| Subject Index. | Travels. | Author’s Index. |
| Columbus, Life and Voyages. | Irving, Washington. | Irving, Washington. |
Page* | The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus. 3 vols. Crown 8vo. One vignette. London, 1850. | Page* |
* Of course, the number of the page which should follow these entries cannot be filled in until the body of the catalogue is properly written out, when, as each entry is made in the catalogue, the number of the page in which the entry is made is placed both in the left and right columns.
The slips, when duly filled up, should be set aside in packets under their respective divisions. As soon as every book has been noted down, there remains nothing more to be done but to transcribe alphabetically the various slips on sheets of foolscap, and the task is completed.
Any works which are published anonymously should be entered in the third primary division under the heading “Anonymous,” and have the abbreviation “Anon.” added in the body or first primary division. Supplements may be from time to time prepared, carefully pursuing the same method as observed in forming the original catalogue. The supplement is then attached to the catalogue, the first page having a piece of parchment gummed on, with about an inch protruding from the cover; on this the words “Supplement of 188-” should be written.
The ancient learned Greeks and Romans had their book-shelves, or rather rows of niches, in which the parchment rolls were placed, made of cedar wood, encrusted with precious metals. Although this would, perhaps, be impracticable in our days, still the bookcases should be solid and massive, yet elegant. In some libraries the bookcases run right round the room, but no higher than 3 ft. to 4 ft., the tops forming a resting-place for various curiosities. This method, of course, leaves the upper part of the wall clear, whereon to hang pictures, trophies of arms, armorial shields, or other mural decorations. Other libraries have cupboards, or rather bookcases, with wooden panelled doors of 2 ft. to 2 ft. 6 in. high, the regular bookcases being placed on the top of these. This is a very good plan, for the lower part of the bookcase may serve as a convenient resting-place for magazines, pamphlets, newspapers, and drawings.
One great point to be observed is to have the books protected by good glass; it gives a better appearance to the whole room when the glass is really good, and, above all, the books are safe from the injurious effect of dust or damp.
Magazines and periodicals are generally bound, and, therefore, may be placed on the shelves. A number of pamphlets relating to a certain subject may be cheaply, neatly and easily bound at home. Each pamphlet should be taken and opened at the middle; then, with the aid of a needle and some strong twine, it should be sewn in such a manner as to leave two loops, occupying about two-thirds of the length, on the outside at the back. When each pamphlet has been treated in a like way, taking especial care that each loop is of equal size, two strips of coarse canvas must be cut, long enough to wrap entirely round the whole set of pamphlets. Two pieces of pasteboard, of the exact size you wish the volume to be, must be procured; then, having previously passed the canvas strips under the loops of twine, you carefully paste or glue the canvas, and place them on the boards. Two pieces of clean paper, well gummed, are placed inside the cover over the canvas strips. A piece of canvas, or, better still, leather, of about double the thickness of the back of your volume, and the exact height of the pasteboard cover, is glued on to the back, a good piece overlapping on each side of the cover. Now nothing remains to be done but to glue a piece of parchment behind, writing on it the description of the contents. The whole is placed under a substantial weight, and in a couple of days you have a neat volume instead of a collection of stray sheets of printed paper.
Dabblers in literature, and the searchers after general knowledge, frequently cut out from papers and periodicals articles and paragraphs which interest them. These accumulate and soon encumber the writing-table, library-table, and the mantelpiece, and ultimately find their way into the fire or the waste-paper basket. This may be obviated and a more orderly appearance be given to the room, by collecting these newspaper scraps in a box or drawer, and at convenient intervals pasting them, in alphabetical order, into a large book formed of cheap paper. The cartridge paper should be folded twice; thus each sheet gives eight pages, and the printed scraps pasted in in two rows or three columns, leaving a good margin, whereon the subject treated of in the newspaper scraps should be legibly written, the date and name of the paper whence the scrap has been cut being written at the end of each cutting.