College and Research Libraries


ministrator, instructors, and all j u n i o r college 
personnel. 

In conclusion, the r e v i e w e r feels that this is 
a book which every f a c u l t y member, librarian, 
administrator, member of the boards of 
trustees in the j u n i o r college field should read 
c a r e f u l l y . I t w i l l be found interesting and 
inviting in readability, inclusive in scope, 
thought provoking in its objectiveness, stimu-
lating enough to make the reader w a n t to put 
into operation many of the suggested recom-
m e n d a t i o n s . — R u t h E. Scarborough, Centen-
ary Junior College Library ,Hackettstown,N .J. 

N e w Books About 
the Book A r t s 
The Alexandrian Library, Glory of the 

Hellenic World; Its Rise, Antiquities, and 
Destruction. B y E d w a r d A l e x a n d e r P a r -
sons. A m s t e r d a m , etc., T h e E l s e v i e r P r e s s , 
1 9 5 2 . 468p. $ 7 . 5 0 . 

The Roman Letter, a Study of Notable 
Graven and Written Forms from Twenty 
Centuries in Which Our Latin Alphabet 
Moved towards Its High Destiny as the 
Basic Medium of Printed Communication 
throughout the Western World. P r e p a r e d 
by J a m e s H a y e s . . . on the occasion of an 
exhibition dealing with this subject held by 
R . R . Donnelley & Sons Company in its 
L a k e s i d e P r e s s G a l l e r i e s . . . C h i c a g o . . . 
1 9 5 1 - 5 2 . 54p. commentary, 59 illus. 

Schoene Fischbucher. B y C l a u s s Nissen. 
S t u t t g a r t , L o t h a r H e m p e V e r l a g , 1 9 5 1 . 
io8p. 

Buecher bewegten die Welt: eine Kultur-
geschichte des Buches. B y K a r l Schotten-
loher. S t u t t g a r t , H i e r s e m a n n , 1 9 5 1 . V o l . 
I : Antiquity to Renaissance. 278p. D M 
20-. 

Das Buch im wandel der Zeiten. B y W i l -
helm H . L a n g e . 6th ed. W i e s b a d e n , F . 
Steiner, 1 9 5 1 . I96p., with 1 5 8 illus. 
The Alexandrian Library, to quote f r o m 

the P r o e m to this important w o r k , " c e r -
tainly the greatest of all Antiquity and the 
g r e a t e s t before the invention of printing, w a s 
perhaps potentially the most important ever 
collected. B e c a u s e of the neglect in the 
annals of history and letters, w e have only 

the existing f r a g m e n t s of original minor com-
ments in the ancient authorities and mostly 
casual r e m a r k s of many modern w r i t e r s out 
of which to attempt a restoration of the 
A l e x a n d r i a . " 

D u r i n g the past seven y e a r s this restoration 
w a s undertaken by E d w a r d A l e x a n d e r P a r -
sons, man of letters and bibliographer, l i f e -
long resident of N e w O r l e a n s and founder 
of the Bibliotheca P a r s o n i a n a . 

T h e results of his efforts, a labor of love 
in the finest sense of the w o r d , are now be-
f o r e us in a volume wThich is certain to take 
an honored place on the shelves of every 
collector, student and librarian interested in 
books. 

A s one reads this magnificent account of 
the conception of the building of the l i b r a r y , 
founded " a t the close of the classic period 
of the w o r l d ' s greatest l i t e r a t u r e , when 
Athens, its mother, no longer a f f o r d e d the 
means, p o w e r or genius necessary f o r its 
protection or preservation," one w o n d e r s w h y 
this outstanding achievement in the intellec-
tual l i f e of man has not before now been the 
subject of a truly exhaustive study. 

W i t h meticulous care and scrupulous ap-
praisal of its validity M r . P a r s o n s has tried 
to locate every single reference to the l i b r a r y 
of A l e x a n d r i a in the ancient sources and in 
the studies of modern scholars. O u t of these 
e f f o r t s there arises an astonishingly vivid and 
complete picture of the founding of this li-
b r a r y under the Ptolemies, of its scholarly 
and administrative s t a f f , of the method of 
acquisition of its vast holdings, their storage, 
cataloging and editing and of the alternating 
destruction and rebirth of this g r e a t institu-
tion through nine centuries. 

W e witness the origin of the science of 
bibliography and of l i t e r a r y criticism and 
history. B u t w e are also given a most lively 
picture of the Hellenistic w o r l d , its leading 
personalities, its political issues and, above all, 
its c u l t u r a l mission. I t may be that the spe-
cialist student of the Hellenistic tradition 
w o u l d d i f f e r here and there in points of detail 
f r o m the conclusions and interpretations 
o f f e r e d in this-book. T h e general r e a d e r w i l l 
notice a tendency t o w a r d repetition and he 
may sometimes wish that the picture might 
have been presented in a more concentrated 
manner. H e w i l l also notice a f a i r number 
of printers' e r r o r s . B u t scholar and layman 

JANUARY, 1953 107 



alike w i l l realize that here is a contribution 
to the l i t e r a t u r e of librarianship which w i l l be 
of g r e a t v a l u e f o r y e a r s to come. 

Sufficiently described in its title, The 
Roman Letter is distinguished by the selec-
tion and reproduction of R o m a n letter f o r m s , 
by the o r d e r and beauty of their a r r a n g e m e n t 
and by the authority of the s k i l l f u l l y inter-
w o v e n brief text. 

T h e little volume by Nissen on the history 
of ichthyological i l l u s t r a t i o n — a masterpiece 
of condensation—is the w o r k of the same 
D r . Nissen of the staff of the M u n i c i p a l 
L i b r a r y in M a i n z , w h o has recently com-
pleted his imposing history and bibliography 
of botanical illustration. 

T h e same qualities which made the f o r m e r 
w o r k such a significant contribution w e n t into 
the making of the present s t u d y : the scholarly 
approach of the trained n a t u r a l scientist, a 
cultivated artistic taste, and a vast store of 
bibliographical and biographical knowledge in 
the field- of scientific illustration. D r . 
N i s s e n ' s critical essay on the scientific por-
t r a i t u r e of fish takes up but 4 1 pages, yet it 
is a complete guide and introduction to a spe-
cial field which in recent y e a r s has received 
but scant systematic cultivation. T h e story 
ranges f a r and wide, taking in such important 
figures as Bishop F e l l and Samuel Pepys. 

O n e hundred and thirty-five of the most im-
portant illustrated ichthyological publications, 
mainly f r o m the sixteenth to the nineteenth 
centuries, are listed alphabetically. T h e r e is 
also a list of the previous bibliographical e f -
f o r t s in this field, and a u s e f u l index. 

T h e plan f o r a comprehensive c u l t u r a l his-
tory of the book is a plausible one and one 
that has an especial significance at a time 
when the role of the book is being questioned 
e v e r y w h e r e in the modern w o r l d . T h e 
manuscript f o r Schottenloher's book w a s com-
pleted before the beginning of the last w a r . 
T w i c e during its course it had been set up 
in type and twice it w a s destroyed during 
aerial attacks. N o w , at last, the first volume 
has been completed and the second volume is 
w e l l on its w a y . 

I t is not easy to do f u l l justice to this 
important w o r k of the 75-ye^r-old author, 
w h o f o r many y e a r s w a s D i r e c t o r of the 
L i b r a r y of the B a v a r i a n S t a t e in M u n i c h . I t 
is a book f u l l of wisdom and m a t u r i t y and 
it conveys a v a s t store of i n f o r m a t i o n . Y e t , 
it c a r r i e s in its structure and outlook certain 

limitations. T h e y stand in the w a y of its 
reaching an uncontested place among the 
internationally recognized masterpieces of re-
search which on many counts this book de-
serves. 

T h e limiting f a c t o r , as anyone reading the 
book outside of the country of its origin w i l l 
recognize, lies in its concentration upon the 
contribution of G e r m a n y . H e r e is a piece 
of universal c u l t u r a l history, w r i t t e n with a 
distinct national bias. T h e results of this 
approach are v e r y c l e a r : T h o s e portions of 
the book which deal with periods, develop-
ments and circumstances previous to the 
a r r i v a l of G e r m a n y on the scene of w o r l d 
history, are excellent. T h e account of 
C a s s i o d o r u s , f o r instance, is a pure j o y to 
read. E x c e l l e n t , too, are the chapters on 
periods in which G e r m a n y ' s contribution is 
indeed a leading one, as f o r instance in the 
w a k e of C h a r l e m a g n e ' s empire building or in 
the days of G u t e n b e r g . B u t at other times the 
reader feels himself too often diverted f r o m 
the g r e a t highways of intellectual intercourse. 

T h e story of the book is treated here as an 
integrated account of the many separate f a c e t s 
of its evolution. T h e purely technical and 
some of the artistic elements are sometimes 
less convincingly w o r k e d out than other as-
pects. T h e one side of the story which is con-
sistently treated with equal competence, e x -
perience and knowledge, is the history of 
libraries, and the rise of bibliography. 

W h i l e one w o u l d hesitate to recommend 
an English translation of this w o r k , it is cer-
tainly to be hoped that this important contri-
bution w i l l find its w a y into many scholarly 
A m e r i c a n libraries. 

L i k e the w o r k by K a r l Schottenloher, the 
book by W i l h e l m H . L a n g e , the successor of 
the late R u d o l f K o c h at the O f f e n b a c h w o r k -
shops, also sets out to tell the complete story 
of the evolution of the book in all its aspects. 
I t s organization is significantly d i f f e r e n t in 
that it is built up of separate chapters each 
devoted to one phase, such as lettering, 
w r i t i n g s u r f a c e s , printing, illustration, etc. 
I t , too, contains a good deal of information 
told in a fluent and lively manner. B u t its 
national bias is so strong that it becomes in-
creasingly difficult to f o l l o w the author. 
A g a i n and again this bias reaches chauvinistic 
proportions. T h e explanation lies in the f a c t 
that this book w a s first published in 1940 dur-
ing N a z i s m ' s heyday. U n t i l the y e a r 1 9 4 3 

108 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



there f o l l o w e d no less than f o u r more edi-
tions. 

T h e influence of N a z i ideology on every 
phase of intellectual l i f e in totalitarian G e r -
many is excellently illustrated by this book 
in the seemingly neutral field of book lore. 
F o r its p o s t w a r appearance the book may 
have undergone certain revisions of its w a r -
time text. R e g a r d l e s s of w h e t h e r or not this 
w a s the case, its basic outlook has not 
changed; its spirit is still the s a m e . — H e l l m u t 
Lehmann-Haupt, New School for Social Re-
search. 

Eugene Stollreither 
Festschrift Eugen Stollreither zum 75-

Gehurtstage gewidmet von Fachgesen, 
Schuelern, Freunden. H e r a u s g e g e b e n von 
F r i t z Redenbacher. M i t 3 4 T a f e l n . 
E r l a n g e n , Universitaetsbibliothek, 1950. 
xii, 403P., 3 2 pi. D M 44-. 
T h i s impressive volume represents pri-

marily S o u t h - G e r m a n scholarship, edited by 
the present director of the U n i v e r s i t y L i -
b r a r y of E r l a n g e n in honor of his predecessor. 
M o s t of the 3 5 contributions deal with his-
torical problems about books, printing, bind-
ing and i l l u s t r a t i o n s ; they are in many cases 
w e l l and amply illustrated. T h e editor him-
self contributes one of the most interesting of 
these studies, dealing w i t h the shifts in inter-
preting the meaning of renaissance book 
illustration. 

E i g h t of the papers are of more than 
passing concern to librarians. T h r e e of these 
deal with three outstanding men: F r i e d r i c h 
K r a f t d i s c u s s e r Achille R a t t i , l a t e r Pope P i u s 
X I ; G e o r g L e y h adds significant i n f o r m a -
tion about A u g u s t W i l m a n n s ( P r e u s s i s c h e 
Staatsbibliothek) ; H e n r i F . R a u x gives high-
lights of the career of the F r e n c h protagonist 
of public libraries, E u g e n e M o r e l . 

F i v e papers deal with v a r i o u s aspects of 
library administration. Friedrich Bock treats 
of medieval manuscript catalogs as f o r e -
runners of the alphabetical subject catalog 
( = dictionary c a t a l o g ) ; Agnes Staehlin of 
some problems involved in making such cata-
logs today. Gustav Hofmann analyzes the 
personnel problem in G e r m a n scholarly li-
b r a r i e s ; Schnorr von Carolsfeld characterizes 
a typical scholar-librarian, d r a w i n g on his 
intimate association with an outstanding ex-
ample, his f a t h e r , w h o w a s a predecessor of 

G u s t a v H o f m a n n as the Chief D i r e c t o r of 
the B a v a r i a n State L i b r a r y and its function 
in the U . S . A . 

Anyone interested in the tradition of the 
book w i l l w a n t to glance through this fine 
treatise, read some of it, enjoy the illustra-
tions and make notes f o r f u t u r e r e f e r e n c e . — 
Icko Iben, Champaign, Illinois. 

Key Literature 
Die Schliisselliteratur. B y G e o r g Schneider. 

S t u t t g a r t , H i e r s e m a n n , 1 9 5 1 - 5 2 . 2 vols. 
D M 32.00. 
T h e distinguished author of the Handbuch 

der Bibliographie has labored f o r twenty-five 
years on another monumental w o r k which 
w i l l be an essential title in every reference 
collection. Schliisselliteratur, rather a w k -
w a r d l y translated into English as " k e y litera-
t u r e , " r e f e r s to books which portray real 
persons and events under the guise of ficti-
tious names. T h e genre poses rather difficult 
problems f o r beginning students of literary 
h i s t o r y ; but, strangely enough, the only study 
prior to Schneider's is A . F e r d i n a n d D r u j o n ' s 
Livres a clef ( 1 8 8 8 ) , which deals w i t h F r e n c h 
erotic and satirical l i t e r a t u r e of the seven-
teenth and eighteenth centuries. 

T h e first volume ("Das liter arische 
Besamtbild") contains definitions, history and 
criticism, with indexes of authors and proto-
types. T h e second volume ("Entschliisselung 
deutscher Romane und Dramen") contains a 
detailed account of all more important G e r -
man fiction and d r a m a which deal w i t h 
reality in the guise of imaginative w r i t i n g . 
E a c h title is analyzed in detail with r e f e r -
ences to pertinent critical literature. T h e 
third volume, not yet published, w i l l deal w i t h 
n o n - G e r m a n " k e y l i t e r a t u r e , " particularly in 
English, French, and the Scandinavian lan-
guages. 

T h e earliest examples of " k e y l i t e r a t u r e " 
may be found in the fifteenth century w i t h 
such w o r k s as S a n n a z a r o ' s pastoral romance, 
Arcadia, and E m p e r o r M a x i m i l i a n ' s 
Theuerdank; but the genre's possibilities w e r e 
not f u l l y recognized b e f o r e the baroque period. 
T h r o u g h o u t the periods of classicism and 
romanticism in E u r o p e the roman a clef en-
joyed unusual popularity mainly f o r reasons of 
courtesy and respect f o r the feelings of others. 
P e r h a p s the most f a m o u s example of all is 

JANUARY, 1953 109