I'JJEFACE. IX 



to transcribe titles from original sources in many cases not otherwise access- 

 ible. 



The data for the Chronological Tables were obtained chiefly by personal 

 inspection of the works named, but also in part by the aid of forms pre- 

 pared for the purpose and kindly filled by Librarians in many parts of 

 Euro])e, at the solicitation of the Smithsonian Institution. 

 J The plan of this bibliography originated with the compiler, and he alone 

 is responsible for its defects; its execution has been rendered possible by 

 the efficient a^d of the Smithsonian Institution, which, in the person of the 

 late Professor Henry, and subsequently through Professor S. F. Baird, has 

 not only accorded its invaluable cooperation from the inception of the work, 

 but has also made it available by undertaking its publication. Sincere 

 thanks are due to Professor Baird for constantly promoting this under- 

 taking. 



We are under obligations to so large a number of gentlemen that to 

 express our thanks to each individually is out of the question, and we can 

 only assure those not named in this place that the}' are not forgotten. To 

 Mr. Wm. B. Taylor, Editor of the Smithsonian publications, we are indel^ted 

 for the untiring energy and kind interest manifested in supervising the 

 ])rinting of these pages. 



To insure accuracy iu the several languages we secured the aid of lin- 

 guistic experts ; — the Rev. S. J. Barrows, of Boston, read the Dutch ; Mr. 

 Thorvald Solberg, of the Library of Congress, read the Danish, Norwegian, 

 and Swedish ; Mr. Louis Solyom, of the Library of Congress, read the Hun- 

 garian, Russian, Polish, Bohemian, and other Slavonic languages ; the Rev. 

 Prof. Samuel Hart, of Trinity College, read the Hebrew, and assisted in the 

 Latin ; the Rev. Prof. I. T. Beckwith, of Trinity College, read the Greek ; 

 and the Rev. Prof. Leojjold Simonson, of Hartford, read not only the Ger- 

 man, French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, but also the English of the 

 entire alphabetical Catalogue. To each of the gentlemen we express sincere 

 thanks; to Professor SiuKuison in particular we are extremely grateful for 

 indefatigable labora extending over many months, his promptness and ac- 

 curacy never failing even when suffering great personal inconvenience. 



To j\Ir. S. H. Scudder, of Cambridge, Mass., we are indebted for valuable 

 suggestions based on experience and for attention to correspondence. 



To the Rev. J. H. Barbour, Librarian of Trinity College, we are indebted 

 for suggesting certain typographical details and for friendly counsel. 



