A Librarian s Work. 369 



plement to the printed catalogue. The curn- 

 brousness of consulting a number of alphabets 

 would be reduced to a minimum, for there would 

 be only two to consult : the printed catalogue and 

 its card supplement. Then, instead of issuing 

 numberless printed supplements, there might be 

 published, at stated intervals (say of ten years), 

 a new edition of the main catalogue, with all the 

 added titles inserted in their proper places. On 

 this plan there would never be more than two 

 alphabets to consult ; and of these the more volu 

 minous one would be contained in easily manage 

 able printed volumes, while the smaller supple 

 ment only would remain in card-form. 



It is an obvious objection that the frequent 

 printing of new editions of the catalogue, accord 

 ing to this plan, would be attended with enor 

 mous expense. This objection would at first sight 

 seem to be removed if we were to adopt Professor 

 Jewett s suggestion, and stereotype each title on 

 a separate plate. Let there be a separate stereo 

 type-plate for each card, so that in every new 

 edition new plates may be inserted for the added 

 titles; and then the ruinous expense of fresh com 

 position for every new edition would seem to be 

 avoided. It is to be feared, however, that this 

 show of having solved the difficulty is illusory 



