

E-text prepared by Adrian Mastronardi, C.S. Beers, and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images
generously made available by Internet Archive/American Libraries
(http://archive.org/details/americana)



Note: Images of the original pages are available through
      Internet Archive/American Libraries. See
      http://archive.org/details/howtocatalogueli00wheaiala


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