Part 1

Transcriber's Notes

Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible, including inconsistencies in spelling (for example "Aroüet" / "Arouët"). Some obvious spelling and punctuation errors were corrected, and some lines were added to the table of contents. These corrections are listed at the end of the text.

Italic text is marked with _underscores_. Text in small capitals is marked with ~tildes~.

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Smithsonian Report.

ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF CATALOGUES OF LIBRARIES, AND THEIR PUBLICATION BY MEANS OF SEPARATE, STEREOTYPED TITLES.

WITH RULES AND EXAMPLES.

BY CHARLES C. JEWETT, LIBRARIAN OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.

SECOND EDITION.

WASHINGTON: PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 1853.

STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED AT THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.

CONTENTS.

_Page._ PREFACE, v

REPORT. COPY OF A LETTER, viii REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS, ix

SMITHSONIAN CATALOGUE SYSTEM. Difficulties in publishing catalogues, 3 Plan for obviating these difficulties, 5 Application of the plan for the formation of a general catalogue, 5 Advantages to be derived from the proposed system, 6 Distinction between a catalogue and a bibliographical dictionary, 10 The same titles to serve for general and particular catalogues, 11 Form of the catalogue, 13 Necessity of rules for the preparation of catalogues, 17 Duties of collaborators and superintendent, 19 Printing and Stereotyping, 23 Preservation and use of the plates, 24 Construction of new catalogues, 25

RULES.

~Titles.~ I. To be transcribed ~in full~, 29 II. To be transcribed ~with exactness~, 31 III. To be repeated for every edition, 34 IV. Books without title-pages, 35 V. Academical dissertations, 36 VI. Sermons, 36 VII. Periodical publications, 36 VIII. Number of volumes, how to be specified, 37 IX. Imprint, 38 X. Designation of size, 39 XI. Number of pages, 43 XII. Additions to titles, 44

~Headings.~ XIII. To be, generally, the name of author, 45 XIV. Names variously spelled, 46 XV. Prefixes to names, 46 XVI. Compound surnames, 48 XVII. Names changed, 48 XVIII. Cases in which the first name is to be used, 49 XIX. Surnames of noblemen, &c., 50 XX. Joint productions of several authors, 50 XXI. Works of several authors in one series, 50 XXII. Works issued by collective bodies, 52 XXIII. Translations, 53 XXIV. Commentaries, 53 XXV. The Bible, 54 XXVI. Reports of Trials, 54 XXVII. Theses, 54 XXVIII. Pseudonymous publications, 54 XXIX. Anonymous publications, 55

~Cross-References.~ XXX. From one heading to another, 57 XXXI. From headings to titles, 58

~Arrangement.~ XXXII. Order of headings, 59 XXXIII. Order of titles, 59 XXXIV. Order of titles under name of author, 60 1. Collection of all the works, 60 _a._ Without translations, 60 _b._ With one, or several translations, 60 _c._ Translations without the text, 60 2. Partial collections, 60 3. Selections, or collected fragments, 60 4. Separate works, 61 5. Entire portions of a separate work, 61 XXXV. Order of titles under names of collective bodies, 61 XXXVI. Cross-references, 61 XXXVII. Special rule for entries under "Bible," 61 XXXVIII. Maps, Engravings, Music, 62 XXXIX. Exceptional cases, 64

EXAMPLES. REMARKS ON THE EXAMPLES, 67 EXAMPLES, 69 INDEX OF SUBJECTS, 91 EXPLANATIONS OF INITIALS, 94 LOCAL INDEX, 95

PREFACE.

This work is intended to explain the plan in operation at the Smithsonian Institution, for preparing and stereotyping catalogues; to furnish means of judging of its practicability and importance; and to serve as a manual for librarians in its execution. The first edition was printed in 1852. It was, however, limited to a small number of copies, for distribution principally among those who would be likely to suggest improvements. The work has, since, been carefully revised, and is now published for more general circulation.

It was a long and difficult task to develop and adjust the details of this system, and to make the mechanical arrangements for its successful prosecution. The difficulties, both theoretical and practical, have been overcome. The actual operation of the plan has shown its entire practicability, and warrants the hope that its best promises will be realized.

This book has been stereotyped by a process entirely new, peculiarly adapted to the stereotyping of separate titles, or even single lines. It has been fully reduced to practice for this special purpose, and will doubtless be found, in many other respects, a valuable addition to the resources of the art of typography.

The expense of developing the plan has been borne by the Smithsonian Institution. We have every reason to hope that it will promote "the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men," and justify the continual labor of superintendence. In anticipation, the task proposed seems formidable; but it is to be accomplished, _title by title_, on a system, which imposes no heavy burden upon any institution, though it offers benefits to all.

It is not to be supposed that the public will take much interest in a work of professional details like this. The subject more particularly addresses itself to those who are conversant with the management of libraries. Their instruction and experience will enable them to estimate aright the difficulty of the undertaking here set forth, and to judge, with fairness, of its practical utility.

REPORT.

COPY OF A LETTER

Addressed severally to the Hon. ~Edward Everett~, of Cambridge; ~Charles Folsom~, esq., Librarian of the Boston Athenæum; ~Joseph G. Cogswell~, esq., Superintendent of the Astor Library, New York; ~George Livermore~, esq., of Boston; ~Samuel F. Haven~, esq., Librarian of the American Antiquarian Society, and the Rev. ~Edward E. Hale~, of Worcester.

~Smithsonian Institution~, _August 16, 1850_.

~Dear Sir~: The Smithsonian Institution, desirous of facilitating research in literature and science, and of thus aiding in the increase and diffusion of knowledge, has resolved to form a general catalogue of the various libraries in the United States, and I submit to you for examination the plans proposed by Professor Jewett, librarian of the Institution, for accomplishing this object.

1st. A plan for stereotyping catalogues of libraries by separate titles, in a uniform style.

2d. A set of general rules, to be recommended for adoption by the different libraries of the United States, in the preparation of their catalogues.

Professor Jewett will present to you his plans in person, and I beg leave, in behalf of the Executive Committee of the Institution, to request that you will give this subject that attention which its importance demands, and report:

First. On the practicability of the plan presented.

Second. On the propriety of adopting the rules proposed.

You will also confer a favor on the Institution, by giving any suggestions with regard to the general proposition of forming a catalogue of all the libraries in this country.

I remain respectfully, your obedient servant, JOSEPH HENRY, _Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution_.

REPORT

_Of the Commissioners appointed to examine the plan for forming a general stereotype catalogue of public libraries in the United States._

~The~ undersigned were requested, in the month of August last, by a letter from Professor Henry, written on behalf of the Executive Committee of the Smithsonian Institution, to take into consideration the subject of a General Catalogue of the public libraries of the United States, proposed to be formed under the auspices of the said Institution, and more especially the plan proposed by Professor Jewett, Librarian of the Institution, for accomplishing that object.

Having consented to act as Commissioners for the above named purpose, the subscribers had several interviews with Professor Jewett, in the months of September and October, at which he submitted to them, 1. A plan for stereotyping catalogues of libraries by separate, movable titles of the books contained in them, and, 2. A set of general rules, to be recommended for adoption by the different public libraries in the United States, in the preparation of their catalogues.

Professor Jewett's plan for stereotyping titles on separate plates is unfolded at considerable length, in a paper read by him, in the month of August last, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, held at New Haven.

For a full view of the advantages, both economical and literary, anticipated from the adoption of Professor Jewett's plan, the undersigned would refer to the valuable and interesting paper just named. They will allude briefly to a portion of these advantages.

The most important of them, perhaps, will be the economy of time, labor, and expense, required for the preparation of a new edition of a catalogue, to include the books added since a former edition was published. On Professor Jewett's plan, when the catalogue of a library is published, it will be necessary to strike off only so many copies as are needed for present use. When the additions to the library have become so considerable as to make another edition of the catalogue desirable, or in lieu thereof, a supplementary catalogue, (always an unsatisfactory and embarrassing appendage,) the new titles only will be stereotyped and inserted in their proper places among the former titles, all the titles being on movable plates. The pages of the new edition will thus be made up with convenience, and every book in the library will stand in its proper place in the catalogue. This process will be repeated as often as the growth of the library may make it necessary.

In this way, not only will the plates, used in a former edition, be available for each subsequent edition, but when the plan is fairly and extensively in operation, most of the titles of books added to any given library, of whose catalogue a new edition is required, will, in the meantime, have been cast for some other catalogue, and thus occasion no new charge for any subsequent use, as far as the expense of casting the plates is concerned. The infant state and the prospective rapid increase of the public libraries in the United States, as well as the frequent founding of new libraries, give great interest to this feature of the plan.

Another advantage of the proposed plan would be of the following nature: The libraries in any country, (to some extent, indeed, in all countries,) consist partly of the same books. Professor Jewett states that, in the catalogues of public libraries of the United States, possessed by the Smithsonian Institution, there are embraced at least four hundred and fifty thousand titles. He estimates, however, after a laborious comparison, that among these there will not be found more than one hundred and fifty thousand different titles. It follows, that if the plan proposed had been applied to the publication of these catalogues, two-thirds of the expense of printing them, as far as the cost of plates is concerned, would have been saved, by incurring the extra expense of stereotyping the remaining third according to this plan. The economy to each particular library, in the expense of plates for its catalogue, will be in proportion to the number of books, which it may contain in common with any other library, whose catalogue has been already stereotyped on this plan. The title of the same book, in the same edition, will, of course, be cast but once, and will thenceforward serve for the catalogue of every library possessing that book, which may enter into the arrangement.

A third advantage resulting from this plan will be the facility, with which a _classed_ catalogue, either of a whole library or of any department of it, might be furnished at short notice, without the expense of writing out the titles, or of casting new plates, but by the simple indication of the selected titles, in the margin of a printed alphabetical catalogue.

Finally, the plan of necessity requires that the titles of the books in the libraries, included in the arrangement, should be given on uniform principles, and according to fixed rules; an object of no small importance to those who consult them.

These and other incidental advantages, which would result from the adoption of his plan of separate stereotype plates, for the titles of books in public libraries, are pointed out by Professor Jewett in the memoir above referred to, and the undersigned are of opinion that he has not overrated their importance. In proportion as the plan is concurred in by the public institutions and individuals possessing valuable collections of books, the preparation of a general catalogue of all the libraries in the country becomes practicable, accompanied by references from which it would appear in what library or libraries any particular book is contained.

The undersigned became satisfied, in the course of their conferences with Professor Jewett, that the plan in all its parts is practicable. In connection with the explanation of its mechanical execution, specimens of stereotype plates of separate titles, made up into pages, were submitted to them, in common type metal, in electrotype, and in a newly-invented composition, the use of which, it is thought by its inventor, would be attended with great economy in the cost of plates. The undersigned examined these specimens with much gratification and interest, but they did not feel themselves competent, from their limited opportunities of inquiry, nor did they regard it as falling within their province, to form an opinion on the comparative merits of these processes. They feel satisfied that no important mechanical difficulty is to be apprehended in carrying the plan into full effect.

A majority of the undersigned devoted themselves for several successive meetings to the careful consideration of the set of rules, submitted to them by Professor Jewett, for the uniform preparation of the titles of books. This is a subject which has of late received much attention from bibliographers, and is of great importance in the formation of the catalogues of public libraries. Professor Jewett's rules combine the results of the experience of those who have given their attention to the subject in the principal libraries of Europe, especially of the British Museum, together with the fruits of his own experience and study. These rules appear to the undersigned to be drawn up with judgment and care. A few amendments were recommended by the undersigned, and a few additions proposed, but they are prepared to signify their approval of the system substantially as submitted to them.

In order that a beginning may be made in the execution of the plan, under circumstances highly favorable to its success, the undersigned take the liberty of suggesting, that it would be advisable for the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution to obtain the requisite authority, to prepare a catalogue of the library of Congress on the above-described plan. A catalogue of this library is now very much wanted. Originally constructed on a defective plan, and continued by the publication of a large number of supplements, it is now almost useless; and as the library increases, it becomes daily more so. The preparation of an alphabetical catalogue has in this way become a matter of absolute necessity for the library itself; while it affords the best opportunity for commencing an arrangement, by which the various libraries of the country will be brought into a mutually beneficial connexion with each other, on the plan proposed by Professor Jewett.

The undersigned consider the permanent superintendence of this plan to be an object entirely within the province of the Smithsonian Institution. They are satisfied that it will tend both to the increase and diffusion of knowledge, and they therefore hope, that the sanction of the Regents and of Congress will be given to the undertaking.

(Signed,) EDWARD EVERETT, JOSEPH G. COGSWELL, CHARLES FOLSOM, SAMUEL F. HAVEN, EDWARD E. HALE, GEORGE LIVERMORE.

~Boston~, 26th October, 1850.

SYSTEM.

SMITHSONIAN CATALOGUE SYSTEM.

DIFFICULTIES IN PUBLISHING CATALOGUES.

Few persons, except librarians, are aware of the nature and extent of the difficulties, which have been encountered, in attempting to furnish suitable printed catalogues of growing libraries; difficulties apparently insurmountable, and menacing a common abandonment of the hope of affording guides, so important, to the literary accumulations of the larger libraries of Europe.

It is, of course, entirely practicable to publish a complete and satisfactory catalogue of a library which is stationary. But most public libraries are constantly and rapidly increasing. This circumstance, so gratifying on every other account, is the source of the difficulties alluded to.

While the catalogue of such a library is passing through the press, new books are received, the titles of which it is impossible, in the ordinary manner of printing, to incorporate with the body of the work. Recourse must then be had to a supplement. In no other way can the acquisitions of the library be made known to the public. If the number of supplements be multiplied, as they have been in the library of Congress, the student may be obliged to grope his weary way through ten catalogues, instead of one, in order to ascertain whether the book which he seeks be in the library. He cannot be certain, even then, that the book is not in the collection, for it may have been received, since the last appendix was printed. Supplements soon become intolerable. The whole catalogue must then be re-arranged and re-printed. The expense of this process may be borne, so long as the library is small, but it soon becomes burdensome, and, ere long, insupportable, even to national establishments.

There is but one course left--not to print at all. To this no scholar consents, except from necessity. But to this alternative, grievous as it is, nearly all the large libraries of Europe have been reluctantly driven.

More than a century has passed, since the printing of the catalogue of the Royal Library at Paris was commenced. It is not yet finished. No one feels in it the interest which he would, if he could hope to have its completeness sustained, when once brought up to a given date.

Dr. Pertz, chief librarian of the Royal Library at Berlin, declares, that to print the catalogue of a large library, which is constantly increasing, is to throw away money. His opinion is founded upon the supposed impossibility of keeping up the catalogue, so as continually to represent the actual possessions of the library.

The commissioners, lately appointed by the Queen of England, to inquire into the constitution and management of the British Museum, have, in their report, expressed an opinion decidedly against the printing of the catalogue at all, and principally on the ground that it must ever remain imperfect.

One of the witnesses, (the Right Honorable J. W. Croker,) examined before the commissioners, thus strongly states the case with respect to printing:

"You receive, I suppose, into your library every year some twenty thousand volumes, or something like that. Why, if you had a printed catalogue dropped down from Heaven to you at this moment perfect, this day twelve-month your twenty thousand interlineations would spoil the simplicity of that catalogue; again the next year twenty thousand more; and the next year twenty thousand more; so that at the end of four or five years, you would have your catalogue just in the condition that your new catalogue is now [the manuscript part greater than the printed part]. With that new catalogue before your eyes, I am astonished that there should be any discussion about it, for there is the experiment; the experiment has been made and failed."

Not one European library, of the first class, has a complete printed catalogue, in a single work. The Bodleian Library is not an exception. It may be necessary to search six distinct catalogues, in order to ascertain whether any specified book were or were not in that collection, at the close of the year 1847.

This is, surely, a disheartening state of things. It has been felt and lamented by every one who has had the care of an increasing library.

PLAN FOR OBVIATING THESE DIFFICULTIES.