272 I College and Research Libraries • May 1980 theoretician. He is a member of the ad hoc peating and we'll undoubtedly find it re­ committee in the Independent Research peated, by Tanselle himself, should he Library Association, formed in 1978, the choose to revise these pieces for future pub­ chief concern of which is the increasing ap­ lication in a consolidated general survey. plication of machine-assisted cataloging, and It might appear to be not a little ironic its inadequacies, to rare book and research that a collection such as this of Tanselle' s, collections.) devoted as it is to the study of the book as a Tanselle occupies a unique place in physical object, and published for the Bib­ American bibliography, as readers of Stud­ liographical Society of the University of Vir­ ies in Bibliography, The Library, Papers of ginia, should be issued with any flaws. The the Bibliographical Society of America, and copy received here was missing two pages, other similar publications over the last two between 138 and 139, supplied in photo­ decades already know. His scholarship in copy for reviewing purposes. Tanselle's the specialized areas of historical bibliogra­ position in American bibliography is in no phy, analytical bibliography, descriptive way affected by this publishing flaw though. bibliography, and textual criticism or scho­ These selected reprintings serve rather to larly editing has been firmly established. confirm his place.-John F . Guido, The reprinting here of such articles as his Washington State University, Pullman. "Copyright Records and the Bibliographer," "A System of Color Identification for Bib­ Book Collecting: A Modern Guide. Edited liographic Description," "The Bibliograph­ by Jean Peters. New York: Bowker, 1977. ical Description of Paper," "Some Principles 288p. $15.95 plus shipping and handling. for Editorial Apparatus," and others serve LC 77-8785. ISBN 0-8352-0985-7. to substantiate his position, if any substan­ Collectible Books: Some New Paths. Edited tiation were necessary. by Jean Peters. New York: Bowker, 1979. At the same time, Tanselle is concerned 294p. $16.95 plus shipping and handling. with the broader concepts of bibliography LC 79-20356. ISBN 0-8352-1154-1. and the interrelationships of the group of Book Collecting: A Modern Guide serves subjects comprising it that happen to be re­ as a manual on specific book collecting prac­ ferred to by the same term. He is a tices. The preface, the introduction, and codifier, as his "Greg's Theory of Copy-Text particularly the first chapter, "What Book and the Editing of American Literature" Collecting Is All About," by William Mathe­ suggests. What is more, he is a strong advo­ son (Library of Congress) provide an in­ cator. If there exists a single common teresting introduction to the more specific thread running throughout this collection of chapters that follow. articles, it is Tanselle' s insistent urging for Robin Halwas in chapter 2, "Buying cooperation and communication among bib­ Books from Dealers," provides nothing new liographers of diverse approaches and con­ for the collector or librarian and makes a cerns. questionable observation about most dealers In "The State of Bibliography Today," a being reluctant to sell to persons they don't paper delivered by Tanselle at the annual like. Chapter 3, "Buying at Auction," is meeting of the Bibliographical Society of written by Robert Wilson (Phoenix Book America in January 1979 in New York, he Shop, N.Y.). He presents an interesting again decried the parochial and devisive account of auction practices, the role of the tendencies and occasional lapses from rigor­ dealer representing a collector, and the im­ ous scholarly standards that sometimes mar portance of timing when buying and selling. bibliography today: "The historian of print­ In less than fifteen pages Robert Rosen­ ing machinery, the editor of literary texts, thal (University of Chicago) writes about the collector of private press books, and the "The Antiquarian Book Market"-hardly library cataloger must be able to exchange doing justice to the booksellers and collec­ ideas-must do so, in fact, more than they tors active in that market. In "The Art and do now-for their fortunes, and those of all Craft of Collecting Manuscripts" Lola other students of the book, are tied Szladits (New York Public Library) provides together." This is something that needs re- a technical and philosophical discussion. Use the coupon below to send for free information about ISI®'s ... Index to Social Sciences & Humanities Proceedings TM .. .the first in-depth index to • Includes six index sections that proceedings and individual pa­ allow fast easy searches to the level of pers in the social sciences and individual authors and papers. An au­ humanities thor's name ....a sponsor ...a general • Provides all of the information category ...a meeting location ...title needed for fast verifications .. .for ef­ words ...or an author's organizational fective retrospective searches ...for in­ affiliation ...leads the user to complete formed acquisitions decisions. descriptions of proceedings contents and individual papers. • Offers complete bibliographic de­ tails of over 900 proceedings each year • Issued quarterly; cumulated an­ in the social sciences and humanities ... nually. gives users access to over 19,000 pa­ For more information about ISSHP™, pers from a wide range of disciplines the Index to Social Sciences & Humani­ by indexing the complete proceedings ties Proceedings, just fill in and mail tables of contents and individual the coupon to Dept. 101-2178 at the papers. address below. 0 Please send me more information about the Index to Social Sciences & Humanities Proceedings ' M, the first in-depth index to proceedings and the individual papers in the social sciences and humanities. Name Title Organization/University Dept. Address City State/Province Country ZIP /Postal Code Phone ~o~~o ® ~ Institute for Scientific lnformation O'.' 101-2178 Dept. 101-2178 Cr980 rs• 3 501 Market St .University Ctty Science Center.Philadelphia .PA 19104 U S A. Tel:(215) 386 -0100 .Ca ble SCINFO .Telex :84 - 5305 274 I College and Research Libraries • May 1980 Terry Belanger (Columbia University) terest to book collectors is apparent. She attempts to be brief in his contribution on points to the specific involvement of collec­ "Descriptive Bibliography"-one aspect of tors in the academic education process and the entire book scene that does not lend it­ observes that library special collections are self to brevity or simplification. Yet, he frequently dependent on the collector but offers a readable account of a very technical that, "Collectors can live without libraries, area. although they may find them useful, while No manual on book collecting would be the libraries would not have been born if complete without a discussion of "Fakes and collectors had not existed." , Forgeries," and this is provided by Joan The final chapter of Book Collecting: A Friedman (Yale Center for British Art). She Modern Guide deals specifically with "The is quick to point to the proper concern of Literature of Book Collecting." G. Thomas the collector about authenticity and pro­ Tanselle speaks of a short survey, but this vides helpful suggestions for making such consists of sixty pages. Tanselle acknow­ determinations. The following chapter, ledges the central place of John Carter in "Physical Care of Books and Manuscripts," the literature of book collecting-as do is timely. Collectors and librarians are just several of the contributors in this and the beginning to realize the dimensions of the companion volume. preservation problem. Most of the informa­ In Collectible Books: Some New Paths tion is available elsewhere but is presented Jean Peters has edited a book that serves here in a concise manner and from the col­ not only as a companion to the earlier lector's viewpoint. volume but also as a sequel to the classic, The editor's own contribution, "Organiz­ New Paths in Book Collecting, edited by ing a Collection," is certainly one of the John Carter (1934). The introduction for better chapters. It is organization that really Collectible Books is entitled "A Backward allows a group of materials to be described Look: The Sadleir Circle in Perspective" as a collection or library. Katharine and and is written by Percy Muir, who, along Daniel Leah (American Book Prices Cur­ with John Carter and Graham Pollard, was rent) have supplied a brief, understandable one of the regular attendants at the Sadleir section on "Appraisal." Circle in the early 1930s. This reminiscence Next Susan Thompson in "The Book Col­ is at times difficult to follow because of lector in the World of Scholarship" speaks obscure references that are, no doubt, of the real debt owed to personal collectors readily understood by the real bookman. throughout history. Thompson notes the G. Thomas Tanselle contributes the first positive influence of the Grolier Club on chapter in Collectible Books. "Non-Firsts" is the book arts and gives a good survey of a very thorough and technical in places, and number of scholarly organizations whose in- this is typical of Tanselle-as all can attest Publications from Germany, Brockhaus/GermanBooks Austria and Switzerland. Complete Periodical Service: traditionally reliable and efficient. For information write to us. Rapplenstrafle 20 POB 1164 D-7000 Stuttgart l W-Germany Recent Publications I 275 who have read his "The Bibliographical books quite useful and "collectible. "-Don Concepts of Issue and State" (Papers of the Lanier, Northern Illinois University, Bibliographical Society of America 69:17-66 DeKalb. [1975]). One of Tanselle's more interesting accounts is of the project to collect Melville Draper, James, and Brooks, James. Interior at the Newberry Library and the impor­ Design for Libraries. Chicago: American tance of "non-firsts" in that project. Library Assn., 1979. 152p. $8.50 LC 79- The new path to collectible books for 16635.