in the literature of the chief civilised nations. Such a man is almost certain to be drawn by his natural bent into one field of specialisation, and with the aid of his staff, among whom his worthy successors are to be looked for, will be able to furnish to readers the advice of an expert over a large domain of knowledge. This ideal presupposes in him the zeal and sympathy which incite to study and research, with which must be combined the care for detail and the firmness of character that belongs to the efficient man of business.
We have now first to consider the methods by which it is sought to select and train the candidates for this high office, and the internal discipline of a library staff. The system under which librarians are selected and educated in the United Kingdom shares the virtues and defects of our general attitude in these matters. It lacks the precision characteristic of Continental and American methods, but is perhaps not less successful if we judge by results. The staffs of the larger libraries, except that of the British Museum, are recruited without examination of the candidates. This is counterbalanced, in the case of the Universities at any rate, by the ability of the chiefs, which those seats of learning seem always able to provide, men in whom the absence of technical training is amply compensated for by scholarship and administrative capacity. Of these men the rarest and most brilliant example is found in Henry Bradshaw, late University Librarian at Cambridge.
