A Note On the Catalogue.
Reference to page 558 of this work will show that this is the fourth catalogue of the Birmingham Collection that has been issued since the opening of the Reference Library in 1866, or the third since the great fire of 1879, in which the original collection was almost entirely destroyed. The first catalogue of the present collection was a temporary list (40 pages) issued during the busy period of the reconstruction of the Library, and this was superseded in 1885 by a volume of 94 pages which formed part of the complete Catalogue of the Reference Library, but was also issued as a separate publication. In the interval between 1885 and 1918, the Collection has naturally grown to a very considerable extent, though perhaps not quite so much as the difference in the size of the past and present Catalogues would imply.
In the former editions the Collection was roughly classified under such headings as
- Acts of Parliament.
- Corporation and other Official Documents.
- Directories.
- History, Topography. Guides, etc.
- Institutions and Associations.
- Maps. Views, etc.
- Pamphlets.
As very few books were entered in more than one section, many important subjects were divided. The Society of Arts, for instance, appeared in "Exhibitions" and "Institutions"; Wallis on the Art Manufactures of Birmingham, appeared in " History"; while many pamphlets on Birmingham Art were practically lost in the huge collection of pamphlets, where they appeared only under their authors' names. It is difficult to understand why "Pamphlets" was introduced at all as a section in a classified catalogue, seeing that the size or form of a work has nothing to do with classification.
Apart from these matters, however, the cataloguing had passed through so many hands in the long interval, that when it was decided to issue a new edition it was found desirable to re-catalogue the whole collection. After careful consideration, the Dictionary form of catalogue was adopted. In the present catalogue, therefore, all books are entered under the names of the authors, and also under the subjects if of local interest. Anonymous works are entered under the first words of the titles.
It should be observed, however, that subject headings are only admitted so far as they are of local interest. Thus:—
Salt (T. P.) Phrenology: a paper read for discussion to the members of the Birmingham and Midland Institute
will be found at "Salt" and at "Midland Institute," but not at "Phrenology," which heading would appear only in the complete Catalogue of the Reference Library. From this it follows that analytical entries (which are introduced for the first time) are made only for articles of local interest. Thus, the articles in such local periodicals as the Central Literary Magazine, The Warwickshire Antiquarian Magazine, and many others, are not catalogued separately, unless they relate to the city itself.
The best features of the former catalogues are preserved under such headings as Directories, Exhibitions, Guides, History, Newspapers, etc., with the added advantage that the whole resources of the collection on any one subject are entered at that subject. Abbreviations have been introduced, but not to any great extent, and those used are so obvious that it does not seem necessary to give any list. The place of publication is also given when it is other than London or Birmingham, and the number of pages when it is less than 100.
