The Sun.
London, England, 1830-04-23 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS' LIBRARY.

A Catalogue of the several works, Parliamentary
and otherwise, contained in the tine, large, new
Library of the House of Commons (situated at the
end of the long gallery), has been printed, for the
fir,t time, with the following " Pref tee," which is
from the pen of J. Rickman, the Second Clerk at
the table :
The library of the House of Commons cannot be
said to have existed till about twelve years since,
when the books required for the use of the Select
Committees, consisting of Acts of Parliament and
Journals, Sessional Printed Reports and Papers, had
accumulated in such quantity that they were not
readiJy accessible, nor indeed could they be securely
preserved, unless placed under the care of some re,
sponsible individual ; which caused the appointment
of a Lih!arian, as recommended to the Treasury by
the Speaker in the year 1818,

The books were at that time arranged in a room
prepared for them near the smoking room (the an-
cient Committee room, or " Speaker's Chamber"
of the House of Commons), and remained there
until two Select Committees (in the years 1825 and
1826) recommend the erection of a new library ;
which was completed, and the books were placed in
it before the commencement of the Session 1828:
And the convenience resulting from this having been
experienced and publicly noticed before the termi-
nation of that Session, his Majesty's Government
deemed themselves justified in allowing 20001. to be
expended in purchasing; such books as might he
deemed most useful to Members of the House, in
addition to the great store of Parliamentary and
Record volumes already accumulated.
A catalogue therefore is become necessary for
showing in what manner this sum has been applied,
and at the same time.to enable Members to make
full use of the books purchased for their accommo-
dation;--and in this place it is proper to premise
generally, that ancient Acts of Parliament and other
Records being in Latin and French, books in those
languages have been admitted without scruple; but
books originally written in other languages, appear
only in translation, or with a translation annexed to
the original.

The- classification of a library is a difficult task,
many books seeming to claim a place in more classes
than one, when the same author treats of different
subjects; even the order in which the classes should
be enumerated in a catalogue cannot be settled by
any obvious priority of place. This catalogue com-
mences with General History and Chronology,—

especially since the Birth of Christ : then follows
the History of England; in which, after inserting
" Nicholson's Historical Library" as a clue to most
of the authors, their names are placed chronologi-
cally,--that is, according to the date at which their
narratives severally terminate, this being the ne trest
approach of each to coeval history and original au-
thority : and, for the better accomplishment of this
purpose, recourse has been had to a duplicate entry
of the more ancient chrot;iclers, by dissecting the
large collections of Saville, of Camden, of Twysden.
of Gale and Fell, and the anonymous volume
printed at Heidelberg by Commelinus, earlier in
date than any of then:.

After the History of England and Wales (which
contains, as an essential part of it, all personal his-
tories of Kings and Statesmen), follow in due course
the Histories of Scotland, of Ireland, and of the
foreign dependencies of the British Empire. Next are
arranged subjects more or less subsidiary to British
History ; beginnin r with Parliamentary History and
Treatises, not excluding those touching our form of Go-
vernment generally—Ecclesiastical History—Com-
merce and Political Economy—Antiquities and To-
pography—Coins—Heraldry.
The History of other Nations Commences with
that of Northern Europe, as being most connected
with our earliest institutions;—of France, includ-
ing, of course, the Norman writers, for more than a
century identified with our own—of the Netherlands
—of Germany and Poland—of Italy—of Spain and
Portugal—of Russia, Turkey, and the Asiatic Na-
tions ; with which the Catalogue of History closes,
except so much of it as is to be found in the His-
torical Dictionaries hereafter noticed.

Diplomacy, as being the intercourse of all these
national Governments, properly tbllows next ; and
with this class of authors (including the technical
books explanatory of alphabets, abbreviations, signa-
tures, and seals) the library is well furnished.
The books printed under the direction of the
Record Commissioners form the bulk of a clasa, in
some instances (such as Rymer's Emden') not un•
connected with diplomacy. Domesday Book might
have been assigned to Antiquities and Topography,
had not the Record Commissioners printed supple-
mentary volumes, an introduction, and index, com-
piled with much labour•. The authentic edition of
the Statutes of the Realm is a publication of national
importance ; those of Scotland still want the first
volume and the indexes necessary for making use of
the ten volumes already published. The Reports
of the Record Commissioners, and a few books illus-
trative especially of our national records, are assigned
to this class.

The large class which is designated as Statutes
and Parliamentary proceedings, includes Acts of
Parliament as formerly printed from the exemplified
Statute Roll of each Session, now from the Acts as
fast as they receive the Royal assent. The Journals
of the House of Lords, under the title of Rolls of
Parliament, may be said to commence in the reign
of Edward the First (A.D. 1278) :—The Journals
of the house of Commons do not commence till the
reign of Edward the Sixth (A.D. 1547), and then
with such irregular appearance of uncorrected
Minute Books, as leaves no room to suppose that
earlier Minutes were thought worthy of preserva-
tion. A chasm occurs in the reign of Elizabeth,
which is supplied by the compilation of Sir Simonds
d'Ewes, and perhaps was caused by his obtaining
the use of the MB. Journal for that purpose. The
Journal of the House of Lords, and of the House
of Commons of Ireland to the Union of 1800, are
placed next; and then the printed Parliamentary
proceedings of the House of Commons of the United
Kingdom, perfect to the present time. Before the
Union with Ireland, it was customary to insert re-
ports, estimates, and other material papers, in the
Journals, which will in some measure account for
the small number of other printed volumes anterior
to that event.—There was, however, a selection
made in the year 1773, of valuable Reports of Com-
mittees not printed in the Journals; which Reports
appear in four large volumes; and in the year 1803,
eleven additional volumes of such Reports were se-
lected by a Committee, who expressed their sense of
the necessity of a well-digested index of the whole.
This task was readily undertaken by Mr. Hansard,
whose services as printer to the House commenced
with the earliest of these 15 volumes; and he has
furnished an analysis of the several subjects, under
19 hearth Moreover, under the name of a General
Index, he has produced such a breviate or precis as
might have formed marginal contents to the Reports;
an instance of persevering labour and intelligence
not often surpassed. He also inserted with the
Index a list of reports on more than 60 subjects,
inserted in the. Journals during the last century
(1716-1801), but not reprinted ; a very useful
as otherwise " few would think of searching at all
beyond a collection of 15 volumes, fur what these
volumes might be supposed to comprise."
A similar task was undertaken by Mr. Hansard,
in consequence of his offering his services for that
purpose to the Committee of Printed Papers (1825),
who thereupon directed an arrangement to be made
of the Reports;of Commissioners,- as well as of Se-
lect Committees of the House, from the UniOn to
that time. This has been accomplished by Mr.
Hansard to the extent of 154 volumes, of which 145
volumes, analysed under his direction, are equal in
quantity to 79 volumes such as the former ; but the
labour of completing a " Breviate" of this. great
mass of matter was not commensurate, a larger pro-
portion of the modern reports being Appendix
matter, greatly swollen by the custom of employing
a short-hand writer in imitation of Election Petition
Committees, who sit judicially. Questions and an-
swers in the absence of such convenience were better
considered, and, when entered on the Minute Book
of the Committee Clerk, were read to the parties,
and corrected on the spot. This evidence was sel-
dom printed, and passed through the minds of the
Committee into their Report. In effect, the evi-
dence annexed to the Reports of recent Select
Committees (1801-1829) is four times that in the
earlier collection, as compared with the length of
the actual Reports in those periods respectively.
Mr. Hunsard died in October, 1828, before the com-
pletion of his second task, which devolved on his
SOllB, who have finished it carefully according to his
instructions and example. The breviate is not
thrown into alphabet, as in the former case ; in fact,
alphabetical arrangement suits a large series of Re-
ports on the same subject, but the marginal order is
more convenient in all other cases.

The same Committee on Printed Papers (1825)
" considered that a similar classification might with
much utility be adopted as to other papers." This
Mr. Hansard accomplished by a laborious incorpora-
tion of his Sessional Lists into one alphabet ; and he
not only fulfilled the wishes of the Committee (to
the extent of 152 volumes) but added a similar clas-
sification (to the amount of 56 volumes), of Bills as
printed in their progress through the House, all to
the end of the Session 18;2, and now placed in the
library, the whole amounting to 303 volumes. The
.
printed Parliamentary proceedings produced the
Sessions 1827, 1828, and 1829, form 79 additional
volumes.
Thus much it has been necessary to say of the
facility of reference to Parliamentary proceedings,
lest a defect should be imputed to this cltalogue
omitting, if not the most important, certainly lb,
largest and most appropriate portion of the library of
the House of Commons. But in this place it is not
improper to acknowledge the want of ready reference
to papers and accounts appended in vast numbers
and quantity to the Reports of Select Committees

Other books of reference are many and vriioa‘;
the maps are of the best kind ; and the mi, ev:i a-
neous books, reducible to no class, are as few as eao
reasonably be expected.
Thus far has been described the Classed Cata-
logue, by means of which the inquirer will find ;01
the books in the library which relate to the ilijei.t.
of his research ; to have attempted what is ustiaily
called a Catalogue Raisonne, would have been he-
proper on the present occasion; the nearest id10%%-
able approach to it will be found in the words of
the authors themselves ; that is, in a iegular trans-
cript of the title-page of each, which cannot but lie
the most authentic description of the work, especially
where it regards the large collections of historical
and critical knowledge,.each of which having formed
the labour of a learned life, was not likely to be
dismissed by its author without his prefixing in the
title page a careful summary of the contents.
The , Alphabetical Catalogue, contained in the
concluding pages, gives merely the names of the
anthers or subjects of the several books, referring to
the page of the elaAsed catalogue, where a larger (It
scription will always be. found, useful especially to
those who are nor familiarly • acqUainted with the
book or class of books to which they have occasion co
refer.

Books which have been given to the library are
noticed accordingly in the classed catalogue; and the
name of the donor appears at the beginning of every
such volume—a practice which will be con: line. d
with regard to ull future donations.
Feb. 1830. J. R.

At the conclusion of the prefatory remarks prf-
ceding the " Breviate" of the contents of the Pat-
liamentary Reports, &c., it is stated :
_

. .
" Thus ample means are provided of rendering
fully available the reports, accounts, and other pavers
printed by the House, for the purpose of 'any infor-
mation which public discussion or priva'e research
may require; and the directions of the Committee
of 1825, as relate to the subject of the Parliamentary
papers, haVe been carefully and duly executed.
" Mr. Luke Hansard, senior, was prevented by
death from seeing the accomplishment of ibis task,
which he always looked forward to with pleasing
expectation that it would show, in a connected
the works in which he had been engaged during a
great part of the period in which he had dischaiged
the duty of printer to the House. The materials,
however, were all prepared, and the arran;2ement
approved of by him ; and his sons have been anxious
that its completion should not suffer by devolving (41
them, and have endeavoured that it should be di,ite
in his spirit, and represent the distinctness of his
mind. (Signed)

"JAMES and LtiKg G. IJANSARD and SONS"

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

GUILDHALL

George Fowler was re-oxamined yesterday before
Sir J. PERRING, charged with having 21. 11s. Gil. ni
base money in his possession, with intent to circu-
late the same.

The prisoner was ordered to find sureties for his
appearance at the next sessions, himself in 801., and
two housekeepers in 404, each, with 48 hours' notice
of hail.

A little urchin, named John West, was charged
with stealing a pocket-book, containing bills of ex-
change to the amount of •700/., from the person of
George Ross, Esq. of Finsbury-square.
The prosecutor stated, that in passing through
Long-hue, Smithfield, in the forenoon yesterday,
he felt something twitch his coat, and he immed►-
ately missed his pocket-book out of a secret pocket,
and saw it in the possession of the prisoner.
Mr. Carter, of Crawford-street, Marylebone, saw
the prisoner open the pocket and take out the book.
The prisoner stoutly asserted that he had touched
neither ;he gentleman's briok nor his pocket.
Sir JOHN PERRING committed the prisoner for
trial, observing that the town seemed to be inun-
dated with pickpockets.