234 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA ¥ 
\ 
I am indebted to many friends throughout Canada, and abroad, 
for assistance in gathering data; and would especially like to acknow- 
ledge the very complete list furnished by Mr. Arnold Haultain, of 
the writings of Dr. Goldwin Smith. The librarians of the several 
Canadian colleges have also been most courteous and helpful. No 
pains have been spared to make the bibliography as complete as 
possible, both as to the books and articles included, and the data 
descriptive of each. Not only has every available source of informa- 
tion been personally examined, but, where books or periodicals were 
not accessible here, data has been secured from the publishers, or 
from the custodians of public libraries. Notices, asking for data 
as to privately printed books and books printed abroad, were pub- 
lished in the literary weeklies of London, New York, Boston and 
Chicago, as well as in newspapers in all the leading Canadian cities. 
Finally, to gather up as much as possible of the residue, direct corres- 
pondence was had with many Canadian authors, of whose work I felt 
that I still had insufficient data. This involved the writing of several 
hundred letters. Having exhausted every possible avenue of informa- 
tion, I am still only too conscious that the bibliography will show 
many omissions and many inaccuracies. For these, in view of the 
difficulty of covering, in anything like an exhaustive manner, such a 
wide and varied field, one may perhaps claim at least a measure of 
indulgence. This bibliography cannot be more disappointing 
to others than it is to the compiler. In attempting such a task one 
is forcibly reminded of the warning of a veteran bibliographer: “ If 
you are troubled with a conceit of accuracy, and would have it com- 
pletely taken out of you, prepare a bibliography.” 
In addition to the bibliography proper, there will be found an 
Index of brief Titles, which may prove of service to those seeking 
material on a given topic, rather than the work of a particular author. 
Poetry will be found in a section by itself. 
It is, of course, patent that the value and usefulness of such a 
bibliography as the present depends very largely upon its being con- 
tinued from year to year; but one man can hardly be expected to give 
ihe time demanded by a task of this magnitude; nor in any event can 
one man do it justice. If I may be permitted to make a suggestion, it 
is that, in the event of this Canadian Bibliography being continued from 
year to year, the work should be divided among a number of men, 
each having a special knowledge of the subject entrusted to him. One 
might collect the year’s publications in botany, another gather the work 
in history, a third deal with geology, a fourth with fiction, and so on, 
both in English and French, through the entire range of subjects. The 
