College and Research Libraries By K A R O L M A I C H E L Polish National Bibliography PO L I S H B I B L I O G R A P H Y has a long his-tory, going back to the seventeenth century. However, it is not the purpose of this article to examine the pioneer works in this field, b u t rather to discuss the most complete national bibliogra- phies for different periods. Estreicher's m o n u m e n t a l Bibliografia Polska, where- in he collated all earlier bibliographical material,1 should be noted first. Bibliografia Polska2 began to be pub- lished in 1870 and today consists of thirty-four volumes listing material in Polish a n d a b o u t Poland published dur- ing the period 1455 to 1881, with four additional and separate volumes cover- ing the period 1881 to 1900. Its founder, Karol Estreicher, published twenty-two volumes before his death in 1908. After his death, the work was carried on by his son Stanislaw, who published eleven more volumes, the last of which ap- peared in 1939. Stanislaw Estreicher's death in that year left Volume X X X I V , the volume covering the letter "Z," still unfinished, and it is being completed by Stanislaw's son and co-worker Karol. In 1951, the latter published the first part 1 T h o s e who seek m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n on t h e e a r l i e r w o r k s s h o u l d t u r n to J . K o r p a l a ' s Zarys Dziejow Bibliografii w Polsce ( W r o c l a w , P o l s k a A k a d e m i a N a u k , 1 9 5 3 ) , 231p. ( a l s o a v a i l a b l e in G e r m a n t r a n s - l a t i o n : Abriss der Geschichte dcr Bibliographie in Polen. L e i p z i g , H a r r a s s o w i t z , 1957, 2 5 8 p . ) , a s well as to S . W i e r c z y n s k i ' s a r t i c l e " P r z e g l a d B i b l j o g r a f j i P o l s k i e j ( O d poczatkow d o o d z y s k a n i a niepodleglosci p a n s t w o w e j ) , " in Congres international des Biblio- thecaires et des amis du livre tenu a Prague, 1926, Vol. I I . P r a g u e , 1928, pp. 695-703. A l s o , see H . U l a s - z y n , " P o l s k i i a bibliograficheskiia i z d a n i i a za p o s l i e d n i e gody ( 1 8 9 8 - 1 9 0 1 ) , " in Izvestiia Otdeleniia russkogo iazyka i slovesnosti Imperatorskoi Akademii Nauk, V I I , N o . 4, 366-402. 2 P o l i s h b i b l i o g r a p h y . Mr. Maichel is Slavic Librarian, Co- lumbia University Libraries. of Volume XXXIV, covering "Z—Za- luski." It was his father Stanislaw who also published, f r o m 1906 to 1916, the four separate volumes covering 1881- 1900. Bibliografia Polska is divided into four parts. T h e first of these appeared from 1870-1882. It comprises Volumes I-VII. I n Volumes I-V is listed, in alpha- betical order, material published from 1800 to 1879. Volumes VI and V I I con- tain additions to this list bringing it u p to 1881. T h e second p a r t comprises Volumes VIII-XI, covering chronologically the period 1455-1889. Of these, Volume V I I I covers the years 1455-1699, Volume I X the period 1700-1799 plus additions to Volumes V I I and IX, Volume X the years 1800-1870 plus additions and cor- rections to Volumes V I I I and X, and Volume X I the period 1871-1889 plus additions and corrections to Volumes VIII-XI. T h e third part of Bibliografia Polska comprises Volumes X I I - X X X I V . It lists material f r o m the fifteenth t h r o u g h the eighteenth centuries, alphabetically ar- ranged. Many of the volumes carry addi- tions to the earlier volumes. An alpha- betical index to these additions was pub- lished in 1950 by M. Dembowska.3 T h e f o u r t h part, entitled Bibliografii Polska XIX stulecia. Lata 1881-19004 and consisting of four volumes, covers the years 1881-1900, in alphabetical ar- rangement. 3 M a r i a D e m b o w s k a , Indeks alfabetycsny "Dodat- kow" Bibliografii Polskiej ( C z . I l l stulecia X V . X V I I I ) K a r o l a E s t r e i c h e r a . W y d . 2 s p r a w d z o w e i popor ( W a r s a w a , 1 9 5 0 ) . 4 P o l i s h b i b l i o g r a p h y of t h e 19th c e n t u r y : y e a r s 1881-1900 ( C r a c o w , W y d . S p o l k a K s i e g a r z y P o l s k i c h , D r u k . W . L . A n c z y c a i Sp., 1906-1916). 4 vols. SEPTEMBER 1958 455 As is clear f r o m the above, the ar- r a n g e m e n t of Bibliografia Polska is chronological in Volumes V I I I - X I a n d a l p h a b e t i c a l in the rest of the set. I n the alphabetically a r r a n g e d volumes the entries are u n d e r a u t h o r , editor, a n d title (in the case of periodicals, a n d of a n o n y m o u s or collected works of m o r e t h a n o n e a u t h o r ) . I n a d d i t i o n , the vol- umes are intensively cross-indexed, par- ticularly in cases w h e r e the names of persons a n d places are indicated in book titles, where pseudonyms or initials are used, where there are d o u b t f u l spellings, etc. T h e b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l descriptions given in the chronologically a r r a n g e d volumes (VIII-XI) is very brief, includ- ing only the a u t h o r ' s name, the title (often abbreviated), a n d the place of p u b l i c a t i o n (abbreviated). I n the rest of the set, the description is character- ized by a f a i t h f u l r e p r o d u c t i o n of t h e title, together w i t h all necessary infor- m a t i o n as to p a g i n a t i o n , size, a n d price. I n a d d i t i o n , Estreicher tried to i n c l u d e i n f o r m a t i o n o n the c o n t e n t of a n u m b e r of books, a n d to indicate to scholars their p a r t i c u l a r i m p o r t a n c e . H e also in- cluded notes o n the authors. I n a d d i t i o n to this, he specifies the locations of the m o r e rare a n d i m p o r t a n t books, lists the most i m p o r t a n t periodicals, a n d in- cludes separate entries f o r articles f r o m those periodicals w h i c h h e considered of p a r t i c u l a r i m p o r t a n c e . T h e p e r i o d 1901-1928 is one of the weakest points in the coverage of Polish n a t i o n a l b i b l i o g r a p h y . D u r i n g these years there d i d n o t exist any c o n t i n u o u s general or official bibliography, a n d the only coverage was t h a t given by special b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l periodicals, p u t o u t pri- vately, w h i c h suffered f r o m lack of f u n d s a n d were o f t e n suspended. T h e most i m p o r t a n t of these b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l peri- odicals are Przewodnik Bibliograficzny, Bibliografia Polska, a n d Biuletyn Bibli- ograficzny. T h e s e can be s u p p l e m e n t e d by j o u r n a l s as Ksiazko, Przeglad Bibli- ograficzny, a n d Nowosci Wydawnicze.5 Przewodnik Bibliograficzny6 was be- g u n in Cracow, in 1878, by Wladyslaw Wislocki. A f t e r his d e a t h in 1900 the j o u r n a l was c o n t i n u e d by the p u b l i s h i n g firm of G e b e t h n e r a n d Wolff u n d e r various editors u n t i l J u n e 1914, w h e n it was d i s c o n t i n u e d . As its subtitle states, it was "a m o n t h l y f o r editors, booksellers, a n t i q u a r i a n s (bookdealers), as well as readers a n d buyers of books," a n d at- t e m p t e d to list c u r r e n t Polish books a n d periodicals, foreign works pertain- ing to P o l a n d , a n d the works of Polish a u t h o r s p u b l i s h e d a b r o a d . T h e m a t e r i a l was a r r a n g e d in a l p h a b e t i c a l o r d e r by a u t h o r or-—in the cases of periodicals a n d a n o n y m o u s or collected works—by title. T h e b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l listing for each item is q u i t e detailed, i n c l u d i n g a u t h o r , title, subtitle, place a n d year of p u b l i c a t i o n , publisher, size, p a g i n a t i o n , and, occasionally, price. I n the case of periodicals, the contents of each n u m b e r were included. For each year covered there are c u m u l a t i v e indexes by a u t h o r , publisher, translator, a n d editor, as well as indexes for a n o n y m o u s a n d collected works. W i t h V o l u m e V of his work, is- sued in 1882, Wislocki i n t r o d u c e d a sec- tion e n t i t l e d " K r o n i k a , " w h e r e i n h e in- cluded short notes a n d articles a b o u t c u r r e n t affairs in the b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l world. A c u m u l a t i v e a l p h a b e t i c a l index f o r this section was i n c l u d e d a n n u a l l y u n t i l 1899, a f t e r which time it was in- dexed together w i t h the rest of the mate- rial in the volume. A f t e r Przewodnik Bibliograficzny was d i s c o n t i n u e d in J u n e 1914, the listing of c u r r e n t p u b l i c a t i o n s was c o n t i n u e d by Bibliografia Polska? u n d e r the edi- 3 F o r other bibliographies of this period, especially the n u m e r o u s subject bibliographies, see the f o l l o w i n g two a r t i c l e s : J . Muszkowski, " P r z e g l a d bibliografii polskiej 1900-1918," in Przeglad History czny, X X I ( s e r i a 2, Vol. 1), 1919, 359-413; a n d W . Wislocki, " O b e c n y stan bibliografii polskiej (1918-1926)," in Congrds international des Bibliothecaires et des amis du livre tenu a Prague, 1926, Vol. I I . P r a g u e , 1928, pp. 74S-7S6. 8 T h e bibliographical guide ( s u b t i t l e : miesiecznik dla wydawcow, ksiegarsy, antykwarzy, jako tez czyta- jacych i kupujacych ksiazki). 7 Polish bibliography. 456 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES torship of J. Czubek. A monthly except for 1915 and 1916, when it appeared as an annual, Bibliografia Polska, in the first two years of its existence, was pub- lished by Gebether a n d Wolff, and after- wards by the Polish Academy of Arts a n d Sciences in Cracow. Bibliografia Polska listed books and periodicals, a n d was arranged much the same as its pred- ecessor, Przewodnik Bibliograficzny. Be- cause of the war, its listings were far f r o m complete, and supplements for the years 1914-1917 were published by W . T . Wislocki in 1918, u n d e r the title Bibli- ografia Polska. Uzupelniena (1914-1917).8 T h i s supplement was alphabetically ar- ranged, without any indexes. A promised supplement for the years 1918-1919 never appeared. Bibliografia Polska was discontinued in May 1919, and listings were contin- ued by Biuletyn Bibliograficzny,9 an or- gan of the Ministry of the Interior and the first attempt at an official bibliog- raphy. T h e first issue appeared in April 1920, b u t after the publication of four issues,10 in which material published f r o m July 1919 to November 1920, was listed, Biuletyn Bibliograficzny was dis- continued. A listing for 1920 also appeared in Volume I of the second series of Prze- wodnik Bibliograficzny, published in 1922 by W . T . Wislocki, nephew of the original journal's founder. His a t t e m p t at its revival began and ended with this volume, however, as he was forced to a b a n d o n it for financial reasons. Ksiazka,11 issued by the publishing house of E. W e n d e 8c Co., was "a month- ly, devoted to criticism a n d Polish bibli- ography," which first appeared in J a n u - ary 1901, and was continued until the 8 W . T. Wislocki, Polish Bibliography: Supplemen- tary Volume (1914-1917) (Cracow, Acad". U m j . , 1918), p. 93. 0 Bibliographical bulletin. 10 Korpala, op. cit., p. 161 and W . H a h n , Bibliografia Bibliografij Polskich, 2nd ed. (Wroclaw, 1956), p. 17 (No. 152), both claim that a fifth issue, covering the rest of 1920, appeared in mimeographed f o r m . 11 The book (subtitle: miesiecznik poswiecony krytyce i bibliografii polskiej). outbreak of war in 1914. It included articles on various phases of the literary a n d bibliographical world, reviews, and a bibliographical section, systematically arranged, in which only more scholarly items were listed. I n 1914, L. Bernacki, who was the editor of Ksiazka at the time, began the publication of a month- ly supplement entitled Miesiecznik Bib- liograficzny12 which was exclusively de- voted to the listing of current publica- tions, b u t only seven issues appeared, f r o m J a n u a r y to July, Ksiazka being dis- continued thereafter. A revival of this periodical was attempted in 1922, when twelve monthly issues were published u n d e r the editorship of J . Muszkowski and M. Rulikowski, b u t Ksiazka was again discontinued thereafter. D u r i n g this time, the bibliographical supple- ment Avas also revived, and nine issues appeared u n d e r the title Przewodnik Bibliograficzny. Dodatek do miesiecznika Ksiazka,13 Similar to Ksiazka was Przeglad Bibli- ograficzny,14 a monthly which was pub- lished by Gebethner and Wolff f r o m 1905 to 1913, in Warsaw. Discontinued in 1914, it was revived in 1923, appear- ing as a semi-monthly. From November 15th of 1926 it appeared u n d e r the title Co Czytac15 until January 1930, when it was once again discontinued. It was revived a second time in 1934 u n d e r the later title, appearing as a monthly this time u n t i l 1937. In addition to its bibliographical section (which is ar- ranged by s u b j e c t ) , Przeglad Bibli- ograficzny is an excellent source for in- formation on the organization of librar- ies and library life, as well as being a rich chronicle of cultural and literary life. Nowosci Wydaionicze16 was published from 1918 to 1919 as a bibliographical 12 Bibliographical monthly. 13 The bibliographical guide (supplement to the monthly Ksiazka). 14 The bibliographical review. 15 W h a t to read. 10 News in print. SEPTEMBER 1958 457 s u p p l e m e n t to the j o u r n a l Przeglad Ksie- garski,17 a p u b l i c a t i o n of the Association of Polish Booksellers which a p p e a r e d f r o m 1918 to 1950.18 F r o m 1920, the last year covered by Biuletyn Bibliograficzny, u n t i l 1924, w h e n Przewodnik Bibliograficzny was revived, there was n o a d e q u a t e biblio- g r a p h i c a l listing p u b l i s h e d in P o l a n d , except for the p a r t i a l listing in the briefly revived Ksiazka (1922) a n d in the revived Przeglad Bibliograficzny (1923-1930). I n 1924, a definite need for a n a t i o n a l b i b l i o g r a p h y was felt, a n d the Ossolinski N a t i o n a l I n s t i t u t e in Lvov revived Przewodnik Bibliograficzny u n d e r the e d i t o r s h i p of W . T . Wislocki. Wislocki, w h o h a d already a t t e m p t e d such a revival w i t h a v o l u m e p u b l i s h e d in 1922, covering 1920, u n d e r the same title, n u m b e r e d the v o l u m e for 1924 as Volume V of the Second Series, h o p i n g to p u b l i s h the missing n u m b e r s later. Of these missing volumes, however, he was able only to p u b l i s h V o l u m e I I (in 1926), listing t h e r e i n m a t e r i a l which ap- peared in 1921, while Volumes I I I a n d IV, p l a n n e d to cover the years 1922 a n d 1923, were never published, t h o u g h they were p r e p a r e d in m a n u s c r i p t form. 1 9 T h e new Przewodnik Bibliograficzny ap- peared as a m o n t h l y u n t i l 1928, w h e n the a p p e a r a n c e of an official b u l l e t i n f o r the listing of p u b l i c a t i o n s (Urzedowy wykaz drukow . . .) caused the institute to d i s c o n t i n u e its sponsorship. T h e jour- nal was then taken over by the Asso- ciation of Polish Booksellers, w h o gave it a m o r e commercial character a n d con- t i n u e d it as Series T h r e e , semi-monthly, u n t i l December 1933. It was t h e n finally discontinued w i t h the e x p l a n a t i o n t h a t the official listing h a d r e n d e r e d it super- fluous. 17 T h e booksellers review. 18 I n the 19th a n d early 20th c e n t u r i e s , P o l a n d was u n d e r foreign a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , a n d , consequently, Ger- man, A u s t r i a n , and Russian national bibliographies, all of which listed some Polish m a t e r i a l at one time or another, should also be consulted. 19 These m a n u s c r i p t s are, today, in the National L i b r a r y in W a r s a w . See W . H a h n , op. cit., p. IS (No. 125). D u r i n g the years 1924-1928, Przeivod- nik Bibliograficzny was a r r a n g e d alpha- betically by a u t h o r and, in the cases of periodicals a n d a n o n y m o u s or collected works, by title, w i t h an a n n u a l cumula- tive i n d e x of authors, titles (wherever a work could be a t t r i b u t e d to n o definite a u t h o r ) , a n d general subject headings. F r o m 1929 to 1933, the a r r a n g e m e n t was by twenty-six subject classes, w i t h quar- terly a n d a n n u a l a l p h a b e t i c a l indexes. T h r o u g h o u t , the b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l de- scription was q u i t e detailed, similar to that in the First Series. T h e n e e d for a complete a n d compre- hensive official listing of p u b l i c a t i o n s was long felt in P o l a n d , w i t h the reali- zation t h a t this goal could n o t be achieved by private publications, since it necessitated the obligatory submission of copies of all publications. Because of this, the three existing different sets of regulations in this m a t t e r imposed by the P a r t i t i o n i n g Powers were unified i n t o one by the Polish Ministry of Edu- cation on J u l y 4, 1927.20 All p r i n t i n g houses a n d publishers were now to set aside a n u m b e r of copies of every pub- lication f o r the use of libraries a n d for the official listing. F r o m July 1927, copies of all Polish p u b l i c a t i o n s were sent to the Ministry of E d u c a t i o n , which began, in J a n u a r y 1928, to p u b l i s h an official b i b l i o g r a p h y entitled Urzedowy wykaz drukow wydanych w Rzeczypos- politej Polskiej i drukow polskich lub Polski dotyczacych, wydanych za gran- ica.21 T h i s b i b l i o g r a p h y a t t e m p t e d n o t only to list Polish material, b u t m a t e r i a l p r i n t e d in the Polish language else- where, a n d m a t e r i a l in o t h e r languages dealing w i t h P o l a n d . I n 1930, the Na- tional L i b r a r y in Warsaw, which was created in 1928, took over the publica- tion of Urzedowy wykaz, which was p u t o u t t h e r e a f t e r by the library's Biblio- 20 Dziennik ustaw Rzeczypospolitcj Polskiej, No. 67 ( 1 9 2 7 ) , I t e m 595. 21 Official register of p r i n t e d m a t t e r published in Poland and publications in Polish or about Poland published abroad. 458 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES graphical Institute u n d e r the editorship of Jadwiga Dabrowska. I n 1930, too, a title page in French was added. Urze- dowy wykaz continued to be published until 1939, when, with the outbreak of W o r l d W a r II, it was discontinued. D u r i n g the first year of its publica- tion, Urzedowy wykaz appeared quar- terly. I n 1929, it became a weekly. W h e n it first appeared, it was subdivided into five m a j o r parts: (1) Material in the Polish language (including periodicals); (2) Foreign language publications p u t out in Poland; (3) Maps; (4) Music; (5) Material in foreign languages con- cerning Poland. W i t h i n each of these groups, material is alphabetically ar- ranged. T h i s arrangement was m a i n t a i n e d t h r o u g h o u t the succeeding eleven years of publication, with the following changes. T h e first grouping, which in the first year of publication included both periodical and non-periodical ma- terial, listed only the latter after 1929. From 1929 through 1935, inclusive, peri- odicals were listed in a separate monthly supplement entitled Urzedowy Wykaz Czasopism wydawanych w Rzeczypos- politej Polskiej, zarejestrowanych 10 Bibliotece Narodowej,22 which, however, listed only new and discontinued period- icals in two groups, alphabetically. Be- ginning with 1936, periodicals were again listed with other publications, though in a separate section of their own, again divided into two groups: new and discontinued titles. In the second grouping—foreign lan- guage publications p u t out in Poland— the change was as follows: whereas in the first year of publication the material was first subdivided by language, with items then being listed in alphabetical order w i t h i n each of these subdivisions, 22 Official register of periodicals published in Poland [ a s ] registered in the N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y (beginning with 1931, the title was changed to Urzedowy wykaz Czasopism nowych, wznowionych i zawieszonych, wydanych w Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej . . . — t h a t is, Official register of new, renewed, a n d discontinued periodicals published in P o l a n d . SEPTEMBER 1958 beginning with 1929 all foreign lan- guage material was simply intermixed in alphabetical order. From 1929 to 1938, the fifth grouping —material in foreign languages dealing with Poland—was published as an inde- p e n d e n t monthly (later quarterly) sup- plement entitled Wykaz drukow Polskich lub Polski dotyczacych wydanych za granica.23 T h e supplement was divided into five subsections, according to type of publication. An a n n u a l alphabetical index was also published for it. In 1939, the fifth g r o u p i n g again became p a r t of the m a i n publication. Beginning with 1930, an a n n u a l sup- plement giving a statistical review of Polish publications was introduced. It was entitled Statystyka drukow wydanych w Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej.2* I n the first two years of its publica- tion (1928-1929), Urzedowy wykaz in- cluded no indexes at all. From 1930 to 1939, each weekly issue included a very general subject index. These were com- plemented, f r o m 1931 to 1937, by a n n u a l alphabetical and subject indexes. In 1938 and 1939, no a n n u a l indexes were published. T h e entries in Urzedowy wykaz— which, beginning with 1930, were num- bered consecutively for each year—in- clude the standard bibliographical in- formation: author, title, sub-title, place and year of publication, publisher, size, and pagination. T h e period 1928-1939, falling u n d e r the official listing, was also covered by various private bibliographical journals. Of these the most i m p o r t a n t is the al- ready mentioned T h i r d Series of Prze- wodnik Bibliograficzny, which was pub- lished by the Association of Polish Book- sellers f r o m 1929 to 1933. From 1934 to 1939, its listings were continued in a new bibliographical journal, Nowa Ksi- 23 Register of Polish publications a n d publications about Poland published a b r o a d . 24 T h e statistics of p r i n t e d materials in P o l a n d . 459 azka,25 which a t t e m p t e d to list only literary, scientific, a n d b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l publications. Nowa Ksiazka was edited by S. Lam, a n d ten issues were p u b l i s h e d each year.2 6 Each issue was divided i n t o five parts: (1) i n t r o d u c t o r y articles (de- voted to various aspects of the Polish c u l t u r a l world, p a r t i c u l a r l y the literary world); (2) reviews of Polish books; (3) reviews of translations; (4) literary crit- icism; a n d (5) bibliography. T h e bibli- ographical p a r t of each issue was subdi- vided by twenty-eight subject-groupings, a n d detailed b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l informa- tion was i n c l u d e d for each item. T w o a n n u a l a l p h a b e t i c a l indexes, by title (for works w i t h n o definite a u t h o r ) a n d a u t h o r were included. A separate yearly index to the various articles a n d reviews was also published. I n a d d i t i o n , in the first, two years of p u b l i c a t i o n there was i n c l u d e d in each issue a n i n d e x of se- lected periodical articles, also subdivided by subject. A separate yearly index to this section was published, u n t i l 1936, w h e n the e n t i r e section was d r o p p e d , to be replaced by a list of the periodicals received by the editorial b o a r d . I n 1936, too, an a n n u a l chronological review of c u l t u r a l developments in P o l a n d was in- cluded in Nowa Ksiazka u n d e r the title "Diariusz K u l t u r y Polskiej za . . ,"2 7 It was also i n d e x e d a n n u a l l y . Przewodnik Bibliograficzny a n d Nowa Ksiazka are p a r t i c u l a r l y i m p o r t a n t in that their indexes greatly simplify con- sultation for those years w h e n n o cumu- lative indexes were p u b l i s h e d for the official listings. T h e war period 1939-1944 a n d the first, two post-war years, 1945-1946, are the greatest p r o b l e m of Polish n a t i o n a l bibliography. T h e r e was, in these years, 25 T h e new book. 28 I n 1939, only six issues appeared. 27 D i a r y of Polish c u l t u r e f o r . . . n o general b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l listing what- soever, a n d there exist today for this period only subject bibliographies com- piled a f t e r the war. 2 8 Also of impor- tance for this period, as well as for the prewar years, is the catalogue of publi- cations of the Polish Academy of Sci- ences, Katalog wydanictwa Polskiej Akademii Umiejetnosci, 1873-1947.29 T h e first v o l u m e of this two-volume work includes p u b l i c a t i o n s o n philol- ogy, history, a n d philosophy; the sec- o n d covers medicine, mathematics, a n d the n a t u r a l sciences. B o t h volumes list periodicals for all the categories men- tioned, a n d o u t l i n e the contents of each issue. It was n o t u n t i l September 1946, t h a t the official listing of p u b l i c a t i o n s was restored w i t h a j o u r n a l whose n a m e c o m b i n e d t h a t of the two most impor- t a n t prewar b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l organs: Przewodnik Bibliograficzny. Urzedowy wykaz drukow w Rzeczypospolitej Pol- skiej.30 It was p u b l i s h e d by the Bibliog- raphical I n s t i t u t e of the N a t i o n a l Li- brary in Warsaw, w i t h the financial as- sistance of the Association of Polish Booksellers a n d the Association of Polish Publishers. U n f o r t u n a t e l y , the new offi- cial listing a p p e a r e d irregularly a n d w i t h great gaps in p u b l i c a t i o n in the first two years of its existence, largely because of the inefficient a p p l i c a t i o n of the r e g u l a t i o n for compulsory submis- sion of copies of all publications. T h u s , the first issues p u b l i s h e d in 1946 were Nos. 1-3 (of V o l u m e II) 3 1 covering the first q u a r t e r of t h a t year. T h e n e x t issues p u b l i s h e d were Nos. 10-12 covering ma- 28 F o r other bibliographies covering this period, see W . H a h n , op. cit., u n d e r the a p p r o p r i a t e subject. 29 S. Mikucki and R. J . W o j t u s i a k , Catalogue of Academy of Sciences Publications, 1873-1947 (Cracow, P . A . U . , 1948). 2 vols. 30 T h e bibliographical guide. Official registration of printed m a t t e r published in Poland. 31 T h e post-war official listing began with V o l u m e I I , for 1946, while Volume I was reserved f o r the year 1945, which was never published. 460 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES terial published in the last q u a r t e r of 1946. T h e missing Nos. 4-9 were never published. Similarly, in 1947 only Nos. 4-28 appeared, covering the m o n t h s f r o m April to October of that year. From J u n e 20, 1947 on, a decree of the Minis- try of C u l t u r e regarding the obligatory submission of copies of all publication enabled the official listing to accomplish its task comprehensively and efficiently.32 T h e gaps for the period 1944-1947 were filled in 1954 with a supplementary vol- ume 3 3 listing all material published dur- ing that period which was not listed previously. In J a n u a r y 1948, Przewod- nik became a weekly publication, and, in the same year, the Bibliographical In- stitute became the sole sponsor of this organ. T h e new Przewodnik Bibliograficzny lists books, pamphlets, maps, music, en- gravings, and new, revived, and discon- tinued periodicals. I n its first three years, Przewodnik also attempted the listing of "Polonica" from abroad, b u t in .1949 this was discontinued and only material published in Poland has been included since then. T h e material was first divid- ed by twenty-eight categories, and, be- ginning with 1949, by twenty-five, within each of which items are arranged in al- phabetical order. In 1950 and 1951, other minor changes were introduced in the arrangement of material, these being largely concerned with the naming a n d ordering of the categories. Periodicals are listed at the end of each a p p r o p r i a t e category, b u t only u p o n their first ap- pearance or discontinuation. I n its first two years, only weekly in- dexes were issued. Beginning with 1948, 32 Dziennik ustaw Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, No. 64 ( 1 9 4 7 ) , I t e m 374. 33 Przewodnik Bibliograficzny. Urzedowy wykaz drukow wydanych w Polskiej Rzeczypospolitej Ludo- wej 1944-1947 ( W a r s a w , Biblioteka Narodowa, 1954), p. 261. and u p u n t i l the present time, cumula- tive a n n u a l indexes by a u t h o r a n d title, and to periodicals, engravings, illustra- tions, illustrators, maps, and music, have been issued. From 1951 on, weekly in- dexes were discontinued a n d quarterly indexes were published instead. T h e bibliographical descriptions in the new Przewodnik Bibliograficzny in- clude author, title, place and date of publication, publisher, size, pagination, price, and caption title. T h e majority of the entries carry brief annotations, generally indicating the sort of library for which the item is suited. A n index to these recommendations by type of library is included at the end of each issue. Wherever a publication includes the work of more t h a n one author, the contents are given. In the case of trans- lations, the original title is included. Each entry in Przewodnik is given a consecutive n u m b e r for its year of pub- lication. T h i s n u m b e r serves as a guide for the purchase of p r i n t e d catalogue cards. Wherever an "o" is included be- fore the n u m b e r , no p r i n t e d cards are available. Since 1949, each item has also been provided with a decimal classifi- cation. At the present time, the Bibliograph- ical Institute is preparing a retrospective national bibliography for the years 1901- 1955—in other words, a c o n t i n u a t i o n of Estreicher's work.3 4 T h i s project was begun before the Second W o r l d W a r u n d e r the editorship of J a n Muszkowski, and was completed for the period 1901- 1925. Most u n f o r t u n a t e l y , however, al- most the entire manuscript was b u r n e d d u r i n g the W a r . Once this work is com- pleted by the institute, Poland will have one of the most thorough of bibliograph- ical coverages. 34 M . Dembowska, "Bibliografia polska 1901-1950," Bibliotekarz, Nos. 3-4 ( 1 9 5 1 ) . SEPTEMBER 1958 461 T h u s , at present, m a t e r i a l p u b l i s h e d f r o m the f i f t e e n t h to t h e e n d of the n i n e t e e n t h century is well covered by the works of the Estreicher family. T h e first twenty-seven years of the t w e n t i e t h century are covered w i t h varying de- grees of completeness in d i f f e r e n t bibli- ographical journals. F r o m 1928 on, w i t h a n i n t e r r u p t i o n f r o m August 1939, to September 1946, the official listing has c o n t i n u e d to f u n c t i o n u p u n t i l the pres- e n t time. T h e retrospective b i b l i o g r a p h y for 1901-1955 will complete this p i c t u r e of Polish b i b l i o g r a p h y . The Heart of the Project T h e p o p u l a r n o t i o n of t h e s c i e n t i s t — t h e B i g B r a i n t h i n k i n g i n t h e a c a d e m i c e q u i v a l e n t of a n i s o l a t i o n b o o t h o r b r o o d i n g o v e r t h e test t u b e s i n a stainless- steel l a b o r a t o r y — l e a v e s a t l e a s t o n e i n d i s p e n s a b l e e l e m e n t of r e s e a r c h o u t of t h e p i c t u r e , n a m e l y , s c i e n t i f i c l i t e r a t u r e . Y e t s u c h l i t e r a t u r e is a t t h e h e a r t of a l m o s t a n y r e s e a r c h a n d d e v e l o p m e n t p r o j e c t . I t is e s s e n t i a l f o r t h e s c i e n t i s t , w h e t h e r h e is w o r k i n g i n t h e o r e t i c a l o r a p p l i e d fields, n o t o n l y t o k e e p u p w i t h d e v e l o p m e n t s i n a g e n e r a l w a y b u t t o seek specific d a t a , t o l e a r n w h e r e o t h e r s h a v e b e e n so t h a t h e c a n see m o r e c l e a r l y w h e r e h e is g o i n g . I t w a s p o s s i b l e a c e n t u r y a n d a h a l f a g o f o r T h o m a s J e f f e r s o n , n o m e a n sci- e n t i s t h i m s e l f , t o b e q u i t e well i n f o r m e d a b o u t " n a t u r a l p h i l o s o p h y , " as s c i e n c e was t h e n c a l l e d , b y g a t h e r i n g t o g e t h e r f o r h i s p r i v a t e l i b r a r y — a n d r e a d i n g of c o u r s e — l e s s t h a n 100 v o l u m e s . T h o s e d a y s a r e l o n g i n t h e p a s t . T h e r e h a s b e e n s u c h p r o l i f e r a t i o n of s c i e n t i f i c l i t e r a t u r e t h a t t o d a y c o r p o r a t e b o d i e s — r e s e a r c h l i b r a r i e s , b o t h h i g h l y s p e c i a l i z e d a n d c o m p r e h e n s i v e — m u s t serve t h e s c i e n t i f i c c o m m u n i t y . T h e L i b r a r y of C o n g r e s s as t h e G o v e r n m e n t ' s o l d e s t a n d l a r g e s t l i b r a r y h a s l o n g h a d s p e c i a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s f o r s e r v i n g t h e N a t i o n t h r o u g h service t o C o n - gress, t o o t h e r G o v e r n m e n t a g e n c i e s , a n d t o s c h o l a r l y g r o u p s i n m a n y fields. . . . M a t e r i a l s o n s c i e n c e a n d t e c h n o l o g y c o n s t i t u t e a v e r y l a r g e s e g m e n t of o u r h o l d - ings. W e n o w h a v e n e a r l y 1,500,000 v o l u m e s i n t h e s e fields. I n a d d i t i o n , we r e c e i v e a b o u t 15,000 d i f f e r e n t s c i e n t i f i c j o u r n a l s . A l t h o u g h w e b e l i e v e t h a t w e g e t t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t o n e s , t h e w o r l d o u t p u t of s u c h j o u r n a l s is 50,000 t i t l e s a n d t h e y c o n t a i n a t o t a l of a b o u t 2 m i l l i o n a r t i c l e s a y e a r . O u r c o l l e c t i o n of b o t h d o m e s t i c a n d f o r e i g n t e c h n i c a l r e p o r t s — t h e n e w e s t a n d m o s t f u g i t i v e f o r m of s c i e n t i f i c l i t e r a t u r e — n o w n u m b e r s 300,000. I t m a y i n t e r e s t y o u t o k n o w t h a t a r e c e n t a n a l y s i s of t h e S o v i e t n a t i o n a l b i b l i o g r a p h y s h o w e d t h a t t h e L i b r a r y of C o n g r e s s r e c e i v e d a b o u t 60 p e r c e n t of t h e m a t e r i a l s c u r r e n t l y p u b l i s h e d i n t h e U S S R i n t h e n a t u r a l sciences a n d a b o u t 4 0 p e r c e n t of t h o s e p u b l i s h e d i n t e c h n o l o g y . O u r c o m p r e h e n s i v e c o l l e c t i o n s , i m p o r t a n t i n b o t h s c o p e a n d d e p t h , c o u l d o n l y h a v e r e s u l t e d f r o m y e a r s of e f f o r t a n d t h e e x c h a n g e f a c i l i t i e s e n j o y e d b y a n a t i o n a l l i b r a r y . T h e y c o u l d q u i c k l y lose t h e i r i m m e d i a t e u t i l i t y , h o w e v e r , if t h e L i b r a r y of C o n g r e s s d i d n o t c o n s t a n t l y s t r i v e t o k e e p t h e m u p t o d a t e . O n e of o u r m a j o r services t o t h e N a t i o n , t h e r e f o r e , is in a c q u i r i n g s c i e n t i f i c a n d t e c h n i c a l m a t e r i a l s o n a n e v e r - b r o a d e n i n g scale a n d t h u s c r e a t i n g a v a s t r e s e r v o i r f r o m w h i c h all m a y d r a w . — T e s t i m o n y of the Librarian of Congress, L. Quincy Mumford, on S. 3126 presented before the Subcommittee on Reor- ganization of the Senate Committee on Government Operations, June 25, 1958. 462 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES