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XVI. MANAGEMENT OF LIBRARIES.

Edward Edwards, Esq., now principal Librarian of the Manchester Free Library, and formerly connected with the British Museum in London, has in contemplation the publication at an early day of a Library Manual, which promises to be of great value to all collectors of books. Mr. Edwards has been engaged for years in gathering materials; and by correspondence and travel, as well as by studious research, he has amassed a rare amount of information upon that most important department of educational inquiry, the establishment and management of public libraries and museums. The interest felt in our country upon this subject is so great, that we present in detail a plan of Mr. Edwards' work. It will consist of two octavo valumes, entitled

MEMOIRS OF LIBRARIES; together with a Practical Hand-Book of Library Economy. by Edward Edwards.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PART L.--HISTORY OF LIBRARIES.

Chap. I. The Libraries of the Ancients.

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II. The Monastic Libraries of the Middle Ages.

III. General View of the Origin and Growth of Libraries in Modern Europe.
IV. The Imperial Library at PARIS.

V. The Royal and Central Library at MUNICH.

VI. The Library of the British Museum, LONDON.
VII. The Imperial Library at ST. PETERSBURG.

VIII. The Royal Library at COPENHAGEN.

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XIII. The University and Town Libraries of Germany.

XIV. The University and Town Libraries of France.

66 XV. The University, Collegiate, and Cathedral Libraries of Great Britain and Ireland.

"XVI. The Town and Parochial Libraries of Great Britain and Ireland. "XVII. The Proprietary and Private Libraries of Great Britain and Ireland. "XVIII. The Libraries of the United States of America.

PART II.-COMPARATIVE STATISTICS OF LIBRARIES.

Chap. I. Comparative provision of books publicly accessible in Great Britain and Ireland, and in the other principal countries of Europe.

"II. Comparative provision of books publicly accessible in Great Britain and Ireland, and in the United States of America.

"III. General view of the requirements of the United Kingdom in respect of Libraries freely accessible, and of the means afforded by the Public Libraries Act (Ewart's Act, 1855,) for their supply.

PART III.-ECONOMY OF LIBRARIES.

Book I. OF THE FORMATION OF LIBRARIES:

Chap. I. Of the collection of books by taxation, or copy-exaction from authors and publishers.

i. In foreign countries.

ii. In the United Kingdom.

Chap. II. Of the collection of books by donation.

i. Of private gifts and bequests.

ii. Of the distribution of works printed at the public charge.

Chap. III. Of the collection of books by international exchange.

Chap. IV. Of the collection of books by purchase.

i. Of the choice of authors, and of editions.

i. Of the use of statistics of circulation in the selection of books for public

libraries.

iii. Of the methods of purchasing books.

iv. of the price of books, and the causes which produce great fluctuations in

their value.

v. Approximative estimates of the cost of libraries of various kinds.

vi Of the formation of special collections of pamphlets.

Book II. OF THE CONSTRUCTION AND FURNISHING OF BUILDINGS FOR THE RECEPTION AND USE OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES.

Chap. I. Notices of some celebrated edifices of this kind-Sansovino's Library of St. Mark, at Venice--Michael Angelo's Laurentian Library, at Florence-Vatican Library, at Rome-Brera Library, at Milan-Bodleian Library at Oxford-Royal Library, at Paris-St. Genevieve's Library, at Paris-Ducal Library, at Wolfenbuettel-Radcliffe Library, at Oxford-University Library, at Cambridge-Library of Trinity College, at Cambridge-Imperial Library, at St. Petersburgh-Royal Library, at Copenhagen-Royal Library, at Munich-British Museum Library, Of the designs and projects for a great public library, elicited by recent propositions for the removal of the Imperial Library at Paris.

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III.

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Of the principal structural requirements for the accommodation, extension, and efficient service of a public library.

Of the arrangements for lighting, warming, ventilating, and fire-proofing a public library.

Book. III. OF THE ARRANGEMENT AND PRESERVATION OF BOOKS IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES:

Chap. I. Of the local classification of printed books.

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II.

Of the collation, stamping, and press-marking of books, and the means of preserving them,

III. Of the various methods which have been employed to indicate and commemorate the ownership of books.

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V.

Of the classification and arrangement of MSS., Prints, and Maps.
Of bookbinding :-

§ i. Historical retrospect-Monastic bindings in ivory, metals, and wood-Carved,
embossed, chased, and jewelled bindings-Bindings adorned with portraits,
cameos, medallions, heraldic devices, and other ornaments -- Embroidered
bindings in velvet, silk, and damask-Tambour bindings-Stamped vellum,
and leather bindings-Morocco bindings-Characteristic styles adopted in
the libraries of Grolier, of De Thou, of Maioli, of Hollis, &c.

ii. Notices of eminent binders, and of their peculiar styles.

iii. Of the comparative durability of various kinds of binding—and of the binding of pamphlets, maps, and charts.

Book IV.

Chap. I.

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OF CATALOGUES OF LIBRARIES:

Of Catalogues generally.

Of Inventories, or Registers of Accessions.

Of Shelf or Press Catalogues.

IV. Of Alphabetical Catalogues, according to the names of autnors:
ģi. Advantages and disadvantages of Alphabetical Catalogues - Difficulties
arising from the large number of anonymous books-and of pseudonymous
-and from the transformation of authors' names, by substitution of birth-
place or epithet, by translation, by caprice, by fraud, or by change in the or-
thography of a language, &c.—Books without title-pages, and books with a
plurality of title-pages-Books with false titles, and books with unintelligi-
ble titles-Books ascribed to those who never wrote them, and books dis-
owned by their authors-Plagiarized books-Necessity of bibliographical
research, in order to the production of a serviceable catalogue on any system.

Chap. IV. Continued:

ii. Of cataloguing polyonymous works, and Collections on particular subjects— publications of Societies and Corporate bodies-laws. &c.

iii. Of cross references from one form of entry to another.

iv. Niotces of some existing alphabetical catalogues :-Audiffrede's catalogue of the Casanate Library at Rome-Catalogues of the Bodleian Library at Oxford-of the British Museum Library, &c.

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v. Of indexes of matters to alphabetical catalogues.

VI.

Of Alphabetical Catalogues, according to the subject-matters (on the plan of Watt's Bibliotheca Britannica.)

Of Classed Catalogues :

i. Survey of the principal systems which have been proposed for the classification of human knowledge and of Libraries-System of Conrad Gesner (A. D. 1548)—of Trefler (1560)-of La Croiax du Maine (1584)—of

Christofle de Savigny (1587)—of the Jesuit Cardoni (1587)-of Arias Montanus (1598)-of Lord Bacon (1605) and his followers-of Naude (1627)-of Bouillaud (1670) and his followers-of Garnier (1678)—of Leibnitz (1700?)-of Prosper Marchand (1708)—of the Abbe Girardof Fontanini (1709)—of Conyers Middleton (1723)-of Le Clerc de Montlinot (1760)—of Denis (1778)—of Ersch (1793)—of Daunou (1800) -of Camus (1800)—of Ameilhon (1800)—of Parent (1801)—of Barbier (1806)-of Laire (1807)-of Achard (1807)—of Coste (1807)—of Olenin (1808)-of Masol (1808)-of Bentham (1816)—of Fortia d'Urban (1819)-of Coleridge (1820?)—of Ampere (1825)-of Merlin (1840?)of Lord Lindsay (1845)—of M. J. M. Albert (1847)—of Schleiermacher (1852.)-Comparative merits of these systems.

ii. Of indexes to classed Catalogues.

iii. Notices of some existing Classed Catalogues.

Chap. VII. Of Special Catalogues (of Incunabula-of books on vellum-of select collections on particular subjects-of collections of pamphlets, &c.)

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Chap. I.

Of writing titles for Catalogues, and preparing them for the press-Of the corrections of the press.

Of Catalogues of MSS., of Prints, and of Maps.

OF THE MANAGEMENT AND SERVICE OF PUBLIC READING ROOMS,
AND OF LIBRARIES:

Of the provision of books of reference of the regulations of public

access.

Of the service of Reading Rooms-Means of facilitating the quick supply of books, and of checking their accurate return and replacement-On the utility of preserving a register of all works supplied.

Of the regulation of Lending Libraries.

Book VI. OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION OF A PUBLIC LIBRARY.
Of the qualifications, duties, and responsibilities of a public librarian.
Of division of labor in the conservation and service of a library.
Of the financial management and account-keeping of a library.

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APPENDIX.

Bibliographical and critical notices of pre-existing works on bibliothecal economy, and on the history of Libraries.

LIBRARIES IN EUROPE.

The 35th annual report of the New York Mercantile Library, recently printed, contains a letter from S. H. Grant, Esq., the excellent librarian of that institution, in regard to a tour in Europe, which he made last year, for the special purpose of examining the celebrated libraries of different capitals. Mr. Grant was admirably fitted to profit by such a journey, and the results of his inquiries can not fail to be of service in the important position which he holds in New York. We make a few extracts from his letter.

LIVERPOOL FREE LIBRARY.

The Reference portion of the Liverpool Free Library is centrally situated, and contains 18,000 volumes, as also a Reading Room and a fine collection of maps. The two Lending Libraries connected with it, entitled respectively, those of the North and South District, are located in parts of the city quite removed from each other. They number about 4,000 volumes each, and consist of nearly the same works. Persons entitled to draw books must decide which of them they will make use of, and a ticket is given for that one only. The Reference Library is open to all who desire to consult it; but, in order to draw books from the others, a certificate of security is required, signed by two rate-payers. It was very gratifying to note the admirable system that prevails in each department, and the little liability to error that was manifest. As an evidence of this, I would mention that, out of 140,000 volumes circulated to October, 1855, only one had been lost to the library, and that was obtained upon a forged certificate. Many interesting particulars might be added, of the class of persons who make use of those libraries, and the character of works drawn by them. Some of these will be found in their Annual Reports, which, together with their Catalogues and the various blanks used by them, I take the opportunity of laying before you this evening.

Undoubtedly, one great source of attraction with these free libraries, is the Museum of Natural History, of Art, or of Useful Inventions, which is usually attached to them. As an instance of this, I would state that the number of visitors to the Salford Museum, during the year ending November, 1855, was 448,220, while the number of volumes issued to readers, was 115,457.

EFFECTS OF GAS UPON BINDINGS.

In the Portico Library, I noticed some bindings in a very dilapidated condition, evidently not the result of mere wear; and, upon asking if this was the effect of having gas in the building, I was told it was. When in the British Museum, a few days later, the circumstance was mentioned to Mr. Panizzi, who seemed to concur in the cause assigned, and referred to a tour of investigation on this subject which he had made sometime previously, in company with Mr. Faraday, when they became convinced of such being the effects produced by burning gas among collections of books. Since then, however, I have been led to question whether this decay is not even more likely to arise from acids or sulphate of zinc being employed in staining or dressing the leather, than from the products of gas combustion, which, being merely carbonic acid gas and water, are comparatively innocuous.

CIRCULATING LIBRARIES IN LONDON.

Public or Circulating Libraries, of a character like our own, are almost unknown in London. The Russell Institution, and the small collection under the management of the Young Men's Christian Association, though good of their kind, leave the great mass of the community without any other resources for the temporary use of books than such as are afforded by booksellers, of whom more than eighty let out works at rates varying from a penny per volume to a guinea per year. Prominent among these is Mudie's circulating library, located in the vicinity of the British Museum, which has advertised no less than three hundred copies of one work, and twenty-seven hundred copies of another, (Macaulay's England, vols. 3 and 4)! The proprietor is enabled to do this by getting special discounts on his purchases, and by selling surplus copies as soon as the circulation slackens, which often takes place very soon, and before the work has received any injury. The very fact that a new work, however expensive, can be readily procured here, invites subscribers not from the metropolis alone, but from all parts of England. A Free Library has been recently established in the suburb of Marylebone; but, when one was proposed for London last fall, it was voted against very decidedly by the working-men, who are unwilling to have any additions made to their 66 rates," even for such an object.

BIBLIOTHEQUE ST. GENEVIEVE, IN PARIS.

This is emphatically a free library, and every reasonable facility seems to be afforded for rendering it available to students and readers. Conveniently arranged, well lighted by day, and having gas fixtures for evening hours, with a sufficient staff of sub-librarians to meet the wants of readers, it is thrown open to every one who can make use of it, and seemed to leave nothing to be desired but ample funds to procure whatever works might there be sought. One of the few restrictions imposed is, that novels shall not be read in the building; for, as it is located in the "Quartier Latin," and is comfortably warmed and lighted, it was found that students would spend their long winter evenings reading such literature.

ROYAL LIBRARY, IN BERLIN.

The Royal Library at Berlin gave me more satisfactory information concerning the manner of conducting large institutions of this kind, than I had elsewhere obtained. And for this I feel indebted especially to the extreme courtesy of its superintendent, the learned historian and bibliographer, Dr. Pertz. The Catalogues, which are both alphabetical and analytical, are arranged with a minuteness which enabled me to ascertain, in a few moments, whether some American Educational Reports that I had with me were already in their collection. The general arrangement of the collection came under review; and as much time as could be given was devoted to looking into divisions, in which this library is especially rich.

TABLE V.-PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN THE PRINCIPAL STATES, CAPITALS, AND
UNIVERSITIES OF EUROPE.

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The above table is taken from Burritt's Year Book of the Nations, and is inserted in this place to arrest the attention of legislators and men of wealth to the amazing deficiencies of our cities and colleges in the facilities for the profound investigation of any subject of human learning which a great library affords.

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