A catalogue of a library is, strictly speaking, but a list of the
titles of the books, which it contains. It is not generally expected
to give any further description of a book than the author gives, or
ought to give in the title-page, and the publisher, in the imprint,
or colophon; except the designation of form, which is, almost
universally, added.
A bibliographical dictionary is supposed to contain, besides the
titles of books, such descriptions, more or less extended, drawn
from all available sources of information, as may be necessary
to furnish means of identifying each work, of distinguishing its
different editions, of ascertaining the requisites of a perfect
copy, of learning all facts of interest respecting its authorship,
publication, typography, subsequent casualties, alterations, etc.,
its market value, and the estimation in which it is held.
A catalogue is designed to show what books are contained in a
particular collection, and nothing more. Persons in want of further
information, are expected to seek for it in bibliographical
dictionaries, literary histories, or similar works.
Inasmuch, however, as bibliographical works are not always
accessible, or known to the investigator, additions are, not
unfrequently, made to the titles, in catalogues, of such notices as
belong more appropriately to bibliographical dictionaries, as above
described. These, of course, impart to such catalogues greater value
and usefulness.
As bibliographers, we cannot indeed but wish, that the catalogue
of every library were a bibliographical dictionary of its books.
Practically, however, we must restrict our efforts, within the limits
of probable accomplishment. There is no species of literary labor
so arduous, or which makes so extensive demands upon the learning
of the author, as that of the preparation of such works. The most
which one man can hope to effect, in this department, is to examine
and describe books, in some special branch of knowledge, or books of
some particular class, as _palæotypes_, books privately printed, a
selection of books most esteemed by collectors, &c. It is too much
to expect, that every librarian can find time, or possess learning,
for such a description of all books under his care. Besides, this
would be a waste of labor and of money. The same description would be
prepared and printed, a hundred or a thousand times.
It is doubtless desirable, that such results of _original_
investigations of librarians, as are not to be found in any of the
bibliographical dictionaries, should be given, in the catalogues
which they publish. In other cases, also, as will appear hereafter,
it may be important to give, in a catalogue, fuller and more accurate
descriptions of books, than are to be found upon their title-pages;
but the principle should be established, and ever borne in mind,
that a catalogue, being designed to be merely a list of titles,
with imprints and designations of size, all additional descriptions
should be limited and regulated by explicit rules, in order to give
uniformity and system to the work, and to restrict its bulk and cost,
within reasonable bounds.
PREPARATION OF TITLES SO AS TO SERVE FOR BOTH GENERAL AND PARTICULAR
CATALOGUES.
It is proposed to prepare and stereotype catalogues of particular
libraries, in such a manner, that the titles can be used, without
alteration, for constructing a General Catalogue.
This requires, that the title of every book be such, as will apply to
every copy of the same edition.
If the edition be different, the book is to be considered different.
In almost every instance, the title also, is different. There
are, indeed, cases, where the title of a book is the same, in two
editions, while the body of the work is more or less altered. Such
instances are, however, of rare occurrence. They are, or should be,
recorded in bibliographical works. They could only be described
by one, who should place the two books side by side, and compare
them together. In general, titles vary with the editions. We may,
therefore, in using a title transcribed from one copy of a book,
for other copies, avoid trouble by preparing and stereotyping a new
title for every distinct edition; treating new editions as new books.
So that, if copies of various editions of a work exist in several
libraries, each will appear with a distinct title, in the General
Catalogue.
This method of forming a general catalogue requires, further, that
_peculiarities of copy_, which it may be desirable to note in
preparing the catalogues of particular libraries, should not be
stated within the titles; but, if at all, in notes appended to the
titles, and entirely separate from them.
One copy of the same edition of a book may be on vellum, another,
on paper; one may be in quarto form, another in octavo; one may
have cancelled leaves, another, the substituted leaves, another,
added leaves; some may contain autographs; some, valuable manuscript
notes; others may be bound by Roger Payne, etc., etc. These are
peculiarities of copy, and they may be as numerous as the number of
copies in the edition. They are not noticed in title-pages, and,
consequently, would not modify the entries in a catalogue, which
takes cognizance of titles alone.
The printed matter, which constitutes the book, as a literary
production, is not altered, in any of these cases, except in that of
cancelled, substituted, or added leaves. It is indeed true, that,
occasionally, alterations are made in the body of a book, while it is
passing through the press: that is to say, after a few copies have
been struck off, some error may be discovered and corrected, or some
word may be substituted for another. But, such changes are always
slight, and can only be detected, by comparing two or more copies of
a work together. In the case of cancelled leaves, it may, sometimes
be desirable to print in the general catalogue, the description of
rare and important copies possessed by particular libraries. But
these cases would occur comparatively seldom. The rule would be, to
omit from the title to be stereotyped, all account of peculiarities,
or defects of copies.
In cataloguing particular libraries, such peculiarities should be
stated, upon the card, after the title, but separate from it. They
may be printed, at the expense of such libraries, in the form of
notes to their catalogues. The notes for any particular library
may be made as extensive, as the means of the institution, and the
learning and leisure of its librarian permit.
There is another particular, in which the catalogue title might vary,
in different copies: that, of designation of size. The same book,
in the same edition, may have copies in quarto, in octavo, and in
duodecimo. The size of the printed page is, however, in all these
cases, the same; otherwise, the edition is different. All difficulty,
on this account, therefore, is obviated, and all confusion of
editions prevented, by adopting, instead of, or in addition to
the usual designation of _form_, as the indication of size, the
measurement of the printed page, in inches and tenths. Other reasons
for this mode of marking the size of books, with minute directions,
will be given hereafter.