Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-01-07


catalogue. The writer Is free to confess
| that he made mistakes, but these were
mostly clerical and sometimes the result
of being overdriven and hurried in work
| that could not wait. Such mistakes are
easily detected and corrected, as they were.
and the author brought to book by the
lynx-eyed library chief. But did he always
| or often know of the painful searchings
requisite TO fix date discover an au-
| thorship? Was he aware of the many
journeyings TO remote parts of the library.
| the up hill and down dale, to attic or
ceilarage. for the necessary rummaging in
old magazines and newspapers, In direc-
tories, almanacs and encyclopedias, IN
private memoirs and biographical diction-
aries. in obituaries and geneaiogtes, IN Or
der to determine the spelling. or to obtain
the full Christian and surname, the au-
thOrs epoch date of his birth and death),
and any other circumstances calculated 10
throw light on the author or authorship In
question? And often it was necessary 10
identify the particular Smith, Jones or
Robinson amid the ''innumerable caravan"
of such who had long since moved ito the
pale realms of shade. and to be called
back only by the most patient and per-
sistent of researches? Did he know, this
Admirable Crichton of a librarian, of the
many obstacles and impediments placed in
the way of man who had work to do.
but not always the means at hand for do
ing it-some special photography that was
always wanting; some wanted work of
reference which had gone to the bindery;
St1Iit ala OF Aus, anu tHeTe were
| many such we ought to have possessed,
but did not, and those we had We're parcel
ed out and scattered like tools over a ten
acre lot?
Deficient In Many Ways.
1t is not too much to say that for want of
a suitable work room.and of tools convent
ent to our hand. fully one-half of the time
was spent and often wasted in these jour
neyings and explorations. The library it
self was most deficient in recent bibiog-
raphy. 1t was nowhere up to date: in coun-
tries like Holland. Belgium. Russia Scan
dinavia, France even, and notably in the
Genital and South American states and In
Mexico, it was anywhere from ten to TWEEN
ty years behind the times And what was
even more eXasperating,. the current inter-
airy news and publications, like the Pub
fishers Weekly. the Bookman, and even the
Library Journal the London Athenaeum
and Academy, the bulletins of the Boston
public. Harvard. Cornell and other libraries.
were not open and accessible, but to be
seen and had only by permission of the
man who kept them habitually under lock
and key. My colleague-there was but one
for long time associated with me in cata-
loSuing-tasted also the full bitterness of
these trials and deprivations, but he knew
as well as l the futility of complaint, re-
monstrance, or petition: such things were
inconvenient, but they were accepted as
part of the conditions which handicapped
our labors
Instead of commanding or being able to
command the entire bibliograp hical re-
sources of the Library of Congress, meager
as in some respects its then resources were,
we had. in general. to content ourselves
with the very ordinary, and often obsolete,
authorities al hand. When these failed
u.s. as often they did, in the important mat
ter of date or of the full Christian and
surname of the author, We had to resort to
more unconventional and remote sources of
informa ton. l had fixed theory and be-
lief that every needed item of information
for the intelligent cataloguing of any work
existed somewhere. in some book, person,
or writing: 1T was problem of what,
where and how-to find it. If the book was
in the library. 1t was my business to find
It If not in this library, it might be In an
other; and If not in any book or library, it
might be in the memory of living person,
or In some record like the old London Sta
TONERS entries or Doctors Commons. On
this decomposition l framed my inquiries
and started ON my line of investigation,
often with the best results.
A Circular Letter.
1 think 1 may also claim the beginning of
a novel method of research-novel as re-
CARDS the Library of Congress, though it
had often teen used before, and always will
be used by students and Investigators This
was circular letter of inquiry which 1
composed under the direction of the chief
and which was sent out under his sigma
ture to publishers, booksellers librarians
and others who were likely to be acquainted
with the authorship of anonymous and
pSeudonymous works. A penalty envelope
was inclosed along with the circular and
the return mail usually brought an answer
with the coveted Information In this way
hundreds OF authorships hitherto concealed
and not generally known were added to the
vast stores of photographic lore already
accumulated and embodied in the card cata-
logue.
In my view, though it seem to be the case
OF a agnifVip2y his &c:
conceivable work n a library which is
greater than, or In value and Importance
equal to, work on the catalogue. If library
administration is also important, yet into
what confusion would the bureau of admin
istration fall, and to what complexion
would IL come, without good up-to-date
catalogue? So constantly in use is it, and
SO necessary to the service of the public,
that the card catalogue of the Library of
Congress has lately been moved from the
cataloguinG room and workshop, where it
Is most needed by the cataloguers. to the
place where ii is under the immediate eye
and control of the superintendent of the
reading room and his corps of assistants
Tor the reason that they cannot do without
1t. When | entered the service the art of
cataloSuing was. so TO say, in its infancy;
when left ii 1t had so far advanced as to
have well-defined code of procedure and
to demand not merely certain grade of
qualifications the part of the cataloguer,
but an amount Of skill and training which
can only be acquired by long practice and
improved by daily exercise.
Details of the Cataloguins.
1t is not enough today to know the name
in full of your author and his latest title
II he had one; you must know his age and
country, his time and place, his epoch
and forget not to add his birth and death
dates to the name at top OF the card over
the title. The title, brief and compact
after wedding from it every superhuous
word, should be simplicity itself; it should
contain all that Is essential and nothing
that Is non-essential; the best title that |
ever saw was compressed into a single
word, " oltaire," being a monograph on
that writer by John Morley Then follow
title with notation and description of the
work. and last but not least of all the
date.
II l were asked what Is the most i'm
portant thing to be noted in Challenging
a book, l should say uniquely, the date
Ana the rext in importance-the date And
the next? L should answer still-the date!
1t Is the habit of knavish book sellers to
omit the date. hoping thereby to deceive
their readers into the belief that the book
Is OF more recent date than it really is;
but If the book be copyrighted, the date of
entry. and hence of publication will gener-
any be found on the reverse of title
n