Analytical and classed catalogue: authors, titles, subjects, and classes. Brooklyn, 1878-80. General t. p. + 3 t. p. of parts+4 p. of prefaces + 1,110 p. + (under Shakspere) 6 extra p.

Mr. Noyes introduces his great work, at last completed, in a brief and interesting paper:

"It aimed, to use another's words, 'to marry the classed and dictionary systems, so long kept asunder.' There is one general alphabet of (1) authors, (2) titles, (3) subjects, and (4) classes; with an alphabetical arrangement of subheadings under general and complex subjects. The author and title entries speak for themselves, while the larger class divisions of the Catalogue correspond, in the main, to the distribution of books on the library shelves, but with a much more intelligible, self-explanatory, and exact alphabetical arrangement; and with all affiliated topics bound together by a network of cross-references. As a working catalogue for all classes of readers and students, it is not too much to say that it has received the warmest expressions of approval from the large constituency who habitually use this library, from many librarians and scholarly persons in this country and in England, from the press, and from leading booksellers.

To sum up, statistically, certain features of the Catalogue:

I. The author-entries in a library of say 60,coo volumes, number about 30,000; titles of volumi

nous collective works, and of periodicals, counting as single entries. The most extensive author-subject heading, comprising the works of Shakspere, with Shaksperian criticism, methodically arranged, embraces 12 pages.

II. Of title-entries, carrying cross-references to the author's name, there are about 12,000, of which 1,794 are titles of plays, analyzed from collective works. The number of title-entries is a little over one-third of the number of author-entries.

III. Of distinct subject and class headings there are about 400, irrespective of geographical names and names of persons. Of these, about 30 are specially prominent and complex, with subject matters and subdivisions more or less numerous, arranged in alphabetical order.

Of subheadings occurring under more general subjects, there are about 3,000, represented in the general alphabet by cross-references.

IV. The principal subject-entries (not analytical) number about 26,000.

V. The Catalogue is very largely analytical and synoptical. The subject-entries, by analysis of collective works and collections of essays, amount to somewhat more than 13,000, and of articles in the periodical literature of the last twenty-five years, to 11,400, or a total of about 25,000 analytical subject-references, bibliographically exact, in addition to the 26,000 principal subject-entries.

The contents of collections, and of collective and miscellaneous works, are very generally given, for the most part in alphabetical order; and, when practicable, are placed under the subject. In such cases a cross-reference is usually made from the author-entry to the subject-entry, to avoid repetition and loss of space.

VI. Topical or subject cross-references, i. ., cross-references from specific topics to the more general class that includes them, or from one heading or subheading to other headings or subheadings, amount to about 10,000.

CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY. Finding-lists. 5th ed. Chicago, Feb., 1880. 10 + 301 p. O. No advertisements.

HARVARD UNIV. LIBRARY. Bulletin, n. p., Oct. 1, 1880. P. 61-92. O.

Contains Russian nihilism, by I. Panin; Accessions; and contin. of the Bibliog. of fossil insects, the Halliwelliana, and the catal. of Lee mss. KÖN. GEOL. LANDESANSTALT U. BERGAKADE

MIE. Katalog der Bibliothek. 2. durch e. Nachtrag bis Ende 1879 verm. Ausg. Berlin, Ernst & Korn, 1880. 17+ 661 + 3+ 49 p. 8°. 6 m.

LINONIAN AND BROTHERS' LIBRARY, Yale College. Catalogue. Ist suppl. N. Haven, 1880. 220 p. O. Dictionary, with imprints and contents. title-a-line.

Mostly

MASSACHUSETTS STATE LIB. Catalogue. Boston, 1880. 6+ [1] + 1,047 p. l. O.

The Massachusetts State Library has issued its fourth catalogue (the dates of the other three are

1831, 1846, 1858). It is of the "dictionary" type, with imprints and lists of the contents of collected works. It is very carefully and thoroughly made, and worthy to rank with our best American catalogues. It is worthy of note, in the present state of the discussion on female employés in libraries, that this catalogue is entirely the work, both in plan and execution, of a lady, assisted by another lady, but not by any male supervision. It is not peculiar in this respect, however, as the catalogues of the public libraries of Brookline and of Čoncord, in the same State, were women's work, and were both well made. The present catalogue goes farther in one respect than is customary, giving the number of pages of volumes when it exceeds six hundred or is less than one hundred. The book is fairly well printed, except that heavyfaced type has a cheap look. A work of this magnitude ought to have a really handsome type for the authors' names. But this is a reproach to be addressed to the printer, not to the compiler. NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE PUBLIC LIBRARIES. Catalogue of the central leading department; by W. J: Haggerston. N.-u.-T., 1880. 8 + 329+ [2] p. O.

Dictionary (authors, titles, subjects); no imprints; no notes; copious contents; analytical references. Contents are given of the reviews (Edinburgh, Quarterly, Blackwood, Contemporary, etc.). I have some doubts of the expediency of these, costly both to make and to print, in view of the approaching publication of Poole's Index, by means of which any subject can be found infinitely more conveniently than by looking over these long columns of fine print. However, this is a matter for the library authorities to consider. The public has no right to complain, when these 300 pp., con. taining 80,000 references to 20,000 volumes, are sold for the insignificant sum of one shilling.

A good feature is that "all novels and tales appearing in the magazines have not only been shown in the [Contents], but in addition have been catalogued under authors and subjects [titles ?] in their proper order." On some subjects-as Angling, Eastern question, Franco-German war, Portraits, Sermons, Shakespeare, Zulu war-references are made to articles in magazines, as well as to books. In short, a great deal of useful work has been compressed into a very small space.

PROVIDENCE (R. I.) P. L. Finding-list. Prov., 1880. 217+ [1] p. 1. O. 50 cts.

Dictionary (author and title); without imprints, cross-references, and contents, which are given in the card-catalog. "Each title, except in fiction and juveniles, has the date, either of the time when the work was prepared, or the period of time covered by the narrative. Thus the date [1833] after a treatise on chemistry, of course warns off a student who wants a recent work. And the dates [1618-48] after the title Thirty Years' War,' serve to fix this historic epoch in the reader's mind. This is also the case with biographies, where the dates of birth and death are given, as Washington [1732-99]; Dante [1265-1321]; or Cæsar [B. C. 100-44].

"Biographies are entered under the author and subject, but all other works under author and title.