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Note: Images of the original pages are available through
      Internet Archive/American Libraries. See
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Transcriber's note:

      Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).

      Gesperrt, or widely spaced, letters occur in the tables
      of catalog entries and are enclosed by tilde characters
      (example: ~Le Breton~). In this e-book, the gesperrt text
      is also in small capitals.

      Backward-facing C is indicated by <C.

      The examples of chronograms contain combinations of small
      and regular capital letters. The small capitals have been
      changed to lower case, while the regular capitals remain
      in upper case.

      Greek letters appearing in the original have been
      transliterated and are indicated by [Greek: ]. Three of
      the Greek numerals do not have corresponding letters. The
      words "stigma" (for 6), "qoppa" (for 90), and "sampi"
      (for 900), enclosed in [], have been used for these. The
      table in the original does not include upper case characters
      for stigma and sampi. The numerical accents are indicated
      by'for the upper and, for the lower.





[Decoration]

The Book-Lover's Library.

Edited by

Henry B. Wheatley, F.S.A.


HOW TO CATALOGUE A LIBRARY

by

Henry B. Wheatley, F.S.A.

Author of "How to Form a Library," "The Dedication of Books,"
etc., etc.







[Decoration]

London
Elliot Stock, 62 Paternoster Row
1889




PREFACE.


_Those who are interested in library work are constantly asked where a
statement of the first principles of cataloguing may be found, and the
question is one which it is not easy to answer. Most of the rules which
have been printed are intended for large public libraries, and are
necessarily laid down on a scale which unfits them for use in the making
of a small catalogue. I have divided out the subject on a plan which I
hope will commend itself to my readers, and, after discussing the most
notable codes, I have concluded with a selection of such rules as I
trust will be found useful by those who are employed in making
catalogues of ordinary libraries.

Here I must express the hope that my readers will excuse the frequent
use of the personal pronoun. If the use of "I" could have been avoided,
I would gladly have avoided it; but as the main point of the book is the
discussion of principles and theories, it seemed to me that such value
as the book may possess would be entirely destroyed if I did not give my
own opinions, founded upon a somewhat long experience.

In dealing with a subject such as this, I cannot hope to convince all
my readers, but I trust that those who disagree with my arguments will
be willing to allow them some force.

The compilation has been attended with constant feelings of regret in
my own mind, for almost every page has brought up before me the memory
of two men with whom I have at different times discussed most of the
points here raised,--two men alike in their unselfish devotion to the
cause of Bibliography. Mr. Henry Bradshaw's work was more widely known,
but Mr. Benjamin R. Wheatley's labours were scarcely less valued in the
smaller circle where they were known, and both brought to bear upon a
most difficult subject the whole force of their thoroughly practical
minds. I have learned much from both, and I have felt a constant wish to
consult them during the preparation of these pages.

All those who prepared the British Museum rules are gone from us; but
happily cataloguers can still boast of Mr. Cutter of Boston, one of the
foremost of our craft. Mr. Cutter has prepared a most remarkable code of
rules, and has not only laid down the law, but has also fearlessly given
the reasons for his faith, and these reasons form a body of sound
opinion. May he long live to do honour to Bibliography, a cause which
knows no nationality._

                                                                H. B. W.

  _October, 1889._




CONTENTS.


CHAP.                                                            PAGE

I. INTRODUCTION.

    What is a Catalogue?--Vulgar Errors--A Good Cataloguer
    attempts to put himself in the Seeker's Place--Judicious
    Shortening of Titles--Difference between Cataloguing
    and Bibliography-making--A Universal Catalogue--Printing
    of the British Museum Catalogue--Different Classes of
    Catalogues--Classified and Alphabetical--Catalogue
    Raisonne--Index Catalogues--Mr. Bradshaw's View--Need of
    Care--No Jumping to Conclusions--Different Styles of
    Catalogues--Purton Cooper's Sale Catalogues                     1

II. BATTLE OF THE RULES.

    British Museum Foremost in the Race--Printed Catalogues
    of the Museum--Panizzi's Fight--Evidence before the Royal
    Commission--Payne Collier's Defeat--The Museum Rules--
    Jewett's Rules--Cambridge University Library Rules--Library
    Association Rules adopted by Bodley's Librarian--Cutter's
    Rules for a Dictionary Catalogue--Triumph of the Museum        25

III. PRINT _versus_ MANUSCRIPT.

    Panizzi's Objection to Print--Parry in Favour of Print--
    The British Museum again Foremost in the Race, this time
    in Printing, thanks to Mr. Bond--Mr. Cutter on the Advantages
    and Disadvantages of Printing--How to keep a Printed
    Catalogue up to Date--Card Catalogues--Stereotyping--Henry
    Stevens's Photo-Bibliography--Co-operative Cataloguing         49

IV. HOW TO TREAT A TITLE-PAGE.

    _Author:_ Cutter's Definition of an Author--Compound Names--
    Prefixes--Imaginary Authors--The Name by which a Man is
    generally known to be preferred to that by which he is not
    known--Official Names--Names of Peers--Personal Names--
    Sovereigns, Saints, and Friars--Oriental Names--Contraction
    for Christian Names--Distinction between Christian and
    Surnames--Treatment of Changed Names--Married Authoresses--
    Greek and Roman Authors--Difficulties in deciding as to the
    Author of a Book--Corporate Authorship--Academical Dissertation.
    _Headings other than Author Headings:_ Trials--Catalogues--
    Bible--Liturgies--Voyages--Anonymous and Pseudonymous Works--
    Evidence before the Commission of 1847-49--Arrangement under
    Initials, under Pseudonyms. _The Title:_ Shortening of Titles--
    Indication of Editions--Addition to Title-Pages. _Place of
    Publication:_ Date--Use of Chronograms--Greek Dates.
    _Size-Notation:_ Difficulties--Attempted Solution of these
    Difficulties. _Collation_                                      74

V. REFERENCES AND SUBJECT INDEX.

    References and Cross-References--Press-Marks to References--
    Mode of Referencing--Subject Index advocated by Panizzi       180

VI. ARRANGEMENT.

    Use of the English Alphabet--I and J--U and V--Order--
    Arrangement of Titles under an Author's Name--Transactions
    of Societies--Pamphlets not to be divided from Books--
    Journals and Magazines                                        198

VII. SOMETHING ABOUT MSS.

    The British Museum Collections--Arrangement of an Ordinary
    Collection--The Museum Catalogues--Catalogues of Manuscripts
    more Readable than Catalogues of Printed Books                228

VIII. RULES FOR A SMALL LIBRARY.

    _Headings:_ Author (1-11)--Non-Author (12-19)--The
    Title (20, 21)--Place of Publication (22)--Date (23, 24)--
    Size-Notation (25)--Collation (26)--Abstract of
    Contents (27)--References (28-31)--Arrangement (32-45)--
    Manipulation (52)                                             235

APPENDIX. LIST OF LATIN NAMES OF PLACES                           247

INDEX                                                             255




[Decoration]




HOW TO CATALOGUE A LIBRARY.




[Decoration]

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION.


Before we can answer the question implied in the title of this little
book, it will be necessary for author and reader to agree as to what a
catalogue really is.

The word "catalogue" is used to mean a list or enumeration of men or
things. Thus we have a catalogue of students, but in actual use we
differentiate the two words, and a list ("a mere list") is understood to
mean a common inventory, often in no particular order (although we can
have alphabetical or classified lists); while a catalogue implies
something fuller and something disposed in a certain order. What the
limit of that something fuller and what that certain order as applied to
a catalogue of books really are, it will be for us now to consider.

It was formerly very much the fashion for those who knew little of the
subject to speak as if nothing was easier than to make a catalogue. All
you had to do was to have a sheet of paper and the book to be catalogued
before you, and then to transfer the title to the paper. No previous
knowledge was necessary. But those who were better acquainted with the
difficulties that beset even the cataloguer, realized that Sheridan's
joke about "easy writing being damned hard reading" was applicable to
the work produced under these circumstances. Since the discussion on the
British Museum Catalogue, and the consequent attention to the first
principles of bibliography, these ignorant views are not so generally
held, but still many erroneous opinions are abroad. One of these is that
the clerical portion of the work of cataloguing or indexing is
derogatory to a superior person, and therefore that he should have an
inferior person to help him. The superior person dictates, and the
inferior person copies down; and the result in practice is that endless
blunders are produced, which might have been saved if one person had
done the work.

Another vulgar error is that cataloguers form a guild, with secrets
which they wish to keep from the public. This is a grievous mistake. The
main object of the good cataloguer should be to make the consultation of
his work easy. He knows the difficulties, and knows that rules must be
made to overcome these difficulties; but he does not care to multiply
these rules more than is absolutely necessary. The good cataloguer will
try to put himself into the place of the intelligent consulter--that is,
the person who brings ordinary intelligence to bear upon the catalogue,
but has not, necessarily, any technical knowledge. Some persons seem to
think that everything is to be brought down to the comprehension of the
fool; but if by doing this we make it more difficult for the
intelligent person, the action is surely not politic. The consulter of a
catalogue might at least take the trouble to understand the plan upon
which it is compiled before using it.

Formerly it was too much the practice to make catalogue entries very
short, and to leave out important particulars mentioned on the
title-page; but now the opposite extreme of writing out the whole title,
however long, is more common. It should be remembered that in the
judicious compression of a title-page the art of the cataloguer is
brought into play, for any one can copy out the whole of a long title. I
cannot help thinking that this latter extreme is caused by some
misunderstanding of the relative conditions necessary for the production
of bibliographies and catalogues. Of course catalogues form a section of
the class Bibliography; but we understand also by the word
"bibliography" a collection of titles of books on a special subject, or
belonging to a particular literature.

The uses of a bibliography, either of a national literature or of a
subject such as _History_, are to find out what books have been
written, either by a particular author or on a particular subject; to
find whether a certain point is dealt with in a certain book; or, it may
be, to see whether a book you possess is the right edition, or whether
it is wanting in some particular. For these purposes it is most
important to have full titles, and collations with necessary additional
information given in the form of notes. Very often the particulars
included in the bibliography will be sufficient in themselves to save
the consulter from the necessity of searching for the book.

The uses of a catalogue are something quite different. This is in the
same house as the books it describes, and is merely a help to the
finding of those books. It would be absurd to copy out long titles in a
catalogue and be at the cost of printing them when the title itself in
the book can be in our hands in a couple of minutes. Sufficient
information only is required to help us to find the right book and the
right edition. How far this should be given will be discussed in a
later chapter. It is necessary for us, however, to remember that when
the catalogue is printed and away from the library it becomes to some
extent a bibliography, and therefore when a library contains rare or
unique books it is usual, for love of the cause, to describe these
fully, as if the catalogue was a bibliography. This is the more
necessary because we are so deficient in good bibliographies. The ideal
state, from which we are still far off, would be a complete and full
bibliography of all literature, and then cataloguers could be less full
in their descriptions, and reference might be made to the bibliography
for further particulars. It is a standing disgrace to the country that
we have no complete bibliography of English authors, much less of
English literature generally.

It has long been the dream of the bibliographer that a universal
catalogue might be obtained by the amalgamation of the catalogues of
several collections. Thus it was the intention of Gerard Langbaine,
Provost of Queen's College, Oxford, and Keeper of the University
Archives, to have made a classified catalogue of the Bodleian Library,
and to incorporate with it all the books not in the Bodleian but in
other Oxford libraries, public and private, so as to show at a glance
all the books that existed in Oxford. He died, however, on February
10th, 1657-58, without having carried his design into execution. Dr.
Garnett, in his valuable paper on "The Printing of the British Museum
Catalogue" (_Transactions_, Fourth and Fifth Meetings of the Library
Association of the United Kingdom, 1884, pp. 120-28), gave words to his
aspiration "that the completion of the Museum Catalogue in print may
coincide with the completion of the present century," and he continued
that no better memorial of the nineteenth century could be produced than
a "register of almost all the really valuable literature of all former
centuries." This is very true; but I think that catalogues can only form
the groundwork for bibliographies, and are not sufficiently satisfactory
to supersede them. Moreover, each country should produce its own
national bibliography.

Mr. Cutter divides libraries into (1) those for study, and (2) those for
reading; and this division must always be kept in view. We shall chiefly
consider the first division, although it will not be right altogether to
pass over the latter. Libraries for reading have been rightly considered
in the light of educational institutions; and the various points
connected with the information to be given to readers, as to what they
should read, and how they should read, perhaps belong more properly to
Education than to Bibliography.

As to the order in which the catalogue should be disposed we have
considerable choice, and Mr. Cutter has given in the _United States
Special Report_ (pp. 561-67) a most elaborate classification of the
different species of catalogues, but the main divisions are the
classified and the alphabetical. Years ago the classified was considered
the ideal; but when this ideal was brought down to practice it usually
failed, and the result was almost useless. The late Professor De Morgan
made the following pertinent remarks on this point:--

    "A classed catalogue is supposed to be useful to those who want to
    know what has been written on a particular subject. Now, in the
    first place, who are the persons who look at a book list with any
    such view? Not beginners in a wide field of research. Did any one in
    his senses ever go to a library to learn geometry, for instance, and
    take the subject in a classed catalogue, and fall to work upon some
    author because he was therein set down? This attempt to feed the
    mind _a la carte_ would certainly end in an indigestion, if, which
    is rather to be hoped, it did not begin in a surfeit."[1]

Again:--

    "Any one who is willing to trust the maker of a catalogue, however
    highly qualified, with the power of settling what books he can want
    in reference to a given subject, is either a person who consults
    only the most celebrated works, and has nothing to do with research,
    or one who is willing to take completeness upon trust, and to
    content himself with blaming another person if he do not reach
    it."[2]

It is a common mistake to speak of a classified catalogue as a Catalogue
Raisonne. A Catalogue Raisonne is a catalogue with bibliographical
details and notes, in which the merits or demerits of the books are
discussed. Therefore a Catalogue Raisonne can be alphabetical as well as
classified. An alphabetical catalogue can be either one of authors, or
of subjects, or what the Americans have styled the Dictionary Catalogue.
A catalogue of authors will contain the description of anonymous books
under headings in the same alphabet, and it may either have an index of
subjects, or subject cross-references included in the general alphabet.
But as the rules to be considered later on relate chiefly to the
catalogue of authors, it is not necessary to say more on this point
here. Again, De Morgan has made some excellent remarks on the catalogue
of authors:--

    "An alphabetical catalogue has this great advantage, that all the
    works of the same author come together. Those who have had to hunt
    up old subjects know very well that of all