PREFACE. V 



For a succinct statement of the order and date of publication the reader 

 is referred to the chronologic index at the end of the bibliography. 



The best collection of Eskimo texts I have met with is that of Major 

 Powell, of Washington; the second, perhaps, that in the library of the 

 British Museum. The best collection of Arctic literature is that in the 

 British Museum; the second, that in the Library of Congress. 



No detailed statement of the plan pursued in recording this matter is 

 thought to be necessary, as but few departures from the ordinary rules 

 of library cataloguing have been made. The dictionary plan has been 

 followed to its extreme limit as the best adapted to the purpose in view. 

 All works are entered under their author when known — translators 

 being considered as authors — and under first word of title, not an 

 article or a preposition, when the name of the author is not known. 

 A cross-reference is given from the first wonls of every Eskimo title 

 when such title is entered under an author's name, whether or not the 

 work is anonymous. All titular matter, including cross-references, is 

 in a larger, all index and explanatory matter in a smaller, type. 



During the progress of type setting a number of titles have come to 

 hand in time for insertion in their proper places, but, in some cases, 

 too late to permit the proper entry to be made in the subject or dialect 

 indexes; and the translation of the Eskimo titles, which was done after 

 the matter was in galley proof, has shown that a few items have been 

 wrongly entered in the subject indexes. I think these unavoidable 

 minor errors and omissions should not be held to weigh against the 

 manifest advantages of a single alphabetic arrangement. 



The prices quoted are from such sources as were at command, and 

 are arranged chronologically. 



My thanks are due to Mr. John Murdoch, librarian of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, who has kindly translated the Eskimo titles for me. 



J. C P 



April 20, 1887. 



