reviews Book Reviews 493 Book Reviews The Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia: The First Fifty Years. Ed. David L. Vander Meulen. Charlottesville: The Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia, 1998. 272p. 300 copies printed (ISBN 1-883631-07-6). LC 98­ 6202. This commemorative history of the Biblio­ graphical Society of the University of Vir­ ginia is composed of four articles previ­ ously published in Studies in Bibliography. The articles are followed by William B. Todd’s anniversary address; an appendix consisting of a compilation of the society’s officers, councilors, contributing members, programs, and contest winners; and a gen­ eral index. The preface by G. Thomas Tanselle, president of the Bibliographical Society, sets up the contents and recounts the particulars of the anniversary celebra­ tion. In it, Tanselle explains the volume’s purpose, which is to begin an assessment of the society’s role in the development of the field of bibliography during the sec­ ond half of the twentieth century. Of the four articles, “History of the Bib­ liographical Society of the University of Virginia,” by David L. Vander Meulen, and “A History of Studies in Bibliogra­ phy: The First Fifty Volumes,” by G. Tho­ mas Tanselle, seem to call for some dis­ cussion. The other two, “Publications of the Bibliographical Society of the Univer­ sity of Virginia, 1947–1997,” by David L. Vander Meulen, and “Author Index to Studies in Bibliography, Volumes 1–5,” by David L. Gants and Elizabeth K. Lynch, do not, past saying that they are well and competently done. Vander Meulen’s history of the society and, indeed, Tanselle’s history of its jour­ nal are not necessarily for bibliographers only, or just for members of the society, although any commemorative volume is certainly aimed at a restricted clientele. Both are interesting as chronicles of the founding and evolution of an academic society, and could inform any­ one engaged in such an en­ deavor. However, the same can­ not be said of the rest of the vol­ ume, which is fairly specifically constrained to either bibliogra­ phers or members of the society. The society was founded in 1946, when an exploratory meeting was held in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Division of the university library, hosted by John Cook Wyllie, then curator of rare books, who had sent out invitations and a ques­ tionnaire in preparation for the meeting. The thirty-three people who came lis­ tened to Chalmers Gemmill, a pharma­ cologist at the university, discuss “John Baskerville, Typefounder,” and the soci­ ety was formed. And although any num­ ber of people contributed to the society, its existence and accomplishments are the work primarily of three individuals: John Cook Wyllie, who was secretary- trea­ surer from 1947 until 1962; Linton Massey, who was president from 1951 until 1974; and Fredson Bowers, who edited Studies in Bibliography from 1948 until 1991. As curator of rare books and later as univer­ sity librarian, Wyllie gave the society a home; Massey contributed his business sense and financial support; and Bowers shepherded the journal. Over the years, the society has changed, evolved, and reinvented itself. And though it has always presented public lectures and sponsored contests, its most important undertaking has always been its publica­ tions program, which began in 1947 with the Secretary’s News Sheet, edited by Wyllie until 1962 and then by William B. Runge until its demise in 1969. The Secretary’s News Sheet contained society business, news from members, and bibliographical notes and queries. The society also pub­ lished a mimeographed series that offered the texts of lectures, checklists, indexes, and works in progress, such as Richard 493 494 College & Research Libraries Harwell’s Cornerstones of Confederate Col­ lecting. The other large effort, excluding Studies in Bibliography, has been the prepa­ ration of textual studies, such as Bower’s Essays in Bibliography, Text and Editing, and several works by Tanselle, including Tex­ tual Criticism since Greg: A Chronicle, 1950 – 1985 and Textual Criticism and Scholarly Ed­ iting. The society’s most substantial contribu­ tion has always been Studies in Bibliography; and Robin Myers, representing the Biblio­ graphical Society, was correct in her com­ ments at the fiftieth anniversary when she said that it was “a very special publication … causing a yearly frisson of pleasure as it thuds down on bibliographical doormats everywhere.” However, Tanselle’s assertion that in the second half of the twentieth cen­ tury, Studies in Bibliography took over from The Library, the publication of the Biblio­ graphical Society (Britain), as the place where “one witnessed most dramatically the exploration of new techniques and new areas” may be going a bit far. This certainly is not proven by the essay that would have to set the contents of the one against the other but, instead, speaks only of Studies in Bibliography. Furthermore, an admittedly cursory examination of the contents of The Library does not bear out the assertion, at least not for the first twenty-five years, when authors and articles seemed almost inter­ changeable because they were by the same people writing about the same things, in­ cluding Tanselle, Wyllie, and Greg. Never­ theless, Studies in Bibliography has carved out a niche for itself, primarily in the consider­ ation of American subjects in which The Li­ brary seems to have little interest. Studies in Bibliography, of course, was the creation of Fredson Bowers, and he must figure large in any history of it be­ cause few journals of such standing are created and edited by the same scholar for forty-three years. According to Tanselle, its format was fixed with the first volume, which con­ tained eleven articles followed by six bib­ liographical notes; and it came into its own with volume three, which contained Greg’s “The Rationale of Copy Text,” a September 1999 point of departure for textual critics for the next fifty years. Besides this, there were eleven other articles by eminent crit­ ics, fourteen bibliographical notes, and a checklist of bibliographical scholarship for 1949. A commemorative volume need not have wide appeal, and this one does not, but because it chronicles the rise of a scholarly society in perhaps an unlikely place, it makes for more interesting read­ ing than one would first expect. And be­ cause the society began in Special Collec­ tions at the University of Virginia, all con­ cerned in the administration of rare books and manuscripts could benefit from ex­ amining it. —James B. Lloyd, University of Tennessee. The Education of Library and Informa­ tion Professionals Series Education for Librarianship in the Nordic Countries. Eds. Ole Harbo and Niels Ole Pors. London: Mansell, 1998. 197p. $99.50 (ISBN 0-7201-2210-4). LC 97­ 19532. The Education of Library and Information Science Professionals in the United King­ dom. Eds. Judith Elkin and Tom Wil­ son. London: Mansell, 1997. 289p. $85 (ISBN 0-7201-2233-3). LC 97-52924. Library and Information Science Education in the United States. Eds. Loriene Roy and Brooke E. Sheldon. London: Mansell, 1998. 260p. $99.50 (ISBN 0­ 7201-2232-5). LC 97-33046. Rochester, Maxine K. Education for Librarianship in Australia. London: Mansell, 1997. 253p. $99.50 (ISBN 0­ 7201-2216-3). LC 96-8495. Ronnie, Mary. Education for Librarianship in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. London: Mansell, 1996. 226p. $100 (ISBN 0-7201-2179-5). LC 95-53302. Wu, Guangwei, and Lili Zheng. Educa­ tion for Librarianship in China. London: Mansll, 1997. 250p. $99.50 (ISBN 0­ 7201-2193-0). LC 96-52866. The title of this monograph series, The Education of Library and Information Profes­ sionals, indicates the direction in which library and information science education