College and Research Libraries T h e Hawkins work is the long awaited supplement to the base volume which covered the period, 1930-1944. T h e purpose of the work is to supply descriptions of the out- standing scientific, medical and technical books written by citizens of the United States and Canada, published in the United States dur- ing the years 1945-1948. Citations are given for about 2600 books. T h e subject scope is indicated in the title, but there are certain exceptions. T h e social sciences are omitted, except for certain works in such fields as nursing and psychology, where some books which are listed are equally useful for sociological and technical informa- tion. T h e selections on a given subject are intended to represent the books that would be available in a well-stocked American li- brary with an active collection in that sub- ject. T h e list is one of important and use- ful books, rather than a list of "best" books. This publication and the one which it supple- ments is a "must" for the general reference collection in any college or university, and an "absolute must" for every science library.— Thomas P. Fleming, Columbia University. Peter Schoeffer Peter Schoeffer of Gernsheim and Mainz, with a List of His Surviving Books and Broadsides. By Hellmut Lehmann-Haupt. Rochester, N . Y . , Leo Hart, 1950, 146P. $5.00. (No. 4 of the Printers' Valhalla series, edited by George Parker Winship.) Three names stand out in the story of the beginning of printing at M a i n z : Gutenberg, the inventor; Fust, the financier; and Schoef- fer, the artist and craftsman. Schoeffer, the young assistant of Gutenberg and later, the son-in-law of Fust, is the subject of this attractive and surprisingly interesting mono- graph by D r . Lehmann-Haupt. Probably a student (possibly of law) at the Sorbonne in 1449, he worked there as a calligrapher and a manuscript copyist. From Paris he went to Mainz, which is close to Gernsheim, his home, and became, an assistant to Gutenberg. But at the famous trial on Nov. 6, 1455, Schoeffer testified in favor of Fust who, awarded the decision, took away most of the inventor's printing materials. Next, we find Schoeffer operating a press, first with Fust, then by himself. His experi- ence as a calligrapher, the evidence shows, aided him to become an excellent typecutter and book-designer. T h e beauty of his books has aroused the admiration of bookmen for nearly five centuries. It was but gradually that Peter Schoeffer broke away from his first practice of making his printed books follow the artistic standards of the manuscript. In these his earliest pro- ductions Schoeffer's difficult color printing— whether or not we accept the reconstruction by Rudolph Ruzicka and by Heinrich W a l l a u (p.40-45) of its method—involved great technical problems. But slowly experience taught Schoeffer to think of typography as a new art, of the use of contrasting black and white, aided, when the individual pur- chaser of the book desired it, by color added by the rubricator. Again, Schoeffer printed law books with their texts on balanced pages surrounded by commentary which referred to the pages en- closed. Schoeffer, to be sure, could print from a manuscript which had the commentary sur- rounding the text and could abbreviate or ex- pand the spelling of his legal Latin copy—an expedient probably more easily employed than those suggested (p.48-49). Nevertheless this was a typographical feat requiring skill. Schoeffer was a clever and successful busi- ness man who sold the books which he printed. Aided by an approximately complete unpub- lished list of surviving Schoeffer imprints compiled by the Gesamtkatalog staff, which he obtained while serving with the U.S. Mili- tary Government in Germany, D r . Lehmann- Haupt is able to show how varied were his productions. Most bookmen know Schoeffer as a printer of stately missals and Bibles. But Schoeffer printed not only a considerable amount of theology and law, the classics and other serious works, but also a cookbook and a calendar. He also produced numerous items of job printing—the bulls of popes, proc- lamations of the emperor, letters of the war- ring claimants to the archdiocese of Mainz, indulgences, propoganda pieces against the T u r k s and even the announcement of a sport- ing event of a municipally conducted cross- bow tournament. Schoeffer, like a good business man, ad- 204 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES vertised his books, even issuing a warning that Mentelin's edition of Jerome's Epistles was inferior to the edition which he was about to publish. T o sell his books he appears to have maintained a regular sales organization. His printing business brought Schoeffer prosperity if not wealth. He owned real estate in both Mainz and Frankfurt and en- gaged with partners in mining and other enterprises. So well regarded was he in Mainz that in 1489 he was appointed a sec- ular judge of that city. D r . Lehmann-Haupt has given us a bal- anced biography of Schoeffer, of the man as well the printer. T h e value of the book is increased by its 47 illustrations, ranging from a simple printer's mark to a reduced facsimile in color of the elaborate opening page of the 1459 Psalter. T h e book, it may be said in conclusion, is a credit to the Printers' Val- halla series.—Edwin Eliott Willoughby, Fol- ger Shakespeare Library. Nominees for A.C.R.L. Officers 1 9 5 1 - 5 2 N o m i n a t i o n s f o r t h e f o l l o w i n g t e r m s : vice p r e s i d e n t a n d president-elect, o n e y e a r as vice p r e s i d e n t , one year as p r e s i d e n t ; d i r e c t o r , t h r e e y e a r s ; r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s on A . L . A . C o u n c i l , f o u r y e a r s . Vice president (One to be elected) D a v i d H . C l i f t , associate l i b r a r i a n , Y a l e U n i v e r s i t y , N e w H a v e n , C o n n . R o b e r t W . Severance, l i b r a r i a n , B a y l o r U n i v e r s i t y , W a c o , T e x . Director at Large (One to be elected) J u l i a n S. F o w l e r , l i b r a r i a n , O b e r l i n College, O b e r l i n , O h i o . S t a n l e y L . W e s t , d i r e c t o r of libraries, U n i v e r s i t y of F l o r i d a , G a i n e s v i l l e , F l a . Representatives on A.L.A. Council (Two to be elected) ^ r a n e e s B. J e n k i n s , a c t i n g h e a d of b r a n c h libraries, U n i v e r s i t y of C a l i f o r n i a , Berkeley, C a l i f . R o b e r t W . O r r , d i r e c t o r of t h e l i b r a r y , I o w a S t a t e College, A m e s , I o w a . W y m a n W . P a r k e r , l i b r a r i a n , K e n y o n College, G a m b i e r , O h i o . K a t h a r i n e M . Stokes, l i b r a r i a n , W e s t e r n M i c h i g a n C o l l e g e of E d u c a t i o n , K a l a m a z o o , M i c h . Vice President (President-Elect) C L I F T , D A V I D H . , associate librarian, Y a l e University, 1945-date. B . S . , University of Kentucky, 1930; B . S . in L . S . , Columbia, 1931; reference assistant, New Y o r k Public Library, 1931-37; assistant to director of libraries, Columbia University, 1937-42; served as private to 1st Lt., A U S (assigned to O S S ) , 1942-45; deputy chief, Library of Congress Mission to Germany, 1945-46; in- structor, New Haven State Teachers College, summer session, 1948; member: A . L . A . Board on Personnel Administration, 1947-date (chairman, 1950-51); Special Libraries Association, Connecticut V a l l e y Chapter (treasurer, 1949-50); Connecticut Library Association (secretary, 1947-49; first vice-president, 1949-50; presi- dent, 1950-51); New Y o r k Library Club (president, 1941- 4 2 ) ; Friends of the Hamden (Conn.) Library (program chairman, 1950-51); Y a l e Club, New Y o r k ; Associate Fellow, Trumbull College, Y a l e . Served on A . C . R . L . Program Committee for Midwinter Meeting, 1950. Mr. C l i f t is a member of the University Libraries Section of A . C . R . L . S E V E R A N C E , R O B E R T W . , librarian, Baylor University, al Notes 1940-date. A . B . , Furman, 1928; A . M . , V i r g i n i a , 1929; B . S . in L . S . , Peabody, 1933; high school teacher, Green- ville, S . C . , 1929-30; assistant professor of history, Judson College, 1930-32; Knoxville Public Library, 1933-34; circulation librarian, North Carolina State College, 1934- 36; librarian and professor of library science, Stetson University, 1936-40; military service, 1943-45; secretary, vice-president and president, Florida Library Association; chairman of College Division, T e x a s Library Association; vice-president and president, T e x a s Library Association; representative on A . L . A . Council from Florida and T e x a s ; chairman, A . C . R . L . Membership Committee, 1948-50; member: A . C . R . L . Research Planning Com- mittee; American Association of University Professors; editor: Texas Library Journal. Mr. Severance is a member of the College Libraries Section and the Uni- versity Libraries Section of A . C . R . L . Director at Large F O W L E R , J U L I A N S., librarian and professor of bibli- ography, Oberlin College, 1928-date. B . A . , Hobart, 1 9 1 1 ; certificate, New Y o r k State Library School, 1922; APRIL. 1951 205