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Although there can be little difference of opinion among book lovers as to the need of a Handbook which shall answer satisfactorily the question—"How to Form a Library"—it does not follow that there will be a like agreement as to the best shape in which to put the answer. On the one side a string of generalities can be of no use to any one, and on the other a too great particularity of instruction may be resented by those who only require hints on a few points, and feel that they know their own business better than any author can tell them.

One of the most important attempts to direct the would-be founder of a Library in his way was made as long ago as 1824 by Dr. Dibdin, and the result was entitled The Library Companion.[1] The book could never have been a safe guide, and now it is hopelessly out of date. Tastes change, and many books upon the necessity of possessing which Dibdin enlarges are now little valued. Dr. Hill Burton writes of this book as follows in his Book-Hunter: "This, it will be observed, is not intended as a manual of rare or curious, or in any way peculiar books, but as the instruction of a Nestor on the best books for study and use in all departments of literature. Yet one will look in vain there for such names as Montaigne, Shaftesbury, Benjamin Franklin, D'Alembert, Turgot, Adam Smith, Malebranche, Lessing, Goethe, Schiller, Fénélon, Burke, Kant, Richter, Spinoza, Flechier, and many others. Characteristically enough, if you turn up Rousseau in the index, you will find Jean Baptiste, but not Jean Jacques. You will search in vain for Dr. Thomas Reid the metaphysician, but will readily find Isaac Reed the editor. If you look for Molinæus, or Du Moulin, it is not there, but alphabetical vicinity gives you the good fortune to become acquainted with "Moule, Mr., his Bibliotheca Heraldica." The name of Hooker will be found, not to guide the reader to the Ecclesiastical Polity, but to Dr. Jackson Hooker's Tour in Iceland. Lastly, if any one shall search for Hartley on Man, he will find in the place it might occupy, or has reference to, the editorial services of 'Hazlewood, Mr. Joseph.'"

Although this criticism is to a great extent true, it does not do justice to Dibdin's book, which contains much interesting and valuable matter, for if the Library Companion is used not as a Guide to be followed, but as a book for reference, it will be found of considerable use.

William Goodhugh's English Gentleman's Library Manual, or a Guide to the Formation of a Library of Select Literature, was published in 1827. It contains classified lists of library books, but these are not now of much value, except for the notes which accompany the titles, and make this work eminently readable. There are some literary anecdotes not to be found elsewhere.

A most valuable work of reference is Mr. Edward Edwards's Report on the formation of the Manchester Free Library, which was printed in 1851. It is entitled, "Librarian's First Report to the Books Sub-Committee on the Formation of the Library, June 30, 1851, with Lists of Books suggested for purchase." The Lists are arranged in the following order:—

1. Works—collective and miscellaneous—of Standard British authors; with a selection of those of the Standard authors of America.

2. Works relative to the History, Topography, and Biography of the United Kingdom, and of the United States of America.

3. Works relative to Political Economy, Finance, Trade, Commerce, Agriculture, Mining, Manufactures, Inland Communication, and Public Works.

4. Works relating to Physics, Mathematics, Mechanics, Practical Engineering, Arts, and Trades, etc.

5. Voyages and Travels.

6. Works on Zoology, Botany, Mineralogy, and Geology.

7. Periodical Publications and Transactions of Learned Societies (not included in Lists 2, 3, or 6), Collections, Encyclopædias, Gazetteers, Atlases, Dictionaries, Bibliographies, Indexes, etc.

These draft lists include 4582 distinct works, extending to about 12,438 volumes, including pamphlets, but exclusive of 553 Parliamentary Papers and Reports, or Blue Books. Such a practically useful collection of lists of books will not easily be found elsewhere.

Mr. Edwards gives some rules for the formation of Libraries in the second volume of his Memoirs of Libraries (p. 629), where he writes, "No task is more likely to strip a man of self-conceit than that of having to frame, and to carry out in detail a plan for the formation of a large Library. When he has once got beyond those departments of knowledge in which his own pursuits and tastes have specially interested him, the duty becomes a difficult one, and the certainty, that with his best efforts, it will be very imperfectly performed is embarrassing and painful. If, on the other hand, the task be imposed upon a 'Committee,' there ensues almost the certainty that its execution will depend at least as much on chance as on plan: that responsibility will be so attenuated as to pass off in vapour; and that the collection so brought together will consist of parts bearing but a chaotic sort of relation to the whole."

Mr. Henry Stevens printed in 1853 his pretty little book entitled Catalogue of my English Library, which contains a very useful selection of Standard books. In his Introduction the author writes, "It was my intention in the outset not to exceed 4000 volumes, but little by little the list has increased to 5751 volumes. I have been considerably puzzled to know what titles to strike out in my next impression, being well aware that what is trash to one person is by no means such to another; also that many books of more merit than those admitted have been omitted. You may not think it difficult to strike out twenty authors, and to add twenty better ones in their place, but let me relate to you a parable. I requested twenty men, whose opinions on the Literary Exchange are as good as those of the Barings or the Rothschilds on the Royal, each to expunge twenty authors and to insert twenty others of better standing in their places, promising to exclude in my next impression any author who should receive more than five votes. The result was, as may be supposed, not a single expulsion or addition."

In 1855 Mons. Hector Bossange produced a companion volume, entitled Ma Bibliothèque Française. It contains a select list of about 7000 volumes, and is completed with Indexes of Subjects, Authors, and Persons.

For helpful Bibliographical Guides we often have to look to the United States, and we do not look in vain. A most useful Handbook, entitled The Best Reading, was published in 1872 by George P. Putman, and the work edited by F.B. Perkins is now in its fourth edition.[2] The books are arranged in an alphabet of subjects, and the titles are short, usually being well within a single line. A very useful system of appraisement of the value of the books is adopted. Thus: a, means that the book so marked is considered the book, or as good as any, at a moderate cost; b means, in like manner, the best of the more elaborate or costly books on the subject. In the department of Fiction, a more precise classification has been attempted, in which a general idea of the relative importance of the authors is indicated by the use of the letters a, b, and c, and of the relative value of their several works by the asterisks * and **."

Having noted a few of the Guides which are now at hand for the use of the founders of a library, we may be allowed to go back somewhat in time, and consider how our predecessors treated this same subject, and we can then conclude the present Introduction with a consideration of the less ambitious attempts to instruct the book collector which may be found in papers and articles.

One of the earliest works on the formation of a library was written by Bishop Cardona, and published at Tarragona in 1587, in a thin volume entitled De regia S. Laurentii Bibliothecâ. De Pontificia Vaticana [etc.].

Justus Lipsius wrote his De Bibliothecis Syntagma at the end of the sixteenth century, and next in importance we come to Gabriel Naudé, who published one of the most famous of bibliographical essays. The first edition was published at Paris in 1627, and the second edition in 1644. This was reprinted in Paris by J. Liseux in 1876—"Advis pour dresser une Bibliothèque, présenté à Monseigneur le Président de Mesme, par G. Naudé P. Paris, chez François Farga, 1627."

This essay was translated by John Evelyn, and dedicated to Lord Chancellor Clarendon. "Instructions concerning erecting of a Library; Presented to My Lord the President De Mesme. By Gabriel Naudeus P., and now interpreted by Jo. Evelyn, Esquire, London, 1661."

Naudé enlarges on the value of Catalogues, and recommends the book-buyer to make known his desires, so that others may help him in the search, or supply his wants. He specially mentions two modes of forming a library; one is to buy libraries entire, and the other is to hunt at book-stalls. He advised the book-buyer not to spend too much upon bindings.

Naudé appears to have been a born librarian, for at the early age of twenty the President De Mesme appointed him to take charge of his library. He left his employer in 1626, in order to finish his medical studies. Cardinal Bagni took him to Rome, and when Bagni died, Naudé became librarian to Cardinal Barberini. Richelieu recalled him to Paris in 1642, to act as his librarian, but the Minister dying soon afterwards, Naudé took the same office under Mazarin. During the troubles of the Fronde, the librarian had the mortification of seeing the library which he had collected dispersed; and in consequence he accepted the offer of Queen Christina, to become her librarian at Stockholm. Naudé was not happy abroad, and when Mazarin appealed to him to reform his scattered library, he returned at once, but died on the journey home at Abbeville, July 29, 1653.

The Mazarin Library consisted of more than 40,000 volumes, arranged in seven rooms filled from top to bottom. It was rich in all classes, but more particularly in Law and Physic. Naudé described it with enthusiasm as "the most beautiful and best furnished of any library now in the world, or that is likely (if affection does not much deceive me) ever to be hereafter." Such should be a library in the formation of which the Kings and Princes and Ambassadors of Europe were all helpers. Naudé in another place called it "the work of my hands and the miracle of my life." Great therefore was his dejection when the library was dispersed. Of this he said, "Beleeve, if you please, that the ruine of this Library will be more carefully marked in all Histories and Calendars, than the taking and sacking of Constantinople." Naudé's letter on the destruction of the Mazarin Library was published in London in 1652, and the pamphlet was reprinted in the Harleian Miscellany. "News from France, or a Description of the Library of Cardinall Mazarini, before it was utterly ruined. Sent in a letter from G. Naudæus, Keeper of the Publick Library. London, Printed for Timothy Garthwait, 1652." 4to. 4 leaves.

In 1650 was published at London, by Samuel Hartlib, a little book entitled, "The Reformed Librarie Keeper, with a Supplement to the Reformed School, as Subordinate to Colleges in Universities. By John Durie. London, William Du-Gard, 1650."[3]

John Durie's ideas on the educational value of Libraries and the high function of the Librarian are similar to those enunciated by Carlyle, when he wrote, "The true University of these days is a Collection of Books." Of this point, as elaborated in the proposal to establish Professorships of Bibliography, we shall have something more to say further on.

It is always interesting to see the views of great men exemplified in the selection of books for a Library, and we may with advantage study the lists prepared by George III. and Dr. Johnson. The King was a collector of the first rank, as is evidenced by his fine library, now in the British Museum, and he knew his books well. When he was about to visit Weymouth, he wrote to his bookseller for the following books to be supplied to him to form a closet library at that watering place. The list was written from memory, and it was printed by Dibdin in his Library Companion, from the original document in the King's own handwriting:

The Holy Bible. 2 vols. 8vo. Cambridge.

New Whole Duty of Man. 8vo.

The Annual Register. 25 vols. 8vo.

The History of England, by Rapin. 21 vols. 8vo. 1757.

Elémens de l'Histoire de France, par Millot. 3 vols. 12mo. 1770.

Siècle de Louis XIV., par Voltaire, 12mo.

Siècle de Louis XV., par Voltaire, 12mo.

Commentaries on the Laws of England, by Sir William Blackstone. 4 vols. 8vo. Newest Edition.

The Justice of the Peace and Parish Officer, by R. Burn. 4 vols. 8vo.

An Abridgement of Samuel Johnson's Dictionary. 2 vols. 8vo.

Dictionnaire François et Anglois, par M.A. Boyer. 8vo.

The Works of the English Poets, by Sam. Johnson. 68 vols. 12mo.

A Collection of Poems, by Dodsley, Pearch, and Mendez. 11 vols. 12mo.

A Select Collection of Poems, by J. Nichols. 8 vols. 12mo.

Shakespeare's Plays, by Steevens.

Œuvres de Destouches. 5 vols. 12mo.

The Works of Sir William Temple. 4 vols. 8vo.

The Works of Jonathan Swift. 24 vols. 12mo.

Dr. Johnson recommended the following list of books to the Rev. Mr. Astle, of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, as a good working collection:—

Rollin's Ancient History.

Universal History (Ancient).

Puffendorf's Introduction to History.

Vertot's History of the Knights of Malta.

Vertot's Revolutions of Portugal.

Vertot's Revolutions of Sweden.

Carte's History of England.

Present State of England.

Geographical Grammar.

Prideaux's Connection.

Nelson's Feasts and Fasts.

Duty of Man.

Gentleman's Religion.

Clarendon's History.

Watts's Improvement of the Mind.

Watts's Logick.

Nature Displayed.

Lowth's English Grammar.

Blackwall on the Classicks.

Sherlock's Sermons.

Burnet's Life of Hale.

Dupin's History of the Church.

Shuckford's Connection.

Law's Serious Call.

Walton's Complete Angler.

Sandys's Travels.

Sprat's History of the Royal Society.

England's Gazetteer.

Goldsmith's Roman History.

Some Commentaries on the Bible.

It is curious to notice in both these lists how many of the books are now quite superseded.

In another place Boswell tells us what were Johnson's views on book collecting. "When I mentioned that I had seen in the King's Library sixty-three editions of my favourite Thomas à Kempis, amongst which it was in eight languages, Latin, German, French, Italian, Spanish, English, Arabick, and Armenian, he said he thought it unnecessary to collect many editions of a book, which were all the same, except as to the paper and print; he would have the original, and all the translations, and all the editions which had any variations in the text. He approved of the famous collection of editions of Horace by Douglas, mentioned by Pope, who is said to have had a closet filled with them; and he said every man should try to collect one book in that manner, and present it to a Publick Library."

Dr. Johnson's notion as to the collection of editions which are alike except in the point of paper is scarcely sound, but it has been held by a librarian of the present day, as I know to my cost. On one occasion I was anxious to see several copies of the first folio of Shakespeare (1623), and I visited a certain library which possessed more than one. The librarian expressed the opinion that one was quite sufficient for me to see, as "they were all alike."

The possessor of a Private Library can act as a censor morum and keep out of his collection any books which offend against good morals, but this role is one which is unfit for the librarian of a Public Library. He may put difficulties in the way of the ordinary reader seeing such books, but nevertheless they should be in his library for the use of the student. A most amusing instance of misapplied zeal occurred at the Advocates' Library on the 27th June, 1754. The Minutes tell the tale in a way that speaks for itself and requires no comment. "Mr. James Burnet [afterwards Lord Monboddo], and Sir David Dalrymple [afterwards Lord Hailes], Curators of the Library, having gone through some accounts of books lately bought, and finding therein the three following French books: Les Contes de La Fontaine, L'Histoire Amoureuse des Gaules and L'Ecumoire, they ordain that the said books be struck out of the Catalogue of the Library, and removed from the shelves, as indecent books, unworthy of a place in a learned Library."

At a Conference of Representatives of Institutions in Union with the Society of Arts held in July, 1855, the question of the compilation of a Catalogue of Books fitted for the Libraries of Institutions was raised, and shortly afterwards was published, under the sanction of the Council, "A Handbook of Mechanics' Institutions, with Priced Catalogue of Books suitable for Libraries, and Periodicals for Reading Rooms, by W.H.J. Traice." A second edition of this book was published in 1863. The list, however, is not now of much use, as many of the books have been superseded. Theology and Politics are not included in the classification.

In 1868 Mr. Mullins read a paper before a Meeting of the Social Science Association at Birmingham, on the management of Free Libraries, and, in its reprinted form, this has become a Handbook on the subject: "Free Libraries and News-rooms, their Formation and Management. By J.D. Mullins, Chief Librarian, Birmingham Free Libraries. Third edition. London, Sotheran and Co., 1879." An appendix contains copies of the Free Libraries Acts and Amendments, and a "Short List of Books for a Free Lending Library, ranging in price from 1s. to 7s. 6d. per volume."

Mr. Axon read a paper on the Formation of Small Libraries intended for the Co-Operative Congress in 1869, which was reprinted as a pamphlet of eight pages: "Hints on the Formation of Small Libraries intended for Public Use. By Wm. E.A. Axon. London, N. Trübner and Co."

Mr. A.R. Spofford has given a valuable list of books and articles in periodicals, on the subject of Libraries in chapter 36 (Library Bibliography), of the Report on Public Libraries in the U.S. (1876).

The volume of Transactions and Proceedings of the Conference of Librarians, London, 1877, contains two papers on the Selection of Books, one by Mr. Robert Harrison, Librarian of the London Library, and the other by the late Mr. James M. Anderson, Assistant Librarian of the University of St. Andrews. Mr. Harrison gives the following as the three guiding principles of selection in forming a library: 1. Policy; 2. Utility; 3. Special or Local Appropriateness; and he deals with each successively. Mr. Anderson writes that "the selection of books should invariably be made (1) in relation to the library itself, and (2) in relation to those using it."

We have chiefly to do with the formation of libraries, and therefore the use made of them when they are formed cannot well be enlarged upon here, but a passing note may be made on the proposal which has been much discussed of late years, viz. that for Professorships of Books and Reading. The United States Report on Public Libraries contains a chapter on this subject by F.B. Perkins and William Matthews (pp. 230–251), and Mr. Axon also contributed a paper at the First Annual Meeting of the Library Association. The value of such chairs, if well filled, is self-evident, for it takes a man a long time (without teaching) to learn how best to use books, but very special men would be required as Professors. America has done much to show what the duties of such a Professor should be, and Harvard College is specially fortunate in possessing an officer in Mr. Justin Winsor who is both a model librarian and a practical teacher of the art of how best to use the books under his charge.