
          Early Hort. Lit.

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We cannot evaluate all the sources used in this undertaking, but mention outstanding ones. 
(1) Of the highest credibility are the cards printed by the Library of 
Congress
for its own books and those of the Department of Agriculture, also other American
libraries, i.e. "L C printed cards".  (2) Cards of the John Crerar Library, Chicago, although 
differing in form from the preceding, are equally dependable for bibliographical
details.  (3) Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, Catalogue général  des livres...Auteurs
(A- Rukser), v.l-158, 1897-1939. Although the first volume lacks imprints, later ones
are absolutely complete and accurate, and its titles may be accepted as correct for use
in this list. (4) Other printed catalogs are those of the British Museum (1881-1900),
which is useful for location of books, but usually not for bibliographical descriptions;
and its "General catalogue" (A - Chur), begun 1931, which is authoritative as far as it
goes, and supplements that of the Bibliothèque Nationale on the first part of the alphabet. 
That of the K. Veterinaer- og  Landbohøjskole, Kjøbenhavn , is excellent for titles
and helpful on collations, but does not give imprints. The Arnold Arboretum catalog is
fine for titles, but gives no imprints in its first volume, and it is unsatisfactory on
pagings.  That of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society also lacks imprints. It has
been remarked that the original cataloging of Miss Warner is usually dependable, but although
much was done in the Arnold Arboretum and Massachusetts Horticultural libraries,
many titles have since been added from their printed catalogs, so it is no longer possible
to distinguish the original descriptions. (5) Several bibliographies are reliable
for bibliographical details.  Pritzel's "Thesaurus" (1861 and 1872) is good on imprints,
and pretty good on collations.  Seguier (1740) gives no collations, but gives most of the
imprints rather accurately.  Some bibliographies of special topics are models of accuracy,
such as Bouchard-Huzard on Olivier de Serres, Krok on Swedish botanists, Vicaire, "Bibliographie Gastronomique", and Denise on the publications of the Paris Museum of natural
history.  The Bradley Bibliography is so inclusive in dendrology that it covers a great
number of horticultural works, and has frequently been cited in this list. But as it includes
unverified titles gathered from dubious sources, gives no imprints or library locations,
and is useless for collations, it should be sternly eliminated as an authority.
Many bibliographies and catalogs have been examined and are cited in this list, but it
should be recognized that few of them can be accepted as final authorities without careful
investigation of their scope and authenticity.
        