College and Research Libraries By M A R G A R E T L . J O H N S O N The Yale Collection of Dealers1 Catalogs SOON a f t e r the Y a l e University L i b r a r y moved into its new building various collections which had been forced into attics or cellars f o r lack of space in the old build- ing, were given adequate room and were gradually made available to the public t h r o u g h individual catalogs or by repre- sentation in the main catalog. O n e of these collections, comprised of auction a n d / secondhand book dealers' catalogs, had been growing for many years t h r o u g h the natu- ral cumulation of such material in a uni- versity library and through the wise decision of the librarian to keep such material, even though it had to be stored in inaccessible corners of the old building. M a n y of the catalogs had been absorbed into the general book collection through the years. Sale catalogs of i m p o r t a n t private libraries became bibliographical tools of great value to both research scholars and to catalogers, not only because of the valu- able material they contained, but because of the careful and detailed descriptions found in them. A great number of second- hand book dealers' catalogs w e r e also added to the general collection, not because of the r a r i t y of the books listed f o r sale nor be- cause of the method of description of these books, but because these catalogs w e r e valu- able subject bibliographies—in many cases the best available. H o w e v e r , the "seepage" of book catalogs into the general book collection was a very minor flow when the collection as a whole is considered. A n d once it was brought into the n e w book tower, even though shelved on the seventeenth stack floor ( a t that time still not officially open to the public) it was agreed t h a t something should be done to make it more useful. T h i s promised to be a tremendous task, as the catalogs were in no order, and the first problem of sorting and a r r a n g i n g seemed almost impossible, w i t h all the other extra w o r k entailed w i t h the arrival in the new building. H o w e v e r , because it was a new building and because, for the first time in years, there was plenty of room, everyone was filled w i t h enthusi- asm and was willing to u n d e r t a k e whatever labors would render the whole library col- lection more useful to its readers and also make the best use of the n e w surroundings. I n the beginning the collection of book catalogs was one of the minor problems. Everyone realized its value, but there were many u r g e n t tasks. Finally, a f t e r several conferences between the departments in- volved, particularly between the reference librarian and the head cataloger, it was decided that the reference department would undertake the arrangement of the catalogs and, eventually, the making of some sort of checklist of the material. T h i s decision w a s reached a f t e r it was agreed t h a t it would be much too expen- sive to catalog the collection, and that f o r all practical purposes a checklist would serve. T h e aid of student assistants was to be relied on, both for the sorting of the catalogs and for the listing, and one mem- ber of the reference department was to supervise the w o r k and develop the collec- tion and the checklist as the w o r k JANUARY, 1946 67 progressed. T h e a u t h o r w a s given t h a t task, a n d f o r ten years it w a s h e r " e x t r a - c u r r i c u l a r " or " b u s y " w o r k . Cataloging Procedure A f t e r m u c h discussion, and w i t h the sympathetic advice a n d counsel of the head cataloger, a general p l a n of c a t a l o g i n g p r o c e d u r e w a s a d o p t e d . T h i s differed con- siderably, a n d f o r t h e most p a r t deliberate- ly, f r o m t h a t f o l l o w e d f o r t h e m a i n catalog. T h e r e w e r e to be t w o l a r g e groups, each w i t h its o w n classification n u m b e r — t h e auction sale catalogs, a n d those issued by secondhand book dealers. U n d e r these t w o general headings t h e m a t e r i a l w a s to be a r r a n g e d alphabetically by n a m e of dealer, C u t t e r n u m b e r s being assigned f o r each dealer. G e n e r a l l y accepted serial catalog- i n g p r o c e d u r e , w i t h such simplifications as seemed practicable, w a s t h e n established. A f t e r the catalogs h a d been sorted, w o r k w a s begun on the checklist. S h o r t title entries w e r e used f o r t h e individual catalogs, a n d as m a n y as possible w e r e e n t e r e d on each card, always leaving spaces f o r missing n u m b e r s in t h e series w h e n such gaps w e r e evident. I n each e n t r y , h o w e v e r , the v a r i - ous k i n d s of m a t e r i a l being offered by the dealer w e r e indicated, so the short title w a s m o r e of a subject e n t r y t h a n a strict title. O f course the dat e of the c a t a l o g w a s al- w a y s given w h e n it could be discovered, especially f o r the auction sales. I n u n n u m - bered series these dates w e r e used f o r the book n u m b e r s . T h e n a m e s of o w n e r s of t h e p r i v a t e li- braries w h i c h w e r e being offered f o r sale w e r e also n o t e d in these t i t l e entries. T h i s became q u i t e a task, as any one can u n d e r - s t a n d w h o has glanced at a Sotheby sale catalog. H o w e v e r , it w a s considered im- p o r t a n t i n f o r m a t i o n , a n d even a f t e r t h e second checklist w a s s t a r t e d , set u p by the n a m e s of these o w n e r s of libraries offered f o r sale either a t auction or in the second- h a n d book t r a d e , it w a s continued in t h e first checklist. T h e last bit of i n f o r m a t i o n f o r each t i t l e (used only f o r the auction sale catalogs, of course) w a s a note indi- c a t i n g w h e t h e r t h e c a t a l o g w a s priced, p a r t i a l l y priced, or priced w i t h names of buyers. T h e s o r t i n g w a s done on the seventeenth stack floor, a n d the m a k i n g of t h e t w o checklists a n d the m a r k i n g of the catalogs w a s carried o u t by s t u d e n t assistants on d u t y in the m a i n r e a d i n g room, w h e r e they served as m o n i t o r s d u r i n g the evenings. D u e to t h e physical separation of the m a - terial f r o m the w o r k e r s doing the w o r k , as w e l l as to the c o n s t a n t t u r n o v e r of s t u d e n t assistants, m a n y discrepancies crept in, so t h a t the checklist is f a r f r o m p e r f e c t . I t has, h o w e v e r , served its purpose in m a k i n g the collection m o r e readily available to the public, and, in the very process of its m a k - ing, it enabled Y a l e to discover w h a t the col- lection lacked as w e l l as w h a t it contained. Besides this t r e m e n d o u s backlog of m a - terial t h e r e w a s a t the same t i m e the c o n s t a n t acquisition of n e w catalogs to be added to t h e collection. A l l n e w catalogs w e r e placed on open shelves in the m a i n r e a d i n g room f o r f a c u l t y c o n s u l t a t i o n f o r a period of several m o n t h s . T h e y w e r e then taken f r o m these shelves, entered in the checklists, m a r k e d , and sent to the stacks to be a d d e d to t h e g e n e r a l collection. M a n y problems arose as the w o r k pro- gressed. Some w e r e solved satisfactorily, b u t m a n y w e r e only settled by compromise decisions. T h i s w a s due sometimes to t h e a m o u n t of u n t r a i n e d assistance w h i c h h a d t o be relied on, b u t it w a s also due to t h e f a c t t h a t n o one, either t r a i n e d or u n - t r a i n e d , h a d enough time to spend on the problems. I n a w a y , this may have been j u s t as well, as the p r i m a r y p u r p o s e w a s to m a k e t h e collection usable. O n e of the questions w h i c h arose in the very b e g i n n i n g w a s the advisability of set- 68 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES ting up the dealers' catalogs by country and then alphabetically «by name of dealer. Rightly or wrongly, this was decided against, as it was argued that few dealers limited their catalogs to books either treat- ing their own country or published in that country. Another arrangement considered was that of setting up auction catalogs by country and then by date, as had been done in the two printed catalogs of book auc- tions.1 T h i s was decided against, as Yalev was interested in acquiring as complete runs of various dealers' catalogs as was possible; and, for this reason, the arrangement by dealer seemed more logical, especially as the two printed lists could be used for the other approach for the countries and periods covered by them. T h e question arose whether or not to in- clude catalogs of furniture, prints, art ob- jects, paintings, etc., when issued by dealers who also published book catalogs. T h i s was settled rather arbitrarily when it was de- termined to enter all catalogs of any dealer who at any time issued book catalogs. T h i s decision was made chiefly because of the lack of time for complete supervision, and is not an entirely satisfactory solution to the problem. I t was decided to protect the rare and valuable catalogs by shelving them in a grilled section of the same stack floor on which the general collection was shelved. W h i l e any catalog may be shelved here for some specific reason, a general rule was established to cover all early catalogs. Those of English and Continental sales held before 1800, and of American sales held be- fore 1850, are automatically shelved in the grilled section. T h e entries in the check- lists for these catalogs are so marked, and • 1 B r i t i s h M u s e u m . D e p a r t m e n t of P r i n t e d Books. List of Catalogues of English Book Sales, 1676-1900, Now in the British Museum. L o n d o n , B r i t i s h M u s e u m , 1915. M c K a y , G e o r g e L . , comp. American Book Auction Catalogues, 1713-1934; A Union List. N e w Y o r k , N e w Y o r k P u b l i c L i b r a r y , 1937. all are represented by dummies in the main collection. T h e problem most desired of solution, and still not touched, is the formation of a subject catalog or checklist of the whole collection. Several attempts were made, just to see if it could be done, but under the existing conditions they were all found impracticable. In the first place, to make the subject catalog useful, each catalog would have to be examined by one person who would assign subject headings. T h i s was impossible, as the one person who was supervising the*work was, for most of her time, a reference librarian. She could partially supervise the work of student as- sistants, as they came and went, but could not begin to examine each catalog and assign subject headings. Also, it was soon found that a very small section of a large catalog might be quite important as a subject bibli- ography of a very minute field, and that that same catalog might need entries for eight or nine other subjects as well. W h e r e to draw the line ? I t was finally agreed that second copies of good subject bibliographies should be treated as they were in the old days— incorporated into the general book collection and into the card catalog as subject biblio- graphies. This, of course, was only begging the issue of a complete subject catalog of the whole collection, which would still be the ideal solution. Growth of the Collection Before the work of sorting the catalogs had begun, the proof sheets of George L . McKay's list of American book auctions began to arrive, with the request that Yale's holdings be noted. T h e preparation of this union list was encouraging because it showed the new interest in making such collections available, but at this time it was impossible for Yale to give an adequate picture of her holdings. Those sale catalogs which had been considered important JANUARY, 1946 69 enough to be incorporated in the general book collection could be found in the main card catalog, but the great mass of the catalogs was still in such chaotic disarrange- ment that checking was practically impossi- ble. However, insofar as was possible, holdings were noted on the proof sheets, and when the book appeared it became the most important source of reference in the attempt to complete the Yale files of American auction catalogs. In checking holdings of English sale catalogs as well as attempting to fill in gaps in this field, the British Museum list referred to above was used. These two volumes were invaluable in identifying many anonymous sales, as well as providing a goal in the attempt to as- J semble as complete a collection as possible, at least in the field of English and American sale catalogs. If a comparable volume for French auc- tion catalogs had been in existence, one of the chief problems would have been much simpler. In 1909 Yale received, as a be- quest from the estate of Morris T y l e r of the Class of 18 70,2 his collection of eight- •4 eenth and nineteenth century French auc- tion catalogs. These represented sales of important private libraries. All were in excellent condition, beautifully bound, and many were priced and had the names of buyers in manuscript. T h e y had been cata- loged at the time and, as a valuable part of Yale's bibliographical collection, were left intact when the rest of the catalogs were gathered. Because of the method of pro- cedure for French auction sales (all of which were sold by an official auctioneer, no matter whose library was being sold or which dealer was offering the material), the setup used for book auctions in other countries was impossible. T h e only prac- ticable arrangement was by date of sale, and all French auction catalogs, with the ex- 2 Y a l e U n i v e r s i t y . L i b r a r y . Report of the Li- brarian . . . July i, igog-June 30, 1910. N e w H a v e n , 19x0, p . 22. ception of the Morris T y l e r collection, have been set up on the shelves in this way, but no checklist has as yet been made. T h e unusual arrangement, combined with the presence of the large and important Morris T y l e r group already incorporated in the general book collection, seemed to necessi- tate a quite different treatment and also more time for study before an adequate procedure could be established. As the collection became more available, and because of this fact attracted the atten- tion and interest of more people, it was felt that some effort and money should be spent in filling in the more serious gaps. T h i s was made possible first through the Ganson Goodyear Depew Memorial Fund, estab- lished in 1930 but not used for the purchase of auction catalogs until 1935 and later. In !935 a collection of two hundred early auction catalogs—English, French, German, and Italian—was purchased through this fund, and from that date on it was used to increase holdings, especially in the field of seventeenth and eighteenth century English and American catalogs. T h i s gift is de- scribed briefly in the Yale University Li- brary Gazette f o r A p r i l 1 9 3 7 . In 1936 Henrietta C. Bartlett presented to the library, in memory of her father, a i collection of valuable catalogs, most of them priced and many having names of buyers. T h i s collection includes both English and American sale catalogs, and a number of them are of particular value as they contain marginal notes by Miss Bartlett referring to the provenance of some Shakespeare item, or of some other English classic of the same period. T h e next gift received by the Yale Li- brary which added considerably to its collec- tion of catalogs, especially for nineteenth century American and English sales, was ^ the library of George Watson Cole, pre- sented by him in 1937. While this dis- tinguished bibliographical library was, for 70 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES the most part, kept together as the George Watson Cole Collection, the sale catalogs were incorporated in the collection of auc- tion and secondhand book dealers' catalogs. M r . Cole's catalogs were in excellent con- dition and in many cases were priced and had names of buyers in manuscript marginal notes. T h e order department had been the original source of the bulk of the collection, and their catalogs, received daily, continued to form the largest single source of current acquisitions. T h i s department was at the same time interested in filling gaps and could always be counted on to find a little extra money to purchase a prize catalog which came on the market. And it was not long before a new duty was added to the person in charge of the collection—the checking of secondhand book catalogs in which sale catalogs were being offered for sale. T h i s was done most willingly, for in many instances it was possible to acquire the important catalogs which came on the market in this manner—though it was in- teresting to watch the prices rise as more and more libraries became aware of the value of these catalogs and began to do something with their own collections. W i t h this operation the circle was complete. Besides buying individual catalogs, several large lots were acquired which did much to round out the collection. In 1942 J a group of about 5600 catalogs was pur- chased from the library of the Union Theological Seminary. T h i s lot consisted, chiefly, of long and fairly complete runs of foreign secondhand book dealers' catalogs, and it was particularly strong in German dealers. T h e runs went back into the middle nineteenth century and came up to 1920, helping to fill a very definite gap in the Yale collection. T h e largest purchase was made later the same year, when the Wilberforce Eames •i collection of catalogs was acquired and, along with it, many N e w York Public Li- brary duplicates. As the N e w York Public Library had fallen heir to the catalogs from the American A r t Association Anderson Galleries, Inc., when they went out of busi- ness, Yale acquired in this great lot of ten / thousand catalogs many of the official cata- logs of this firm—in most cases carefully priced. While many of the Eames cata- logs were kept by the N e w York Public Library for its own great collection, those acquired by Yale did much toward com- pleting its own files and at the same time were of value because of the notes and prices, or indications of value, made by M r . Eames in the margins. W i t h the acquisi- tion of this last lot of material, Yale's hold- ings became so comprehensive that it was decided no large collections would be bought in bulk in the future. A great group of duplicates was accumulating, even after second copies were kept, and third copies were being used for subject bibliogra- phies. These are used by the order de- partment for sale and exchange purposes. Present State of the Collection During these years, approximately from 1932 to date, the collection has had the friendly interest and support of many friends of Yale. Members of the faculty, as well as of the library staff, have turned over their own copies of catalogs as they have finished with them and often have given their personal copies of early sale cata- logs in some particular field in which their interest has centered. W i t h such generous cooperation and interest on all sides it is no wonder the collection has grown to im-< pressive proportions. T h e catalogs them- selves are still shelved on the seventeenth stack floor of the book tower, but they now fill eight double-faced ranges, not including the two ranges of third copies waiting to be used as subject bibliographies nor the seven shelves of early catalogs in the grilled sec- JANUARY, 1946 71 tion. T h e checklist in the reading room now has cards standing for 3030 dealers, 292 auctioneers, and 2738 secondhand book dealers; and the book trade of practically every country in the world is represented here by at least one dealer. These cards now fill twenty catalog trays, while the second checklist of owner cards for sales of private libraries is about the same size.3 Such general figures, however, give an in- adequate picture of the collection as a whole. Only when comparing Yale hold- ings with other accumulations or with the printed lists of sale catalogs mentioned above, can it be adequately presented. Of the 5030 nineteenth century American sale catalogs listed by M r . McKay, 1013, or about one fifth, are to be found at Yale, as well as thirty-five which are not given in the printed list. And, of the 4652 cata- logs in the M c K a y list for the years 1900- 34, Yale has 3914, or about three-fourths. T h i s shows, as might be expected, that Yale is much weaker in the early years, and it is this period which is being constantly supplemented with new purchases as sale catalogs appear on the market. I t also might be interesting to note some of the important American auction firms and Yale's holdings of their catalogs. Bangs, of N e w York, in business under various names from 1837 t 0 J 903, is repre- sented in the M c K a y list by 2766 sales, of which Yale has only 686. This, however, is a fairly good showing, for it is very difficult to find copies of the early Bangs sales. Henkels, of Philadelphia, is not well represented at Yale for his early sales, but a fairly complete run is to be found from 1885 on. Five hundred and forty-six sale catalogs of M e r w i n Clayton of N e w York are to be found at Yale, with only sixty-one of those listed in M c K a y missing. Libbie, of Boston, covering the period from 1878 to 3 A l l the figures in this paper about the Y a l e collec- tion w e r e compiled in A u g u s t 1944. 1919, is represented by 604 catalogs—a respectable showing, but far from a com- plete run. And for Leavitt, of N e w York, for the years from 1856-92, Yale has just about half the number listed by McKay, i.e., 310 catalogs out of 621. Of the more recent firms, as is to be expected, Yale's holdings are more nearly complete. T h e files for Anderson Galleries, American A r t Association, and the combined American A r t Association Anderson Galleries, Inc., are practically complete, and this is also true of the Parke-Bernet file. I t is more difficult to give an adequate picture of Yale's collection of English sale catalogs. T h e British Museum list, going back to 1676 and coming down only to 1900, puts Yale at a decided disadvantage. H e r nineteenth century holdings are fairly good, but before that time they cannot be compared with the British Museum collec- tion. However, it might be stated that the file of Sotheby catalogs at Yale numbers 710 through 1919, and is practically com- plete from 1920 to date. Other English firms are well represented, especially Christie, but much work in this field is yet to be done. Comparative figures for foreign sale catalogs are impossible to obtain, but Hoepli, Gilhofer and Ranschburg, Hierse- mann, and many others are well represented. T h e catalogs shelved in the grilled sec- tion are, for the most part, early American and English sale catalogs. T h e r e are about fifty American catalogs of sales held before 1850. English sales before 1800 are repre- sented by 45 catalogs, and those held from 1800 to about 1845 (which it seemed wise to segregate), by a total of 146 catalogs. Here also are shelved lists for a few early German, French, and Dutch sales. Nothing has been said specifically here about the secondhand book dealers' catalogs, as it is impossible in so short an article even to give statistics concerning individual companies. But, for the outstanding 72 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES dealers of all countries, Y a l e ' s collection has good runs, a n d f o r m a n y o u t - o f - t h e - w a y countries it is surprisingly representative. The Use of the Collection T h e various uses to w h i c h such a collec- tion of book catalogs can be p u t seem in- n u m e r a b l e . T h e most obvious ones are those w h i c h in themselves w o u l d h a r d l y j u s t i f y the time, labor, space, a n d money w h i c h have been spent on t h e Y a l e collec- tion. T h e t r a c i n g of the provenance of a r a r e book is a f a s c i n a t i n g task a n d in some instances an i m p o r t a n t one, b u t it can be done w i t h o u t such a collection being as- sembled in a university l i b r a r y . A n d even descriptions of r a r e books can be f o u n d a n d the history of their prices studied w i t h - o u t the use of such t r e m e n d o u s n u m b e r s of catalogs. I t is only w h e n these uses can be tied in w i t h m a n y others, m o r e strictly in line w i t h the research w o r k to w h i c h a uni- versity l i b r a r y is devoted, t h a t such a collec- tion can be justified. A s t h e o r g a n i z i n g progressed, m o r e and m o r e use w a s m a d e of the collection and in m o r e a n d m o r e differ- ent ways. T h e g r e a t value of these catalogs as sub- ject bibliographies has been mentioned, b u t it m u s t be emphasized here once m o r e . T i m e a n d again the catalog of some collec- t o r ' s p r i v a t e library, finally sold at public auction, has become the definitive bibliogra- phy in the special field w h i c h w a s his inter- est. A n d as it w a s a collector w h o built the library, the catalog is apt to contain every possible item connected w i t h the s u b j e c t . M a n y u n i q u e copies are here f o u n d de- scribed a n d , o f t e n , items no l o n g e r in existence. O t h e r libraries have been built a r o u n d t h e w r i t i n g s of one m a n , and such catalogs n o t only present splendid bibliographical m a t e r i a l r e l a t i n g to his w r i t i n g s , b u t usually give additional i n f o r m a t i o n f o u n d in manu-* script notes in specific copies in his h a n d - w r i t i n g . Biographical i n f o r m a t i o n , as w e l l as added light on the critical i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the a u t h o r , can o f t e n be f o u n d in such catalogs. Sometimes the books described, w i t h t h e m a n u s c r i p t notes in them, have disappeared, and the q u o t a t i o n in the sale catalog is t h e only e x t a n t reference. I n fact, the t r a c i n g of m a n u s c r i p t m a t e r i a l is one of the most i m p o r t a n t a n d c o n s t a n t uses to w h i c h the collection is p u t . N o t only t h e m a n u s c r i p t notes in books, b u t separate m a n u s c r i p t s offered f o r sale w i t h books or in collections by themselves, are o f t e n n o w only k n o w n t h r o u g h their entries in these sale catalogs. I n m o r e general terms, t h e catalogs of p r i v a t e libraries assembled at various peri- ods and in various countries give good pictures of t h e l i t e r a r y life of the time. A n d the individual l i b r a r y of a g r e a t m a n , no m a t t e r w h a t his field of activity, is al- w a y s an i m p o r t a n t source f o r the historian or biographer in his i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the m a n . C a t a l o g r as a g r o u p also present the development of the history of books and p r i n t i n g , the c h a n g i n g tastes of those w h o buy and collect books as well as of those w h o w r i t e t h e m , a n d an over-all picture of the l i t e r a r y b a c k g r o u n d of various countries at d i f f e r e n t periods. I n spite of these brief notes as to the use of the Y a l e collection, it still could n o t be justified as a " p a y i n g proposition." B u t its o r g a n i z i n g is one of the tasks w h i c h a re- search l i b r a r y feels needs no such j u s t i f i c a - tion. F o r the comparatively f e w s t u d e n t s and scholars w h o find here the pieces needed to fit into their complicated scholarly puzzles, the collection is as necessary as any other p a r t of the library. T o make it available is an obligation w h i c h a research l i b r a r y willingly u n d e r t a k e s . JANUARY, 1946 73