178. The imprint consists of place of publication, publisher’s name,
date, number of volumes, number of pages, number of maps, engravings,
and the like, and typographic form, which are to be given in the above
order.
Washington, 1875. 2 v. 7, 441, (12); 4, 424 p. O.; 20 engr., 24
photographs, 4 maps. The imprint proper consists merely of place,
date, form, and number of volumes (Wash., 1875. 2 v. O). The other
details are given by Medium in particular cases. Full gives them
always, but it may be doubted whether their use is frequent enough to
pay for the very considerable increase in the trouble of cataloguing.
It is worth while to show by some sign (as _pm._) that the pages are
less than 100 or than 50 (40 is the limit of the French Bibliothèque
Nationale), for the fact is easily ascertained, and the mark fills
little space and may prevent some one sending for a book he does not
care to look at. It is not an exact designation, but many things
are useful which are not exact. On the other hand an inquirer might
occasionally fail to see the best treatise on his subject, thinking
it too short to be of any value. Neither Short nor Medium should give
the exact number of maps, plates, etc., but it is well worth while,
especially for a popular library, to add the word _illus._ to the
titles of books in which the illustrations are at all prominent, and,
under «Biography», to note the presence of portraits.
Imprints are indispensable in a catalogue designed for scholars, that
is for college libraries, for historical or scientific libraries,
and for large city libraries. They may not be of much use to nine
persons in ten who use those libraries, but they should be inserted
for the tenth person. But in the majority of popular city and town
libraries neither the character of the readers nor of the books
justifies their insertion. Their place may be much better filled (as
in the Quincy catalogue) with more important matter—with “_Illus._”
or “_Portraits_,” or a word or two explaining an obscure title. But
the number of volumes should invariably be given. And the year of
publication is important under subjects.
Epithets like “Large paper,” which are applicable, generally, to
only a part of the copies of a book, should be mentioned after all
the details which apply to the whole edition (place, date, number of
volume, etc.).
179. Do not translate the name of the place of publication, but if it
is not in a Roman alphabet transliterate it.
Göttingen, not Gottingen; München, not Munich; Wien, not Vienna;
Londini, not London; Lisboa, not Lisbon, when the first are the forms
on the title-page. So [Moskva], Moskau, Moscou, Moscow, according as
the imprint is in Russian, German, French, or English.
180. Use abbreviations and even initials for names of the most common
places of publication.
_Ex._ Balt., Berl., Bost., Camb., Cin., Cop. or Copenh., Göt.,
L. (London), Lisb., Lpz., Madr., N. O., N. Y., Oxf., P. (Paris),
Phila., St. P. (St. Petersburg), Ven., Wash.; and use the ordinary
abbreviations for state names. (A list is given in Appendix V.)
181. If there is more than one place of publication Short and Medium
should give only one.
If the places are connected by “and,” as London and Edinburgh, New
York and London, take the first; if they are unconnected, as
Berlin Paris Genève
H. Baillière
take that which proves on examination to be the real place of
publication. In this economy there is some danger of cataloguing the
same book at different times with {75} different imprints, and making
two editions out of one; but a little watchfulness will prevent this.