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place of a c, as CIO.101.IX.; 1499 appears as MCDXCIX (the 100 being subtracted from the 500), and the same date may be seen as MID. (one from 1500); 1585 appears as C1010XXCV., the twenty being deducted from the 1600, and 1599 as MDIC. On a different plan from the above I have seen M.VIC.XXI. for 1621. I need hardly add how frequently a tall I at the end of names and dates stands for two ii, as MDLI. for 1552, and ROSTOCHI for Rostochii.

From the subjects of place and date I must return to notice two other difficulties in regard to Christian names. They are, first, their entire omission in many French works, and secondly, their being confounded with surnames in English. There is a constant trouble arising from this omission of Christian names in French works-it is as if the author was considered to be too well known to require such distinctive initials, and, as in many instances this omission can be supplied by a reference to a Biographical Dictionary, their non-use seems to be caused by a national idiosyncrasy opposed to them. In a Medical Directory of the day, out of about 1,800 names of Doctors of Medicine in Paris, only 300 have had their initials prefixed, and this only where there was a necessity for distinguishing between two or more of the same name; and in the French Dictionaries of Medicine still in progress, and in their earlier editions, in the enumeration of contributors a large number have no initial Christian name prefixed. This peculiarity soon strikes the librarian as more particularly occurring in works published since the commencement of the present century, and as among the authors there are a large number who must have been born during the wild and stormy days of the first French Revolutionary period, when the Church was for a time dethroned and its priests scattered abroad, one feels inclined to ask whether a short time did not then occur when no Christian names were given at baptism, and no rationalistic prænomens supplied their place; infants having only sobriquets, nicknames, or terms of affection given them, which could never assume the position of a genuine name given at a public solemnity; and would be likely to be dropped by the one would-be celebrity of his family, when he left his provincial home to enter the Parisian world, in which he was to be known as the sole representative of his family name. Years ago, while thinking over this question, I came across a passage in Victor Hugo's "Les Misérables," Chap. XXVII., which appeared to favour the supposition; it runs thus: "She called herself Fantine, and why Fantine? She was never known by any other name. At the period of her birth the Directory was still in existence. She had no family name as she had no family, and no Christian name as the Church was abolished." May we not consider this a partial cause of the deficiency of Christian names, and one which has had a collateral influence in causing the with-holding of the use of them in cases where nevertheless the Biographical Dictionary testifies to their existence ?

On the second subject, of double names, there is a distinct opposition in the rules to be followed in English and French title-taking. In French the first of two surnames in apposition without the

intervening preposition de, whether hyphened or not, is almost invariably the name to be adopted for alphabetical arrangement, as Boileau-Despréaux, Choiseul Gouffier, Duplessis Mornay, Pigault Lebrun, Rapin Thoyras, Barthélemy St. Hilaire, Geoffroy St. Hilaire, &c., and a strong collateral proof of this rule is that the French, who, more than any other race, are accustomed to consider their own systems applicable to all other countries as well, in the Indexes to the "Comptes Rendus," and "Mémoires" of their Academy, and in other works, invariably take for the alphabet the first of two English names, such as Marshall Hall, Rymer Jones, Burdon Sanderson, &c., which will be found respectively placed under Marshall, Rymer, and Burdon.

In regard to English double names, the first is generally what I must take the liberty of calling for distinction a "sur-Christian name," and thus the second of two apparent surnames is the one to be used for arrangement in the alphabet, and this rule forms one of those which have been lately adopted, for the sake of obtaining uniformity in the indexes of books, by the Index Society, and is one of the rules recommended by the committee of our Association. It is a singular thing, that contemporaneously with this apparent settlement of the question, there has been a growing inclination to hyphen these two English names, and so to compel the use of the first as the alphabet one.

I do not wish to discuss instances where other names have been assumed on coming into property left with that proviso; the laws of the land will settle that question; but I will describe in detail an imaginary case illustrating the circumstances to which I allude:

A child has two Christian names given at its baptism, the second of which is the surname of a friend of the family. Take any name you please as that of our family, say "White," the child becoming William Cullen White. In the course of years he becomes a wellknown poet, physician, statesman, or what not; he becomes known as Cullen White, gives this additional Christian name in common to all his children, and they carry it on into another generation, the family becoming generally known and spoken of as the Cullen Whites, and they wish to be so known. But the ancestor poet or statesman was known as a White, and our ancestral librarian catalogued his works under White, and we have continued the process. Why cannot his family be known as the Cullen Whites, as Kirke White and Blanco White are known under White, without our having to arrange their name under Cullen ?

Names of this double character among the Smiths, Browns, Joneses, &c., are positively legion, and have hitherto been allowed to follow the English rule given above, in peace; but if this hyphening is to be encouraged, and these two names are hereafter required to be alphabetized under the first or second of them at the caprice of the possessor, "confusion worse confounded" will arise in our catalogues; for the matter is fast growing, and printers' compositors are beginning of their own accord to follow in the track marked out, and in their uncertainty are hyphening double names without the slightest authority for so doing.

The object is patent: the desire to add a sounding prænomen to the simplicity of the original surname; but this has hitherto been considered as achieved without this hyphening, and I think, if the alteration be allowed to exist in Court Guides, Directories, and Professional Lists, we should if possible make a stand, and not let it invade the more systematic entries of our catalogues, but keep to the rule of placing them, as has been customary in English, under the second name, with cross-references in such peculiar cases as seem to require them.

DISCUSSION.-Mr. NICHOLSON, referring to surnames, mentioned the well-known Robert-Houdin, whose true name was Jean Eugène Robert, Houdin being an assumed addition. In Orrinsmith, originally Orrin Smith, the alteration has gone a step further, and the two names have now become one.-Mr. WALFORD, speaking as a literary worker, said that booksellers often abridged titles so that a book could not be recognised.-Prof. JEVONS said that he had met with all these difficulties, and found some of them almost insurmountable. Titles must sometimes be abridged, but we must be careful to avoid inventing new books, and should indicate variations without inserting any words, because the probability is that they will afterwards be copied as part of the title by someone else. Such names as the Abbé Condillac, or Mr. Locke, present little difficulty, but with obscure authors trouble arises. As to M. as indicating either Monsieur or a Christian name, we can do nothing but refer to dictionaries.-Mr. OVERALL remarked that the title often gave no clue to the subject of the book, and additions became necessary.-Prof. JEVONS said that there were two kinds of catalogues, one a record, the other a finding list.-Mr. WALFORD mentioned a catalogue of hereditary English titles since the Conquest, issued by the Index Society; a most perfect book of its kind, and very useful to cataloguers.-Mr. BRACE exhibited a title slip in which the date 1468 was given as "terseno in anno terdeni iubilei." -Mr. WHEATLEY, in reply to a remark respecting changes of name, said that he could not help thinking that the son's name should not be separated from his father's, because he chose to add a prefix.

A vote of thanks to Mr. WHEATLEY for his paper was then carried unanimously.

It was proposed by Mr. T. W. SHORE, and seconded by Mr. C. WALFORD: That this Association do use its influence, through any means open to it, in promoting the formation of a library of ancient parish registers, or transcripts of the same (previous to 1837) under the care of the Registrar General." After some discussion, the consideration of the resolution was adjourned until the next meeting.

In last number, page 18, line 28, for Saddon read Seddon; line 30, for Dr. Owen read Rev. E. Owen; line 47, after extracts insert "from the minute book."

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MONTHLY NOTES

OF THE

Library Association

of the United Kingdom.

MAY MONTHLY MEETING.

THE seventh Monthly Meeting of the third year of the Association was held at the London Institution on Friday, May 7, 1880, at 8 p.m., Mr. W. H. OVERALL in the chair.

The minutes of the previous meeting having been read and confirmed, the Chairman called on Mr. HENRY WILSON to read his paper entitled

REMARKS ON FACSIMILE REPRODUCTION.

Mr. WILSON Said: Modern Science has placed so many ways of multiplying copies at our disposal, that within the last few years a vast number of reproductions of objects of artistic and historical interest have been made; often without sufficient discrimination in the selection of the subject, or the process employed. It therefore concerns librarians and other custodians of rare and valuable objects of interest, not only that they should be able to choose wisely the objects to be copied, but also to judge what processes of reproduction will best suit those objects. Works of art of acknowledged excellence are rare and costly; but precisely also because of their incontestable merit, a knowledge of them should be diffused by means of worthy copies. Every selection of art-work reproduced, will contribute its share in the elevation or debasement of future art and culture. Engravings, etchings, and chalk and pencil drawings of old masters, can now be reproduced with wonderful fidelity, and multiplied with such facility and comparative cheapness that a wise choice of the originals to be copied becomes all the more necessary. In the selection of archæological subjects for reproduction, the exercise of judgment is no less desirable. Among these, inscriptions and palæographical monuments will occupy an important place, and copies of these will not only serve in spreading a knowledge of the science, but will atone in some degree for the poverty of our provincial libraries and museums in manuscripts-a poverty which is far greater in England than on the Continent. Facsimiles of such subjects prove a great help to the student, and at the same time save the unique originals from wear and tear. Good facsimiles of autographs, too,

are valuable for reference. Facsimiles from a few pages of the earliest incunabula may also be of interest, as showing the mechanical difficulties that the first printers had to overcome, and the progress of their art. But the reproduction of entire printed books in facsimile seems to me a very questionable benefit. To read a classic in its editio princeps may be like drinking old wine, a luxury for which those who are able may be willing to pay. But the attempt to obtain it spuriously by reprinting whole volumes in an unfamiliar type, and often very imperfectly as a facsimile, is generally a failure. Such work as this is a sacrifice of time, talent, and industry which should be far better expended. It seems reasonable to expect that the best facsimiles are to be obtained by the employment of technical means most nearly allied to those used in the production of each original. Hand-work, perhaps, still excels any other method in copying originals executed by other hands, but the cost of such work is often prohibitive, nor can copies be multiplied in this way to any considerable extent. Here are some facsimiles executed by hand. No mechanical process could render the general effect, and even the detail of the originals, nearly so well. This is especially true where painting of any sort is to be copied.

The

Before the present century, nearly all archæological illustrations were given by copperplate printing, at first rough and often very inaccurate, the workman seeming not yet fully master of his tools and materials; however, they are permanent-a merit which we must deny the photographic illustrations of but a few years ago. But the copperplate was not long in asserting its capabilities in the hands of the best artists, and is still used, though expensive. I know of no better monochromatic reproductions of medieval illuminated ornament than some of the plates in Dibdin's "Decameron." The engraving alone of a small tail-piece, he tells us in one of his notes, cost £50, and that was before 1817. late Mr. H. Shaw commended the elasticity of wood as favourable to reproducing ancient illuminated ornament by xylography. His "Art of Illumination" certainly confirms this opinion by some fine examples, engraved with all the delicacy which might be expected from the feminine hands which executed them. Even to some extent they succeeded in rendering by "tints" the colour of the originals. However, such work as this is not only costly and time-taking, but it is often scarcely to be had at all, and the archeologist may too often find himself in the hands of careless, hurried, or unskilful workmen, whose productions will but travesty antiquity. Even the most expensive work lags far behind photography in literal accuracy, as will be easily seen for instance on comparing a plate from Astle, or the "Paléographie Universelle" with the original. Valuable as is the labour of the earlier archeologists, it would have had greater weight had they been able to command the numerous reproducing processes which rival each other at the present day, and the history of which is largely that of lithography and photography.-Mr. WILSON then gave a brief account of the

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