_Of the Commissioners appointed to examine the plan for
forming a general stereotype catalogue of public libraries in
the United States._
~The~ undersigned were requested, in the month of August last, by a
letter from Professor Henry, written on behalf of the Executive
Committee of the Smithsonian Institution, to take into consideration
the subject of a General Catalogue of the public libraries of the
United States, proposed to be formed under the auspices of the said
Institution, and more especially the plan proposed by Professor
Jewett, Librarian of the Institution, for accomplishing that object.
Having consented to act as Commissioners for the above named purpose,
the subscribers had several interviews with Professor Jewett, in
the months of September and October, at which he submitted to them,
1. A plan for stereotyping catalogues of libraries by separate,
movable titles of the books contained in them, and, 2. A set of
general rules, to be recommended for adoption by the different
public libraries in the United States, in the preparation of their
catalogues.
Professor Jewett's plan for stereotyping titles on separate plates is
unfolded at considerable length, in a paper read by him, in the month
of August last, at the annual meeting of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science, held at New Haven.
For a full view of the advantages, both economical and literary,
anticipated from the adoption of Professor Jewett's plan, the
undersigned would refer to the valuable and interesting paper just
named. They will allude briefly to a portion of these advantages.
The most important of them, perhaps, will be the economy of time,
labor, and expense, required for the preparation of a new edition
of a catalogue, to include the books added since a former edition
was published. On Professor Jewett's plan, when the catalogue of a
library is published, it will be necessary to strike off only so
many copies as are needed for present use. When the additions to
the library have become so considerable as to make another edition
of the catalogue desirable, or in lieu thereof, a supplementary
catalogue, (always an unsatisfactory and embarrassing appendage,)
the new titles only will be stereotyped and inserted in their proper
places among the former titles, all the titles being on movable
plates. The pages of the new edition will thus be made up with
convenience, and every book in the library will stand in its proper
place in the catalogue. This process will be repeated as often as the
growth of the library may make it necessary.
In this way, not only will the plates, used in a former edition, be
available for each subsequent edition, but when the plan is fairly
and extensively in operation, most of the titles of books added to
any given library, of whose catalogue a new edition is required,
will, in the meantime, have been cast for some other catalogue, and
thus occasion no new charge for any subsequent use, as far as the
expense of casting the plates is concerned. The infant state and the
prospective rapid increase of the public libraries in the United
States, as well as the frequent founding of new libraries, give great
interest to this feature of the plan.
Another advantage of the proposed plan would be of the following
nature: The libraries in any country, (to some extent, indeed, in all
countries,) consist partly of the same books. Professor Jewett states
that, in the catalogues of public libraries of the United States,
possessed by the Smithsonian Institution, there are embraced at least
four hundred and fifty thousand titles. He estimates, however, after
a laborious comparison, that among these there will not be found more
than one hundred and fifty thousand different titles. It follows,
that if the plan proposed had been applied to the publication of
these catalogues, two-thirds of the expense of printing them, as
far as the cost of plates is concerned, would have been saved, by
incurring the extra expense of stereotyping the remaining third
according to this plan. The economy to each particular library, in
the expense of plates for its catalogue, will be in proportion to
the number of books, which it may contain in common with any other
library, whose catalogue has been already stereotyped on this plan.
The title of the same book, in the same edition, will, of course,
be cast but once, and will thenceforward serve for the catalogue
of every library possessing that book, which may enter into the
arrangement.
A third advantage resulting from this plan will be the facility,
with which a _classed_ catalogue, either of a whole library or of
any department of it, might be furnished at short notice, without
the expense of writing out the titles, or of casting new plates, but
by the simple indication of the selected titles, in the margin of a
printed alphabetical catalogue.
Finally, the plan of necessity requires that the titles of the books
in the libraries, included in the arrangement, should be given on
uniform principles, and according to fixed rules; an object of no
small importance to those who consult them.
These and other incidental advantages, which would result from the
adoption of his plan of separate stereotype plates, for the titles
of books in public libraries, are pointed out by Professor Jewett in
the memoir above referred to, and the undersigned are of opinion that
he has not overrated their importance. In proportion as the plan is
concurred in by the public institutions and individuals possessing
valuable collections of books, the preparation of a general catalogue
of all the libraries in the country becomes practicable, accompanied
by references from which it would appear in what library or libraries
any particular book is contained.
The undersigned became satisfied, in the course of their conferences
with Professor Jewett, that the plan in all its parts is practicable.
In connection with the explanation of its mechanical execution,
specimens of stereotype plates of separate titles, made up into
pages, were submitted to them, in common type metal, in electrotype,
and in a newly-invented composition, the use of which, it is
thought by its inventor, would be attended with great economy in
the cost of plates. The undersigned examined these specimens with
much gratification and interest, but they did not feel themselves
competent, from their limited opportunities of inquiry, nor did they
regard it as falling within their province, to form an opinion on the
comparative merits of these processes. They feel satisfied that no
important mechanical difficulty is to be apprehended in carrying the
plan into full effect.
A majority of the undersigned devoted themselves for several
successive meetings to the careful consideration of the set of rules,
submitted to them by Professor Jewett, for the uniform preparation
of the titles of books. This is a subject which has of late received
much attention from bibliographers, and is of great importance in the
formation of the catalogues of public libraries. Professor Jewett's
rules combine the results of the experience of those who have given
their attention to the subject in the principal libraries of Europe,
especially of the British Museum, together with the fruits of his own
experience and study. These rules appear to the undersigned to be
drawn up with judgment and care. A few amendments were recommended by
the undersigned, and a few additions proposed, but they are prepared
to signify their approval of the system substantially as submitted to
them.
In order that a beginning may be made in the execution of the plan,
under circumstances highly favorable to its success, the undersigned
take the liberty of suggesting, that it would be advisable for the
Regents of the Smithsonian Institution to obtain the requisite
authority, to prepare a catalogue of the library of Congress on the
above-described plan. A catalogue of this library is now very much
wanted. Originally constructed on a defective plan, and continued by
the publication of a large number of supplements, it is now almost
useless; and as the library increases, it becomes daily more so.
The preparation of an alphabetical catalogue has in this way become
a matter of absolute necessity for the library itself; while it
affords the best opportunity for commencing an arrangement, by which
the various libraries of the country will be brought into a mutually
beneficial connexion with each other, on the plan proposed by
Professor Jewett.
The undersigned consider the permanent superintendence of this plan
to be an object entirely within the province of the Smithsonian
Institution. They are satisfied that it will tend both to the
increase and diffusion of knowledge, and they therefore hope, that
the sanction of the Regents and of Congress will be given to the
undertaking.
(Signed,)
EDWARD EVERETT,
JOSEPH G. COGSWELL,
CHARLES FOLSOM,
SAMUEL F. HAVEN,
EDWARD E. HALE,
GEORGE LIVERMORE.
~Boston~, 26th October, 1850.