College and Research Libraries


Review Articles 

English Libraries 
English Libraries, 1800-1850. tByD C. B. Old-

man, W. A. Munford, and S. Nowell-Smith. 
London: H. K. Lewis 8c Co., Ltd., [c 
1958]. 78p. 

The history of English libraries is part of 
the Western library tradition, despite the 
fact that it preserved a native individuality. 
This fact is apparent in a reading of the 
three lectures delivered for the School of 
Librarianship and Archives at University 
College, London, in February and March 
1957, and now published in pamphet form. 
Each of the lectures dwells on an outstand-
ing personality of the period from f800 
to 1850. 

In the first lecture, Dr. C. D. Oldman, 
who was associated with the British Mu-
seum since 1920, writes on Sir Anthony 
Panizzi and his work for that institution. 
Panizzi, as Keeper of Printed Books, re-
formed the British Museum library's pro-
gram and modernized its administration. 
Dr. Oldman concludes that "If the English 
nation now possesses a National Library of 
which it can be justly proud, it is Antonio 
Panizzi, more than any other man, to whom 
our thanks must go for this." 

W. A. Munford, in the second lecture, 
discusses Dr. George Birkbeck and his in-
terest in the Mechanics' Institutes which 
were the forerunners of the English muni-
cipal library system. Birkbeck's pioneer ef-
fort on behalf of the Institutes and their 
related libraries stimulated adult education, 
and scientific and technical education in 
Great Britain as well as in other countries. 

Simon Nowell-Smith, who has published 
widely in the field of literary criticism and 
bibliography and who has served as li-
brarian of the London Library, presented 
the third lecture. He outlined Thomas 
Carlyle's role in the opening of the Lon-
don Library in 1841 as a lending library, as 
well as his part in its subsequent develop-
ment. T o illustrate the nature of Carlyle's 
motivation favoring libraries, a journal en-
try of 1832 is cited: "What a sad want I am 

in of libraries, of books to gather facts 
from! Why is there not a Majesty's library 
in every country town? There is a Majesty's 
gaol and gallows in every one." 

All three lectures are presented in a 
popular style and include bibliographical 
references for those interested in further 
study.—Sidney Forman, United States Mili-
tary Academy, West Point. 

Book Reviews 
Reviews in Library Book Selection. By Le-

Roy C. Merritt, Martha Boaz, and Ken-
neth S. Tisdel. Foreword by Maurice F. 
Tauber. Detroit: Wayne State University 
Press, 1958. xv, 188p. $2.50. 

Reviewing is a much too powerful de-
terminant of book sales and the fame of 
authors not to have been damned by some 
and puffed up by others. This doubtful 
reputation of the review has obliged li-
brarians, who in the name of the review 
buy books unseen, to study the matter for 
themselves. The latest publication of the re-
sults of such inquiry, the book in hand, 
comprises three studies, each independently 
conceived and produced. "The Pattern of 
Modern Book Reviewing" was written by 
LeRoy C. Merritt, professor of librarianship 
at the University of California. "The Re-
views and Reviewers of Best Sellers" is a 
version of the Ph.D. dissertation written by 
Martha Boaz, dean of the library school of 
the University of Southern California. "Staff 
Reviewing in Library Book Selection" is 
a recasting of an M.A. thesis by Kenneth S. 
Tisdel, associate librarian of the University 
of Missouri. 

Merritt intended to study the dependa-
bility of reviews in a more comprehensive 
way than others have done. But virtually 
every important finding he makes is im-
paired by a serious weakness. First, he sum-
marizes the literature of the subject and 
finds that earlier studies, although isolated 
and scattered, make a "devasting" picture 
of the inadequacies of book reviewing. But 
his rendition and use of previous research 

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