NATURE 



617 



THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, if 



SCIENTIFIC HIBLIOGRAPHY. 

 I lie Theory of National and International Bibliography. 

 ( With Speeial Reference to the Introduction of System in 

 the Record of Modern Literature.) By Frank Campbell 

 (of the Library, British Museum). Medium 8vo. Pp. 

 500. (London: Library Bureau, 1896.) 

 "\^7H.\T is history," said Napoleon, "but a fiction 

 ♦ * agreed upon." ..." The only point on which 

 librarians are united is that classification is a question 

 disagreed upon" So writes Mr. Campbell, and the quota- 

 tion is an apt illustration of our present position. At a 

 time, therefore, when the cataloguing and indexing of the 

 literature of the mathematical and natural sciences is being 

 so seriously taken in hand, and it is agreed that it shall 

 be carried out by international co-operation, he is doing a 

 considerable service by issuing in a collected form his 

 various published papers on the theory of bibliography 

 together with others not previously printed. Many of 

 the suggestions made by him are undoubtedly of great 

 value ; it is a little unfortunate that his views are not 

 presented in a more coherent, collected form, either at 

 the commencement or end of the book, as it is not easy 

 to extract the pith and marrow of his arguments, although 

 it must be gratefully acknowledged that he has adopted 

 the unusual course of trying, by means of darker type, to 

 aid the eye as much as possible to discern the leading 

 points in the several essays — thereby setting an example 

 which it is worth while to carefully take note of. 



The charm of the work is that it is characterised by 

 breadth of view and the advocacy of a go-ahead-without- 

 regard-to-obstacles policy, which give it a peculiar 

 interest ; indeed, it is delightful to find so much enthu- 

 siasm displayed over so dry a subject as the cataloguing 

 of literature. But Mr. Campbell sees clearly the great- 

 importance of the problems to be solved, and that they 

 must be dealt with on a corresponding scale, being evi- 

 dently a determined supporter of the doctrine laid down 

 by an authority so great as Carlyle (" You must front 

 the difticulties, whatever they may be, of making proper 

 catalogues ") in the evidence he gave before the British 

 Museum Commission of 1849, which is appropriately 

 printed at the close of the volume. There can be no 

 doubt that it is only by recognising the truth of this con- 

 tention, and carrying it into practice, that scientific 

 workers will be able in the future to fully secure from 

 books the aid they can afford ; it was freely admitted at 

 our recent International Conference, and the fact that the 

 meeting was dominated by such a spirit is the most 

 hopeful omen of ultimate success that could possibly be 

 desired. 



" We are already half a century behind the times in 

 bibliography, and are not moving fast enough,' says Mr. 

 Campbell ; and he then asks, " Why this want of pro- 

 gress .'" The reasons he gives, among others, are 



"because we fail to recognise what an amount of 

 theoretical and practical investigation of the subject is 

 necessary before we can possibly be in a position to 

 commence operations aright ; because we continue to 

 delude ourselves that it is possible for private enterprise 



NO. 1409, VOL. 54] 



to carry out that which the State alone can perform ; and 

 because we expect that Bibliography will evolve itself 

 without a preliminary expenditure of money. We con- 

 tinue to build libraries and to accumulate books, but we 

 have not paid sufficient attention to making books still 

 more accessible for research. Our attention has been too 

 exclusively concentrated on collections in particular 

 libraries, to the neglect of the great annual national col- 

 lection pouring from the press. Moreover, we have 

 liecome too contentedly accustomed to the idea of con- 

 fusion, and have grown to regard it as a natural and 

 necessary evil. But it is high time to rise and shake 

 ourselves free from the trammels of past traditions. We 

 ha\e roads and railways and rivers free of access to all. 

 But the channels of printed thought communication are 

 yet horribly blocked. It remains for us to clear them." 



To all of which every one interested in the subject 

 will say —Amen '. 



The book is very largely devoted to the discussion of 

 matters of bibliographical reform. It was intended to 

 issue it in time for the International Conference, and it 

 would undoubtedly have been of interest to us. It is 

 satisfactory that the circular letter issued by the Royal 

 Society in 1894, in order to obtain opinions as to the 

 feasibility of preparing a catalogue of scientific literature 

 by international co-operation, is referred to by Mr. 

 Campbell as lemarkable as showing how thoroughly the 

 Committee grasped the essential points of importance 

 from a bibliographer's point of view. As we have been 

 assured by over-anxious critics that we were on an alto- 

 gether wrong track, such recognition is encouraging ; 

 and when the steps taken both durmg the preliminary 

 stages and at the Conference are considered, it is clear 

 that on the whole our action has been substantially in 

 accord with the views set forth in detail in the work 

 under notice, and will involve ultimately the putting into 

 practice of many of its recommendations. 



To readers of Nature, one of the most important 

 chapters in the book is that dealing with the influence 

 and functions of learned societies in regard to biblio- 

 graphy, in which the much-needed and valuable advice 

 is given that the learned societies should try to define 

 their several jurisdictions more sharply, so as not to 

 overlap, if it can be helped ; and that they should pay 

 greater attention to the details of publication. A large 

 mass of literature appears every year — Mr. Campbell 

 says — which, through the neglect of certain necessary 

 principles and details, raises gratuitous obstacles in the 

 path of research, and defies the best efforts of librarians 

 to remedy the evil. . . . Learned societies are among the 

 worst ofienders in the matter, he asserts. . . . But in the 

 majority of instances, he thinks, it is rather a matter of 

 ignorance, or oversight. There has not been sufficient 

 scientific study of the subject, and men have not yet 

 realised the full necessity for absolute co-operation be- 

 tween the author, printer, publisher and librarian. 



Those of us who have to do with the publication of 

 accounts of scientific work are only too well aware that 

 such is the case. There is no doubt that learned societies 

 allow far too much freedom of individual action, and 

 that while taking objection to technical points — the re- 

 sponsibility for which might well be cast entirely upon 

 authors — allow the gravest literary malpractices to pass 

 unnoticed. Writers in scientific periodicals are too often 

 either ine.\perienced or careless owing to want of leisure, 



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