A Great Catalogue.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 4130, 7 January 1899, Page 4

A Great Catalogue.

(Christchurch Press). Since 1881 the librarian and assistants if the British Museum have been hard at rork on a stupendous task —the publicaion of a catalogue of all the books in the National Library. We can get a faint idea i the number from the fact that the Copyright Act provides that a copy of ivery book published under its provisions hall be presented to the Museum. The [uestion of issuing a catalogue has been or a long time debated in the Edinburgh .nd Quarterly Reviews. It was strongly opposed by the former librarian, Panizzi, .pparently on the very reasonable ground hat long before the end was reached the leginning would be obsolete. And, of ourse, this is just what has actually lappened, with an average of 40,000 addiions pouring in every year. An extra enirged copy has to be kept for use in the iuseum, and the comilers have to leave he earlier parts' out of date—unless they ?ish, like the French Academicians, to pend a lifetime travelling from Ato B. Jven with its omissions, the catalogue will c valuable, as the library, taking all its epartments together, surpasses that of any ther nation. The history of its growth uring the last century and a half has been ike that of the Empire itself. About 1750 re find an English historian betterly deplorag that of all the great European capitals, iondon alone had no library for the use of ayants. The want, however, was hardly ointed out before it was remedied, and in lontague House was first treasured up the ucleus of a collection of books that rapidly ecame the greatest the world has ever seen, 'rincely gifts were made to it of private braries and large sums of money, the King's Library " was the •• gift" of George VMV M made in a way very characteristic of lie First Gentleman in Europe. He waß bout to sell it to the Emperor of Russia, rhen some patriotic nobleman intervened, nd in consideration of a pecuniary equivamt, the king made his donation, accepted tie nation's grateful thanks, and pocketed >s money. Some of the treasures of this ibrary are beyond price, fiirßt editions and utographs of the greatest poets and prose rriters, and amongst numerous other relics volume of Milton containing an unpubished poem of his in his own handwriting. >f " Paradise Lost" there are as many as ity-two versions in various languages, inluding Armenian and Icelandic. The luseum owes its present excellence largely d the devoted labors of Antonio Panizzi, n Italian patriot, driven by the Austrians rom his native land. He began the M.S. atalogue, which was long in use, working so iard that he gave neither himself nor his ssistants any rest from morning till late t night, even on Sundays. It is partly ue to this "Napoleon of librarians " that he present collection has swelled .to its resent monstrous size. - The mere thought f its- catalogue (600 volumes, with an verage of 250 columns each) is enough to ive one what Carlyle characteristically escribed as his " Museum headache." Washington living's criticism reads rather ike an epitaph on the vanity of its underiking —" An immense collection of olumes in all languages, many of which re now forgotten, and most of which are eldom read "—but it is not likely to damp he zeal either of the present compilers of he catalogue, or of those authors who early swell its list.