The few remarks I have to make on this subject are prompted by a recent
effort to collect from printed catalogs the scattered newspaper material
for the first 15 years of the 19th century. The collection of
information on the locality of files of newspapers up to 1800 has been
commenced, and will in time be completed by Mr. Nelson, who publishes
his results in the "Archives of the State of New Jersey." Many
corrections will be necessary to his list, but it will even in its
present shape be of great advantage to historical students.
The difficulty of the work increases almost in geometrical proportion as
the dates approach the present era. The great increase of newspapers
renders it necessary to divide the work into decades. I have chosen to
carry it to 1815 on account of the importance to Louisiana history of
the reports on the battle of New Orleans.
The particular feature in cataloging which I would fain see carried out
in every library is the chronological conspectus, of which so admirable
an example exists in Bolton's catalog of scientific documents, which is,
or ought to be, familiar to all present.
It is exceedingly simple and easy to prepare and is of the greatest
possible service, both to the librarian and the student.
Take any folio book ruled in wide columns with an ample margin. For my
purpose I start by heading the first column 1800, and so on to the end
of the page. Taking material from Mr. Galbreath's useful compilation, I
find that in the libraries of Ohio there is only one title which will
appear under this head, the _Western Spy_ in the collection of the
Cincinnati Young Men's Mercantile Library. Enter in the marginal column
the full details of the publication of this newspaper and draw a
horizontal line across the column. The years 1802-3-4, etc., present an
increasing number of titles. The horizontal lines in the columns present
an immediate summary of all the newspaper literature on the subject.