College and Research Libraries


m i g h t reasonably a n t i c i p a t e t h a t the costs of 
stabilization may be i n the vicinity of $2.75, 
± 50 p e r cent, p e r volume. W e assume the 
cost of e q u i p m e n t a n d chemicals to be negli-
gible. T h i s cost w o u l d be less t h a n t h a t of 
m a k i n g a single negative microfilm. Coopera-
tive filming m i g h t p r o d u c e a m o r e competi-
tive r a t e w h e t h e r a master negative were 
m a d e to be used only if, as, a n d w h e n a 
n e e d f o r a copy materialized, o r d u p l i c a t e 
p r i n t s were r u n off a n d d i s t r i b u t e d to the 
p a r t i c i p a n t s . Microfilming would also offer 
r e d u c e d space costs, b u t it w o u l d result in 
h i g h e r costs f o r use a n d be m u c h less con-
v e n i e n t o r even impractical f o r m a n y types 
of m a t e r i a l . F u r t h e r m o r e , if a cooperative 
microfilm negative is feasible in terms of 
accessibility, then the profession m i g h t be 
well advised to consider a cooperatively sta-
bilized copy or two of seldom used titles. I t 
m i g h t be less costly a n d m u c h m o r e conven-
i e n t in the l o n g r u n t h a n f o r each library 
i n d e p e n d e n t l y to try to stabilize or micro-
film everything of possible interest. T h e 
economies of massive cooperative r e p r i n t i n g 
may also be competitive with microfilm or 
chemical stabilization. I t should be possible 
to mechanize the stabilizing o p e r a t i o n a n d 
possibly reduce the labor costs very signifi-
cantly; the r e - b i n d i n g cost a p p e a r s inescapa-
ble. C u r r e n t periodicals, if n e e d e d in original 
form, should obviously be t r e a t e d b e f o r e 
the initial b i n d i n g . If chemical stabilization 
is to be used, it is a b u n d a n t l y clear t h a t the 
sooner it is started, the g r e a t e r will be t h e 
n u m b e r of i m p o r t a n t books salvaged in use-
f u l f o r m . 

O n e may take the h a p p y a n d c o m p l a c e n t 
view t h a t the p e r m a n e n t loss of a few thou-
sand tons of books a n d j o u r n a l s each year 
for the n e x t fifty or o n e h u n d r e d years may 
d o the world little harm—possibly some 
g o o d — a n d be right. B u t u n f o r t u n a t e l y , n o 
two p e o p l e are likely to agree o n the titles 
to be c o n d e m n e d to e x t i n c t i o n , a n d even if 
they could, it w o u l d n o t be just the worthless 
books a n d j o u r n a l s t h a t will be stricken. As 
all librarians know, the best a l o n g with the 
worst will be eager c a n d i d a t e s f o r disintegra-
tion. Research a n d o t h e r libraries of perma-
n e n t record may confidently a n t i c i p a t e t h a t 
a growing p e r c e n t a g e of their b u d g e t s will 
be r e q u i r e d to meet, in o n e way or a n o t h e r , 
this p r o b l e m . W e are i n d e b t e d to Messrs. 
Barrow a n d C h u r c h a n d the Council on Li-

brary Resources f o r a well designed a n d 
clearly r e p o r t e d investigation of a very seri-
ous p r o b l e m . W h i l e it w o u l d be h e l p f u l to 
have the presently scattered reports o n this 
investigation b r o u g h t together i n o n e con-
solidated r e p o r t , it does n o t a p p e a r too soon 
f o r the ALA, A R L , a n d o t h e r affected g r o u p s 
to begin weighing the impfications of this 
investigation a n d to set a b o u t designing an 
efficient a n d effective p r o g r a m to r e s p o n d 
to the situation. It a p p e a r s to be later t h a n 
w e t h i n k . — H e r m a n H. Fussier, University 
of Chicago Library. 

A Rewarding Festschrift 
Libris et Litteris. Festschrift fiir Hermann 

Tiemann zum 60. Geburtstag. H r s g . v o n 
Christian Voigt u n d Erich Z i m m e r m a n n . 
[ H a m b u r g ] Maximilian-Gesellschaft, 1959. 
364p„ 16 illus. DM40. 

T h i s volume, excellently p r o d u c e d for the 
Maximilian-Gesellschaft, was issued in h o n o r 
of the l i b r a r i a n of the State a n d University 
Library of H a m b u r g , Dr. H e r m a n n T i e -
m a n n . T h e variety of articles, of which many 
are of scholarly value, reflects the wide in-
terest a n d the e r u d i t i o n of o n e of the lead-
ing figures in c o n t e m p o r a r y G e r m a n li-
b r a r i a n s h i p . T h e Festschrift is divided i n t o 
t h r e e parts, o n e d e a l i n g with l i b r a r i a n s h i p , 
a n o t h e r w i t h the history of books, a n d a 
t h i r d with literary history. T h i s review will 
for obvious reasons be more concerned with 
the first t h a n w i t h the second a n d t h i r d 
parts. 

Dr. Schmidt-Kunsemuller reviews Her-
m a n n T i e m a n n ' s place in l i b r a r i a n s h i p , par-
ticularly the r e b u i l d i n g of the largely de-
stroyed H a m b u r g library a n d the formula-
tion of West G e r m a n library policies a f t e r 
the debacle of 1945. T w o carefully discussed 
p r o b l e m s will be of special interest to 
American readers: (1) the r e l a t i o n s h i p be-
tween c e n t r a l a n d d e p a r t m e n t a l libraries in 
universities ( T i e m a n n , like so many of us, 
strives towards a policy of s u p p l e m e n t a t i o n 
r a t h e r t h a n competition); a n d (2) the place 
of a central n a t i o n a l library in the network 
of research libraries (he sees a central library 
n o t as an o v e r p o w e r i n g universal library, 
b u t as an i n s t i t u t i o n which s h o u l d f u r n i s h a 

S E P T E M B E R 1 9 6 0 419 



balance t h r o u g h its services in the n a t i o n a l 
interest ( A u s g l e i c h b i b l i o t h e k ) , p r o v i d i n g the 
facilities for exchange, i n f o r m a t i o n , cata-
loging, etc.). T h e second article, by C h r i s t i a n 
Voigt, tells the history of the State a n d Uni-
versity L i b r a r y of H a m b u r g , f r o m its h u m -
ble b e g i n n i n g s i n 1479 as a city council li-
brary ( R a t s b i b l i o t h e k ) to t h e present; f r o m 
t o w n library to scholar's library, to p u b l i c 
city library, to research library w i t h a m o r e 
g e n e r a l a n d carefully defined scope, accented 
by the f o u n d i n g of the University of H a m -
b u r g in 1919. T h e last p a r t deals w i t h the 
spectacular recovery a n d r e c o n s t r u c t i o n of 
this i m p o r t a n t library which h a d suffered 
heavier losses d u r i n g W o r l d W a r I I t h a n 
any o t h e r ; it lost 600,000 volumes (only 120,-
000 were saved). Voigt's historical sketch is 
s u p p l e m e n t e d by a n article by E r i c h Zim-
m e r m a n n o n H i n r i c h M u r m e s t e r a n d the 
f o u n d i n g of the library in 1479-1481. 

T w o i m p o r t a n t law libraries devoted to 
foreign a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l law were f o u n d e d 
in G e r m a n y soon a f t e r the first W o r l d W a r , 
o n e specializing in p u b l i c a n d the o t h e r in 
p r i v a t e law. It is the l a t t e r which is the sub-
ject of H . P. des Coudres's article. K n o w n as 
t h e library of the Max-Planck-Institute, it 
was evacuated f r o m Berlin to T u b i n g e n a n d 
Sigmaringen i n 1943, a n d moved to H a m -
b u r g i n 1956. Its c o o r d i n a t i o n w i t h o t h e r 
libraries i n H a m b u r g , a n d its new b u i l d i n g , 
are described i n some detail. 

P e t e r Karstedt c o n t r i b u t e s a somewhat 
theoretical article o n the sociology of li-
braries i n which h e a t t e m p t s a n i n t e r p r e t a -
tion of the differences between university li-
braries, w i t h their p u r p o s e of p r o m o t i n g the 
universality of l e a r n i n g , a n d the city research 
libraries, which by necessity develop a l o n g 
the same lines as the city or region which 
they serve. T h e n e x t c o n t r i b u t i o n , by 
Meyer-Abich, covers two questions: (1) w h a t 
is library science, a n d (2) to w h a t e x t e n t is 
a library a research i n s t i t u t i o n ? T h e a u t h o r 
sees need f o r a concept of l i b r a r i a n s h i p gov-
e r n e d by scholarship r a t h e r t h a n technology. 
H e r m a n n Fuchs' article o n the a l p h a b e t i c a l 
catalog begins w i t h a q u o t a t i o n f r o m Pierce 
B u t l e r which h a d amused m a n y of us w h e n 
we r e a d it in 1953: " N o b o d y loves a cata-
loged Catalogers are the pariahs, t h e un-
touchables, in the caste system of librarian-
ship. Everyone seems to loathe or to pity 
t h e m . " T h a t G e r m a n y too has its "crisis in 

cataloging" is e v i d e n t f r o m this a n d the ar-
ticle following by J o h a n n e s Fock, w h o ana-
lyzes the pros a n d the cons of the classified 
a n d the a l p h a b e t i c a l subject catalog. T h e au-
thors of b o t h these articles are well i n f o r m e d 
o n A m e r i c a n library l i t e r a t u r e . 

T h i s concludes the first p a r t of the book. 
I n t h e section o n book history we find ar-
ticles o n Bible illustrations in early m a n u -
scripts, o n the study of i n c u n a b l e s a n d 
p r i n t i n g i n L o u v a i n , o n music p r i n t i n g in 
fifteenth-century books, o n a K o r a n p r i n t e d 
i n H a m b u r g in 1695, o n a late sixteenth-
century b i n d i n g , a n d o n a stock catalog of a 
large h o r t i c u l t u r a l establishment of the 
e i g h t e e n t h century. T h e t h i r d a n d final p a r t 
deals w i t h such literary figures as Quevedo, 
Kleist, de T o q u e v i l l e , a n d T h o m a s M a n n ; it 
is of interest p r i m a r i l y to the s t u d e n t of 
R o m a n c e a n d G e r m a n i c l i t e r a t u r e . 

I n conclusion I s h o u l d like to m a k e the 
subjective observation t h a t r e a d i n g this vol-
u m e was r e w a r d i n g . I n contrast to so m a n y 
Festschriften, it contains a large n u m b e r of 
well w r i t t e n , t h o u g h t f u l , a n d carefully ed-
i t e d a r t i c l e s . — R u d o l f Hirsch, University of 
Pennsylvania Library. 

Classification and Indexing 
Classification and Indexing in Science. 2 d e d . , 

enl. By B. C. Vickery, with an i n t r o d u c t i o n 
by D. }. Foskett. N e w York: Academic 
Press, Inc., 1959. 235p. $6.00. 

Some years ago, a C a m b r i d g e d o n , n o t e d 
b o t h f o r his wit a n d narrowness of vision, 
r e m a r k e d that "America is the place where 
all good fallacies go w h e n they die, to be 
b o r n again as the latest discoveries of the 
local professors." O u r British cousins recog-
nize t h a t they borrow f r o m us fashions in jazz 
a n d soft drinks, b u t they p r i d e themselves o n 
t h e fact t h a t the intellectual m o v e m e n t across 
the A t l a n t i c is f r o m east to west. 

H o w e v e r t r u e this may be in general, it is 
certainly the case t h a t the d e v e l o p m e n t of 
m o d e r n l i b r a r i a n s h i p m o v e d f r o m west to 
east. T h e p u b l i c library m o v e m e n t is dis-
tinctly a n American creation, a n d so is die 
d e v e l o p m e n t of classification systems as a 
m e t h o d of organizing book collections a n d 
p r o v i d i n g r e f e r e n c e a n d i n f o r m a t i o n service 

420 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