College and Research Libraries EUGENE P. SHEEHY Selected Reference Books of 1971-72 ~ INTRODUCTION THIS ARTICLE continues the semiannual series originally edited by Constance M. Winchell. Although it appears under a byline, the list is actually a project of the Reference Department of the Co- lumbia University Libraries, and notes are signed with the initials of the indi- vidual staff members. 1 Since the purpose of the list is to pre- sent a selection of recent scholarly and foreign works of interest to reference workers in university libraries, it does not pretend to be either well balanced or comprehensive. Code numbers (such as AA 71, 2BD89) have been used to refer to titles in the Guide to Reference Books and its supplements. 2 NATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY Zimmerman, Irene. Current National Bib- liographies of Latin Amm·ica; a State of the Art Study. [Gainesville], Center for Latin American Studies, U niv. of Flor- ida, 1971. 139p. $7.00. 73-632969. Irene Zimmerman, eminent Latin Amer- icanist, here provides a country-by-country account of the available bibliographies of current Latin American publications. This is not an annotated bibliography, but rather "an attempt to describe the major char- acteristics of each individual situation and the results of what efforts are being made to produce a current record of a given country's publications."-Introd. The intra- 1 Diane Goon, Rita Keckeissen, Eileen Mc- Ilvaine, Mary Ann Miller, Janet Schneider, Nancy Schroeder, Barbara Wendell; School of Library Service, Evelyn Lauer. 2 Constance M. Winchell, Guide to Refer- ence Books (8th ed.; Chicago: ALA, 1967); Supplement I (Chicago: ALA, 1968); Sup- plement II (Chicago: ALA, 1970). 318 I duction presents a bibliographic essay about the sources applicable to Latin America as a whole before consideration is given to each country in Part II, "South America," and Part III, "The Caribbean Area." As Ms. Zimmerman defines the term, any pub- lished material which can be construed to be of aid in providing a record of a coun- try's publications is part of its comprehen- sive national bibliography. "If the records include periodicals, government documents, theses, and whatever else a printing press ... can produce, so much the better."-In- trod. Thus we find her book an extremely useful and comprehensive guide to bib- liographic sources of Latin America. There is a selective bibliography and a good in- dex.-M.M. BooK REviEw INDEXES Internationale Bibliographie der Rezen- sionen wissenschaftlicher Literatur. Hrsg. von Otto Zeller. Jahrg.1, Halbband 1- . Osnabriick, Dietrich, 1971- . Semiannu- al? (Jahrg.1, Halbband 1, 4 parts in 3v.) Title also in English: International bib- liography of book reviews of scholarly lit- erature. Contents: A, Verzeichnis der beriick- sichtigten Zeitschriften; B, Verzeichnis der Rezensionen nach Schlagwortern; C, Ver- zeichnis der Rezensionen nach rezensierten Verfassern; D, Verzeichnis der Rezension- en nach Rezensenten. This book review index, like its prede- cessor Bibliographie der Rezensionen, 1900-43 (Guide AA313), is very compre- hensive, covering in the first issue about 1700 scholarly journals in more than a dozen languages and in fields as varied as ecumenism and entomology, music and microbiology. Format is that of the related publication, Internationale Bibliographie der Zeitschriftenliteratur (Guide AF118), and the journals cited in part A are all from its list. This first Halbband lists reviews Selected Reference Books of 1971-72 I 319 mainly of 1968-69 books, but includes many from earlier in the decade, and at least one 1960 imprint was noted in spot- checking. Entry includes author, title, full im- print, and paging of the book; full name of the reviewer; volume, date, and paging of journal (which is cited by key number). Complete information is given in parts B, C, and D. The listing by reviewer, part D, is a useful feature offered by no other gen- eral book review index currently published. The work will be an important one in the large library.-R.K. MICROFORMS Microform Review. v.1, no.1- , Jan. 1972- . Weston, Conn., 1972- . Quarterly. $30 for journal and microfiche eds.; $20.00 for journal ed. only; $20.00 for microfiche ed. only. Editor Allen B. Veaner and his advisory board of librarians and historians are to be congratulated for founding a journal ad- dressed to the problems which librarians face in intelligently managing the pro- liferation of materials produced in micro- form. There is a great need for evaluation of "the acquisitions and servicing effects upon our collections, our bibliographic tools and our public service capabilities." -v.l , no.l. The new journal provides a news section for announcements of proj- ects, indexes, and bibliographies, as well as articles of interest to scholars and librar- ians: "Some Problems of Microform Utili- zation in Large University Libraries" by C. Edward Carroll, and "Research at the London Public Record Office: a Commen- tary on British Foreign Office Papers and Other Collections" by Thomas E. Hachey are but two of the articles appearing in the first issue. The long reviews of micro- form projects are especially helpful; in ad- dition to a description and evaluation, the reviews indicate format, quantity, dura- bility, finding aids, reduction ratio, and re- placement policy. From the point of view of the reference librarian one hopes that the journal will offer review articles on older, as well as new, microform collec- tions.-E.M. ENCYCLOPEDIAS Meyers enzyklopiidisches Lexikon. 9., vol- 1ig neu bearb. Aufl. Mit 100 signierten Sonderbeitdigen. Mannheim, Bibliogra- phisches Institut, 1971- . v.1- . $24.50 per v. (In progress) 70-873556. Contents: v.1- 3, A-Ber. This edition, to be in 25 volumes, marks a return to the quality and standards of the long line of encyclopedias bearing the name of Meyer and published in Leipzig from 1840 until the firm's liquidation in 1945. An 8th edition, published 1936-42 and influenced by Nazi ideology, was aban- doned after volume 9. Meyers neues Lexikon ( 8 volumes and supplement, 1961-67; Guide AD38) was published without edition num- ber; it was characterized by numerous short articles with little or no bibliography, and strongly reflected the political orientation of the East German government. While brief entries still abound in this new edi- tion, important topics receive very full treatment, and bibliographies are often ex- tensive and generally up-to-date. Maps and charts accompany country articles, and there are thousands of diagrams and illus- trations (both in color and black-and- white), most of them small, but of high quality. Biographical sketches include liv- ing persons. Atlas and index volumes are promised, but are optional purchases.- E.S. LANGUAGE DICTIONARIES Baldinger, Kurt. Dictionnaire etyrrwlogique de fancien franyais. Quebec, Les Presses de l'Universite Laval, 1971- . fasc.1 - . (In progress) Contents: fasc.1, G1 ( Gaaignepain-Gar- der). $14.00. Although students of Old French already have at their disposal a range of excellent dictionaries, notably Godefroy' s Diction- naire de l' ancienne langue fran~aise, the Tobler-Lommatzsch Altfranzosisches Wor- terbuch and Wartburg's monumental Fran- zosisches etymologisches w orterbuch (Guide AE246, AE250 and AE239, re- spectively), this one offers advantages that wholly justify its publication. It is based on Wartburg, but since it is restricted to the vocabulary of the mid ninth to mid fourteenth centuries, it is able to present 320 I College & Research Libraries • July 1972 each work in greater detail. It is arranged not by etymon, as is Wartburg, but by the basic word of each etymological family, so that even a beginner without previous knowledge of French etymology can easily consult the dictionary. It is broader in scope than Tobler-Lommatzsch (which covers only the literary language), and at- tempts to correct the many inaccuracies of Godefroy. Attestations and lexical sources are carefully documented. A note on the publishing schedule: the dictionary will take at least ten years to complete and will appear at the rate of two fascicules a year. G-Z will be issued first, then A-F, in order to take advantage of the revision that is now underway for the first part of the Wartburg work. In- formation contained in the "DEAF" will then be used to compile more specialized dictionaries, such as a "Dictionnaire in- verse de r ancien fran9ais" and a "Diction- naire onomasiologique de !'ancien fran9ais." An abridged edition is also planned.-N.S. PERIODICALS Woodworth, David. Guide to Current Brit- ish Journals. London, Library Assoc., 1970. 269p. £5. 74-590487. "Designed as a quick reference source for speedy identification, and publication details, of British journals" (Introd.), this work is arranged in classed subject order with an abbreviated UDC notation assigned to the headings. Although concerned with British publications (i.e., journals pub- lished in England, Wales, Scotland, N. Ire- land, and the Channel Islands) , some "important" journals from the Irish Repub- lic are included. Entries are numbered se- quentially, and the title/ subject index is keyed to these numbers. In effect, this is a new edition of the 1962 Guide to Current British Periodicals by Mary Toase (Guide AF49). Entries include the standard informa- tion (title, date of first issue, frequency, publisher, features such as book reviews, etc.), but they are difficult to read without frequent referral to the explanatory notes. The last element of an entry seems some- what superfluous: including the date of the issue examined by the compiler may be an admirable attempt at documenta- tion, but it doesn't appreciably add to the utility of the directory. A useful feature is the indication of indexing in the standard British indexes and the IBZ; an appendix lists titles which carry abstracts.-B.W. BIOGRAPHY Klein, Donald W., and Clark, Anne B. Biographic Dictionary of Chinese Com- munism, 1921-1965. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard Univ. Pr., 1971. 2v. $30. 69- 12725. The authors are to be commended for this detailed work relating the lives of the men who made the greatest impact on the Communist movement in China from 1921 to 1965. Of the 433 major biographies, 422 were written by Klein and Clark. Nearly half of the entries are for persons elected to the Central Committee at the Seventh Party Congress in 1945 and those elected at the first and second sessions of the Eighth Party Congress ( 1956- 58). The remaining entries comprise "martyrs," key military figures, prominent officials, and other representative leaders. These scholarly biographies portray a man's specific organizational connections with revolutionary parties, highlight signifi- cant events in his career, and cite major speeches and writings. Bibliographic notes indicate further sources, mainly in the En- glish language. Frequent references to oth- er entries serve to integrate accounts of im- portant events and organizations. The ninety-six appendices, concerned with both personal and organizational data, in- clude information on an additional 600 persons. The "glossary-name index" (which includes Chinese characters) lists all the names in the appendices and those men- tioned in the biographic sketches as well as the names of the major biographees. This valuable aid will be welcomed by scholars, journalists, government officials, and others interested in the history of the Chinese Communist Party. Along with the Biographical Dictionary of Republican China (Suppl. 2AJ14) it provides much useful material on modern China-].S. Notable American Women, 1607-1950; a Biographical Dictionary. Edward T. James, ed. Cambridge, Mass., Belknap Selected Reference Books of 1971-72 I 321 Pr. of Harvard Univ. Pr., 1971. 3v. $60.00. 76-152274. Sponsored by Radcliffe College, this long-awaited work constitutes a record of more than three hundred years of wom- en's history in America. Modeled on the DAB (Guide AJ32) , it is an alphabetical arrangement of 1,377 biographical sketches ranging up to ten pages in length, by writ- ers "with special knowledge of the sub- ject or her field."-Pref. The criterion for inclusion is stated as "distinction in [a woman's] own right of more than local significance." The one exception made is the inclusion of the Presidents' wives re- gardless of their own qualifications. Like the DAB, the dictionary interprets "Amer- ican" in a broad sense; unlike the DAB, it has not used conventional respectability as a necessary ingredient of "distinction." Selection was limited to women who died no later than the end of 1950, and few active careers extend beyond 1920. Bibliographies and notes on sources fol- low each sketch; articles are signed in full, sometimes by well-known scholars, but no list of the more than 700 contributors is given. Both the interesting introduction by Janet Wilson James (surveying the his- tory of women in America) and the classi- fied list of biographies in volume 3 should prove useful. Excellence of the work raises hope that Radcliffe will plan supplementary volumes.-R.K. PHILOSOPHY Vasoli, Cesare, ed. Il pensiero medievale; orientamenti bibliografici. Bari, Laterza, [1971]. 301p. L.1200. Addressed to the student of medieval thought, this bibliographic guide covers the major and minor writers, themes, and prob- lems of medieval philosophy from Boethius through the fourteenth century, the greater portion, of course, devoted to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. For each author treated, works are identified, editions cited, and important critical studies (books, jour- nal articles, and contributions to Festschrif- ten) are given; there are many annotations. In the case of major authors for whom ex- tensive specialized bibliography exists, a few of the most important older critical works are cited, but emphasis in these sec- tions is on significant recent materials. The editor has been at pains to include tra- ditionally "minor" figures who in recent years have been the subject of scholarly attention. A detailed table of contents sub- stitutes for an analytic index.-R.K. RELIGION Berlin, Charles, camp. Index to Festschrif- ten in Jewish Studies. Cambridge, Har- vard College Library; N.Y., Ktav, 1971. 319p. $29.50. 72-138460. The first index to F estschriften in Jewish studies since 1937, this useful new tool lists 6700 articles in 243 jubilee volumes, all of them in the Harvard collection. It covers primarily those Festschriften devot- ed entirely to Jewish history and literature of all periods and places, supplementing Marcus and Bilgray' s index (Guide BB 287) both by using 1937 as the starting date for coverage and by including pre- 1936 volumes not in the earlier work. F estschriften indexed were published in monographic series, as separates, and as special issues of periodicals. Many languages are represented, with Hebrew accounting for a large proportion of articles. Part I of the Index is an alphabetic author list of the essays, with paging, and Festschrift source indicated by name of person in whose honor published. Part II is a subject arrangement of the articles, alphabetic ac- cording to headings adapted from the Har- vard List of Subject Headings Used in the Public Catalog ( 1964). Preceding Part I is the "List of Festschriften Indexed," arranged by name of person or institution honored, and with full bibliographical de- tails.-R.K. Encyclopaedia ]udaica. Jerusalem, [Keter Publ. House; N.Y.], Macmillan, [1972]. 16v. il. $500. 72-90254. Noteworthy as the first Jewish encyclo- pedia of major proportions to be published in several decades, this scholarly work has been completely compiled and published within five years. The monumental task of producing an English-language encyclope- dia providing "a comprehensive picture of all aspects of Jewish life and knowledge up to the present" (Introd.) was accom- plished by 300 editors and 1800 con- 322 I College & Research Libraries • July 1972 tributors, and its publication history and that of its predecessors is interestingly de- tailed in the introduction. In that section the editors describe the formulation of their editorial policy and the method of compila- tion; inconsistencies have not only been ad- mitted, they have been enumerated. The index to the Encyclopaedia has been designated as volume 1 in order to empha- size its central importance to the work. That volume includes the introductory ma- terial, listings of editors and their vitas, and a key to contributors' initials. Aids such as transliteration tables (for Hebrew, Yiddish, Arabic, Greek, and Russian alphabets) and supplementary lists of Israel place names and of Hebrew newspapers and periodicals serve to make the first volume a ready reference tool. Most of the 25,000 articles are signed, with relatively short bibliographies append- ed; emphasis in the latter is on English- language sources (even if they are trans- lations of classic works). The editors state that standard histories and older encyclo- pedias must be consulted in many cases, but owing to space considerations these are cited only when they provide "material of special significance." The volumes are well-designed and attractively bound, and the set will be a welcome addition to any library having need of a valuable twen- tieth-century view of world Jewry.-B.W. The Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary on the Bible. Charles M. Laymon, ed. Nashville, Abingdon Pr., [1971]. 1386p. $17.50. 71-144392. Scholars throughout the English-speak- ing world have participated in this effort to provide a guide to Bible interpreta- tion for "ministers, lay, and non-profession- al persons engaged in studying or teaching in the ·church school, college students, and those who are unequipped to follow the more specialized discussions of biblical mat- ters."-Editor's Pref. Based on the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, the lengthy, signed commentaries on the Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha constitute the major portion of the book. These are followed by a series of general articles on biblical interpretation, geographical and historical setting, text, canon, and transla- tion and impact of the Bible. There is a chronology, an explanation of moneys and measures, an index of scripture refer- ences, and a series of full-color maps. The introduction to each commentary discusses the book's historical setting, sources, authorship and date, structure, point of view, etc., and concludes with a bibliog- raphy (sometimes critically annotated) of English-language sources; English transla- tions from works in other languages are often noted. The commentaries themselves vary widely in both style and content, though the high level of scholarship and balanced point of view are evident through- out. The editors may have presumed a wider audience than will actually prove to be the case; the work is not adapted to quick reference use or casual skimming by the general reader. But as a scholarly guide for the serious student, it is a worthy addition to the "Interpreter's family" of biblical reference works.-D.G. Williams, Ethel L., and Brown, Clifton L., comps. Afro-American Religious Studies: A Comprehensive Bibliography with Lo- cations in American Libraries. Metuch- en, N.J., Scarecrow Pr., 1972. 454p. $12.50. 78-166072. Compiled in response to the "pressing need for a comprehensive bibliographical guide for sources in the area of African and Mro-American religious studies" (Pref.), this long list of books and ar- ticles (about 6000 entries) published over a broad span of time will be useful both for identifying and locating materials. There are five main sections in the classi- fied arrangement: "Mrican Heritage," "Christianity and Slavery in the New World," "The American Negro and the American Religious Life," "The Civil Rights Movement," and "The Contemporary Re- ligious Scene." These, in turn, are divided and subdivided by topic, by country, and by church or sect as appropriate. The de- tailed table of contents which substitutes for an analytic index should be studied for maximum use. Within a sub-section entries are arranged alphabetically by author; full bibliographical information is given, and at least one location noted. There are ap- pendices of periodical titles, manuscript col- lections and sources consulted, and an au- thor index.-R.K. Selected Reference Books of 1971-72 I 323 LITERATURE Jahn, Janheinz, and Dressler, Claus Peter. Bibliography of Creative African Writ- ing. Nendeln, [Liechtenstein], Kraus- Thomson, 1971. 446p. $27.50. 70-154142. Borrowing the term "Agisymba" from Ptolemy, the compilers note that this bib- liography intends to include the creative literature of all "Agisymba" or "Black Mrica"-a concept not easily defined by mere geographical or racial boundaries. For example: "In South Mrica the racial law clearly separates 'Bantu' and 'Euro- pean' literature. In Angola and Mozam- bique, however, racial lines could not be drawn. Thus all writers who call them- selves Angolese or Mozambikans, even though some were born in Portugal, . . . were included."-Introd. The work is both an expansion and up- dating of the Mrican section of Jahn's Bib- liography of N eo-African Literature ( Suppl. 1BD3), and is restricted to books and to plays which have been performed on stage; only selected secondary literature relating to the creative works is cited. The com- pilers have devised a rather complex sys- tem of notations, work numbers, abbrevia- tions, etc., in an effort to make the bibliog- raphy reflect certain things about the lit- erature which may be of interest to the scholar. For the research worker venturing into these largely uncharted regions this should be a welcome guide. Let him ac- quaint himself with the "Instructions for Use," however, before he begins; it will be time well spent.-M.M. Kottelwesch, Clemens. Bibliographisches H andbuch .der deutschen Literaturwis- senschaft, 1945-1969. Frankfurt am Main, V. Klostermann, 1971- . Lfg.1- . DM 36.50 per Lfg. (In progress) This is the first installment of a projected set of about ten volumes that will pre- sumably cumulate and supplement Eppel- scheimer and Kottelwesch' s Bibliographie der deutschen Literaturwissenschaft (Guide BD562) . It will be a select bibliography of works on German literature-books articles contributions to collections, theses: and re: prints of books originally published before 1945-drawing principally on French and English sources to augment the German listings; however, Russian, Polish, Dutch, and Italian sources are at least represented. A wide range of journals is indexed, cover- ing not only literature, but related materi- als in history, philosophy, and religion. The subject arrangement is so refined that it is not at all difficult to find articles on specific topics, even though there will be no author or subject index until the set is complete. There are no annotations, but full biblio- graphic information is provided.-N.S. Lang, David Marshall, ed. A Guide to Eastern Literatures. London, Weiden- field and Nicolson, [1971]. 501p. £ 4.25. 75-866509. Thanks to this admirable guide, Eastern literatures need no longer be inscrutable to the Western reader, for here he has ready access to the historical and social background, the individual works, and the interpretation of eighteen Oriental litera- tures. "Oriental" and "Eastern" are not limited to a geographical interpretation: Jewish, Armenian, Georgian, and Ethiopic literatures are discussed, as well as Arabic, Indian, Chinese, and Japanese. The chap- ter on each literature includes historical backgrourul, a survey of the main literary trends, a brief description of individual au- thors and their works, and a general bib- liography; available English translations are noted. There is an index of authors titles and subjects. ' ' Mr. Lang has done fine editorial work in making a cohesive whole of so many parts; only the Indian and Pakistani litera- ture section seems too brief in its notes on individual authors. Overall, the quality of the essays (by scholar specialists) is high, and that on Japanese literature is excel- lent.-D.G. Rees, Robert A., and Harbert, Earl N., eds. Fifteen American Authors Before 1900; Bibliographic Essays on Research and Criticism. Madison, Univ. of Wisconsin Pr., [1971]. 442p. $12.50. 77-157395. Woodress, James, ed. Eight American Au- thors; a Review of Research and Crit- icism. Rev. ed. N.Y., Norton, [1972]. 392p. $11.95. 73-160485. By a happy coincidence, Rees and Har- bert's new volume appears almost simul- 324 I College & Research Libraries • July 1972 taneously with the new edition of Eight American Authors, a work whose plan and purpose it emulates. Now, with these two volumes and Jackson Bryer's Fifteen Mad- ern American Authors (Durham, 1969), we have good, reasonably up-to-date assess- ments of research and criticism of a sub- stantial number of major American literary figures. In the Rees-Harbert work individual scholars have contributed bibliographic es- says on Henry Adams, William Cullen Bry- ant, James Fenimore Cooper, Stephen Crane, Emily Dickinson, Jonathan Edwards, Benjamin Franklin, Oliver Wendell Holmes, William Dean Howells, Washington Irving, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Rus- sell Lowell, Frank Norris, Edward Taylor, and John Greenleaf Whittier. In addition, there are survey chapters on the literature of the old South and of the New South. The Woodress volume again treats Poe, Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, Melville, Whitman, Twain, and Henry James. Some of the essays are by the same contributors as to the 1956 edition by Floyd Stovall (Guide BD220), whereas others have been written by new scholar specialists. Atten- tion is given to published bibliographies, editions, biographies, and critical studies. Both volumes are indexed.-E.S. Russkie pisateli; biobibliograficheskii slovar. Moskva, Prosveshchenie, 1971. 728p. 3r., 1k. This attractive volume contains about 300 biographies of Russian writers from the medieval period to the early twentieth cen- tury. The signed articles, which range in length from half a page to fourteen pages (for Tolstoi), emphasize the subject's lit- erary career and the place of his works in the history of Russian literature. Brief bib- liographies at the end of each biography list the most recent editions of the authors' works, as well as a selection of books and articles about them. Almost all references are to Russian-language publications, some as recent as 1969. Coverage of relatively minor figures is better than in the Bol' shaia sovetskaia entsiklopediia (Guide AD 60) or the Literaturnaia entsiklopediia (Guide BD903) . Since the articles are evaluative as well as factual, the dictionary is particularly interesting to American stu- dents as an expression of the current So- viet opinion of the writers included.-N.S. Starnawski, J erzy. W arszat bibliograficzny historyka literatury polskief (na tle dys- cyplin pokrewnych). [Wyd.2. Warsza- wa], Panstwowe Wydawnictwo Nawko- we, [1971]. 562p. zl. 80. The unique quality of this work lies in its being a compendium of bibliographic essays dealing with a whole range of sub- jects that might be of use or interest to the literary historian. Coverage is very wide, ranging from the obvious for a work of this type (history of bibliography, literary bib- liography, lexicography, philology) to the truly tangential (ethnography, science, edu- cation, philosophy) . A sophisticated tool geared to the use of graduate students and scholars, its emphasis is on Polish culture, but the comparative view is encouraged by several sections devoted to western litera- ture and frequent mention throughout of foreign publications, institutions, and ac- tivities. The most recent citations are dated 1969, while retrospectively the work has no specific cut-off date. An interesting ob- servation on editorial policy is the relative absence of reference to materials from the postwar Stalinist era. Access to the contents of the handbook is through a very detailed table of contents and an index of names and anonymous titles.-E.L. Stratman, Carl Joseph; Spencer, David G.; and Devine, Mary Elizabeth. Restora- tion and Eighteenth Century Theatre Research: a Bibliographical Guide, 1900- 1968. Carbondale, Ill., Southern Illinois Univ. Pr., [1971]. 811p. $25.00. 71- 112394. In 1969 Father Stratman and associates published Restoration and 18th Century Research Bibliography, 1961-1968, a cu- mulation of the annual bibliographies ap- pearing in the journal Restoration and 18th Century Theatre Research. This new publication, a cooperative effort of a group of scholars, extends the period of coverage backward to provide a comprehensive list- ing of twentieth-century research in the field. Spot-checking indicates that the ear- lier bibliography is effectively superseded, with some revisions and improvements in Selected Reference Books of 1971-72 I 325 matters of classification. As in the earlier work, an alphabetical subject arrangement is employed, but within subject categories the listing is now chronological by date of publication. In all, there are more than 6,500 entries under some 780 subject head- ings. An index of names (both as authors and as subject) is provided, but in virtual- ly microscopic print. The 1968 closing date in the title is deceptive (evidently refer- ring to publication date of the journal bib- liography which will continue to serve as a supplement) since coverage in all cate- gories checked is through 1967 only.-E.S. Zell, Hans M., and Silver, Helene, comps. A Readers Guide to African Literature. N.Y., Mricana Pub. Corp., [1971]. 218p. il. $7.50. 76-83165. A valuable addition to the growing refer- ence collection on creative Mrican litera- ture, this work consists of annotated bib- liographies (mainly of in-print titles) and a biographical dictionary of contemporary black Mrican authors from south of the Sahara who write in English or French. The main section, an author bibliography of fiction, drama, poetry, and criticism, is sub- divided into ( 1) English works, and ( 2) French or English translations from French; each part is arranged by country, then alphabetically by author. Entries are serial- ly numbered, and give author, title, full imprint, paging, and price. Descriptive an- notations often include quotations from crit- ical reviews, together with citations to their sources. There are other annotated lists of bibliographies, critical works, anthologies, children's books, "Politically Committed Literature in English" compiled by Gideon- Cyrus M. Mutiso, and "Some Articles on African Literature" contributed by Barbara Abrash. Fifty-one biographical sketches of important African authors form the second part of the book. An index adds to useful- ness.-R.K. SociAL SciENCES Mitchell, Brian R., and Jones, H. G. Sec- ond Abstract of British Historical Statis- tics. Cambridge, rEng. 1, University Pr., 1971. 227p. $11.50. 7~128502. Although Mitchell and Deane's Abstract of British Historical Statistics (Guide CG 108) appeared in 1962, most of the tables in that volume did not extend beyond 1938. This new compilation is meant to serve as a continuation of the earlier vol- ume "and so far as possible series for 1938 onwards are linked to those given in that work; but it is also a supplement contain- ing new series."-Pref. These latter series not only include new tables for data not recorded before 1938, but also some from earlier periods which had to be omitted from the 1962 volume. Sources of the statis- tics are cited, but bibliographies were deemed unnecessary for the post-1938 period and references to secondary studies are only occasionally given in the intro- ductory notes to the sections.-E.S. Population Index Bibliography; Cumulated 1935-1968, by Authors and Geographical Areas. Boston, G. K. Hall, 1971. 9v. $745. Contents: Author index, 1935-1968, 4v.; Geographical index, 5v. (v.1-3, 1935-1954; v.4-5, 1954-1968). The Office of Population Research at Princeton has maintained card files of the bibliographic entries published in Popula- tion Index (Guide CG13) since 1935. These files, one for authors, another for geographical and topical entries, have been photographed and published in book form with very little editing. Of the two divi- sions, the author index will require the more cautious use. Here an item is cited only once, so one finds no added entries for joint authors or for individuals respon- sible for publications issued by institutions. The entry itself may also pose a ·problem, for names were not standardized and dif- ferent transliteration schemes, for example, have sometimes been used for the same name. In the geographical index entries are arranged by continent, then by coun- try or region, with further subdivision by topics if there are more than 100 entries. A detailed table of contents or the use of running heads would have greatly facilitat- ed searching. A further word of caution: in 1955 the classification system was re- worked, and the geographical volumes are in two sequences: 1935- 54 and 1954-68. Despite reservations, the librarian and the researcher will be pleased by the time- 326 I College & Research Libraries • July 1972 saving advantage of the cumulation, for the editors have interpreted population studies broadly and have indexed material of interest to all social scientists. Libraries will, of course, want to retain the original volumes of Population Index, since these include valuable survey articles, tables, and special studies which are indexed in the cumulated bibliography.-E.M. HISTORY AND AREA STUDIES Griffin, Charles C., ed. Latin America; a Guide to the Historical Literature. Aus- tin, Publ. for the Conference on Latin American History by Univ. of Texas Pr., [1971]. 700p. $25.00. 71-165916. A selective, scholarly bibliography of Latin American history, "the aim [of this guide] has been to give those who are beginning the serious study of Latin Amer- ican history a basic tool of research that will introduce them to the most important sources and histories."-Introd. In addition to more recent materials, the work is de- signed to cover historiographical writings predating the inception of the Handbook of Latin American Studies in 1935; the Handbook must, of course, still be consult- ed to supplement and update this guide. Entries are grouped in seven chapters, without cross references. Topical chapters of reference works, general items which do not fit into the other sections, and basic background works of precolonial history precede the most important sections on "Colonial Latin America," "Independence," and "Latin America since Independence." Here entries are arranged chronologically within geographic area. A final chapter deals with materials on inter-Hispanic American relations since 1830. Compila- tion has been a cooperative effort of many scholars, and descriptive annotations are generally written by the editor of each chapter. Coverage is through 1966 and in- cludes books, periodicals, and periodical articles. The detailed table of contents serves in lieu of a subject index; an author index is provided. This is a useful com- pilation for the researcher in Latin Amer- ican history.-].S. Higham, Robin, ed. A Guide to the Sources of British Military History. Berkeley, Univ. of California Pr., 1971. 630p. $22.50. 7 4-104108. "Sponsored by the Conference on Brit- ish Studies."-title page. Twenty-five scholar specialists have here contributed bibliographic essays on the whole range of British military history from earliest times to the present. Attention is given to general histories, bibliographies, se- lected special studies, and sources. Each chapter includes a section on research op- portunities, pointing out areas where initial research is needed or where reappraisals are in order. Mention is also made of ar- chives and special collections of papers and documents, with suggestions on how to ob- tain access to them. There is no general in- dex, but since full citations to the works discussed appear in a numbered sequence at the end of each essay (and are referred to by numbers in the text) a bibliographic search is not really difficult. There is a wealth of material here for the historian in this field.-E.S. Nunn, Godfrey Raymond. Asia: a Selected and Annotated Guide to Reference Works. Cambridge, Mass., M.I.T. Pr., 1971. 223p. $12.50. 77-169004. In this "first attempt to present . . . a se- lection of the whole [reference] literature on Asia, without distinction as to place of publication, language of publication or lan- guage of materials surveyed" (Pref.) the compiler has emphasized English-language sources for modern Asia. Thus, two-thirds of the 975 titles are in English, with the remainder in Japanese, Chinese, and in other western languages. Materials dealing with the Near East and Soviet Asia are not included. The cut-off date for publications was Fall1970. A geographical approach is used, pro- viding an interesting comparative review of the reference sources for each country. Encyclopedias, handbooks, directories, yearbooks, dictionaries, statistical sources, atlases, gazetteers and chronologies are noted. The annotations are excellent- clear, concise, and often critical. Future editions wopld be enhanced by the inclu- sion of more titles in the humanities; there is a particular dearth of fine arts sources. Also, access to entries would be made more / Selected Reference Books of 1971- 72 I 327 direct by a subject approach in the index. -D.G. Sedgwick, Romney. The House of Com- mons, 1715-1754. Publ. for the History of Parliament Trust. N.Y., Oxford Univ. Pr.; London, H.M.S.O., 1970. 2v. $70.00. 79-591358. At head of title: The History of Parlia- ment. Contents: v.1, Introductory survey, ap- pendices, constituencies, Members A-D; v.2, Members E-Z. This second installment of the proposed biographic history of the Westminster Par- liament from 1264 to the present closely resembles the previously-published ( 1964; Guide CI129) House of Commons, 1754- 1790 by the late Sir Lewis N amier and John Brooke. Due to the different political situation the introductory surveys have here been changed to include an account of pro- cedure and descriptions of the Whig gov- ernment and that of the Tories; an index for these sections is included. Various ap- pendices are followed by a section on con- stituencies which indicates the number of voters in each county, names of elected officials, and brief notes on local politics. The remainder of the work is devoted to biographies of the Members of the House of Commons for the period. Limita- tions of time and space resulted in pri- marily political biographies. Basic details of each Member's life and career plus a brief survey of his political activity in Par- liament constitute an entry. Flaws can al- ways be found, such as the lack of cross references either to the N amier-Brooke vol- umes or to the introductory surveys, but viewed as a whole this is a carefully edited work of great value, especially for its treat- ment of lesser known men. Entries are signed and reference sources are noted.- ].S. HISTORY OF SCIENCE Isis. Isis Cumulative Bibliography; a Bib- liography of the History of Science Formed from Isis Critical Bibliographies 1-90, 1913-65. Magda Whitrow, ed. [London], Mansell in conjunction with the History of Science Society, 1971. 2v. £28. Contents: v.1, Personalities, A- J; v.2, Personalities, K-Z and Institutions, A-Z. These two volumes are the first parts of a larger project which will provide various subject approaches to the listings appear- ing in the "critical bibliographies" pub- lished in the periodical Isis, 1913-65. "Part 1: Personalities contains, in alphabetical sequence, entries (references to books, monographs, pamphlets, and articles) deal- ing with the life and work of an indi- vidual . . . and also new editions of his work. ... Part II: Institutions contains en- tries dealing with the history and work of institutions and societies."-Introd. While it does not purport to be a fully compre- hensive guide to the literature of the his- tory of science, the compilation probably provides more extensive and detailed cov- erage than is available elsewhere. (A few significant omissions were corrected, but no concentrated effort was made to fill gaps.) Explanatory or descriptive notes accom- pany some citations, and reviews of books are frequently noted. In the further parts planned, entries will be arranged first by periods and civiliza- tions, subdivided by subject, and finally according to topical subjects. The work will also serve as an analytical index to Isis it- self, since during most of its history ar- ticles in that magazine have been treated in the critical bibliographies.-E.S. SYMBOLS Shepherd, Walter. Shepherd's Glossary of Graphic Signs and Symbols. London, Dent; New York, Dover, 1971. 597p. $15.00. 71-16884. An immensely comprehensive and me- ticulous work, the fruit of 23 years of la- bor, this volume gains and suffers by being organized in a series of tables-more than 400 of them-which follow affinity of shape, not the particular topics of abbreviation. Once one has mastered the process of in- terrogation, one is able to locate wholly unfamiliar symbols even if no clue is pro- vided by the context; but it is exasperating to know to what category the symbol be- longs, and still have to run it down through an elaborate analysis of its curves, lines, and dots. A topically arranged appendix gives alphabetical lists of the more impor- tant signs of the various disciplines. It 328 I College & Research Libraries • July 1972 might have doubled the length of the book, but halved the expense of time and patience, to have included complete lists of each set of symbols. Researchers in a familiar, well-defined area of study will probably find specialized dictionaries such as those edited by David D. Polon (Suppl. 1EI12, 1EG2) easier to use. Readers who encounter a mysterious symbol in an un- familiar context, however, may well find that Shepherd's book, covering topics that range from botany to pottery marks to Arabic script, is the only one that can an- swer their need.-N.S. I