The First Plan Necessarily Must Increase The Size Of The Catalogue; And It Really Appears A Piece Of Superfluous Labour To Introduce Works Not Worthy To Be Perused, And Then, Either By A Notice Or Mark, To Warn The Reader From The Perusal Of Them.

Is it not much more direct to omit such works altogether?

As the object in view in the present catalogue is to render it useful to the generality of readers, and not valuable to the bibliographer, those works are omitted which have no other recommendation but their extreme scarcity. For such works are of course accessible only to very few, and when obtained, convey little interest or information.

A select catalogue then appears to be the most useful, and of course must occupy less room. But to this objections start up, which it will be proper to consider.

In the first place, What is the criterion of good works of voyages and travels? The antiquarian will not allow merit to such as pass over, or do not enter, _con amore_, and at great length, into the details of the antiquities of a country: the natural historian is decidedly of opinion, that no man ought to travel who is not minutely and accurately acquainted with every branch of his favourite science, and complains that scarcely a single work of travels is worthy of purchase or perusal, because natural history is altogether omitted in them, or treated in a popular and superficial manner. Even those who regard man as the object to which travellers ought especially to direct their attention, differ in opinion regarding the points of view in which he ought to be studied in foreign countries. To many the travels of Johnson and Moore seem of the highest merit and interest, because these authors place before their readers an animated, philosophical, and vivid picture of the human character; whereas other readers consider such works as trifling, and contend that those travels alone, which enter into the statistics of a country, convey substantial information, and are worthy of perusal.

Whoever draws up a catalogue, therefore, must, in some measure, consult the judgment, taste, and peculiar studies of all these classes of readers, and endeavour to select the best works of travels in all these branches.

But there is a second objection to a select catalogue to be considered. The information and research of the person who draws it up may be inadequate to the task, or his judgment may be erroneous. This observation, however, applies to a complete catalogue - indeed the first part of it, - the information and research requisite, in a greater degree to a complete than to a select catalogue; and with respect to the judgment required, it will be equally required in a complete catalogue, if the bad and indifferent works are distinguished from the good ones; and if they are not, such a catalogue, we have already shewn, can only lead astray into unnecessary or prejudicial reading.

Whoever draws up a catalogue, or gives to the public a work on any particular subject, is bound to make it as good as he can; but, after all, he must not expect that there will be no difference of opinion about his labours. Some will think (to confine ourselves to the catalogue) that he has admitted books that ought not to have found a place in it; whereas others will impeach his diligence, his information, or his judgment, because he has omitted books which they think ought to have entered into it. All, therefore, that a person who engages to draw up a catalogue can do, is to exercise and apply as much research and judgment as possible, and to request his readers, if they find general proofs of such research and judgment, to attribute the omission of what they think ought to have been inserted, or the insertion of what they think ought to have been omitted, to difference of opinion, rather than to a deficiency in research or judgment.

It may be proper to remark, with regard to the principle of selection pursued, that many works are admitted which do not bear the title of travels; this has been done, wherever, though not under that title, they are the result of the actual travels and observations, or enquiries of the authors. The form into which information respecting the agriculture, manufactures, commerce, antiquities, natural history, manners, &c. of foreign countries is cast, or the title under which it is communicated to the world, is obviously of little consequence, provided the information is not merely compiled by a stranger to the country, and is accurate and valuable. Such works, however, as are avowedly written for scientific purposes, and for the exclusive use of scientific men, and are consequently confined to scientific researches and information conveyed in the peculiar language of the science, are omitted.

So much for the plan on which this catalogue has been drawn up. Before we proceed to explain the arrangement pursued, it may be proper to make a few remarks on some intermediate points. One advantage of a select catalogue over a complete one is, that it occupies less room. With the same object in view, only the title in the original language is given where there is no translation of the work into the English or French; only translations into English or French are noticed, where such exist, and not the original work; and all the articles are numbered, so that a short and easy reference may be made from one article to another.

Room is thus evidently saved, and not, in our opinion, by any sacrifice of utility. For German or Spanish scholars it is unnecessary to translate the titles of German or Spanish books, and for the mere English scholar it is useless. Translations into the French are noticed in preference to the original, because this language is at present familiar to every literary man in Britain, and French works can easily be obtained; and the German or Spanish scholar, who wishes to obtain and peruse the original, can be at no loss to procure it from the translated title.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 220 of 268
Words from 224020 to 225042 of 273188