College and Research Libraries By V E R N E R W . C L A P P The Purchase of Books in Europe1 WE C A N M A K E a start from the point at which the total aspect of European acquisitions was a confused and disorganized one, and work forward from there. W e can dispose of the British Isles easily. Imports from Britain never ceased entirely nor, on the other hand, are they even now quite satisfactory. Transmission is still slow, edi- tions are quickly exhausted, older items are quickly sold, and prices are high. But this picture is too well known to require further discussion. Spain and Portugal. Dealings with Spain and Portugal also were never entirely suspended during the war, and now may be said to be approaching normal. T h e Bib- liografia Hispanica comes regularly, as do catalogs from several Spanish and Portu- guese bookshops. Auction catalogs have ar- rived months after the auctions have taken place. Recently we have attempted to get these in time to make bids. An upswing in Spanish publishing is perceivable. T h e r e is also an attempt to establish exchange rela- tions on the part of Spanish and Portuguese institutions. T h e Department of State has sent to the peninsula, as publications officer, M r s . M a r i e Cannon, who was the reporter on the book trade for the Handbook of Latin A merican Studies. She will report current- ly on book trade conditions, and it is hoped that her reports can be made generally avail- able. Among the most active dealers from whom we hear are Vergara, Aguado, Bel- tran, Jose Porter, Livraria Portugal, and Livraria Tavares Martins. 1 R e v i s e d v e r s i o n of a p a p e r p r e s e n t e d at t h e Con- f e r e n c e of E a s t e r n College L i b r a r i a n s , C o l u m b i a U n i - v e r s i t y , Nov. 24, 1945. France. Commercial relations with France have been open since Oct. 5, 1945, when the Treasury issued its general license No. 92. T h e r e are still many impediments, however, to freedom of commercial inter- course, including certification by the French government of those of its nationals who are entitled to credits in this country, other controls placed upon credit transactions, the scarcity of shipping, and the actual lack of books. B u t t h e Bibliographie de la France has been published continuously during the war, as has also "Biblio." Meanwhile, though some of the old journals are dead, new ones are arising. France appears eager to return to her place in the publishing world. While shortage of paper is likely to last for at least another year, satisfac- tory arrangements can be made by American librarians through the booksellers who have a knowledge of both countries. Also, there has been installed in the Bibliotheque Na- tionale, through the enterprise of an Ameri- can firm, microfilm equipment which will make it possible to place orders in this coun- try for microfilms from France. Belgium and Holland. T h e s i t u a t i o n in Belgium and Holland is similar to that in France. Commerce is open, but the means are generally lacking, books are few, and governmental restrictions are many. M r . Nijhoff has described his inability to send materials stored on prewar orders for the simple lack of packing cases. He hopes to use Smithsonian Institution boxes recently sent to the Royal Library for the purpose. Brinkmans Catalogus has been received, b u t t h e Bibliographie de Belgique a n d t h e APRIL, 1946 10 7 Revue Bibliographie Beige h a v e n o t been arriving. Booksellers' catalogs from both countries, including catalogs of Flemish materials, among them Het Boek in Vlaan- deren, have come. Switzerland. From the point of view of European acquisitions, Switzerland has enjoyed an enviable position during the war. At no time has she been cut off entirely from the rest of the Continent, and only briefly from the rest of the world. Consequently, there have come into Switzerland—and even out of it—all during the war Continental publications which otherwise it would have been impossible to see. T h e holdings of the League of Nations Library (accessions lists available), of the International Labour O f - fice, and of the National Library at Berne will require first consideration when the wartime bibliography of Continental serials is reviewed, particularly for any program of republication or microfilming. Commer- cial dealings with Switzerland are possible under various restrictions, and the Swiss are reported to be making strenuous efforts to fill the place left vacant by the crumbling of the German book industry. L . C . re- ceives t h e Bibliographisches Bulletin der Schweiz, Das Schweizer Buch, a n d several dealers' catalogs. Scandinavia. T h e r e is little to report for Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Com- mercial shipments are still difficult because of effective restrictions of wartime credit and shipping control. I t is expected, how- ever, that the former will soon be eased. N o copies of t h e Dansk Boghandlertidende or of the Danish Aarskatalog since 1943 have been received, with the exception of isolated smuggled issues, but we have been informed that copies are being held. T h e same situation is true for the Norskbok- handlertidende a n d t h e N o r w e g i a n Aars- katalog. T h e Svensk Bokhandels-tidning and shipments of mail have come from Sweden. Booksellers in all countries appear to be active, and contacts have been re- newed and orders placed. However, genu- inely productive arrangements probably can be made only through noncommercial chan- nels. Italy. For Italy, the picture in regard to acquisitions is confused. T h e booktrade is—apparently and comparatively speaking at least—flourishing, and prices are about double those before the war. Nardecchia, Olschki, Lange, Liberma, Fucile, and others are active. II Libro Italiano ceased in 1943 and has probably not been replaced. Catalogs are procurable. T h e Library of Congress has about 6500 Italian monograph titles, 1940-45. Shipping and credit trans- actions are under stifling restrictions but it is expected that these may be relaxed before long, at least from this country, although no doubt they will continue to remain un- der local controls. A symptom of easing is the relaxation of the State Department in favor of M r . H a f n e r ' s present trip to Italy. Hungary. T w o Hungarian booksellers (Grille and Tisza Testvereck) have been heard from, but no commercial dealings have been possible. Some material is stored. Balkans. For the other Balkan countries there is nothing to report. Austria is lost in the picture with Germany. L.C. is re- ceiving military gazettes of the American Occupation Forces through the courtesy of General Hume, lately of the Army Medical Library, but they have so far revealed noth- ing about the booktrade. Russia. Commercial dealings with Rus- sia remained open during the war. Materi- als were difficult to obtain, due to slowness in shipping, restrictions on export, and the effect of American laws regarding regis- tration of foreign agents. T h e r e is probably not a single up-to-date set of Knizhnaia Let0pis -available in the country. T h e r e 128 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES are, however, signs of improvement here. Four Continent Book Corporation of N e w York (importers for Mezhdurodaia Kniga) will now sell books across state lines in this c o u n t r y (see t h e Library Journal f o r J a n . I, 1946), and our State Department is tak- ing active steps to promote interchange of library materials between the two countries. Czechoslovakia. W h a t reports we have of Czechoslovakia indicate the absence of both book stocks and a booktrade. T h e same situation is true of Poland. Germany. T h e r e are no export dealings with Germany, but the booktrade is reor- ganizing. All publishing ventures in the American Zone require licensing by the In- formation Control Division of the Military Government. T o w a r d the end of Decem- ber 1945 a total of twenty-three newspapers had been licensed in the Zone, beginning with the Frankfurter Rundschau on July 31, 1945, in addition to the American- operated newspaper Die Neue Zeitung; a total of seventy-six book and magazine pub- lishers had been licensed; and fifty-two books and pamphlets had been published. ( S e e t h e Weekly Information Bulletin p u b - lished by the Reports and Information Branch, Office of Military Government, U.S. Zone, U . S . F . E . T . , No. 22, Dec. 22, J 9 4 5 , P- 6 , 8 . ) W e are attempting to collect multiple copies of these books. A report from our representative, Reuben Peiss (of H a r v a r d and the Interdepart- mental Committee for the Acquisition of Foreign Publications) on Oct. 13, 1945, revealed that "a number of influential pub- lishers, some of them formerly from Leipzig, are setting up a temporary branch of the 'Boersenverein' in the American Zone"— probably at Weisbaden, "and will compile a bibliography of all new publications. Eventually they hope to turn the depository copies over to the Deutsche Biicherei. T h e editors of the new Boersenblatt informed me that they would be happy to lay aside fifty copies if we would undertake to give them sufficient information concerning publishing in America and furnish them with American materials." W e are arranging to send fifty copies of t h e Publishers' Weekly a n d of t h e New York Times Book Review in response to this suggestion. Some time ago we asked M a j . Douglas Waples, chief of the Publication Section of the Information Control Division of Ameri- can Group Control, for information regard- ing publishers' stocks and plates. His reply, which has not since been amplified, was to the effect that the information was still to be gathered; that stocks are largely de- stroyed, as are also plates; but that there remain, in many cases, Belegexemplare which might be used in a republication pro- gram, for example, by microfilm or photo- offset. Zones Other Than American For zones other than the American there is less information. Conflicting reports come from the Russian Zone. T h e most reliable is to the effect that the Russians are reconstituting the Leipzig booktrade but removing the control to Dresden, where a new control board is said to have been set up. Just before I left Washington, I asked L t . David Clift (late of Columbia, now of Yale, but actually on his way to join Reu- ben Peiss in F r a n k f u r t ) to scan the official gazettes which we get from the French Zone. H e found nothing in any way relat- ing to publications. T h e r e is, however, reported to be even greater activity there than in the American Zone. Meanwhile, too, there has been an interzonal conference in F r a n k f u r t on the disposition of docu- ments, so that possibilities for exchange of materials between zones are shaping up. W e are conducting such purchases in Germany as are possible, through Broer- APRIL, 1946 10 7 m a n n in Berlin, checking against a set of D.N.B. B u t t h e real acquisition problem in G e r m a n y , so w e are i n f o r m e d , is n o t one of p u r c h a s e b u t of f i n d i n g o u t w h a t is in the vast stocks w h i c h have come i n t o the h a n d s of the A r m y f r o m m i l i t a r y a n d p a r t y li- braries. O n e general c o m m e n t may be m a d e w i t h respect t o t h e w h o l e of t h e C o n t i n e n t . E v e r y w h e r e t h e r e is a t r e m e n d o u s desire to ascertain w h a t has been going on in t h e U n i t e d States d u r i n g the w a r a n d to pro- c u r e A m e r i c a n publications. T h i s desire is m a t c h e d , f o r the most p a r t , only by the inability of those countries to p u r c h a s e f r o m us to t h e e x t e n t they need. E v e r y - w h e r e , consequently, t h e r e is f o u n d a desire t o e n t e r into exchange relationships w h i c h w i l l avoid the restrictive effect of credit and i m p o r t controls. F r o m I t a l y and H o l l a n d h a v e come suggestions f o r exchange of pub- lications w i t h w h i c h to suffice the needs of m a n y l i b r a r i e s ; f r o m F r a n c e and Russia, suggestions of p l a n s e m b r a c i n g a representa- tion of the w h o l e book p r o d u c t i o n of the countries i n v o l v e d ; f r o m D e n m a r k , Czecho- slovakia, a n d B e l g i u m suggestions f o r less extensive b u t still substantial a r r a n g e m e n t s . N o one i n s t i t u t i o n is in a position to meet any of these suggestions all t h e w a y ; b u t t h e r e is an o p p o r t u n i t y in the present situa- tion, if w e could only p r o p e r l y explore it, w h i c h should n o t be lost. So m u c h f o r a h u r r i e d glance at general conditions. C e r t a i n special problems or ar- r a n g e m e n t s m a y n o w be briefly discussed. D u r i n g the past f e w years the g o v e r n m e n t has itself, t h r o u g h the Office of S t r a t e g i c Services, the I n t e r d e p a r t m e n t a l C o m m i t t e e f o r t h e Acquisition of F o r e i g n Publications, the D e p a r t m e n t of State, a n d the L i b r a r y of Congress, been the principal p r o m o t e r of the acquisition of E u r o p e a n ( a s w e l l as o t h e r ) book materials, a n d has made, t h r o u g h the Alien P r o p e r t y C u s t o d i a n ' s republication p r o g r a m , m a n y i m p o r t a n t f o r e i g n publica- tions available in photo-facsimile to libraries generally. W i t h the liberation of v a r i o u s C o n t i n e n - tal countries, h o w e v e r , libraries generally began to inquire a b o u t facilities w h i c h m i g h t be a f f o r d e d them f o r securing f r o m these countries t h e book m a t e r i a l s w h i c h had, pos- sibly, been stored f o r t h e m d u r i n g the w a r , as w e l l as c u r r e n t l y published m a t e r i a l s . I t w a s obvious t h a t , in t h e absence of c o m m e r - cial channels, g o v e r n m e n t a l channels w o u l d have to be employed. Specifically, at the J u n e m e e t i n g of the Association of Research Libraries, the question w a s raised w h e t h e r libraries generally m i g h t n o t share the use of t h e c h a n n e l s enjoyed by the L i b r a r y of Congress. A t t h a t time L . C . ' s channels consisted of the f o l l o w i n g : W e h a d a representative ( M a n u e l S a n c h e z ) a t t a c h e d first to the Allied C o n t r o l Commission in I t a l y , t h e n l a t e r to the A m e r i c a n embassies both in R o m e a n d P a r i s . H e could m a k e use of both A r m y a n d S t a t e D e p a r t m e n t resources f o r p a y m e n t a n d shipment and could com- m a n d , as well, certain o t h e r f o r m s of assist- ance such as jeeps, trucks, packing boxes, stenographers, etc. I n both c o u n t r i e s he m a d e excellent a r r a n g e m e n t s w i t h local booksellers. T h i s p r o g r a m of direct repre- sentation by the L i b r a r y of Congress w a s at t h a t time, h o w e v e r , rapidly giving w a y to r e p r e s e n t a t i o n by the State D e p a r t m e n t , on behalf of L . C . , t h r o u g h publications officers at various principal foreign service posts w h o w e r e to p e r f o r m f o r us ( a n d f o r the o t h e r g o v e r n m e n t a l agencies) the operations w i t h respect to publications w h i c h could n o t be u n d e r t a k e n t h r o u g h r e g u l a r commercial channels. Department of State Consequently, before w e could respond to t h e request of the A . R . L . w e had to con- 130 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES suit the D e p a r t m e n t of State. M r . M a c - Leish was at that time Assistant Secretary of State for Public and C u l t u r a l Relations, so our request was addressed to an under- standing and sympathetic ear. As a result, on Aug. 4, 1945, M r . MacLeish wrote to D r . Evans stating that T h e Department of State agrees with the Library of Congress' view that the national interest is directly affected by the holdings of the many private research libraries. It would, therefore, interpose no objection in principle to the employment of federal government fa- cilities to assist in maintaining their specialized collections where normal channels of acquisi- tion are inoperative. It is believed, however, that certain basic understandings should be made clear at the outset. The department would wish to be assured that the private libraries had agreed upon and carefully planned a program of cooperative buying and that they would continue to support such a plan as long as federal assistance were granted them. T h i s response was communicated to the Association of Research Libraries, which was eager to adopt the arrangement of which the possibility was presented. T h e mechanics of the arrangement, however, remained to be worked out, including not only the mechanism of the operations of procurement and distribution themselves, but also the determination of what would constitute eligibility for participation and the preparation of a schedule of priorities for the distribution of materials which might be available in limited numbers of copies. Library of Congress Meanwhile, the Library of Congress, as- sured of the eventual success of the plan, began to act. In order not to lose the fleet- ing moment, pending discussions in the course of which the existing book stocks would rapidly disappear by sale, by rising prices, or (particularly in the case of Ger- many) to the pulping mill, we immediately sent M r . Sanchez back over his tracks, with instructions to purchase three additional copies of w h a t he had already purchased for us. W e appointed a new representative for France and the Lowlands, and one for Ger- many who should also cover Switzerland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and such other countries as he might be able to reach. T h e instructions to these agents have been to purchase three copies of everything of any research value and, in the case of books having a high reference value, to use their own judgment as to needs, even going as high as fifty copies ( t h a t is the source of M r . Peiss' authorization for his action, on which I just reported, in the case of the Boersenblatt). ( T h e s e instructions have since been modified in the case of those coun- tries where commercial channels are now open, so as to restrict purchasing to imprints earlier than 1946.) Meanwhile, the Army was getting many requests from various libraries for permis- sion to send representatives to Germany or to get books out of Germany. T h e Presi- dent, by executive order, had established the publication board with specific responsi- bility for making available for the use of American business and industry the infor- mation derivable f r o m G e r m a n industrial, scientific, and technological sources. T h e r e were conflicting demands, with, however, a similar objective. • Satisfactory Formula A formula providing a satisfactory solu- tion to the situation, at least f r o m the librar- ians' point of view, resulted f r o m a meeting in D r . Evans' office on Sept. 19, 1945. T h i s meeting was originally called to consider the acquisitions program through the De- partment of State but, coinciding with C a r l M . W h i t e ' s return from Germany, it was able to consider the G e r m a n situation also. Representatives of the principal library as- AFRIL, 1946 131 sociations and of the principal research li- braries there agreed to a plan of distribution, through the Library of Congress, of any captured materials which the W a r Depart- ment might release following the complet- ing of its own uses. It was agreed, also, that such captured materials would be lumped for distribution with the materials being purchased by agents of the Library of Congress and that the same plan of distribu- tion should govern all materials. It was agreed that a schedule to allocate priorities, as among libraries in competition for the same kind of materials, should be established by a Committee to Advise on the Distribu- tion of Foreign Acquisitions, to be made up of representatives of the American Library Association, the Association of Research Li- braries, the Joint Committee on Importa- tions (itself representative of a large number of libraries and library associations), the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Research Council, the Social Sci- ence Research Council, and the American Council on Education. As soon as these organizations named their representatives (consisting of Robert B. Downs, Keyes D . Metcalf, Thomas P. Fleming, Donald Goodchild, George W . Corner, Elbridge Sibley, and President David Robertson, of Goucher), L.C. issued a release dated Oct. 1945, explaining the program and so- liciting, o n behalf of the committee, expres- sions of desire for participation, to be accompanied by statements of the fields of interest and the amount of money which could be devoted to the purpose. I t was sent to ninety libraries, and also appeared in t h e Library Journal f o r D e c . I , 1945, a n d t h e A.L.A. Bulletin f o r J a n u a r y 1946. T h e tabulation of these preliminary re- sults showed that a more particularized statement of the libraries' needs would be required. Consequently, some 325 libraries were again polled by the committee in a cir- cular issued by M r . Downs on Dec. 10, 1945, accompanied by a classification scheme of 253 headings devised by Edwin E. W i l - liams, of Harvard. T o this circular ap- proximately one hundred libraries responded and, at this writing, the advisory committee is wrestling with the unenviable job of as- signing priorities for distribution in each case in which more than one library has entered a request to cover a particular sub- ject. These cases, of course, are numerous; many libraries, for example, want material in chemistry, in music, and in nuclear phys- ics. O n the other hand, however, the geo- graphic distribution of requests has been, with necessary limitations, good, and there are no "orphan" subjects. Priorities are therefore to be assigned, first on the basis of the size of existing collections, and sec- ond, with a view to obtaining wide geo- graphic distribution. It is expected that a satisfactory, at least a working, arrangement will soon be obtained. T h i s will be re- ported for confirmation to the libraries con- cerned, and thereafter L.C. will request the participating libraries to deposit funds which will make it possible to pay for the opera- tions which have already been undertaken on this score and for ensuing operations, such as sorting, classifying, and packing. T o guide our purchasing agents abroad and to facilitate as well our own operations in sorting, searching, and checking material as it comes in, we have been preparing checklists of the European imprints of the war years which are now available in Wash- ington. T h e checklist of Italian material has been run off. It covers the period 1940- 45, records some annuals but few other serials, and contains about 6500 entries. Although now available only in a small number of copies (which are being reserved for the use of the libraries engaging in the cooperative acquisitions project), it will shortly be made generally available through 132 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES a reprint to be made on behalf of the library by G. E. Stechert & Co. T h e German list is similarly being reproduced for the library by Edwards Brothers, Inc., and it, too, will be generally available. A French list will follow. Prewar Orders Several other subjects may be of interest: first, as to publications stored in liberated and enemy countries on prewar orders. M r . Metcalf has for some time been discussing with M a j o r James Horan, the coordinator of W a r Department Libraries, methods for getting this material out of Europe. At the September 19 meeting of which I have spoken, L.C. offered M a j o r Horan the serv- ices of its representative, Reuben Peiss, in trying to loosen up these materials. W e sent him such information as to the stored materials as could be gathered in this coun- try ; Peiss has reported to L t . General Bedell Smith, has gathered considerable other information, and started some ship- ments on the way from the American Zone. H e tells me, by phone, that he continues daily to collect information regarding loca- tion of stores. H e cannot, however, do a thorough job on this matter until we get him additional assistance, which we are, this very minute perhaps, doing. Peiss has not as yet, however, uncovered the materials in the Russian Zone held by Harrassowitz and others, but news regarding these materials is daily expected. I recur to the special problem of Rus- sian acquisitions. T h e Department of State has agreed (in a letter from M r . MacLeish to M r . David on Aug. 8, 1945) to lend its facilities to the acquisition of Russian materials if arrangements are worked out be- tween the interested libraries and the Li- brary of Congress on the basis of a division of responsibility in the various fields. A f t e r long waiting, the Library of Congress will soon have representation in Moscow through a publications officer in the embassy, and we are stockpiling for his use current American publications to be used in exchange, so that we are all ready to start. Meanwhile, re- sponses to the proposal are still coming in from libraries. T h e Library of Congress feels its position in this matter to be one of some responsibility, for several reasons. W e are, as you know, just concluding a survey, supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, of existing Russian collections, and we are engaging in a drive, also supported by the foundation, to get our own collections of Russian materials cataloged. T h i s will leave us with perhaps fifteen thousand dupli- cates, and we propose to distribute these duplicates only in the interest of a coopera- tive program and of accepted responsibility for coverage in particular fields. Republication Finally, republication. W e won't know until all the materials are in what is still missing, of what there are too few copies, etc. Meanwhile, certain steps can be taken. Edwards Brothers are republishing the Halbjahrverzeichniss f o r 1941 a n d 1942 and D.N.B. for 1943 and 1944, making use of our copies at least in part for this pur- pose, so that it will be possible for librarians to know—to the extent that this publication furnishes the record—what has been pub- lished in Germany. Meanwhile, L.C. has acquired, in thirty tremendous rolls, the checking record of German periodicals kept by the Deutsche Bucherei since 1937, and we have even discovered, we believe, an ex- employee of the Bucherei who can help to interpret the record. I notice that many of the entries are marked " G e h , " so that we can hope that it includes a record of much secret material. T h i s is, of course, an in- valuable record, and there is some prospect that it may be abstracted and published. APRIL, 1946 10 7 Similarly, we have also a copy of the Biicherei's record of depository copies. T h i s may serve to supplement or check the ac- curacy of D.N.B. W e need, however, someone to give at- tention, more than sporadically, to matters affecting republication; and our representa- tives in Europe are much too busy keeping the rain out of the warehouses and getting books into boxes to be able to think of any- thing else. W e need someone who can visit each of the countries of Europe, think- ing less of the immediate and more of the ultimate aims of librarianship: the relations between libraries, exchange and other; meth- ods; the place of libraries in European cul- ture, and in particular, German culture; whether and how America through its li- braries can and should exert a beneficial force in the reconstitution of Europe. M r . Metcalf, D r . Lydenberg, and I were speak- ing of these things the other day in D r . Evans' office, and I remarked to D r . Lyden- berg, " D o n ' t be surprised if you find the European T h e a t r e asking for you." I am happy to be able to report today that the T h e a t r e has asked for D r . Lydenberg to become a member of the Library of Con- gress mission in Germany. T h a t assignment is, for the present, of course, just an um- brella, out from which D r . Lydenberg can readily step. T h e important thing is, I think, that the director of the A.L.A.'s International Relations Office is in a posi- tion from which he can take a considered view of things in Europe, from the point of view of an American librarian. T h u s I am able to conclude these overlengthy remarks on acquisitions by reporting that acquisition is a two-way traffic, and that what we have begun with the motive of mere procurement may well provide the means for securing much more useful and enduring results in the future. < 134 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES