College and Research Libraries


Review Articles 

Bibliotheca Walleriana 

Bibliotheca Walleriana, the Books Illustrat-
ing the History of Medicine and Science 
Collected by Dr. Erik Waller and Be-
queathed to the Library of the Royal 
University of Uppsala. A catalogue com-
piled by Hans Sallander. Stockholm: Alm-
qvist and Wiksell, 1955. 2 v. (Acta Biblio-
thecae R. Universitatis Upsaliensis v. 
VIII-IX) Sw.Kr. 200. 

Now that the catalog of this remarkable 
collection of some 21,000 volumes has been 
published, it is not an exaggeration to say 
that this is a bibliographical event of a high 
order. The catalog presents a collection the 
possession of which has made Uppsala one of 
the world's centers for research in the history 
of medicine and science. 

The material has been classified systemati-
cally. The list of 150 incunabula is followed 
by the main section, medicine, subdivided 
into veterinary medicine and dentistry. This 
material forms volume 1 and includes some 
10,800 items. Volume 2, with some 10,000 
additional items, is arranged in the follow-
ing sections: natural sciences in general, 
chemistry (including alchemy), physics, bot-
any, zoology, astronomy, other natural sci-
ences; history of science in general, history 
of medicine, and history of natural sciences; 
biography (general) and biography (spe-
cial); bibliography, with a sub-section, litera-
ture on autographs; and finally, miscella-
neous. The largest sections in this second 
volume are those of history of medicine, 
with about 3,000 items; biography, about 
2,300 items; and bibliography, over 1,300 
items. 

The material has been arranged alpha-
betically, with the one exception that works 
of some of the most important authors 
whose production has been treated in mod-
ern bibliographies were classified in ac-
cordance with the bibliographical treatment 
concerned, and under the numbers there 
established. For instance, the comprehensive 
Hippocrates collection has been arranged in 

accordance with the catalog of the British 
Museum. 

The titles are given in full. Printers' and 
publishers' names are indicated for imprints 
prior to 1700. There are detailed data on 
number of pages, type pages unnumbered or 
paginated by a special method, illustrations, 
number of plates, and supplementary ma-
terial, if any. Information, when considered 
of interest, is given in a special type of print, 
e.g. references to bibliographies, data on 
provenience, etc. The volume ends with an 
extremely detailed general index to the en-
tire catalog. The catalog is written in Eng-
lish and contains 56 full-page plates, in-
cluding 8 color plates. The format is 
182x260 mm. 

The catalog of the Bibliotheca Walleriana 
will be welcomed as a valuable reference 
work by librarians, scholars, book collectors 
and booksellers. In addition to reliable bib-
liographic information, the comprehensive 
index with thousands of entries refers to the 
literature of a variety of fields in the area 
of medicine and historical research. No ref-
erence library attempting to cover these 
fields can afford to pass up these volumes.— 
T. P. Fleming, Columbia University. 

Future of the Book 
The Future of the Book: Implications of the 

Newer Developments in Communication. 
Papers Presented Before the Twentieth 
Annual Conference of the Graduate Li-
brary School of the University of Chicago, 
June 20-24, 1955. Edited by Lester Asheim. 
Chicago: University of Chicago, Gradu-
ate Library School [cl955]. 105 p. $3.75. 
Published originally in Library Quarter-
ly, October 1955. 

The subtitle of this collection gives a bet-
ter indication of its content than does the 
more provocative wording, "The Future of 
the Book," for in the main the ten authors do 
not indulge in prophecy but derive opinions 
from careful study of past and present re-
alities: they have used the microscope rather 

444 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



than the telescope. Each contributor has 
taken a different point of view so that var-
ious aspects are placed under scrutiny. 

Howard Winger surveys the role the book 
has played in society, showing its role in 
the public diffusion of knowledge, specifi-
cally in competition with the spoken word. 
He traces the forms of books through their 
long history and connects such changes with 
functional requirements. 

Thompson Webb obviously loves fine 
printing but he is also a realist concerned 
with prices of books, particularly in small 
editions. He discusses the methods available 
for cheap reproduction, points out their 
limitations and particularly readers' preju-
dices against them. He concludes that "the 
development of a different attitude is now 
more important than the development of 
new machines" and that "already the type-
writer and microphotography have changed 
the form of the book." 

R. H. Wittcoff, speaking on "Develop-
ments in Mass Communication," emphasizes 
that in some instances television has caused 
a rise in circulation of books. While he 
points out the achievements of which tele-
vision is capable, he also puts it in its place, 
reasoning that responsible citizens who 
"would see things as a whole" will respect 
the medium that does this, and "that me-
dium continues to be the book." 

Then the speakers on automation take 
over. Harold Fleisher of International Busi-
ness Machines presents the fundamentals of 
the mathematical theory of information and 
its possible application to words and to 
books, including the possibility of bringing 
classification (Dewey Decimal, Library of 
Congress, or a special new one) under mech-
anization. 

C. D. Gull continues by showing the ap-
plication of the communication theory to 
research libraries. He outlines what ma-
chines can and cannot do for books and 
indicates the need for development of ma-
chines that would store and retrieve knowl-
edge. 

Ralph Shaw points out that mechaniza-
tion has been applied to various library rou-
tines and techniques and the "question is 
not whether we will mechanize but rather at 
what level of sophistication of mechaniza-
tion we will find ourselves ten or twenty 

years from now." He feels, however, that 
there appears to be no probability that any 
of the mechanical devices available or in 
sight "will replace the book as a means for 
storing, retrieving, and presenting the type 
of materials normally stored and serviced by 
libraries." 

Verner Clapp reviews mechanical devices 
that have been put to bibliographical use 
and the valuable tools thus made available. 
He considers that full advantage has not 
been taken of existing appliances either 
from lack of imagination or money. 

Lowell Martin weighs the responsibility 
of educators in preparing the student for an 
automatic world: to point out to him the 
relations among libraries, books, and other 
media of communication; to instruct him in 
operations of machines used in libraries; to 
see that he is aware of the implications of 
machines on various groups in societies; to 
show him the importance of the role of li-
brarian as an interpreter of knowledge. 

Reuel N. Denney, a professor of social 
sciences, in the final article makes the only 
really radical statements in the collection. 
He bewails the enormous multiplication of 
books and castigates the "semisacredness" 
attached to printed works, especially in 
hard covers, for "most hard-cover books are 
junk." However, the printed word beomes 
superior to Mr. Denney when paperbound 
for that decreases the "psychological dis-
tance between reader and book." He accuses 
librarians in general and the previous papers 
in particular of being too concerned with 
research materials and not aware enough of 
the need for providing facilities for leisure 
time of the great masses who, with automa-
tion, will have more of it. 

Lester Asheim in outlining the purpose at 
the beginning and summarizing the results 
at the end states: "The present can tell us 
only that changes can and do occur; it does 
not tell us what those changes will be." He 
emphasizes that it is the form of the book, 
not its function, which may be at stake. 

This is a stimulating and thought-provok-
ing series of articles, presented in a lucid 
style with many interesting side lights. Ob-
viously it is aimed at the large, research li-
brary and as such is concerned only with 
book content; but it does seem to assume 
that scholars are machines, albeit living. If 

SEPTEMBER, 1956 445 



one may carp, it is that not much account is 
taken of the human satisfaction one gets 
from handling a physical book whether 
(each in its own time) that be a cuneiform 
tablet, papyrus roll, vellum codex, or 
Library Quarterly. 

It is interesting to examine the opinions 
in this collection with some advanced in an 
earlier conference of men who were con-
cerned primarily with book-making, pub-
lished as Graphic Forms; the Arts in Rela-
tion to the Book (Harvard University Press, 
1949). T w o of its contributors who were 
troubled as to the future of the book offered 
solutions that might help to preserve it. 
Merle Armitage felt that the format should 
be brought up to date with text, picture, 
and design so conceived that the book's 
meaning would be expressed and thus help 
the reader. J. Donald Adams also considered 
the appeal of design important in competi-
tion with other media, but he was more 
concerned with the quality of the book's 
content. Mr. Adams felt that the survival 
of the book depends primarily on the 
author. 

We can be grateful that The Future of 
the Book has been made available to a large 
circle of readers in such a format that it will 
be on hand for the next generation to ap-
plaud or condemn.—Bertha M. Frick, School 
of Library Service, Columbia University. 

Catalogus der 
Niet-Nederlandse Drukken 

Catalogus der Niet-Nederlandse Drukken: 
1500-1540, aanwezig in de Koninklijke 
Bibliotheek 's-Gravenhage. Comp. by R. 
Pennink. The Hague: Koninklijke Biblio-
theek, 1955. xviii, 267 p. 

Dr. Brummel, director of the Royal Li-
brary in The Hague, reminds the reader in 
his introduction that J. W. Holtrop and 
M. F. A. G. Campbell had at one time been 
intimately connected with this important 
library. Holtrop published in 1856 the cata-
log of incunabula in the Royal Library. 
Campbell is well known among specialists 
as the author of the Annales de la typo-
graphic neerlandaise au XVe siecle (1874). 

Dutch imprints of the post-incunabula pe-
riod have been listed with locations, includ-
ing those of the Royal Library, in Nijhoff 
and Kronenberg's Nederlandsche Bibliog-
raphic van 1500 tot 1540 (1923-51). The 
present volume thus supplements these 
earlier reference books by rounding out the 
inventory of holdings of the Royal Library, 
as well as of its affiliates, the Museum Meer-
manno-Westreenianum, the Nederduits Her-
vormde Gemeente te Edam, and the Neder-
landse Akademie van Wetenschappen. 

The Catalogus lists, in alphabetical order, 
2,373 imprints produced between 1500 and 
1540 outside the Low Countries. It goes be-
yond a mere short-title list. By including 
ample and very well selected references, by 
most careful cross referencing, and through 
its exhaustive imprints index and the ap-
parently complete list of former owners, the 
catalog deserves to be considered more than 
a location tool and will prove of consider-
able value to historians of early printing. 

The collection as such is varied in nature 
and, while containing some very rare books, 
is not outstandingly rich in any area or in 
works of any particular author, perhaps with 
the one exception of Erasmus. Among places 
of printing Paris, Lyons, Venice, Strasbourg, 
Basle and Cologne predominate (as would 
be the case with practically any collection 
of books produced during the first half of 
the sixteenth century). Some of the lesser 
known imprints found in the catalog are 
Altenburg, Colmar, Reichenau, Angers, 
Rennes, St. Nicolaus-du-Port, Ortona, 
Saluzzo and Toscolano. Only four English 
imprints are listed, while we were surprised 
to locate through this catalog ten titles 
printed in Constantinople. 

The form of entry frequently differs, 
quite naturally, from that used in our li-
brary catalogs. However, the descriptions 
will prove useful to rare book catalogers in 
this country. The excellence of bibliographi-
cal details and the form of publication de-
serve study and imitation.—Rudolf Hirsch, 
University of Pennsylvania Library. 

Catalogs of Incunabula 
Fifteenth-Century Books in the Library of 

Howard Lehman Goodhart; with a De-

446 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES