College and Research Libraries letopis' (Newspaper Chronicle). At present it is published weekly, and describes articles and documentary materials carried in news- papers of the U.S.S.R. printed in the Rus- sian language. These articles are indexed on a very selective basis, and emphasis is placed on the central newspapers, such as Pravda, Izvestiia, Komsomol'skaia pravda. Each issue of the Letopis' contains a list of the news- papers indexed in that issue. Letopis' retsenzii (Chronicle of Reviews) has been published since 1934, and appears quarterly. From 1939 to 1941 it was entitled Bibliografiia retsenzii (Bibliography of Re- views). It lists reviews and critical analyses from magazines and newspapers pertaining to new or newly reprinted publications, music, maps, theatrical presentations and motion pictures of artistic value. At the end of each issue of the Letopis' there is an al- phabetic list of authors and titles of the pub- lications reviewed. The index to the fourth issue of each year also summarizes the con- tents of the preceding three issues, thereby serving as an index for the whole year.— Rudolph Smits, Library of Congress. Libraries in the Southwest Libraries in the Southwest: Their Growth— Strengths—Needs. Ed. by Lawrence Clark Powell. (Occasional Papers, No. 3) Los Angeles: University of California Library, 1955. 70 p. Paper, apply. On April 16, 1955, the Rockefeller Foun- dation, Occidental College, and the Califor- nia Library Association co-sponsored a con- ference at Occidental College to consider the growth, strengths, and needs of librar- ianship and libraries in the Southwest. With the publication of Libraries in the South- west: Their Growth—Strengths—Needs, the papers presented at this conference are now available in an attractive format. Six papers were given at the conference which some five hundred librarians, trustees, and other friends of southwestern libraries attended. In the first paper, Glenn S. Dumke, dean of the Occidental College faculty, seeks a "Definition of the Southwest." Erna Fer- guson presents "A Writer's View of South- west Libraries" and tells in a graceful man- ner of the growth of the library in Albu- querque, New Mexico, "from the time when a group of ladies put themselves out and worked hard to get a few books together until we have a highly professional service which is serving beautifully well, and with a very great appreciation of the depth and validity, and the value of all those cultures that have gone to make us what we are." In the third paper, Edwin Castagna, city librarian at Long Beach, California, surveys "Public Libraries in the Southwest" and finds that "public library service throughout the Southwest, except for most of Southern Cali- fornia, is spotty and unevenly developed." He believes that progress can and will be made if southwestern librarians are willing to pool their knowledge, their resources, their hope, and their courage. In discussing Mr. Castagna's paper, San Diego's city librar- ian, Clara E. Breed, emphasizes three com- mon problems which face southwestern li- brarians: a tremendous growth in population without a corresponding increase in library services, inadequate financial support of li- braries, and shortage of librarians. The fourth paper, by Fernando Pesqueira, director of the University of Sonora Library, is in Spanish, but an English summary of his description of the "Libraries of Northwestern Mexico and Their Needs" has been pro- vided. Donald M. Powell, University of Ari- zona reference librarian, in his discussion of Senor Pesqueira's paper makes some interest- ing comparisons with development of li- braries in northwestern Mexico and in his own state. Patricia Paylore, University of Arizona as- sistant librarian, deals in a most interesting manner with " T h e Effect of Climate and Distance on Libraries in the Arid Regions," with special emphasis on libraries in Ari- zona. Julia Brown Asplund, who, until her retirement after fifty years of service, was with the New Mexico State Library Exten- sion Agency, describes briefly the way in which New Mexico has developed its State Library Service with "a budget of $2,000 in 1929 to one of $100,000 in the appropria- tions of the legislature of 1955." The final paper in this volume is Law- rence Clark Powell's discussion of " T h e Re- 352 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES sponsibilities of Southern California in Southwestern Library Development" in which he urges "the establishment of a wholly new kind of regional library education program that will recognize the dual nature of library education: that what we teach is matched in importance by whom we teach it to." If such a library education program materializes and Dr. Powell has anything to do with it, one can be certain fortunately that books will be basic in the program. After reading these papers, this reviewer has the feeling that, with such librarians as those who spoke at the Occidental College conference, the future of librarianship in the Southwest is in capable hands. The Uni- versity of California Library is to be com- mended for making available to the library profession at large these informative papers. —John David Marshall, Alabama Polytech- nic Institute Library. Recent Foreign Books on the Graphic Arts, Bibliography, and Library Science The new series of "Beitrage zum Buch- und Bibliothekswesen" edited by Carl Wehmer of Heidelberg and published by Otto Harrasso- witz (Wiesbaden) includes three numbers so far and compares favorably with the old "Sammlung bibliothekswissenschaftlicher Ar- beiten," formerly published by Harrassowitz in Leipzig. The first volume, Peter Karstedt, Studien zur Soziologie der Bibliothek (1954; 97 p.), is an examination of the library as a sociologi- cal phenomenon. The author, an attorney, is disturbed by the fact that there are so few points of contact between librarianship and sociology, and he makes a determined effort to remedy this situation. His work is divided into three chapters: historical sociology, sys- tematic sociology, and the Wissenssoziologie of the Max Scheler school. In each Karstedt tries to link the library with its social back- ground, to show the forces that brought the library into existence and the effect that it has on the public it serves. Karstedt draws on a comprehensive read- ing of sociological literature as well as the literature of librarianship, and he documents his work thoroughly. If Karstedt seems to de- fend his approach to librarianship somewhat too vigorously at times, it may be attributed primarily to his zeal in expounding a com- paratively new viewpoint. The conclusion of his last chapter, that libraries are one of the chief bulwarks of a free society, may sound a bit commonplace to us, but in central Europe this idea cannot be repeated too frequently. This Interdisciplinary approach to librar- ianship has certain weaknesses. However, fail- ure to provoke new ideas is not one of them. The sociological interpretation of librarian- ship might be carried too far in some quar- ters, but Karstedt keeps it to reasonable pro- portions. Rudolf Blum's Der Prozess Fust gegen Gu- tenberg; eine Interpretation des Helmasper- gischen Notariatsinstruments im Rahmen der Friihgeschichte des Mainzer Buchdrucks (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1954; 118 p.; "Beitrage zum Buch- und Bibliothekswesens," 2) is perhaps the most provocative book about prototypography since Wehmer's Mainzer Probedrucke. Since this reviewer has found that almost no American librarians are able to identify Ulrich Helmasperger and the fa- mous notarial document named for him, this elementary bit of information might well be repeated here. In the beginning of 1450 Gu- tenberg borrowed 800 florins from Johann Fust, a citizen of Mainz, for "book produc- tion" ("das werck der bucher"), and later he borrowed a similar sum to buy paper, parchment, and ink. Gutenberg put up his printing equipment as security. Since the printer paid no interest, Fust sued him in the fall of 1455 for 2,020 florins to cover capital and interest. The litigation took place in the refectory of the Discalced Monastery of Mainz on 6 November 1455 before Helmas- perger (a notary), five witnesses for the plain- tiff (including Peter Schoffer), the plaintiff, and his brother Jakob. On Gutenberg's side was the priest Heinrich Giinther of St. Chris- topher's and two of Gutenberg's apprentices. Gutenberg lost the suit, his tools (geczuge), and leadership in the craft he invented. The notarial instrument is far from a clear- cut record of litigation, and every possible interpretation must be tested with typograph- ical, philological, and psychological stand- JULY, 1956 353