College and Research Libraries


By L E W I S H A N K E 

The Latin American Bibliographical 
Activities of the Library of Congress, 
with Hints for Future Developments 
in This Field 
Mr. Hanke, chief, Hispanic Foundation, 

Library of Congress, read this paper at a 

meeting of the Reference Librarians Sec-

tion of the Association of College and Ref-

erence Libraries, December JO, 1941. 

TH E L I B R A R Y O F C O N G R E S S at this mo-ment bears a marked resemblance, in-
sofar as its Latin American bibliographical 
activities are concerned, to a boa con-
strictor who has swallowed a sheep and is 
thoroughly engaged in labor. For during 
the last two years the Library has started 
work on several major activities in this 
field which are now absorbing much of 
our time and attention but which will not 
yield published results until some time 
hence. Most of the projects are being 
supported by grants made, on a temporary 
basis, by Congress through the Inter-De-
partmental Committee on Cooperation 
with the Other American Republics, by 
the Rockefeller Foundation, or by the 
Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs. 
Many of them could not be profitably 
carried on now, however, were it not for 
the fact that the Library has been con-
cerned with Latin America for many years 
and has made regular attempts to build 
up its collections. 

Music 

Almost everything in the field of music 
is still to be done. N o great collections 
exist, few bibliographies have been pre-
pared, and the number of trained special-
ists is small. T h e appointment last year 
of Gilbert Chase as the Latin American 
assistant in the Music Division was a real 
step forward and has already resulted in 
the compilation of a mimeographed "Bibli-
ography of Latin American Folk Music," 
comprising more than a thousand anno-
tated items. In order to aid educators 
and students who do not read Spanish or 
Portuguese, M r . Chase is now compiling 
a "List of References in English on Latin 
American M u s i c " and already some three 
hundred have been collected. M r . Chase 
also compiled a "Partial List of Latin 
American Music Available in the United 
States, with a Supplementary List of 
Books and a Selective List of Phonograph 
Records," which was published in mimeo-
graph form by the Music Division of the 
Pan American Union last March. 

T h e most important bibliographical tool 
under way, however, is the "Guide to 
Latin American M u s i c " which M r . Chase 
is now preparing and hopes to have ready 

JUNE j 1942 235 



within two years. It is expected that this 

" G u i d e " will be a basic reference tool in 

this relatively neglected field by providing 

information on the music, the literature 

about the music, and on musicians and 

musical organizations. 

Documents Division 

Probably more books, periodicals, and 
pamphlets are published by the various 
Latin American governments than by all 
their private publishers put together. 
These publications are rarely brought 
under bibliographical control by the gov-
ernments themselves and the great mass 
of the publications which pour forth be-
come known to few people and few li-
braries have reasonably complete files. 
T h e importance, therefore, of the "Guide 
to the Official Publications of Latin 
American Governments" now being com-
piled by James B. Childs with various as-
sistants can readily be appreciated. It is 
planned to include the following informa-
tion : First, the correct name of the bureau 
or department as determined by both 
statute and usage. Second, reference to 
the legal antecedents, such as the law or 
decree of its creation, the law or decree 
regulating its functions and organization, 
and other legal measures vitally affecting 
it. T h i s legal data would facilitate fur-
ther investigation as to more detailed in-
formation regarding its functions and 
organization. T h i r d , a description of the 
publications issued and explanation of 
their contents if not already clarified by 
the title. M r . Childs' publications in this 
field are already well known and in as much 
as the Library is an official depository of 
the publications of foreign governments, 
our collections are reasonably complete. 
One of the valuable by-products of the 
" G u i d e " will be to locate our weaknesses. 

T h i s work is necessarily slow but a draft 

of the Paraguayan section has been com-

pleted and will soon be sent to the govern-

ment of Paraguay for suggestions and 

criticisms, a procedure to be followed with 

all sections of the " G u i d e . " W o r k is al-

ready in progress on the publications of 

Bolivia, Chile, and Colombia. 

Law Library 

A large part of the intellectual resources 

of Latin America has been devoted to law 

and many of her most eminent figures 

today have had legal training. It is not 

surprising, therefore, that the legal litera-

ture of Latin America is both voluminous 

and important. A quarter of a century 

ago the Library published a Guide to 

the Law of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile 

by Edwin M . Borchard which is still one 

of the few standard reference works in 

the field. John T . Vance, present law 

librarian, has continued this interest in 

Latin American law and now has C r a w -

ford Bishop at work on a "Guide to the 

L a w and Legal Literature of Nine Ameri-

can Republics." Introductory chapters on 

each of the nine countries have been writ-

ten, outlining their legal and constitutional 

history from their independence until to-

day, and particular attention is being given 

to the study of legal periodicals. W h e n 

completed, this " G u i d e " will provide the 

basic bibliographical information on the 

law of these countries. 

Hispanic Foundation 

T h e following projects are under way in 

the Hispanic Foundation, the division of 

the Library specifically devoted to His-

panic culture, which was opened in 1939. 

1. " G u i d e to Latin American Period-

icals Currently Received in the Library 

of Congress." Periodicals in Latin Amer-

236 C O L L E G E , AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



ica are difficult to follow because they 

are established, stopped, suspended, or just 

disappear with astonishing rapidity. Even 

periodicals published about Latin America 

in this country have these characteristics— 

witness the recent death of the Inter-

American Quarterly which for the last 

three years has been a great boon to li-

brarians who had to recommend a review 

in English on Latin America. T o provide 

a standard guide in this difficult field the 

Hispanic Foundation has prepared a ten-

tative list of about nine hundred items. 

T h i s preliminary edition, which is not for 

distribution, contains the following infor-

mation on each item : title of the periodical, 

initial date of publication, number of issues 

per year, method of enumeration, name 

of the director or editor, place of publica-

tion, name of the publisher, the Library 

of Congress classification number and card 

number, any information which has been 

found concerning the history of the publi-

cation, its changes in title, and periods of 

suspension. T h e final edition of the 

" G u i d e " will appear later in printed form, 

after the necessary revisions and changes 

have been made, and will include all the 

information given in the preliminary ver-

sion, together with a brief paragraph des-

cribing and evaluating each periodical and 

bibliography listed. Those items which 

are considered important according to 

the judgment of the various editors of the 

Handbook of Latin American Studies, 

who are specialists in the various fields, 

will be indicated by a star. T h e mortality 

rate of the editors of this " G u i d e " has 

been high. T h e first and second incum-

bents, M u r r a y Wise and Alexander M a r -

chant, joined the State Department staff 

in quick succession, and Charmion Shelby, 

the third editor, will be responsible for 

the final edition. 

Materials in Fine Arts 

2. T h e "Guide to Materials in the Fine 

Arts in Brazil and Spanish America" is 

now well under way, directed by Robert 

C . Smith, with the assistance of Elizabeth 

W i l d e r . It has now been about half com-

pleted and will consist of the following 

items: ( I ) A selected bibliography of pub-

lished books and articles pertaining to the 

fine arts in Brazil and Spanish America 

from the beginning of the colonial period 

to the present, with informative and eval-

uative notes on each item; ( 2 ) A selected 

list of periodicals devoted to the fine arts 

in Brazil and Spanish America; ( 3 ) A list 

of the public museums and private collec-

tions of art, history, and archeology in 

Brazil and Spanish America with a de-

scription of their buildings, collections, 

publications, and personnel; (4) A list of 

the government agencies, professional so-

cieties, and principal dealers and photog-

raphers; ( 5 ) A list of the art historians 

interested in the field, with information on 

the age, position, field of research, and 

principal publications, and a discussion of 

the teaching of the subject in the univer-

sities and schools of the American repub-

lics. 

In order to secure fresh and detailed in-

formation for the " G u i d e " M r . Smith has 

visited Mexico and Central America and 

Miss W i l d e r has made an extensive trip 

in South America. Another related ac-

tivity in this field is the "Archive of His-

panic Culture" now being built up by M r . 

Smith. T h e field of Spanish American 

and Brazilian art is one of the most neg-

lected in the general history of the fine 

arts. W e know relatively little about the 

artistic styles, the monuments, and the 

artists of each Latin American country 

from the beginning of the colonial period 

JUNE, 1942 23 7 



to the present day. It is true that in the 

case of Mexico a few general books illus-

trating the principal monuments of archi-

tecture and painting have been published 

but sculpture has been neglected. And in 

the case of the art of the other nations 

there is neither a general history, special 

monograph, nor guidebook which ade-

quately illustrates even a small portion of 

the existing monuments. Nor do separate 

photographs exist in this country. In the 

great photographic archives already estab-

lished at Harvard and N e w Y o r k univer-

sities and at the Frick A r t Reference 

Library, there is almost no material on 

Brazil or Spanish America. 

T h i s archive will include photographs 

and relevant biographical information, will 

serve as a primary reference collection for 

scholars engaged in research in this field 

and for others who will visit it for pur-

poses of comparison, for the historian wish-

ing to illustrate his publication with the 

best reproductions available, and in the 

field of the minor arts for the collector. 

Social Science and Humanistic Studies 

3. A third publication now in prepara-

tion is the "Record of Investigations in 

the Field of Latin American Social Science 

and Humanistic Studies." T h e scholars 

of the Americas, where most of these in-

vestigations are being pursued today, are 

not banded together in as well-knit profes-

sional associations as were European schol-

ars before the war. For example there is 

no up-to-date or satisfactory directory of 

learned societies in Brazil and Spanish 

America. T h e r e is no directory of schol-

ars in these countries. Professional com-

munication is difficult—often impossible. 

O f t e n scholars in Latin America do not 

realize how many studies are being pre-

pared in this country on their own culture. 

T h e "Record of Investigations in Prog-

ress" is designed to provide the following 

basic information on investigators in this 

country at work on some phase of the 

Latin American social science or human-

istic studies: ( 1 ) Name, age, and perma-

nent mailing address of the investigator. 

( 2 ) Principal field of research and a list 

of principal publications in their field. 

( 3 ) T i t l e of investigation now in progress 

and number of years it has been under 

way. 

It is pleasant to turn away from all 

these projected publications which are now 

merely in preparation, to mention bib-

liographies which are now ready for dis-

tribution or which will shortly be ready: 

1. T h e long-awaited C . K . Jones "Bib-

liography of Latin American Bibliogra-

phies" is now in galley proof. T h i s 

bibliography is a compilation of some 2500 

titles of books and articles, in which are 

included collective biographies, histories of 

literature, anthologies and bio-bibliograph-

ical notes, and some general and miscella-

neous works of frequent use for reference 

purposes, encyclopedias, anuarios, alma-

nacs, and others of like character. De-

scriptive and evaluative notes are provided 

for many of the items and it is expected 

that this work will become the basic ref-

erence volume for all students engaged in 

Latin American studies and for all librar-

ians and catalogers throughout the Amer-

icas. 

Handbook of Studies 

2. Handbook of Latin American Stud-
ies. T h e sixth annual number of this 

bibliography of the important publications 

of the previous year on anthropology, ar-

chives, art, economics, education, folklore, 

geography, government, history, interna-

tional relations, law, language and litera-

238 C O L L E G E , AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



ture, libraries, music, and philosophy is 

now in page proof and w i l l soon appear 

in book form. T h e Handbook is pub-

lished under the auspices of the Committee 

on L a t i n American Studies of the A m e r -

ican Council of Learned Societies and 

edited by M i r o n Burgin of the Hispanic 

Foundation staff w i t h the assistance of 

thirty-eight section editors. 

3. A n o t h e r publication of this same 

committee, edited by M a d a l i n e Nichols of 

the Hispanic Foundation staff, is the 

Bibliographical Guide to Materials on 

American Spanish. T h i s Guide lists the 

outstanding studies on the Spanish lan-

guage in the several Spanish American 

countries. I t includes a brief historical 

account of the g r o w t h of an American 

Spanish; a special section on the w o r k of 

the American language academies and 

philological institutes; and approximately 

twelve hundred annotated entries, cover-

ing general studies of the language of each 

country, dictionaries and vocabularies of 

local terms, words borrowed from other 

languages, geographical nomenclature, and 

flora and fauna. 

T h i s then is the story of L a t i n A m e r -

ican bibliographical activity now in prog-

ress at the L i b r a r y of Congress. Before 

passing into the dangerous realm of con-

jecture and p r o p h e c y — w h e r e certain sug-

gestions w i l l be made as to bibliographies 

that need to be prepared and certain 

guesses w i l l be hazarded as to future de-

v e l o p m e n t — I should like to cite one other 

activity of the Hispanic Foundation which 

may be of interest to those of you w h o 

have a special concern w i t h the technical 

processes of a library. Being a new de-

velopment and having many intimate 

connections w i t h other divisions of the L i -

brary w e decided to have technical studies 

made of various problems which had pre-

sented themselves to us. W e were for-

tunate enough to secure the services of 

A n i t a M . K e r ( n o w M r s . D u n c a n John-

son) formerly of the C a t a l o g Division of 

the L i b r a r y , and during the course of 

about a year she made investigations and 

reports on the f o l l o w i n g topics: 

1. A study of the practicability of the 
establishment of a union c a t a l o g of the 
Hispanic m a t e r i a l contained in all D i s t r i c t 
of C o l u m b i a libraries. 

2. T h e compilation of a guide to Hispanic 
m a t e r i a l in the libraries of the D i s t r i c t of 
C o l u m b i a . 

3. A report on the feasibility of h a v i n g 
all the Hispanic m a t e r i a l in the L i b r a r y of 
C o n g r e s s represented in a g e n e r a l Hispanic 
c a t a l o g . 

4. A study of the possibility of e n g a g i n g 
in extensive analysis of Hispanic periodicals. 

5. A selection and listing of some 160 
titles of H i s p a n i c periodicals suggested f o r 
a n a l y z a t i o n . T h i s selection w a s made w i t h 
the aid of v a r i o u s specialists and leaders in 
divers fields of H i s p a n i c c u l t u r e and thought. 

6. A report setting f o r t h in detail the m a -
j o r difficulties w h i c h exist in the present 
method of control over H i s p a n i c periodicals 
received and housed by the L i b r a r y of C o n -
gress. R e m e d i a l measures are suggested in 
this report. 

T h e s e reports are all fairly detailed and 

technical but information on any of them 

may be obtained by w r i t i n g to the His-

panic Foundation. 

Other Activities and Bibliographies 

T h e r e are many other activities and 

bibliographies that need to be considered 

and which doubtless w i l l be carried out in 

the fullness of time. Some of the more 

important ones already discussed in the 

L i b r a r y — a n d which have already been 

turned down by those persons holding the 

m o n e y b a g s — a r e : 

1. " G u i d e to the Manuscripts Bearing 

on L a t i n America in the L i b r a r y of Con-

JUNE, 1942 239 



gress." T h e Manuscripts Division has 

thousands of pages of manuscripts and 

transcripts on Latin America but no suit-

able guide exists. 

2. "Guide to Current Statistical 

Sources on Latin America." Statistical in-

formation on education, trade, politics, 

etc., of Latin America comes out in many 

different kinds of publications in many 

countries, but no guide to them has been 

prepared to make it easy for the student 

who would use these widely scattered 

sources. 

3. "Guide to Government Departments 

of Latin America." A s our relations with 

Latin America are solidified, and when 

the Childs' "Guide to the Official Publica-

tions of Latin America" is completed, the 

need for this " G u i d e " will be felt and 

money will be secured to prepare it. T h e 

importance of government agencies in all 

cultural undertakings in Latin America is 

such that libraries perforce must have some 

sort of assistance to enable them to deal 

effectively with the many agencies. 

4. Project to microfilm manuscripts in 

Latin American libraries. T h e Library of 

Congress project by which hundreds of 

thousands of pages of manuscript material 

on United States history in European 

archives is too well known to require de-

tailed description. T h i s project was made 

possible, of course, by the previous prepara-

tion of excellent guides to the pertinent 

material in these archives by the Carnegie 

Institution of Washington. N o similar 

guides exist to the archives of Latin Amer-

ica, but even so, much valuable material 

could be brought to this country if funds 

were available to embark on this project. 

Future Developments 

In conclusion, if one may enter the dan-

gerous field of conjecture and prophecy— 

attention should be directed in the future 

toward the following three general devel-

opments in this field which are important 

— s o important that, somehow or other, 

the obstacles must be removed or sur-

mounted : 

I. The building up of adequate collec-

tions of Latin American books in our col-

lege and public libraries. M a n y courses 

are being offered on Latin America and 

much general interest has been aroused on 

inter-American relations but more can and 

should be done to improve the existing 

book collections in Portuguese and Span-

ish. Book publishing in Buenos Aires, 

Santiago, Mexico City, and Havana has 

greatly developed during the past five 

years and a great variety of inexpensive 

books is now available for purchase. T h e 

section on "Latin American Book Cata-

logs" of the Handbook of Latin American 

Studies provides an annual statement on 

available material. 

II. The preparation of guides to Latin 

American material in our libraries and 

archives. T h i s country has great resources 

of printed and manuscript material on 

Latin America but much remains to be 

done before it is adequately known or cata-

loged. Important guides to some of the 

collections now exist but the field is large 

and will require years of cultivation by 

librarians and archivists. 

III. The working out of a national sys-

tem for the use of research materials in this 

country bearing on Latin America. 

240 C O L L E G E , AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES