College and Research Libraries


magazine format in the attempt to secure a 
wider reading audience. Going further, Mr. 
Whitehill maintains that this "sociability by 
participation" is usually "at . the expense of 
scholarship" -a statement which, in this 
reviewer's opinion, is not borne out by the 
facts-and he says nothing on the question 
of whether drab appearance and unimagina-
tive presentation are not major impediments 
to the wider reading of historical journals. 

The crux of the matter is that Mr. White-
hili-and presumably the independent so-
cieties he admires so much-believes that 
"it is only the serious workers that count, 
and their numbers will always be small." 
Opposed to this view are many equally re-
spected leaders and societies who believe 
that the number of people who "count" is 
very great indeed. Mr. Whitehill's book is a 
very informative and beautifully written re-
port on the historical societies of the United 
States, and it is an eloquent exposition of 
the philosophy of the major independents. 
Those societies that pursue a broader range 
of activity will be fortunate indeed if their 
side of the story can someday be presented 
by as gifted and accomplished a scholar.-
William T. Alderson, Tennessee State Li-
brarian and Archivist. 

Special Libraries: How to Plan and 
Equip Them. Chester M. Lewis, ed. New 
York: Special Libraries Association, 1963. 
(SLA Monograph No. 2) vi, 117p. $5.55. 

The past decade has witnessed a "popula-
tion explosion" of special libraries, most of 
which serve clienteles in the sciences, engi-
neering, or business. Over ten thousand such 
libraries (including those in governmental 
and academic institutions) are listed in Kru-
zas' Directory of Special Libraries and In-
formation Centers. While more and more 
of these libraries, and the new ones just 
starting, have the benefit of professional 
librarians, too many have been administered, 
planned, and equipped by individuals who 
do not have the requisite skills and training 
for this work. Since the supply of experi-
enced librarians is limited and the curricula 
of the library schools neglect to a large de-
gree the problems inherent in planning and 
equipping small, specialized libraries, it is 
heartening to find a publication which speaks 
directly to this point. 

The New York chapter of the Special 
Libraries Association, with Chester M. Lewi~ 
acting as editor, is to be congratulated for 
producing the present work which is based 
on a symposium on library planning held 
by the chapter in 1958. To the ten papers 
presented at the conference, four have been 
added. In addition, ten case histories have 
been included, most of which were original-
ly printed in Special Libraries. An annotated 
bibliography on library planning, a directory 
of suppliers, and a subject index complete 
the text, which is well illustrated. 

The editor wisely has not attempted a re-
vision of Jackson's Technical Libraries but 
has limited the content to the physical plan-
ning and equipping of libraries. Inevitably, 
in a work of this kind, there is a certain 
amount of duplication between a few of 
the papers (e.g., Randall's paper on steel 
shelving and Price's on metal library equip-
ment) . On the whole, such duplication has 
been kept to a minimum. Somewhat disturb-
ing, however, are contradictory statements 
which are permitted to stand without edi-
torial comment. On page five it is suggested 
that an allowance of six to seven volumes 
per running foot for monograph titles be 
made and four to five for bound periodicals. 
On page seventeen a range from six to ten is 
suggested, and no differentiation between 
monographs and journals is indicated. 

Similarly, on page five it is noted that the 
floor loading of books plus shelving varies 
from 110 to 140 pounds per square foot. On 
page forty-eight the figure of 140 pounds 
per square foot, exclusive of shelving is giv-
en. This can be most important, particularly 
if the library is located on the upper floors 
of an office-type structure. The library plan-
ner should be warned to give careful atten-
tion to this point. 

As would be expected, the quality of the 
papers varies from writer to writer, both in 
content and style. The bibliography on plan-
ning appears reasonably complete and up-to-
date. The directory of suppliers is useful but 
perhaps superfluous, the same information 
being obtainable elsewhere. The index is 
good. The Checklist for Planners, by Jean-
nette Sledge, should be particularly useful 
for those without previous experience in 
planning a library. One wishes that R. R. 
Shaw had used more space describing flow 
process charting, a highly useful technique 

64 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



that will unquestionably become more im-
portant in library planning. 

One dislikes quibbling with what is nor-
mally not an important consideration in a 
book of this type. However, one would ex-
pect this volume to be rather heavily used 
as a reference tool by the librarian and the 
paperbound format is not substantial enough 
to withstand much wear. While it is well 
recognized that the cost of book production 
is rising, the price charged for this book 
does seem somewhat out of line, given the 
format and size. Nonetheless, those planning 
new libraries will find much useful informa-
tion here.-Robert Burton, University of 
Michigan. 

The Cost Book of Carey & Lea, 1825-1838. 
Edited by David Kaser. Philadelphia, Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania Press, 1963. 355p. 
$10. (61-6616) 

On January 1, 1822, Mathew Carey re-
tired from his prosperous publishing busi-
ness in Philadelphia in favor of his son, 
Henry C., and his son-in-law, Isaac Lea. The 
firm's imprint then became that of H. C. 
Carey & I. Lea. These two carried on the 
firm's activities with great success for sixteen 
years, and by the time Henry retired in 1838 
it was recognized as the dominant publishing 
house in the United States. 

David Kaser's earlier study, Messrs. Carey 
& Lea of Philadelphia, published by the 
University of Pennsylvania Press in 1957, is 
a history of the firm from 1822 to 1838. It 
tells the story of Carey & Lea's vigorous and 
successful "drive to supremacy" with an 
account of their many important publishing 
ventures, their relationships with authors, 
American and foreign, and their influences 
on the book trade. In his preface to that 
work the author cited the cost book of the 
firm for 1825 to 1838 as one of his chief 
sources and announced that he was prepar-
ing it for publication. This promise has now, 
happily, been fulfilled. 

The cost books for the early years of the 
firm, 1822-1825, apparently do not exist. 
The records for 1825 to 1838, however, are 
preserved in the Historical Society of Penn-
sylvania in Philadelphia. They constitute a 
detailed and systematic recording of the pub-
lishing activities of Carey & Lea and furnish 
financial data concerning the books and 

JANUARY 1964 

magazines published by the firm, as well as 
other facts of historical and bibliographical 
value. A typical entry gives the cost of print-
ing, paper, plates, and binding, along with 
the honorarium paid the author, the cost of 
advertising, and the date of publication. 
There is usually also an estimate of income 
from the sales of an edition of a specified 
number of copies, and the name of the 
printer. 

All entries from the cost book are in the 
order in which they appear in the manu-
script. Each item ( 679 in all) bears an indi-
vidual number. Following the cost data, 
Kaser has added a bibliographical descrip-
tion of each title and had indicated one li-
brary location in each case. He has exam-
ined the books themselves and verified from 
actual copies the bibliographical details giv-
en. Following this main section is a supple-
ment containing a list of titles known to 
have been published by Carey & Lea in the 
period but which are not entered in the cost 
book. This section includes many reprints 
of books previously published by the firm. 
These have also been checked and verified 
by comparison with library copies. The com-
bined record of the books reaches 947 titles. 
It is clear that these descriptions have con-
siderable bibliographical value since this 
period is only inadequately covered in exist-
ing bibliographies. A check of only a few 
examples against Roorbach's Bibliotheca 
Americana reveals many omissions in that 
basic source, among them such titles as the 
following: George Ticknor's Remarks on 
the Life and Writings of Daniel Webster of 
Massachusetts, 1831; Thomas Jefferson's 
Notes on the State of Virginia, 1825; several 
editions of Mathew Carey's Reflections on 
the Proposed Plan for Establishing a College 
in Philadelphia . . . for Admission into 
Which No Prerequisite of Having Learned 
the Latin or Greek Shall Be Necessary, 
1826. 

Two American authors whose careers in 
literature were greatly promoted by Carey 
& Lea's sponsorship were James Fenimore 
Cooper and Washington Irving. Both are 
heavily represented in the Cost Book list-
ings, Cooper with seventy-five entries and 
Irving with forty-seven. Tales of a Traveler, 
by Irving, was published in 1824 and Coop.: 
er's The Last of the Mohicans in 1826, the 
first books by these authors to be issued 

65