A Library Letter from the Boston Athenteum

A THEN _UM ITEMS A Library The Boston Letter from Athenteum No. 28 JUNE 1943 A Super-Catalogue HE Athenreum has already received thirty-six volumes of a stupendous set of books, estimated at one hundred and sixty on completion, bearing the title "A Catalog of Books, Represented by Library of Congress Printed Cards." (It takes a firm will and hand to write "Catalog" for "Catalogue," but who are we to oppose the dictates of Congress, backed by the second choice ofWebster?) These volumes run to more than 6oo pages each, with reduced photographic reproductions of eighteen catalogue cards on each page. Since the total content of printed book and pamphlet titles in the Library of Congress amounts to more than 6,6oo,ooo, and the number protnised in this monumental work is I ,94I, I 28, it is evident that "printed cards" and not indi vidual books are the subject of listing. For reasons explained in the Preface, for the benefit rather of librarians than for such casual readers as those addressed in our ITEMS, the Catalogue is "something less and something more than a complete inventory of the printed books in the Library of Congress." However less or more, the volumes constitute a gigantic tool of scholarship of which the veriest layman in the field of books must recognize the value. For the general reader, bent on no quest of bibliographical information on a particular book, the Intro duction by Archibald MacLeish, Librarian of Congress, will hold rewards of its own. With true realism he looks upon the work as likely to "touch the imagination of imaginative users (readers there will be none)." On the subject of catalogues in general he brings some interesting facts to light. "Catalogs," he says, "were first books, then printed slips of paper, then printed cards." The burning of the Capitol by the British, the consequent loss of the Library, its revival through the purchase of Thomas J effer son's books, their new classification under a system which was one of J effe rson'~ in numerable inventions, the continuance of printed catalogues in book form-all these preceded the adoption of a card system. Its development through more than sixty year~ into what it has now become-a development involving the cooperation of librarians all over the country-has made an enormous contribution to what may be called the me chanics of scholarship. Without it the multiplication of books in the world would have left a jungle on our hands instead of the main roads, side-streets, and bypaths of letters on which it is now possible to find one's way with a minimum of distress. The new vol umes which have given occasion for these ren1arks are a veritable monument to this great achievement. The "Annual Report of the Librarian of Congress" for 194-2 contains a few sentences relating to libraries in general which speak for a spirit and vision which every librarian would do well to cultivate. "No library worthy of the name possesses books merely as --~------~------~----~------~---- - books or for the sole purpose of possessing them. Books in the great libraries lose their physical identities, their cardboard, leather-backed insulation from each other, and be come pages in the great flow of letters and learning, so arranged and so served that, through them, learning and letters are not only preserved but brought to fullest life. There is no place in a great library for an author's vanity but only for letters and for learning brought to wholeness and to hand." Would a librarian who is not also a poet see the matter in just this light? The Glad Hand of Russia T w:re a poor exchange for all that Russia ?as been doing ~or th~ cause of the United I Nations for any of us to demur at suggestions of cooperatton wtth Moscow. Such a suggestion came several months ago from the "Section of International Exchange of the All Union Lenin Library" in that city. This was in the form of a request that the Lenin Library be put on the regular mailing list for publications of the Boston Athenreum. Copies of the "Annual Report of the Library Committee and the Librarian" and of ATHENJEUM ITEMS were promptly despatched to Moscow. From the Lenin Library now comes a grateful acknowledgment of the Athenreum's action in this matter. There is also the following statement: "At present we are carrying on regular exchange trans actions with a series of foreign scientific institutions of your country, who are sending us their exchange material. You would oblige us very much by sending us your publi cations in the same way"-to an address compounded of Russian and English, the second hardly more pronounceable than the first is understandable. If the Comintern is to cease its work outside Russia, the time seems peculiarly ripe for all the intellectual fellowship that can be developed within, from without. A !so-Servers NSTITUTIONS that are less heavily manned than womaned are relatively safe at I this particular time from internal change. The Athenreum is one of those institutions in which women since those earliest days when they had not even come within sight of their own-can, and admirably do, perform most of the daily work. Their ranks are not entirely immune to reduction in war-time, as there has been one recent occasion to learn, to the loss of many who frequent the Library. On the masculine side of the staff the only two men eligible for active service in the armed forces left the Library months ago-the one to enter the Army, the other the Navy. So it has been with the Trustees, of whom the youngest member, in years though not in office, entered active service as an officer of the Navy in May, 1941. Through war, as in peace, the Athenreum continues on its way. Of others than those who only stand and wait, it can be said that they also serve. To keep the breath of life in those manifestations of mind and spirit which the men of battle are fighting to preserve is no mean bit of war work-for those ordained to it. Flowers, Nature, and Art REQUENTERS of the Athenreum have learned, through the good offices of the FCharles Stratton Dana Fund, to expect the refreshing presence of flowers on many desks in the Library building. Now that summer is here, and the Rowers still brighten our precincts, the Athenreum would not undertake to paint the lily. It has, however, placed on display in the Art Room a charming exhibition of color prints of Rowers, the work of European and Oriental artists, from the seventeenth century to the present time. The exhibit abounds in suggestion for those who would learn what to do with flowers from their own gardens. The Summer Reading List Latest Accessions with Others not Previously Listed N preparing the June issues of these lT E~ts it has been assumed, ever since they began in 1934, that I summer is a season for catching up with one's reading. The list of new books has therefore been, and again is, longer than at other seasons. With six pages instead of the customary two for titles, there is less necessity for compression. It is possible also to include titles for which space was lacking in earlier issues. Delivery by mail has been more and more in demand. The following list may well encourage users of the Athenreum to begin the summer by leaving a small deposit for postage at "The Desk." And this reminder: a Proprietor who has not paid his full annual assessment may now secure the privileges of the Library for the rest of this year by paying one-half of the amount that was due in January. Art BOSWELL, P EYTON. George Bellows. LANE, J. W. Whistler. BURROUGHS, ALAN. John Greenwood in McKINNEY, ROLAND. Thomas Eakins. America, 1745-1752. PALMER, A. More than Shadows (W. Russell DALI, S. The Secret Life of Salvador Dali. Flint). DREPPERD, C. W. American Pioneer Arts PEARSON, R. M. Experiencing American and Artists. Pictures. FLANNAGAN, J. B. Letters. WATSON, E. W. Color and Method in Paint GAUGUIN, PAUL. Letters to Ambroise Vollard mg as Seen in the Work of I 2 American and Andre Fontainas. Painters. GOTLIB, H ENRYK. Polish Painting. WATSON, FoRBES. Winslow Homer. KIRSTEIN, LINCOLN. The Latin-American WRIGHT, F. L. An Autobiography (new Collection of the Museum of Modern Art. edition). Autobiography BAX, CLIFFORD. Evenings in Albany. LISTOWEL, Countess of. This I Have Seen. BEECHAM, Sir THOMAS. A Mingled Chime. LOvVE, PARDEE. Father and Glorious Descend- BOWEN, ELIZABETH. Seven Winters. ant. CARSTAIRS, J. P. Honest Injun! MENCKEN, H. L. Heathen Days, I89o-1936. COYLE, KATHLEEN. The Magical Realm. NEvVBOLT, Sir HENRY. Later Life and Letters. FYFE, J. G., editor. Scottish Diaries and Mem- POLLOCK, CHANNING. Harvest of My Years. oirs, r 746-r 843· RIZK, SALO~L Syrian Yankee. GOODENOUGH, Sir W. A Rough Record. SASSOON, SrFGFRIED. The Weald of Youth. HAMILTON, ALICE. Exploring the Dangerous S::\1ITH, H. A. Life in a Putty Knife Factory. Trades. [ mudgeon. STACPOOLE, H. DEV. Men and Mice, r863- ICKES, H. L. The Autobiography of a Cur 1942. LAVENDER, DAVID. One Man's West. ·riLLEY, Sir JoHN. London to Tokyo. LAvVRENCE, F. \V. P. Fate H as Been Kind. TREFUSIS, V. K. Prelude to Misadventure. LEIGHTON, ANN. While We Are Absent. UTTLEY, ALISON. Country Hoard. LESLIE, M. I. Girlhood in the Pacific. ZWEIG, STEFAN. The World of Yesterday. Biography ARBERR Y, A . J. British Orientalists.

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