in three large volumes, and a Supplement, in two volumes, by J. F. Kirk, appeared in 1891. Living authors are also included, and to all books of importance are appended illustrative quotations from critical reviews. The titles have been largely taken from Robert Watt's Bibliotheca Britannica, and there is a conspicuous inequality of treatment as well as a few blunders. The Supplement, however, is more accurate. James Baldwin's Book-Lover: A Guide to the Best Reading was originally published in 1885 (Chicago) and contains several courses of reading with useful lists of books. It is written in a more pleasantly literary tone than the ordinary run of guide-books. The Small Library: A Guide to the Collection and Care of Books by James Duff Brown (London, 1907) contains a list of the best authors in all the principal subjects. Only authors' names are given with references to books in which full information may be found. J. C. Brunet's Manuel du Libraire et de l'amateur de livres was originally published in three volumes (Paris, 1810.) It has since reached the fifth edition in five volumes (Paris, 1860-65) and has been furnished with a Supplement, in two volumes, by G. Brunet and P. Deschamps (1878-80.) The work is arranged under authors' names with a classified and topical index. It gives full descriptions of only the best editions and, though considerably out of date, is one of the best guides to general literature. John Hill Burton's The Book-Hunter, originally published in Edinburgh in 1863 and re-issued in various editions, is a delightfully readable essay giving a deal of information on various subjects. The A. L. A. Catalogue, 8,000 volumes for a Popular Library, with Notes (Washington, 1904) is a revised and extended edition of the catalogue of 5,000 volumes

issued in 1893 and contains a selection, from the American point of view, of the best 8,000 books. The entries are annotated and arranged under classified subject-headings, as also alphabetically by authors. There is a useful selected list of public documents. Trésor de livres rares et précieux, ou nouveau dictionnaire bibliographique, contenant plus de 100,000 articles de livres by J. G. T. Graesse (7 volumes, Dresden, 1859-69) is a valuable work on the lines of Brunet above noticed. The first edition of W. T. Lowndes's The Bibliographer's Manual of English Literature, published by Pickering, appeared in 1834. Lowndes afterwards became cataloguer to H. G. Bohn, the well-known bookseller and publisher. Bohn purchased the copyright and, in 1857, began re-editing the Manual. The new edition, revised and improved, was completed and published by Bell, in six volumes, in 1864. The titles of books are arranged under their authors' names with some regard to their intrinsic interest. work is useful for the approximate prices it gives and contains many interesting descriptions as well as bibliographical annotations. In the appendix is given a list of works printed by literary societies. L. Magnus's How to read English Literature (2 vols., 1906) is an interesting commentary on certain aspects of English literature. from Chaucer to Meredith, but seems to be wanting in method. The Library of Literary Criticism of English and American Authors, edited by C. W. Moulton (8 vols., New York, 1901-4), gives a survey of English and American literature arranged chronologically. Under each author cited there are given one or more general bibliographical and introductory selections, followed by various critical appreciations on the author's works as a whole and upon individual

The

examples. The Best Reading: Hints on Selection of Books in four series, by F. B. Perkins and L. E. Jones (Boston, 1872-95) gives a series of classified lists now somewhat out of date. While John Power's A Handy Book about Books (London, 1870) contains a collection of miscellaneous bibliographical facts, including a list of bibliographies, a chronological table of historical typography and a dictionary of bibliographical terms. Power's work, however, seems to be inaccurate in matters of detail. A useful and reliable guide is John M. Robertson's Courses of Study (Rationalist Press, London, 1904). It is arranged in a series of descriptive courses of reading with indexes of authors and subjects Lists of books on all subjects, however, are not given, its aim being "simply to assist private students to acquire knowledge in all the main branches of liberal culture." A new and revised edition appeared in 1908. A Guide Book to Books by E. B. Sargant and B. Whishaw (London, 1891) arranged on the dictionary plan, is more a catalogue of a wisely selected library and does not help readers to widen and systematise their studies by moving on to allied subjects. An exhaustive work, classified according to subjects with author, title and subject-indexes, is W. Swan Sonnenschein's The Best Books: a Reader's Guide to the Choice of the best available Books (London, 1887: second edition, 1891: re-issued in 1891, 1894 and 1901: new edition 1910, etc.). Mr. Sonnenschein has issued a supplement to it under the name of The Reader's Guide to Contemporary Literature (London 1895 re-issued in 1901). The more important works are marked with asterisks, but the book, besides being expensive, is suited more to the librarian and the advanced student and appears too voluminous and complicated for the beginner. Its precursor and one of

the earliest modern examples of the guide properly so called, is a trade annotation by a bookseller named William Goodhugh, who published his English Gentleman's Library Manual in 1827. It is a classified list with introductory notes on each section and historical and critical annotations by the author or quoted from reviews. Stein's Manuel de bibliographie générale (Paris, 1898) is a selective rather than comprehensive work giving a classified series of bibliographies on all important subjects. It includes a bibliographical gazetteer and a classified list of the principal periodicals. Deficient on the English side, it is rather unequal in its plan and execution and has no author or title index. Lists intended to supplement it are published in the Library Association Record.

INDUSTRIAL ARTS.

Now to pass on to guide books for special departments of literature. For the industrial arts, for example, we have Edgar Greenwood's Classified Guide to Technical and Commercial Books (London, 1904), but this is only a list of books arranged under different subjects without any hint as to their relative value.

FINE ARTS.

For the Fine Arts there is the Annotated Bibliography by Russel Sturgis and E. Krehbiel edited by George Iles (Boston, 1897). This is a select list, with annotations explaining the principles of æsthetic doctrine, of the best 1,000 books. An improvement on this work is Gayley and Scott's Methods and Materials of Literary Criticism (1901).

CLASSICAL WORKS.

J. B. Mayor's Guide to the Choice of Classical Books (2 vols., London, 1885-96) is a good work on the subject.

SOCIOLOGY.

The best general bibliography on Sociology is R. R. Bowker and George Iles's Reader's Guide in Economic and Political Science (New York, 1891). This is a classified list with notes, of English, American, French and German works, and gives a series of courses of reading. ESSAYS.

An Index to General Literature edited by W. I, Fletcher (Boston, 1893) gives references to parts of books, essays, book chapters, etc., dealing with special subjects, and has been brought up to the year 1904 by annual supplements entitled the Annual Literary Index, which again is continued up to date under the name of the Annual Library Index.

FICTION.

An annotated list of British and American works of fiction, including translations of foreign works into English, is E. A. Baker's Descriptive Guide to the Best Fiction (London, 1903). It has an appendix on historical fiction-a subject dealt with by the same author in a separate work, in two volumes, entitled History in Fiction (London, 1907). Jonathan Nield's Guide to the Best Historical Novels and Tales (London, 1902) is a handy work and is useful for turning up quickly the period, locality of story and the historical personages introduced. Revised editions were issued

in 1904 and 1911

HISTORY.

In the domain of history the best general guide is Charles K. Adams's Manual of Historical Literature (third edition, New York, 1903). It gives a critical account of all the best historical works in English, French,