College and Research Libraries span of Russian history.-]ames Cobb Mills, Jr., Utica CoUege of Syracuse Univer- sity. Nicknames and Sobr·iquets of U.S. Cities and States. 2d ed. By Joseph Nathan Kane and Gerald L. Alexander. Metuch- en, N.J.: The Scarecrow Press, 1970. 456p. $10.00. What's in a name? Would a rose by any nickname really smell as sweet? Apparently Americans think so because you name it and we have a nickname for it. If there is a city without a nickname, the public re- lations agent will quickly devise one for it. When Joseph Nathan Kane in 1938 pub- lished the first edition of his now famous fact book, he included in it a few nick-· names of cities. In 1951 the Special Li- braries Association published Nicknames of American Cities, Towns, and Villages (Past and Present), compiled by Gerald L. Alex- ander. The friendship of these two men re- sulted in a joint effort published in 1965. Five years of additional research has pro- duced an expanded second edition includ- ing many additions and corrections. The book is arranged alphabetically by states and subdivided by cities; under the name of each city are listed all known nick- names, sobriquets, and even publicity slo- gans which have been applied to that city. Following this is an alphabetical nickname index. There is a similar arrangement for the fifty states. Separating the city and state listings and given in alphabetical sequence are the All-American Cities so designated since 1949 by the National Municipal League and Look magazine. It is explained that the use of this sobriquet is authorized only for use one year following the presen- tation of the award. The compilation should prove useful as a ready reference tool. Unfortunately, it is not a scholarly work such as Shankle's American Nicknames (H. W. Wilson, 1955). No som·ces are given. It would be interesting to learn the source of •'The Friendly City" and "The City of Friendly People" as sobriquets for New York. Occa- sional parenthetical explanations of the nicknames are included, such as "Elkhart (Ind. ) The Band City (produces over 60 Recent Publications I 55 percent of band instruments)." Others are too brief to be meaningful as "Pullman (Ill.) The City of Brick (part of Chicago ) ." On the other hand about five times as many cities are included as in Shankle, and many more nicknames are given for most cities and states. However, many of the nick- names included seem more like contrived publicity slogans than familiar epithets nat- urally ascribed. The book is printed by offset press in a clear, legible, although unattractive, type. A few typographical errors and omissions escaped the proofreaders, but in general, editing seems to have been carefully done. It is to be hoped that the authors have preserved their sources and their notes on the origins and the use of the nicknames in- cluded so that a futur e edition can be a full , scholarly contribution to work on American names.-Paul H. Spence, College of Gen- eral Studies Library, University of Ala- bama, Birmingham. rndex to American Little Magazines 1920- 1939. Stephen H. Goode, comp. Troy, N.Y.: \Vhitston Publishing Co., 1969. 346p. $12.50. If we accept the maxim that half a loaf is better than none, it follows, perhaps, that a partial index such as Stephen Goode's In- dex to American Little Magazines 1920- 1939 is better than no index at all. This is, as Mr. Goode indicates, an index of a "se- lected list" of thirty-three little magazines. What Mr. Goode fail s to indicate, and it is a significant failing, is the basis for his se- lection. One is always grateful for an index to any previously unindexed material how- ever meager it may b e; yet that gratitud e cannot help but be tempered by a disap- pointment that a less arbitrary selection of magazines to be indexed would have been enormously more interesting and valuable. The period 1920-1939 was unquestion- ably, in Mr. Goode's words, part of "the golden age of little magazines." It is the age of The Little Revie w at its height, This Quarter, Laughing Horse, Dynamo, Th e Measure, Chicago Literary Times, The Transatlantic Review, American Spectator, Direction, The Booster, S 4 N, the b egin- ning of Furioso, and many more. Yet of 56 I College & Research Libraries • january 1971 these which I have mentioned not one is in the Index of American Little Magazines 1920-1939, whereas several which are quite obscure and minor by any standard are present. The absence of S 4 N is particular- ly puzzling. The Modern Review which had a brief but important career as a quarterly from Autumn 1922 to July 1924 is indexed in this volume. But S 4 N, founded in 1919, and one of the most brilliant of all Ameri- can little magazines (which was combined in August of 1926 with the Modern Review and which because of the similarity of taste and interests became the ModernS 4 N Re- view) is not indexed. Broom is another sb·ange omission, particularly because Se- cession is among those indexed. In the his- tory of little magazines, Broom, November 1921 to January 1924, and Secession, spring 1922 to April 1924, are constantly paired and cited as typical and similar ex- amples of experimental magazines. But the most surprising omission from the little magazines of the period is that of Transi- tion-a title which is practically synony- mous with the avant-garde of the late twen- ties and most of the thirties, and which is a landmark in little magazine history. The existence of the "Transition Bibliography" for nos. 1-22 in number 22, February 1933, may have influenced Mr. Goode's decision not to include it, but that still leaves the years unindexed from 1933 to 1938 when the magazine ceased. It may be invidious to dwell at such length on what the Index to American Lit- tle Magazines 1920-1939 does not do; how- ever, it is difficult in this case to avoid such comment. If Mr. Goode's preface of four brief paragraphs had been expanded just enough to explain the criteria for his selec- tion, such criticism might not be necessary. Although we are grateful, as I have said, for an index to these thirty-three little mag- azines, the periodicals chosen are hardly representative of one of the most important periods in American little magazine history. Aside from the interest in specific maga- zines and the cultural movements of which they were a part, what we miss by their omission is an index to much of the intel- lectual preoccupations and achievements of the time. Exile and Secession, for example, are the only "exile magazines"-i.e., maga- zines published and edited by Americans but from abroad-of the : thirty-three in- dexed, while it is the very internationalism of the little magazines of the 1920s and 1930s which most distinguishes them as they pointed the way to precisely that which was new in the American literary ex- perience. There are some puzzling · aspects to the treatment of some of the little magazines included in the index. Having included, for example, the relatively unimportant and short-lived Rhythmus, January · 1923-May/ June 1924, why not also include Parnassus which superseded it at its suspension? Bo- zart and Contemporary Verse are indexed as one magazine, but nowhere is there an indication that for a long time they were separate periodicals, nor that ]apm and The Oracle, in the same class of minor po- etry magazines , had previously been ab- sorbed by it. · In Mr. Goode's handling of the Fugitive there is a questionable point which is again a matter of omission. In a footnote to the "List of Abbreviations and Magazines Cited," Mr. Goode comments without ex- planation that "Pseudonyms in early Fugi- tive issues are not entered;" It is difficult to understand why not. The:: pseudonyms in the early issues of the Fugitive were aptly chosen descriptions of the men who used them, the fame of the magazine rests on the importance to American letters of . the small and homogeneous group of men who founded and wrote for it, ·and the pseudo- nyms are fully identified in Allen Tate's sketch of the magazine, "The Fugitive-- 1922-25," published in the April 1942 Princeton University Library Chronicle. The principles behind the subject head- ings of the Index to American Little M aga- zines 1920-1939 need some clarification . The entries under "Little Magazines" are examples. There is a general heading of "Little Magazines" with four articles in- dexed, but there is also a ·list of headings for specific magazines_:__e.g., "Little Maga- zines-[The Dialt-each with one or more articles on that magazine . indexed. There is, however, no subject en.try for The Dial or for any of the other titles-an awkward arrangement. And, finally, there are no cross-indexes in this volume, a disadvantage in any index.-]. M. Edelstein, University of California, Los Angeles. BOOKS RECEIVED NoTE: The titles listed represent books re- ceived at the editorial office that may be of interest to academic librarians. Abrams, M. E., ed. Medical Computing: Progress and Problems. New York: American Elsevier Publishing, 1970. 396p. $13.00. (74-112447). (ISBN 444- 19679-X). Adams, A. John and Burke, Joan Martin. Civil Rights: A Cun·ent Guide to the People, Organizations, and Events. New York and London: R. R. Bowker, 1970. 194p. $9.95. (70-126010). (ISBN 0- 8352-0405-7) . Altmann, Berthold. HDL-TR-1523: The HDL Automated Information System. Washington: Harry Diamond Labora- tories, 1970. 122p. American Art Directory, vol. 44. Compiled by the Jaques Cattell Press. New York: R. R. Bowker, 1970. 368p. $25.50. (99- 1016). (ISBN 0-8352-0282-8). Annan, Gertrude L. and Felter, Jacqueline W., eds. Handbook of Medical Library Practice. 3d ed. Chicago: Medical Li- brary Association, 1970. 411p. $15.00. (70-103541. Barnetson, Paul. Critical Path Planning: Present and Future Techniques. Prince- ton: Brandon/Systems Press, 1970. 102p. $7.50. Bhattacharyya, G. Cataloguing Research in India. India: Bangalore Press, 1969. 85p. Boice, Eugene T., et al. The Medical Li- brary Center of New York: A Cost Study. New York: New York Metropol- itan Reference and Research Library Agency, 1970. 65p. No charge-available on a very limited basis. Brandt, Siegmund. Statistical and Compu- tational Methods in Data Analysis. New York: American Elsevier Publishing, Recent Publications I 57 1970. 322p. $16.50 (77-113749). (ISBN 0-444-10032-6) . British Books in Print: Author Index. Vol. I. London: Whitaker & Sons, 1970. 1493p. $27.60 for 2-volume set. (ISBN ·85021-038-0). British Books in Print 1970: Title Index. Vol. II. London: Whitaker & Sons 1970. 1950p. (ISBN 85021-038-0). ' Canadian Locations of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus. Prepared by the Health Sciences Resource Centre of the Na- tional Science Library. Ottawa: National Research Council, 1970. 173p. $5.00. Clark, Mary Virginia, camp. Medical Ref- erence Works, 1679-1966: A Selected Bibliography. Supplement I. Chicago: Medical Library Association, 1970. 46p. $3.75. ( 67-30664). De Lerma, Dominique-Rene. Black Music in Our Culture: Curricular Ideas on the Subjects, Materials and Problems. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1970. 263p. $7.50. (70-131429). (ISBN 0- 87338-110-6). Evans, Judith L. Children in Africa: A Review of Psychological Research. New York: Teachers College Press, 1970. 115p. $3.95. (71-113095). Flores, Ivan. Data Structure and Manage- ment. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice- Hall, 1970. 390p. $13.95. (73-125290). Faxon, David F. Thoughts on the History and Future of Bibliographical Descrip- tion. Los Angeles: U.C.L.A., 1970. 31p. Furet, Francois, ed. Livre et societe dans la France du XVIII siecle. II. Paris: Mouton, 1970. 228p. 38 Francs. (67- 112747). Garde, P. K. The United Nat ions F am.ily of Libraries. New York: Asia Publishing House, 1970. 252p. $5.50. (ISBN 0- 210-22282-4). Haight, Anne Lyon. Banned Books: Infor- mal Notes on Some Books Banned for Various Reasons at Various Times and in Various Places. 3d ed. New York: R. R. Bowker, 1970. 166p. $7 .95. (54- 11650). (ISBN 0-8352-0204-6).