College and Research Libraries


Civil War Dictionary 
The Civil War Dictionary. By Mark Mayo 

Boatner III; maps and diagrams by Major 
Allen C. Northrop and Lowell I. Miller. 
New York: David McKay Company, Inc. 
[c. 1959]. xvi, 974p. $15.00. 

Current interest in the American Civil 
W a r is reflected at all levels of historical 
sophistication—in the casual interest of the 
general reader, in the battlefield-pacing in-
terest of the full-fledged Civil W a r buff, in 
the specifically directed interests of students, 
and in the deep and inclusive research of 
scholars. It is unlikely to abate during the 
next six years, years which will see the cen-
tenary of the war commemorated in all 
manner of national and local celebrations. 
Colonel M . M . Boatner's The Civil War 
Dictionary will be of continuing use in an-
swering library questions produced by any 
level of Civil W a r interest. 

The Civil War Dictionary contains more 
than four thousand entries, over two thou-
sand of them biographical. Maps and dia-
grams add considerably to its already con-
siderable value. Although its scope includes 
all aspects of wartime life, its emphasis is 
very heavily military. T h e book is at its best 
in giving short, succinct accounts of Civil 
W a r battles. Next useful are its brief identi-
fications of Civil W a r personalities, both 
Federal and Confederate. 

W h i l e any book of this size and scope al-
most inevitably embraces a number of minor 

errors in its text, such errors as have crept 
into The Civil War Dictionary are few and 
their presence is certainly understandable 
if not necessarily excusable. (And they 
should be excused in the book's first edition, 
at least.) T h e volume's faults should not be 
overemphasized as they are far outweighed 
by its virtues. It does, however, have limita-
tions which should be understood by its 
users. Its coverage of civilian personalities is 
insufficient and haphazard. Its geographical 
entries are weak. It is based on a bibliog-
raphy that is reasonably extensive but quix-
otic in what it includes and downright baf-
fling in what it omits. Cross-references are 
woefully inadequate. Its arrangement—even 
its alphabetization—is individualistic rather 
than by accepted library practices. Much ma-
terial is included in coverage of broad topics 
that is lost to the user searching for a par-
ticular heading. 

The Civil War Dictionary is a good book. 
It will be particularly useful in libraries 
with limited collections of Civil W a r ma-
terials. Wisely used (and used in conjunc-
tion with such other books as Ezra Warner's 
Generals in Gray, Frederick H . Dyer's A 
Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, 
and Frederick Phisterer's Statistical Record 
of the Armies of the United States) it will 
be of value in almost any general library. 
Like many reference books, however, its 
values and limitations and the most efficient 
methods of using it must be carefully learned 
before the volume will concede its maximum 
u s e f u l n e s s . — R i c h a r d Harwell. 

Comment 

LC Catalog Books'.Subjects 
Is there any possible way that more col-

lege and research libraries can be encour-
aged to subscribe to the Library of Congress 
Catalog Books .-Subjects} T h e current sub-
scription list numbers about 365 as against 
1,065 to the National Union Catalog. T h e 
price goes up almost every year because of 

the few subscriptions and increased produc-
tion costs. In 1950 I entered into a discussion 
on the lack of sufficient subscribers with of-
ficers at the Library of Congress and with 
the A C R L Executive Secretary. 

W e here at the Union Library Catalogue 
find ourselves in the embarrassing position 
of being the only library organization which 
could not live without Books:Subjects. This 
is because we do not have any foreign biblio-

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