College and Research Libraries


Manuscript Collections 
Manuscript Collections in the Columbia 

University Libraries: A Descriptive List. 
N e w Y o r k : C o l u m b i a University Librar-
ies, 1959. 109p. Paper. $3.50. 

Descriptive lists of m a n u s c r i p t c o l l e c t i o n s 
are o f u t m o s t v a l u e to scholars a n d librari-
ans, a n d w e have t o o f e w of them. T h e col-
lections at C o l u m b i a University, particularly 
as they have d e v e l o p e d d u r i n g the past ten 
o r fifteen years, must b e r e c k o n e d w i t h as 
a f o r c e a m o n g the great repositories of m a n -
uscripts in the U n i t e d States. T h i s list, c o m -
p i l e d by C o l u m b i a staff m e m b e r s u n d e r the 
d i r e c t i o n of M r . R o l a n d B a u g h m a n , h e a d 
o f special c o l l e c t i o n s , fills a great n e e d ; it 
is e c o n o m i c a l in entry b u t i n f o r m a t i v e to 
a c o m m e n d a b l e degree. 

T h e great n e e d will i m m e d i a t e l y b e ap-
p a r e n t f r o m an e x a m i n a t i o n of a f e w of the 
294 entries in this catalog. C o l u m b i a , strong 
a n d g r o w i n g ever stronger in gifts o f dis-
t i n c t i o n f r o m faculty a n d d e g r e e holders, 
has also p u r s u e d an intelligent acquisitions 
p o l i c y in general g i f t a n d purchase. T h e 
days w h e n the editors o f the C o l u m b i a 
M i l t o n w r o t e to Sotheby to trace the M i l t o n 
" L e t t e r b o o k , " w h i c h h a d f o r s o m e years 
actually b e e n C o l u m b i a ' s p r o p e r t y , s h o u l d 
n o w b e o v e r . 

T h e a p p r o a c h here is by c o l l e c t i o n rather 
than by i n d i v i d u a l item. Each is d e s c r i b e d 
by a u t h o r o r subject, d e p e n d i n g o n its na-
ture; the e x t e n t is i n d i c a t e d by the n u m b e r 
of items, b o x e s , files, o r shelves, a n d gifts 
a n d bequests w i t h dates are listed. I n addi-

t i o n there is a descriptive p a r a g r a p h o n the 
c o n t e n t s of each c o l l e c t i o n . A seven-page 
i n d e x brings together most b u t n o t all o f 
the names m e n t i o n e d in the text. 

A f e w o f the collections, such as the J o h n 
Jay a n d Stephen C r a n e papers a n d the m a n -
uscripts of H e r m a n W o u k , will b e k n o w n 
to m a n y librarians, b u t there are surprises. 
Letters o f T o l s t o y , M m e . C u r i e , H a r t Crane, 
R a n d o l p h B o u r n e , a n d O t t o R a n k are here 
in c o n s i d e r a b l e n u m b e r s ; also papers o f 
Frances Perkins a n d H e n r y A . W a l l a c e , 
closed to use d u r i n g the l i f e t i m e of the d o -
nors. C o l u m b i a n a is strongly represented, 
f r o m the papers o f the first president, Samuel 
J o h n s o n (1696-1772) to those o f G o v e r n o r 
D e W i t t C l i n t o n , a graduate, a n d D e a n 
J a c q u e s Barzun. T h e entry f o r C o l u m b i a ' s 
O r a l H i s t o r y R e s e a r c h P r o j e c t is all t o o 
brief, c o n s i d e r i n g the s c o p e a n d u n i q u e n e s s 
o f these records. 

It is u n f o r t u n a t e that C o l u m b i a ' s i m p o r -
tant T h o m a s C h a t t e r t o n n o t e b o o k in the 
P h o e n i x C o l l e c t i o n c o u l d n o t have b e e n 
m e n t i o n e d in this list. A n d w h i l e the list 
was b e i n g p r i n t e d the C o l u m b i a Class of 
1923 presented to the Library the a u t o g r a p h 
m a n u s c r i p t of A r t h u r G o l d i n g ' s translation 
o f A e s o p ' s Fables c c. 1590], certainly a w o r -
thy a d d i t i o n to a great university library. 

Curators o f manuscripts will w a n t to k e e p 
this list o n the shelf with those of the L i -
brary o f Congress, the N e w Y o r k P u b l i c 
Library, the University o f R o c h e s t e r a n d 
the W i l l i a m L . C l e m e n t s Library, a n d it 
is g o o d to see that shelf e x p a n d i n g . — H e r -
bert Cahoon, Curator of Autograph Manu-
scripts, The Pierpont Morgan Library. 

Comment 

Scientists and Information 
T h e M a r c h 1959 issue o f CRL r e v i e w e d 

an u n p u b l i s h e d p i l o t study r e p o r t 1 f o r w h i c h 
I carried the m a j o r responsibility. I find the 
w o r k , o n the w h o l e , accurately described 
a n d u n f a v o r a b l y evaluated. W i t h o u t at-
t e m p t i n g to catalog my m a n y agreements 

1 " T h e Flow of Information Among Scientists: 
Problems, Opportunities, and Research Questions." 
Prepared by the Bureau of Applied Social Research, 
Columbia University, 1958 (mimeographed). 

a n d f e w disagreements with the review, I 
w o u l d like to take issue with o n e particular 
charge w h i c h is characteristic of an u n d e r -
standably c o m m o n c o n f u s i o n : the c o n f u s i o n 
b e t w e e n a p o l l a n d an interpretive statis-
tical analysis of data secured by interview. 
T h e reviewer says: " . . . this type o f ap-
p r o a c h . . . attempts to derive reliable data 
f r o m the consensus of a g r o u p that does n o t 
i n c l u d e specialists in the field in w h i c h they 
are b e i n g q u e r i e d . T h i s , like asking visit-

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