College and Research Libraries Recent Foreign Books on the Graphic Arts, Bibliography, and Library Science By L A W R E N C E S. T H O M P S O N D E C I P H E R M E N T O F A N C I E N T S C R I P T S Ernst Doblhofer's Zeichen und Wunder; die Entzifferung verschollener Schriften und Sprachen (Vienna: Paul Neff Verlag, 1957) is the history of the decipherment of ancient scripts; a n d it ranges f r o m the Rosetta Stone to the yet undeciphered Etruscan, Indus, a n d Easter Island inscriptions. Well illustrated a n d fully documented with references to the basic monographs a n d articles in scholarly journals, Doblhofer's text is nevertheless in a light, almost journalistic style. H e deals not only with the language of peoples who developed a high level of culture, but also with the languages a n d scripts of more primi- tive civilizations. As a text for courses in the history of books a n d writing, Zeichen und Wunder deserves a high place on the reading lists. At the same time, however, the rapid advances being made in many fields covered by this book suggest the need for f r e q u e n t revision of this book. H I S T O R Y O F W R I T I N G T h e definitive general work on the history of writing is Marcel Cohen's La grande in- vention de I'ecriture et son evolution ( P a r i s : Imprimerie Nationale, Librairie C. Klinck- sieck, 1958; 3 v.). T h e first volume is the text proper, the second the notes, bibliography, a n d index, a n d the third a carefully selected portfolio of plates. T h e authority of the author, one of the half dozen greatest living linguists, is beyond question. H e has spent over twenty years on the project, a n d the final product reflects a full maturity of scholarship. T h i s work is a logical complement to Cohen's famous joint work with Alphonse M e i l l e t , Les langues du monde (2d ed., 1952), a n d it has the same broad a n d comprehen- sive coverage. Cohen traces the origins of writing, using the most recent scholarship, a n d he covers all recorded written languages a n d their peculiar vehicles. T h e portfolio of Dr. Thompson is Director of Libraries, University of Kentucky. plates is exceptionally well produced a n d can be used effectively for display or as a teaching aid as well as for reference. La grande invention de I'ecriture a n d Les lan- gues du monde a r e i n d i s p e n s a b l e f o r a l l r e f - erence collections. G E R M A N M A N U S C R I P T S T h e late Albert Boeckler's Deutsche Buch- malerei vorgotischer Zeit ( K o n i g s t e i n i m T a u n u s : Karl R o b e r t Langewiesche, 1959) a n d h i s Deutsche Buchmalerei der Gotik (Konigstein im T a u n u s : Karl R o b e r t Lange- wiesche, 1959) are now available either sepa- rately (as Langewiesche's "Blaue Bucher") at D M 5.40 each or in a single volume un- der one cover f o r D M 12.80. These extraordi- narily handsome books are accompanied by short texts that are simple, direct, a n d com- prehensive in spite of their brevity. Boeckler was an acknowledged master in the field, a n d these two little books are an adequate intro- duction to the history of illumination in the Germanies d u r i n g the Middle Ages. Boeck- ler's introductory essays give us a broad pic- ture of the intellectual a n d social back- g r o u n d for the manuscript luxury book, and at the same time there is p r o p e r attention to techniques and factual detail. M A N U S C R I P T S O F T H E B I B L I A P A U P E R U M W h e n the very, very occasional manuscript or even more occasional xylographic Biblia P a u p e r u m turns u p at auction, one can only watch for the sale price a n d wonder why t h e s e rarissima a r e n o t c a l l e d biblia picta o r biblia parabolica. Indeed, even in the late Middle Ages this designation would proba- bly have been considerably more accurate. H e n r i k Cornell's Biblia Pauperum (Stock- S E P T E M B E R 1 9 6 0 411 holm, 1925) is a n d will remain a basic work in this field, b u t a great deal of other signifi- cant research on the subject has come out in the last q u a r t e r of a century. G e r h a r d S c h m i d t ' s Die Armenbibel des XIV, Jahrhun- derts (Graz a n d Cologne: Bohlau, 1959) uses this material a n d combines it with his own extensive, o f t e n ingenious research to pro- duce the definitive study of the Biblia Pau- p e r u m . H e reconstructs the lost original, which was created in Bavaria or Austria a r o u n d the m i d d l e of the thirteenth century, a n d h e traces carefully the changes in various textual lines d u r i n g the next h u n d r e d years. In this analysis it is very clear that an emo- tional, subjective tradition of religion existed on a level of mediaeval society that was far removed f r o m the learned clerks and their objective, highly systematized theological speculation. T h e forty-four plates f r o m some twenty manuscripts show a rich variety of examples of south G e r m a n book p a i n t i n g in the four- teenth century. T h e r e are sophisticated, o f t e n inspired drawings in some of the manu- scripts, the scribblings of idle monks in oth- ers. I n both we can see (especially with the help of Schmidt's analysis) the bases of Gothic art. For art historians, for general mediaevalists, a n d for students of the history of the book Schmidt's work is a cornerstone of their literature. M E D I E V A L A N D R E N A I S S A N C E B O O K A R T Buchkunst und Bibliophilie in Spatgotik und Renaissance (Munich: Karl Zink Verlag, 1959) is a handsome catalog of an exhibit by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in h o n o r of the First I n t e r n a t i o n a l Congress of Biblio- philes a n d the sixtieth a n n u a l conference of the Gesellschaft der Bibliophilen in 1959. T h e r e are 213 entries with very brief anno- tations; a n d there are a half dozen carefully chosen illustrations, including one in color of a m i n i a t u r e f r o m the vellum copy of the Decretum Gratiani (Mainz: Peter Schoffer, 1472). T h e treasures of the Bavarian State Library are sufficient f o r a thousand such exhibits, b u t this one is tastefully chosen a n d edited, just sufficient to make any bibliophile yearn to spend the rest of his days in Munich. A small g r o u p of a dozen a n d a half m o d e r n illustrated books in editions for bib- liophiles was also exhibited. J A G I E L L O N I A N T R E A S U R E S Zofia A m e i s e n o w a ' s Rekopisy i pierwod- ruki iluminoivane Bibliotek: Jagiellonskiej (Wroclaw a n d Krakow: Zaklad Narodowy Imienia Ossoliriskich, 1958) is a handsome and highly detailed catalog of illuminated manu- scripts a n d illustrated i n c u n a b u l a in the Uni- versity of Krakow's Jagiellonian Library. In all there are 215 manuscripts a n d p r i n t e d books, all described minutely, with special reference to the illustration a n d ornamenta- tion. T h e largest n u m b e r of entries is for Italy. T h e other sections are devoted to France, Czechoslovakia, Poland, a n d frag- ments. T h e r e is an extensive bibliography, a n d several indexes make the work q u i t e easy to use. Most i m p o r t a n t , perhaps, are the 256 illustrations in the section of plates a n d the eight handsome colored plates in the text. T h e book is a m o n u m e n t both of Polish biblio- graphical scholarship a n d of book production. M A N U S C R I P T S IN F F . R M O S e r a f i n o P r e t e ' s I Codici della Biblioteca comunale di Fermo ( " B i b l i o t e c a d e b i b l i o g - rafia italiana," X X X V ; Florence: Olschki, 1960) is a comprehensive catalog of 122 manu- scripts in the library of Fermo. A partial list a p p e a r e d earlier in Studia Picena in 1954-57. T h e library was f o u n d e d in 1688, a n d it has h a d a long history of worthwhile service to scholarship, especially u n d e r the administra- tion of Filippo Raffaelli f r o m 1872 to 1893. T h e manuscript collection itself is r a t h e r miscellaneous in content, including classical texts, liturgical a n d theological works, some r a t h e r interesting medical texts, legal works, a h e r b a l a n d lapidary, a seventeenth-century nautical chart, a n d so on through the cus- tomary list of subjects f o u n d in late medi- aeval manuscripts. Most of the manuscripts date f r o m the t e n t h to the fifteenth century. T h e texts of m a n y of the manuscripts are of greatest importance for the palaeographical history of the individual titles, a n d Professor Prete's careful descriptions, including biblio- ographical references, will earn him the grati- tude of scholars in many fields. T h e r e is a general index a n d an index of incipits. E A R L Y T R A N S Y L V A N I A P R I N T I N G Veturia J u g a r e a n u ' s Bibliographie der siebenburgischen Frilhdrucke ( " B i b l i o t h e c a bibliographica aureliana," I; Baden-Baden: 412 C O L L E G E A N D R E S E A R C H L I B R A R I E S Verlag Heitz, 1959) is an alphabetical check- list of 380 sixteenth-century imprints f r o m Transylvania (mainly Kronstadt, Klausen- burg, H e r m a n n s t a d t , a n d Karlsburg). Print- ing was introduced to Transylvania by the Kronstadt humanist a n d reformer J o h a n n e s H o n t e r u s (1498-1549), a n d the craft thrived vigorously in the m a i n centers. T h e twenty- n i n e facsimiles in the bibliography indicate a highly developed state of the black art among the Siebenbiirgen Swabians of the R e f o r m a t i o n period. T h e r e is a list of sources, a list of libraries for which locations are given, a n d indexes of Cyrillic books, il- lustrations, languages, a n d localities (with a chronological list u n d e r each). An introduc- tory note on the library of the Brukenthal Museum in H e r m a n n s t a d t contains an inter- esting bit of Eastern E u r o p e a n library his- tory. T h i s library has what is probably the largest existing collection of Transylvania imprints. R U S S I A N P R O T O T Y P O G R A P H Y Y istokov russkogo Knigopechataniia ( M o s - cow: Izdatel'stvo Akademii N a u k SSR, 1959), edited by M. N. Tikhomirov, A. A. Sidorov, a n d A. N. Nazarov, is a handsome a n d significant work on Russian p r i n t i n g in the sixteenth a n d seventeenth centuries. T h e r e are chapters on the beginning of p r i n t i n g in Russia, physical characteristics of the earliest imprints, early Cyrillic p r i n t i n g in other parts of Russia, Ukraine, a n d Rou- mania, ornaments, a n d other related mat- ters. Problems of descriptive and historical bibliography are skillfully h a n d l e d in the light of the technical aspects of composition, presswork, a n d paper. T h e r e are numerous facsimiles, all well reproduced. T h e r e is a useful short bibliography on Russian pro- totypography at the end of the book, but un- fortunately there is n o index. As an intro- duction to Slavic historical bibliography, the work of T i k h o m i r o v a n d his colleagues is the best available book, a n d it should be in every collection of books on early European p r i n t i n g a n d historical bibliography. H I S T O R Y O F P R I N T I N G H . S t e i n b e r g ' s Five Hundred Years of Printing (1955) has appeared in a German translation by J a k o b Hasslin u n d e r the title of Die schwarze Kunst: 500 Jahre Buchdruck (Munich: Prestel Verlag, 1958). Like other Prestel books, this little volume is so well produced a n d the facsimiles are so sharp that the translation deserves a place on the shelf even of a library owning the original. Steinberg's narrative moves swiftly, and he is judicious in the choice of high spots in the history of the craft. T h e bibliography in this edition has been brought u p to date, a n d a few minor adjustments made in the text. An incidental but not totally irrelevant value of books of which there are editions both in English a n d in French or G e r m a n is for graduate students who are p r e p a r i n g for a reading knowledge examination. T h e un- dergraduate training of many of them is so poor that intelligent use of a " p o n y " may often be h e l p f u l . B O O K H I S T O R Y T h e Archiv fiir Geschichte des Buchwesens appears irregularly u n d e r the editorship of Bertold Hack a n d Bernhard W e n d t and, for- tunately, allows the inclusion of longer es- says than most learned journals accept. In Fascicles 7-9 of vol. II (1960) Heinrich G r i m m has a long study of "Die deutschen 'Teufelsbiicher' des 16. J a h r h u n d e r t s : ihre Rolle im Buchwesen unci ihre Bedeutung." T h i s interesting genre had an i m p o r t a n t roll in the book trade of the R e f o r m a t i o n era, a n d Grimm brings out their significance within the whole framework of the religious, social, political, a n d economic conditions of the age. These fascicles of the Archiv (deliv- ered u n d e r one cover) also contain thirteen other shorter studies. R o c o c o I L L U S R A T I O N Joachim Wiecler's new edition of Wilhelm H a u s e n s t e i n ' s Rokoko: franzosische und deutsche Illustratdren des 18. Jahrhunderts (Munich: R. Piper, 1958) is a welcome addi- tion to the lists of books in p r i n t . Hausen- stein's account of eighteenth-century book il- lustration in Germany a n d France is a pene- trating study of the whole era; for the fine nuances of artistic creation are perhaps the best vehicles for describing the galanterie of the salons, r a d i a n t melancholy, heroic scenes, a n d endless variations of erotic rendezvous, all so typical of the fashionable book of the eighteenth century a n d the culture behind S E P T E M B E R 1 9 6 0 413 it. T h e careers of the artists f r o m poverty to prosperity (or, too o f t e n , poverty back to poverty) a n d the roles of the patrons are among the most characteristic a n d the most revealing aspects of society in the m o r i b u n d ancien regime. Hausenstein's book is heavily loaded with factual data, b u t his narrative moves rapidly. T h e r e is an index of artists a n d a short b u t concise biblio- graphical essay a d e q u a t e f o r the purpose. Rokoko is a work that is a " m u s t " on the reading lists f o r all courses in the history of the book, n o t to m e n t i o n general studies in eighteenth-century E u r o p e a n history. O T T O D O R F N E R W o l f g a n d Eckardt's Otto Dorfner (Stutt- gart: Max H e t t l e r Verlag, 1960) describes the life a n d work of one of the greatest book- binders a n d teachers of b i n d i n g in the twentieth century. W h e n Professor D o r f n e r died in W e i m a r at the age of seventy in 1955, he left one of the great traditions of G e r m a n art binding. H e h a d received nearly every professional h o n o r in his field, h a d served effectively as director of the T h u r i n g i a n Crafts School in Weimar, a n d h a d personally created some of the most remarkable original designs of bindings to be f o u n d in twentieth- century Germany. Eckhardt's narrative is pri- marily biographical, b u t there are many worthwhile glimpses into the well-springs of D o r f n e r ' s genius. T h e thirty-two plates are halftones p r i n t e d letterpress, a n d they b r i n g out the details of Dorfner's craftsmanship effectively. D A N I S H B O O K P R O D U C T I O N T h e superior quality of Danish books sug- gests, inter alia, the existence of superior training facilities in the book production industry a n d of good textbooks. O n e such m a n u a l which has received insufficient atten- tion abroad is O t t o Andersen's Boghaand- vaerket: Bogtryk, Papir, Reproduktion, Bog- bind (3d ed.; C o p e n h a g e n : Boghandlerfag- skolen, 1954). T h e author, a Copenhagen publisher a n d bookseller, covers the various processes of composition a n d presswork, pa- per, pictorial reproduction, b i n d i n g (hand a n d machine), design, the development of types, technical terms (arranged logically by process b u t fully indexed), samples of print- ing types commonly used in Denmark, a n d a bibliography. T h e illustrations, carefully chosen a n d well reproduced, will justify the presence of the book in a collection where Danish is not widely understood by readers, a n d the collection of technical terms with definitions has a substantial reference value. C h a r l e s M o e g r e e n ' s Laerebog i Typografi (Copenhagen: Fagskolen for Boghaandvaerk, 1958) is a comprehensive a n d compact text- book in all aspects of typography. Richly il- lustrated a n d with an index c o n t a i n i n g some six h u n d r e d terms, Moegreen's book is lucid, authoritative, a n d well organized, a n d a q u a r t e r of a century of experience as a teacher undergirds the entire work. Although the book was written with special a t t e n t i o n to the needs of students, it may also be used f o r reference. W e have n o comparable work in English with so many detailed illustra- tions, a n d the text is also considerably more extensive than a n y t h i n g we have in any sin- gle volume. T h e bibliography, a select but a d e q u a t e list of a b o u t seventy titles on typo- graphical practice, reveals clearly the relative volume a n d quality of the literature in vari- ous languages. In English-speaking countries we must d e p e n d heavily on works such as Moegreen's a n d comparable books in Ger- m a n a n d Swedish. T U S C A N S E R I A L S Clementina R o t o n d i ' s Bibliografia dei pe- riodici toscani (1852-1864) ( " B i b l i o t e c a d i bibliografia italiana," X X X V I ; Florence: Olschki, 1960) is an analytical list of 207 serials published in Tuscany, mainly in Flor- ence, d u r i n g a critical period of Italian his- tory. All types of serials are included, regard- less of periodicity, content, or importance. For each title there is i n f o r m a t i o n on the complete history of the printing, the period covered, editors, a historical a n d descriptive note, bibliographical references, a n d location of copies. T h e arrangement is chronological, a n d there is an alphabetical index of titles a n d a n o t h e r index of persons. Miss Rotondi's work is a key to Italian history of the period just prior to n a t i o n a l unification, but it is also a basic contribution to the history of Italian journalism. Comparable works for other periods a n d other jurisdictions would do well to follow this model. T H E V E R T I C A L F I L E W e r n e r Liebich's Anwendungsmoglichkei- ten der Vertikalablage ( " A r b e i t e n a u s d e m 414 C O L L E G E A N D R E S E A R C H L I B R A R I E S Bibliothekar-Lehrinstitut des Landes Nord- rhein-Westfalen," 18; Cologne: Greven Ver- lag, 1959) is a definitive study of die verti- cal file. Liebich examines die history, the physical forms, inclusion of materials, a n d administration of the vertical file, a n d he provides an exhaustive bibliography. His treatment is tempered with common sense, b u t at the same time h e shows much imagina- tion about the potential of the vertical file in all types of libraries a n d library situations. T h e r e is a section of illustrations showing various types of vertical file equipment. Ref- erence librarians in this country as well as in Europe will find that this work will be a useful addition to their desk-top reference set. T H E B I B L I O T H E Q U E N A T I O N A L E J u l i e n Cain's Les Transformations de la Bibliotheque Nationale de 1936 a 1959 ( P a r i s , 1959) is a handsomely illustrated brochure of seventy-four pages showing the physical changes in the French national library dur- ing the past q u a r t e r of a century. T h e spatial problems of the Bibliotheque Nationale were probably the most aggravated of any of the great national libraries, b u t M. Cain and his colleagues have attacked them with vigor a n d imagination. Many of their solutions are suggestive for research libraries of all types a n d in different countries of the world. T h e r e is a subject index a n d a topographi- cal index to the various parts of the library. I T A L I A N L I B R A R I E S La ricostruzione delle biblioteche italiane dopo la guerra 1950-55 ( R o m e : D i r e z i o n e Generale delle Accademie e Biblioteche, Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione, 1955; 2 v.) reveals considerably greater damage to Italian libraries than was generally suspected in this country. Divided by regions, each Italian library of any significance is described briefly, and, when possible, the exact extent of the damage caused by military action is noted. T h e second volume is organized on parallel lines and gives detailed accounts of reconstruction. Both volumes are richly il- lustrated. As a prime source of twentieth- century library history, these two volumes deserve careful study, for they provide con- siderable insight into the present status of Italian libraries. T h e vigor a n d imagination applied to the problem of reconstruction is a partial indication of the Italians' apprecia- tion of their great libraries as a national re- source. T h e s e c o n d e d i t i o n of t h e Annuario delle biblioteche italiane ( R o m e : D i r e z i o n e G e n - erale delle Accademie e Biblioteche, Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione, 1959; 3v.) reveals a healthy library situation in Italy, at least as far as the organization, housing, and avail- ability of the collections are concerned. T h e first two volumes cover, in alphabetical or- der, the libraries outside of Rome; and the third covers Rome, Vatican City, and San Marino. History, holdings, special collections, a n d catalogs are noted, and there is a list of references to literature about the library, when such exist. At the end of each volume there is an extensive collection of photo- graphs of the libraries in the volume in ques- tion. T h e Annuario is one of those contribu- tions to library literature which can be read with pleasure a n d also serve as a key ref- erence book. B O O K S A R E F O R R E A D I N G "Books Are f o r R e a d i n g , " a speech by P a u l Bixler at the Burma-American In- stitute, R a n g o o n , Burma, has been p r i n t e d as a p a m p h l e t . T h e A C R L office will fill requests for copies as long as its limited supply lasts. Mr. Bixler has been on leave f r o m Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, since the summer of 1958 as Library Adviser to the Social Science L i b r a r y of the University of R a n g o o n . H e re- t u r n s to Antioch this m o n t h . S E P T E M B E R 1 9 6 0 415