How to Catalogue a Library

by Henry B. Wheatley

Very little need be said here about the cataloguing of manuscripts, because it is a distinct art from the cataloguing of printed books; but most libraries contain a few manuscripts, and therefore it is needful to say something.

What a large collection of MSS. really is, is partly answered by Mr. Maunde Thompson, late Keeper of the MSS., and now Principal Librarian, British Museum, in an interesting paper, "On the Arrangement and Preservation of Manuscripts," read before the Library Association in 1886. Mr. Thompson writes:—

"While in foreign countries it is the custom to subdivide and deposit in different custodies the several classes of MSS. after their kind, in England the Museum is the only national institution where MSS. of all descriptions are purchased for the public use. In the Department of MSS., accordingly, may be found every kind of MS., from papyri dating back to the second century before Christ down to the correspondence of our own day on which the ink is scarcely dry. Papyri, ancient and mediæval MSS. of all periods and in all languages from the fifth to the fifteenth century and later, illuminated MSS., literary works of all periods, state papers and literary and private correspondence, charters and rolls, seals, casts of seals, and bullæ—all these are brought together under the custody of the keepers."[34]

Now very few of these rare objects will be found in ordinary libraries. The manuscripts to be found there will probably be literary works, historical and literary correspondence, and perhaps some deeds or family documents. If the manuscripts consist only of a few unprinted literary works or original manuscripts afterwards printed, these may well be included in the general catalogue of printed books. When there are autograph letters and miscellaneous MSS., these must be kept separate. The cataloguer must then consult the best catalogues of collections of manuscripts, and choose the plan best suited to his particular purpose. A collection of autograph letters will best be catalogued under the names of the writers, arranged in alphabetical order; while a series of historical documents will often be more conveniently arranged in chronological order.

The usual mode of cataloguing adopted is to register the contents of the particular collection of manuscripts in the order which it stands, and then to make a full index. The result of this plan is the production of a series of volumes of great interest to the reader. Many a pleasant and instructive hour may be spent in the turning over of the pages of such catalogues as that of the Harleian Collection, or of the various volumes which contain the descriptions of the additional manuscripts in the British Museum.

There is, however, a great want of a general catalogue or general index to the vast collections of the British Museum. The production of such a work would cause so large an expenditure of labour that perhaps we can scarcely expect it to be produced; but I venture to think that something might be done to bring the very miscellaneous collection of catalogues into some more uniform system than it is at present. The subject index which can be referred to in the MS. room is a work of the greatest value, and he who turns over a few pages of a few of the volumes of which this subject catalogue consists will obtain a more vivid idea of the exceeding richness of the MS. Department of the British Museum than by any other means. This classified catalogue we owe to Mr. Bond, formerly Keeper of the MSS., and late Principal Librarian, and every scholar must feel deep gratitude to him for this great gift of knowledge. If this were printed, it would form a work of immense value; but probably before this could be done it would be necessary to re-catalogue on one system a large number of the entries.

With the present catalogues at the Reading Room table, when a certain known manuscript is required, the searcher goes at once to the special catalogue, and he has little or no difficulty. If he wants to find a manuscript upon a particular subject, he can look at the subject catalogue; but if he wants to find all the manuscripts of a given book, he will have to look up the separate indexes of the different collections. This will be a long and tedious undertaking, and the searcher will usually need the assistance of the gentlemen of the Department—assistance which is always freely and courteously rendered.

Catalogues of certain classes of manuscripts have been produced which are of monumental value; but I think a great desideratum is a catalogue of all the distinct works in the Manuscript Department, with information respecting the printing of such as have been printed. Possibly such a work, by which can be found the MS. copies of the works of our great authors,—and, for the matter of that, of our small ones too,—is being prepared. It will be a work of great labour, and if the Department prepare it, the learning of the country will be placed under a lasting obligation.

We may look forward to a time when a national bibliography of our literature shall be produced, in which manuscripts will be registered as well as printed books. One great characteristic of manuscripts is the permanence of their reference numbers. Printed books are moved and change their shelf-marks, but the number of a manuscript is always the same. Sometimes the manuscript is known by the name of the collection with its number, and sometimes the reference is to a former shelf-mark; but if originally a shelf-mark, it is continued as a part of the manuscript, however much the original position in the library may have been changed.