37 [ 1 ] 



hands of the librarian to those of the j^rintcr; and the proof-reading lias 

 been done, once for all. 



The time for applyino- this system to the first edition is indeed past, 

 but the same reasoning, at the jiresent moment, applies to the seeond. it 

 the whole be now steieotyj < <l, and two hundretl coi-it's si ruck oli', the 

 accessions for the first year may be stereotyped and ];iinted sej.aiately, 

 and in the second or third year, a now catalogne may he issued, with the 

 additions incorporated. In the mean time, it is prol.alilc, that m;;ny of 

 the suj)plementary titles would have been stereoty}:ed foi- other libraries, 

 and, thus, the cost of writing them out and of stereotyping them, be s] ared 

 to the Antiquarian Society. Tf the cost of composition ibr the catalogue 

 al)out to be published (containing thirty thousan^l titles or more,) lie stated 

 at one thousand dollars, for an additional sum of five hundred dollars the 

 necessity of recomposing would be forever obviated, and the great 

 advantage secured of being able to print every two or thiee years, at 

 saiall expense, new editions, each complete to the time of its publication. 



It is thus, I think, demonstrable, that even for the use of a shigle 

 !jbiai-y, this plan would l;e economical. 



Let us next consider the advantages which the second Library, adopting 

 the plan, may hope from it, in an economical point of view. 



We will suppose, for the sake of example, that after the catalogue of 

 the xiiati quarian Society's Library has been stereotyped, and the titles 

 placed un.ler the care of the Smitlisonian Institution, it is j)r( posed to 

 issue a new edition of the catalogue of the Library of Congress. What 

 iiiducements would there be for adojiting this plan.'* 



It has been the practice in this Library to print a new edition of the 

 catalogue every ten years, and to issue annual sujiplements. About one- 

 fitth of the catalogue has been printed five times ; two-fifths four times, &c. 

 Now, from what has already been said, it will be manifest liow great the 

 saving wouhl have been had this plan been known and followed from the 

 first, even if the first cost of stereotyping i)y titles had been twice or three 

 times that of onlinary piinting ; and consequently how great the ju'ospec- 

 tive advantage of adopting the plan, even independently of any general 

 system. 



Ikit Inowsu]po;e that, when the plan is adopted for tlie Li!)rary of 

 Congress, the catalogue of the Antiquarian Library has already been stereo- 

 typed, and that the titles are in po.ssession of the Smithsonian ir.stitution, 

 for the use of other libraries enterinc: into the neneral arrangement. Here 

 IS a new arid very nnp'ortant element in the calculation. 



We suppose the nund)er of titles of the Antiquarian Lilu-ary, alreadv 

 stereotyped, to be thirty thousand. Some of these would doubtles.s be the 

 same in botii ^-.ollections. For all that are common to the two, the exj ense 

 oi' the preparation oi t'lth'H, o? composition and of revision would i-e saved 

 to the Library of Congress. It is impossil)le to say, with exactness, how 

 much the saving would be from these sources, because these two catah^gues 

 are not uniform nor complete. If the library of Congiess weie } ro},erly 

 catalogued, it would give perhaps seventy thousand titles. Of these 1 pre- 

 sume not less tlian hit ecu thousand would be identical with the same 

 number of the Antiquarian Lil)rary. At this rate, more than one-fifth of 

 the labor and cost of preparation would be saved by Ib.e wi^c of titles j re - 

 pared and stereotyped by others, over and above the savings already 

 enumerated. 



