College and Research Libraries Basler, Roy P. The Muse and the Librari- an. (Contributions in American Studies, no.lO) Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1974. 207p. $11.50. One of our most distinguished colleges recently advertised in these pages for a li- brary director who was "interested in the world of books." Since job descriptions for librarians these days are more likely to call for an interest in the world of computers than the world of books, the advertisement seemed perhaps a trifle quaint. One as- sumed that the demands of modem librari- anship had placed the bookman-librarian on the list of endangered species. Nevertheless, it is good to be reminded from time to time, as we are with this col- lection of essays unfortunately titled The Muse and the Librarian, that the species is not altogether extinct and that the muse (any muse!) is still being consulted. Roy P. Basler has combined about as well as anyone a distinguished career as a librarian (he was formerly chief, General Reference and Bibliography Division of the Library of Congress, and has recently retired as chief of the Manuscript Division) with that of man of letters. He has written ex- tensively on Lincoln and the Civil War and has edited Lincoln's collected works. The present volume shows him to be as enthus- iastic and as informed about American poe- try as American history. There are discern- ing, appreciative essays on the work of Carl Sandburg, Merrill Moore, Lee Anderson, Oscar Williams, and M. B. Tolson. Mr. Bas- ler is perhaps less successful as a social commentator, as evidenced by the essay which originated as a Phi Beta Kappa ad- dress ("A Literary Enthusiasm; or, the User Used") or by the one which had its inception in an attempt to explain "the American character" to a group of Peace Corps volunteers ("Who Do You Think You Are?"). Only two of the essays in the collection have anything to do with the author's ex- perience as a librarian, and then only tan- gentially as librarian. Among his other du- ties, Mr. Basler has been a kind of man-in- charge-of-poets at the Library of Congress. "Yankee Vergil-Robert Frost in Washing- ton" tells of his associations with the poet when Frost was consultant in poetry. There Recent Publications I 161 are some wonderful glimpses here of the "Yankee Vergil" as he eagerly ascended the national stage which his "consultantship" (consisting primarily of self-called press conferences) afforded him. Not to be for- gotten, too, is an episode in which a mean- spirited and "competitive" Frost resented Basler's inviting Carl Sandburg to an LC luncheon at which Frost, the guest of hon- or, expected to be the only silver-thatched bard in attendance. As far as library history is concerned, the most important contribution in the book is the title essay, an interesting, if somewhat rambling, account of the advancement of poetry at our national library through its Poetry Office, the Whittall Poetry Fund, and the Consultants in Poetry. For those decades between the WP A programs of the 1930s and the establishment of the Nation- al Foundation on the Arts and the Human- ities in the 1960s, the Library of Congress was virtually alone in providing support for the arts at the federal level. Even though the programs were modest and the financial support came primarily from private sources, this is an important chapter in the history of governmental support of the arts in the United States. Basler was long in- volved in the administering of LC' s poetry programs, and his narrative is detailed and authoritative. As good as the individual essays are, however, what are we to make of such a book? All but one (the title essay) have ap- peared previously in generally accessible journals, and the title essay itself could easily have found a place in one of the li- brary periodicals. And so why a book, par- ticularly one with such a title? It is not really a book about, or for, librarians. For those essays which are critiques of twen- tieth-century poetry, what does it matter that they were written by a librarian? In some quarters that may be faint recommen- dation indeed. So hard pressed is the au- thor to justify his bringing these disparate works together in book form that he asserts their "common theme" is nothing more than that "struck inadvertently by the later discovery of Amy Lowell's lines apostro- phizing the Library of Congress, and America-'this vast confused beauty.'" Such lame justifications after the fact do credit 162 I College & Research Libraries • March 1975 neither to authors or their publishers. This is a book that should have been left to the journals; they wear their vast confused beauty much more becomingly.-Norman Hoyle, School of Library and Information Science, State University of New York at Albany. Kennedy, James R., Jr. Library Research Guide to Religion and Theology: Illus- trated Search Strategy and Sources. ( Li- brary Research Guides Series, no.1) Ann Arbor, Mich.: Pierian Pr., 1~7 4. 53p. Cloth $7.50 Paper $3.50. A well-planned, delightfully written guide to research strategy in the field of re- ligion and theology. One might question whether the student who has reached his junior or senior year in college without feeling the need to acquire many of the ba- sic library skills will suddenly be impelled to exert himself to study such a complete manual in order to write one term paper. However, hope springs eternal in the breast of every reference librarian, and Pierian Press is to be congratulated on instituting such a potentially helpful series of research guides. Since many graduate students are woefully lacking in library skills, this guide should serve as a valuable tool for them as well. Mr. Kennedy's easy style is appropriate for the level of library maturity which he anticipates in his readers, and at the same time he approaches his task with serious in- tent and obvious competence. The guide is well organized, and individual chapters such as those on the card catalog and on evaluating books would be equally useful applied to other disciplines. The summary diagram on search strategy is eye-catching and thoughtfully designed. - The appendixes are valuable inclusions, though one might wonder whether Appen- dix 1 (the catalog pretest) would serve well if placed at the beginning of the book, since the preface recommends its early use. The excellent bibliography is strengthened by the use of symbols indicating sources which are mentioned in the text and titles recognized as predominantly Roman Catho- lic or evangelical! conservative in view- point. The paperbound copy which was used by this reviewer is attractive as to size and type, but the first few pages are already cracking away from the spine. It is to be hoped that the guide will hold up through repeated use, since it is questionable wheth- er a student would pay more than twice as much for a hardbound copy.-Margaret Umberger, Head Reference Librarian, ]ames M. Milne Library, State University College, Oneonta, New York. OTHER BOOKS OF INTEREST TO ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS Aiyepeku, Wilson 0. Geographical Litera- ture on Nigeria, 1901-1970; An Anno- tated Bibliography. Boston: G . K. Hall, 1974. 214p. $19.50. (74-8589). (ISBN 0-8161-1145-6). Aldous, Joan, and Dahl, Nancy. Interna- tional Bibliography of Research in Mar- riage and the Family. Vol. 2, 1965-1972. Minneapolis: University of Minn. Pr., 1974. 1,530p. $35.00. (67-630.14). (ISBN 0-8166-0726-5). The Almanac of World Military Power. 3d ed. New York: Bowker, 1975. 400p. $25.00. (ISBN 0-8352-0730-7). Baron, Herman. A Concordance to the Poems of Stephen Crane. Ed. by Joseph Katz. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1974. 311p. $18.00. (74-22083). (ISBN 0-8161- 1130-8). Bishop, Selma A., comp. Isaac Watt's Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707); A Publishing History and a Bibliography. Ann Arbor: Pierian Pr., 1974. 479p. $19.95. (73-78316). (ISBN 0-87650- 033-5). Bleznick, Donald W. A Sourcebook for His- panic Literature and Language; A Select- ed, Annotated Guide to Spanish and Spanish American Bibliography, Litera- ture, Linguistics, Journals, and Other Source Materials. Philadelphia: Temple Univ. Pr., 1974. 183p. $15.00. (74- 7777 6). (ISBN 0-87722-036-0) . Chapman, Dorothy H. Index to Black Po- etro. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1974. 541p. $25.00. (74-8838). (ISBN 0-8161-1143- X). Choral Music in Print. 2 vols.: Vol. 1, Sa- cred Choral Music; Vol. 2, Secular Cho- ral Music. Ed. by Thomas R. Nardone, James H. Nye, and Mark Resnick. Phila-