College and Research Libraries


in L e i p z i g . T h e first three v o l u m e s are 
( i ) Peter Karstedt, Studien zur Soziol-
ogie der Bibliothek (1954, viii, 97 p.; D M 
10) ; ( 2 ) Rudolf Blum, Der Prozess Fust 
gegen Gutenberg (1954; vi, n 8 p . ; D M 1 6 ) ; 
and ( 3 ) Georg Leyh, A us 40 Jahren Biblio-
theksarbeit: kleine Schriften (1954; viii, 
p . ; D M 2 4 ) . T h e f o u r t h v o l u m e w i l l be 
F r i e d r i c h A d o l f S c h m i d t - K u n s e m i i l l e r , Wil-
liam Morris und sein Einfluss auf die moderne 
Buchkunst. A l t h o u g h K a r s t e d t ' s w o r k w i l l 
be of p r i m a r y interest to public librarians, it 
contains many sapient o b s e r v a t i o n s on the 
social f u n c t i o n of the l i b r a r y in general. T h e 
i m p o r t a n c e of the o t h e r s is readily apparent 
from the title.—Lawrence S. Thompson, Uni-
versity of Kentucky Library. 

German Reference Books 
Lexikon des Buchwesens. Herausgegeben 

v o n J o a c h i m K i r c h n e r . B a n d 1 1 : L - Z . 
S t u t t g a r t , H i e r s e m a n n V e r l a g , 1953. P p . 
4 0 6 - 9 2 7 . D M 36 ( V . I and V . I I t o g e t h e r , 
D M 6 4 ) . 

Jahrbuch der Auktionspreise fur Biicher und 
Autographen; Ergebnisse der Auktionen in 
Deutschland, Holland, Osterreich und in 
der Schweiz. H a m b u r g , E . H a u s w e d e l l & 
C o . , 1950-date. V . I I , 1952. x x , 428 p. 
V . I l l , 1953. x x , 348p. D M 48 per v o l u m e . 
T h e second v o l u m e of J o a c h i m K i r c h n e r ' s 

Lexikon des Buchwesens completes a work 
that e v e r y b o o k m a n — l i b r a r i a n , c o l l e c t o r , 
b o o k s e l l e r , o r p u b l i s h e r — n e e d s on his desk. 
I t is g r a t i f y i n g to note that this v o l u m e , like 
the third v o l u m e of the L o f f l e r - K i r c h n e r 
Lexikon des gesamten Buchwesens, contains 
a classified index a r r a n g e d u n d e r t w e l v e 
m a j o r headings and n u m e r o u s sub-heads. 
E v e n m o r e g r a t i f y i n g is the price f o r the 
t w o v o l u m e s ( D M 6 4 ) , especially w h e n 
w e see the o l d L o f f l e r - K i r c h n e r advertised 
f o r sixty d o l l a r s and m o r e in antiquarian 
c a t a l o g s . 

L i k e the first v o l u m e , the second is c o n -
siderably abbreviated by c o m p a r i s o n w i t h the 
L - Z section of L o f f l e r - K i r c h n e r . H o w e v e r , 
the s o m e 4,000 articles in K i r c h n e r ' s t w o 
v o l u m e s contain the same basic i n f o r m a t i o n 
that m a y be f o u n d in the o l d e r w o r k , and 
j u d i c i o u s use of the classified index facilitates 
the l o c a t i o n of i n f o r m a t i o n c o n s o l i d a t e d f r o m 
specific headings into m o r e general ones. 

K i r c h n e r ' s alertness and familiarity w i t h 
p r o f e s s i o n a l and technical literature is amply 
p r o v e n by bibliographical r e f e r e n c e t o a r -
ticles and b o o k s that appeared in 1953. Basic 
bibliographical l i t e r a t u r e f r o m all l a n g u a g e s 
is c i t e d ; and if a captious reader is apt to cite 
an occasional omission, any such m i n o r d e -
linquency ( t o w h i c h all bibliographers are 
s u b j e c t ) is relatively u n i m p o r t a n t . 

O n e c u r i o u s inconsistency w i l l surely cause 
a m i n o r titter at the next meeting of the 
A m h e r s t C o l l e g e b o a r d of t r u s t e e s : O n p. 
253 ( v o l u m e I ) it is stated that H e n r y C l a y 
F o l g e r presented his c o l l e c t i o n to the L i b r a r y 
of C o n g r e s s , and on p. 715 ( v o l u m e I I ) it is 
stated that he presented it to the city of 
W a s h i n g t o n , D . C . H o w e v e r , such deficien-
cies are f e w e r in n u m b e r than they are in 
m o s t c o m p a r a b l e r e f e r e n c e w o r k s . 

T h e second and third v o l u m e s of the Jahr-
buch der Auktionspreise fur Biicher und 
Autographen have firmly established the value 
of this H a u s w e d e l l publication. A u c t i o n r e -
c o r d s f o r W e s t G e r m a n y , the N e t h e r l a n d s , 
A u s t r i a , and S w i t z e r l a n d are included. 
Eighty sales are r e c o r d e d f o r 1951, one less 
than f o r 1952. H o w e v e r , some of the a u c -
tions are f o r art o b j e c t s and antiques, and 
such c a t a l o g s are r e c o r d e d only to s h o w the 
f u l l picture of the activities of firms that sell 
b o o k s and autographs as w e l l as w o r k s of 
art. 

T h e r e are separate alphabets f o r b o o k s and 
autographs. E a c h o f the t w o v o l u m e s c o n -
tains a v a l u a b l e essay by the w e l l k n o w n 
B a v a r i a n antiquarian b o o k s e l l e r B e r n h a r d 
W e n d t . T h e r e are also lists of b o o k s e l l e r s ' 
trade associations in all countries, special 
fields of v a r i o u s i m p o r t a n t antiquarian d e a l -
ers, and addresses of firms w h i c h have ads 
in the Jahrbuch. 

T h e m i n i m u m price f o r any item listed in 
the Jahrbuch is D M ' 25. Descriptions are 
as adequate as possible w h e n based on a u c -
tion catalogs. H o w e v e r , the hard-pressed 
dealer c a n n o t a l w a y s be as g e n e r o u s w i t h 
i n f o r m a t i o n as the l i b r a r y c a t a l o g e r with all 
the w o n d e r f u l space on his three by five, and 
a f e w entries are slightly unclear ( t h r o u g h no 
f a u l t of the c o m p i l e r , and n o m o r e than in 
c o m p a r a b l e English and A m e r i c a n w o r k s ) . 
V o l u m e I I I has a f e w i n n o v a t i o n s : r e f e r e n c e 
to bibliographical descriptions in some cases 
(e.g., i n c u n a b u l a ) , the n u m b e r of the item in 

OCTOBER, 1954 475. 



the original c a t a l o g , and the size of the b o o k 
w h e n k n o w n . O n the w h o l e , the individual 
entries are r e c o r d e d quite accurately, both 
f o r G e r m a n and f o r n o n - G e r m a n b o o k s . 

C o m p a r i s o n w i t h A m e r i c a n auction r e c o r d s 
indicates a distinctly l o w e r price trend, and 
this p h e n o m e n o n might w e l l be the s u b j e c t 
of a f a i r l y c a r e f u l investigation. I t w o u l d 
seem, in g e n e r a l , to be a d v a n t a g e o u s f o r 
A m e r i c a n librarians to participate m o r e a c -
tively in E u r o p e a n auctions rather than t o 
pay a p r e m i u m to d o m e s t i c firms w h o acquire 
b o o k s w e w a n t at these same a u c t i o n s . — L a w -
rence S. Thompson, University of Kentucky 
Libraries. 

Contemporary Book Design 
Contemporary Book Design. By Ralph E. 

E c k e r s t r o m . " B e t a Phi M u C h a p - B o o k 
N u m b e r O n e . " [ U r b a n a , U n i v e r s i t y of 
Illinois L i b r a r y ] 1953. 26 p. $3.00. 
E c k e r s t r o m ' s w o r k is the first in a series 

of b o o k s to be published u n d e r the auspices 
of Beta Phi M u , N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y Science 
H o n o r a r y F r a t e r n i t y . T h e f r a t e r n i t y , 
f o u n d e d at the U n i v e r s i t y of Illinois in the 
spring of 1949, decided that " f i r s t attention 
should be given t o the publication of a series 
of b o o k s w h i c h w o u l d be a u t h o r i t a t i v e and 
w o r t h w h i l e c o n t r i b u t i o n s to the l i t e r a t u r e of 
b o o k s and librarianship and w o u l d , at the 
same time, have the v i r t u e of presenting the 
best in b o o k d e s i g n . " T h e v o l u m e here under 
r e v i e w a d m i r a b l y fulfills the scope and p r o m i s e 
of the stated p u r p o s e of this series. If s u c -
ceeding v o l u m e s in the series are of like e x c e l -
lence, the B e t a Phi M u C h a p - B o o k s w i l l p r o v e 
distinguished c o n t r i b u t i o n s to the l i t e r a t u r e 
o f b o o k s and librarianship. 

M r . E c k e r s t r o m , art d i r e c t o r of the U n i -
versity of Illinois P r e s s since 1949, defines 
b o o k design as " t h e m a n n e r in w h i c h the 
p a p e r , cloth, ink, type face, and illustrations 
are b o u n d t o g e t h e r in b o o k f o r m to make a 
visual presentation of the a u t h o r ' s ideas." In 
his brief essay, the a u t h o r c o n t r a c t s t r a d i -
tional b o o k design w i t h that of today, noting 
the n e w techniques n o w being e m p l o y e d in the 
c o m p o s i t i o n of b o o k s . T y p e faces, i l l u s t r a -
tions, c o l o r , paper, b i n d i n g — e a c h plays an 
i m p o r t a n t role in the c o m p o s i t i o n of the physi-
cal b o o k ; and the r o l e of each is discussed 
clearly and concisely. 

T h i s c o n t e m p o r a r y " c h a p - b o o k " w a s d e -
signed by the author, and he has agreed to 
design the o t h e r v o l u m e s to be published in 
the series. T h e f o r m a t of the present v o l u m e 
o f f e r s ample p r o o f that M r . E c k e r s t r o m p r a c -
tices in b o o k design that w h i c h he preaches. 
Contemporary Book Design is an handsome 
e x a m p l e of typography, a delight to read and 
to own.—John David Marshall, Clemson 
College Library. 

Physics Literature 
Physics Literature: A Reference Manual. 

B y R o b e r t H . W h i t f o r d . W a s h i n g t o n , 
D . C . , T h e S c a r e c r o w Press, 1954. 228 p. 
$5.00. 
T h e appearance of this g u i d e to the vast 

a m o u n t of reading m a t t e r and the c o m p l e x 
publishing pattern of physical science l i t e r a -
ture w i l l be w e l c o m e d by the librarians and 
students at the c o l l e g e level at w h i c h it is 
aimed. Physics Literature is a survey of 
l i t e r a t u r e , a r r a n g e d by " m o s t usual lines of 
inquiry t e r m e d ' a p p r o a c h e s ' " . E i g h t m a j o r 
approaches are outlined ( b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l , his-
torical, b i o g r a p h i c a l , e x p e r i m e n t a l , m a t h e m a t i -
cal, e d u c a t i o n a l , t e r m i n o l o g i c a l , and t o p i c a l ) 
and the m o s t u s e f u l titles in f u r n i s h i n g h e l p f u l 
guidance and a basic c o l l e c t i o n are listed. 

T h i s survey w i l l immediately be suspected 
of being a rival to N a t h a n P a r k e ' s Guide to 
the Literature of Mathematics and Physics 
. . . published in 1947. T h e s e b o o k s are only 
rivals in part. P a r k e ' s w o r k is largely a 
selected list of the o u t s t a n d i n g treatises on 
v a r i o u s subjects a r r a n g e d alphabetically by 
topic. T h e topical listing, h o w e v e r , is only 
one of m a n y approaches used by W h i t f o r d to 
d e v e l o p his guides to the l i t e r a t u r e of the 
v a r i o u s phases of physics. A l t h o u g h P a r k e 
lists m o r e titles, f r o m 30 to 4 0 % of the titles 
listed in W h i t f o r d ' s topical section w e r e p u b -
lished a f t e r 1947 and thus d o n o t appear in 
P a r k e ' s guide. P a r k e ' s excellent discussion 
of study m e t h o d s and l i t e r a t u r e searching, and 
his m o r e detailed s u b j e c t listing, and W h i t -
f o r d ' s c a r e f u l l y analyzed a p p r o a c h e s and 
m o r e recent titles are m o r e c o m p l e m e n t a r y 
than c o m p e t i t i v e . 

D r . W h i t f o r d used a n u m b e r of criteria to 
cull o u t the most u s e f u l titles to physicists. 
By the same criteria, his o w n b o o k w o u l d 
also be included. Physics Literature w i l l u n -

.476 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES