EDITOR'S TABLE. 



413 



mass of the public, to the average 

 reader, to the ubiquitous novel and 

 fiction consumer, to private clubs, 

 and to school children. A field of ac- 

 tivity and value in popular education 

 is involved, scarcely secondary to 

 that of the public schools, appealing 

 to the general reader, the taxpayer, 

 and, above all, to the well-wisher for 

 democratic political institutions and 

 representative government in the fu- 

 ture. In stimulating work of this 

 character in Boston, in bringing the 

 Public Library into deserved promi- 

 nence among the educational institu- 

 tions of the community, Mr. Herbert 

 Putnam achieved great and deserved 

 success during his administration, 

 winning commendation upon all 

 sides. 



The second aspect of public li- 

 brary duty is revealed by the recent 

 undertaking at Boston above men- 

 tioned. It concerns the relations of 

 great libraries to science, to original 

 research, not to the average reader, 

 but to the specialist. Instead of the 

 purchase of twenty copies of David 

 Harum, or perhaps of A Bloodthirsty 

 and Self -laudatory History of the 

 Eecent Spanish War, by One who 

 killed fifty men with his own hand, 

 to meet a sudden demand on the part 

 of readers, the expenditure of per- 

 haps an equal sum of money for some 

 rare and costly work in a foreign 

 language, intelligible to but half a 

 hundred men in- the entire city, is 

 involved. Such obligations do not 

 of course rest upon libraries of sec- 

 ondary size and importance. Their 

 path of duty is clearly marked out 

 for them in the interests of the pub- 

 lic, both on the score of financial 

 ability and of demand as well. With 

 the leading libraries of the country 

 the case is different. Our universi- 

 ties are fast taking rank with the 

 very best in Europe. Specialists in 

 science and technology, the peers of 

 those abroad, are plentiful on every 

 hand. Oftentimes their private 

 means are as limited as their ap- 



preciation and ambition are great. 

 Without these rare books — the tools 

 of their trade— they are powerless. 

 In former days they were denied the 

 opportunity for research, or else were 

 obliged to spend months of study in 

 Europe. We have the men and the 

 minds here in America now; there 

 is every indication that the books 

 and apparatus are speedily becoming 

 available as well. 



This Bibliography of the Boston 

 Public Library is a case in point. A 

 collection of works relating to the 

 physical history, the origins, migra- 

 tions, and languages of the peoples of 

 Europe is indicated upon its shelves, 

 in all probability, we venture to pre- 

 dict, superior to any single one exist- 

 ing in Europe. This startling state- 

 ment is based upon several consid- 

 erations familiar to any specialist. 

 Scientific book materials are of two 

 classes. The first are the expensive 

 and compendious volumes, generally 

 to be found in great libraries, al- 

 though oftentimes the paucity of 

 their scientific collections is very sur- 

 prising, especially in all that con- 

 cerns the newer sciences of biology, 

 anthropology, and the like. The sec- 

 ond order of publications, often rarer 

 and scientifically more valuable than 

 the first, are the scattered mono- 

 graphs or pamphlets published in all 

 manner of forms and by societies, 

 oftentimes ephemeral and of all de- 

 grees of eminence. This second 

 class of materials is generally richly 

 represented in the collections of the 

 various scientific societies, especially 

 in the form of reprints presented by 

 the authors. But the great and ex- 

 pensive tomes are seldom thus pre- 

 sented, and the societies can seldom 

 afford to purchase them. Thus it 

 comes about that these two classes of 

 raw materials have to be separately 

 hunted down, being rarely found to- 

 gether. For example, the library of 

 the Societe d' Anthropologic at Paris, 

 judging by its printed catalogues, 

 while abounding in scattered mono- 



