THE SENSE OF THE PAST.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20104, 6 December 1930, Page 15

THE SENSE OF THE PAST.

0 ENGLISH BOOKS. the Clarendon & ® at the annual Friends Of the Bodleian, Mi Ifikl of the Library, and is ttfm t' lo Society's latest „<e of tie Past is not strictly "fS* Plead it in extenuation. I $ «n to regard it as a baek--3f J lied rather than expressed; possibly, in the end, con<i" ' justification for troubling views on what may seen, $» s<® ewhat narr ° W ari ' j 3 patient attention to a '■% consideration of ways and 'by which, as I believe, our Hbiv be at once encouraged and K*We good-before it is too ""finks I should not venture to <?',»»«=» • «-»•« 1 MS some Still believe—that the editions" is a superst'.- \ » dilettante's indulgence of a j« aesthetic or purely antiquarian C Lt which has nothing to do with or the genuine %-ob, of literature. I shall asf JB the contrary, your acceptance that the regard for old 'isto be justified on the same ?l.u the regard—now almost unith entertained— for old buildings % works of art. If that be ~'j ;t is reasonablo to argue that tlibrary which seeks to serve the wiealsense, to deepen the conviction i»"jtiouity, should aim at the possescsf old books; and it may not be inLtoie to suggest certain methods filitk that ambition may be furis! Gaps in the Bodleian. Vrattention was first drawn to the of the Bodleian Library by the Jj'very some ten years ago, that it gained no edition of Jane Austen's mbof any interest to the biographer jtfwy value to the editor. The dad, I think, was 1833. Soon aftersii I turned my attention to Dr. There I found the library ail valuable first editions, some of inof great rarity; but lacking many iti9 later editions, some of which a important, and even indispensable, ijeriou study of that author. The BU collection known as Johnson's itj-to whieh the "Lives of the stf' are prefaces —was not there. . third edition of Boswell's "Life," [last which he supervised and the u.tf modern editions, was not there, lilt satisfaction to add that most of ias gaps were closed in time. Many itle books were acquired, either by pit or by purchase at pHces which sidy seem absurd. tee discoveries suggested an inferas which I have since verified many ites. The privileged libraries —that is, 5s libraries whieh have long enjoyed ste the Copyright Acts the privilege (receiving a copy of every book pubirf in this country—cannot be sited to possess the English books r.eh they might have had on demand len they were published. The world&ied wealth of the Bodleian, which i long lulled nj in security, is due not this privilege, bat to the benefacu of great collectors like Malone. '« it so happens that the Bodleian «ceired no great benefaction of books for abont a quarter of a asj. In the' days of Malone, a •tewnceraing himself with EngiiSßtnre coveted Shakespearean ptfimd still earlier books. Little

fijj wag paid to anything later fcSj Itostoration. Since then colto gradually spread their nets tin. But the Bodleian has not fallen ® h ilese accumulations. Tho as•jtk, however, persisted that the all it should have; and until aRiJj of English literature became iKgnlupart of academic life there •wfet to detect the fallacy, and — *!jMj Ken—none to proclaim it. SHographers were busy per- ? ™ tools of their trade, and numerous valuable catalogues •an® Classen of English books, ijiitat always drew the line at Sir v** 1,1333 of our literature jr to between that date and a date l, centuries later remained WHMlarted. If the Bodleian was tool » n " the first edition of no one knew, or no one fi«V»IT» of Early Editions. assume, from such indiiS« ? eotae m y way, that the .vJf Jtker privileged libraries— X? ~? senm excepted—is simitii»v »i P s^or d. I have no reason fa™ • t Edinburgh, Dublin, or 1 few 13 . er off than we are. y the other great public *1 tea of the newer University j, ' a ' . course, quite different, 'tbjitr # B ' an^ar^3 °f ambition, (fa iSL T ecent origin ean hope jHjiK? eM a complete, or even a Sunf M-'u CoUeetion the early or Pope, or Johnson, • tain. 80 , tie munificence of W llifn f ctw ' But " is ad'le e history ean4, studied in modern . ven madern editions 9 the information they 'Jo jut they are not—- < vitWt t Sense of the IjjJ the_ sti'dy of literaTint 5 18 imaginative and I'-tesj u ? student should have nnpr, on^lna ' s is necessary for ea i! necessary also thM* j 43 . 111 * 0n your libN tie r.r, a visers > therefore, is jrt(mj 1 : n _ ero ' lS an d delicate duty Jtolave f. hooks they shall W aa the still harder C* Jsars tt ?. m , e r arls to get them. i* tv W ,:. P ° llard ' Softie jL? J? t h:s kln d owe an ft «4S at tention to the Mi»o n a y* Speaking of kS libraries Sn ? our other great !? °i oni P oln ted out that in a Bn« 6 M fly literature our ¥ S ( - ,abk The riches M ' Bneh as Gr^' e Cftf' arfr not to be suri P nvate oollccT f shipped to it" trne that the w his e a PP etlt e was & to C E , P r e ,J 7aa bottomless, V c ? llect ion of early Ptthans i ' *? Point of nvm- *° the Bri tish tooM v l3 d °ubtful if his Saf tooks 6 th ep t eatcds the or can It Pollara St 3 ° r -fl tion P eriod apathy n^ 6 !- ig nora nce, "(b? hem librarians and inf Co l v tsnt to makc and hIV, res °urces of any attempt manv°h pointed out 'W 01 ia iatrino- ° which are #f tlJrS?® importance to h and sevennot " e B ! Uoa3 have been U a Pace, and in a Vthatoht 8 ® what he or Possible. Let me

, first deal with the causes of the change, | and then give some illustrations of its i nature. Tr cUiScLtlantic Buyers. In the first place, while we have been idle, our rivals have been busy. And do imagine that wealthy collectors ot the type of Mr Jerome Kern are your only rivals across tlio Atlantic. They a '-°i P or5l "I )s ; B °t even your most formidable rivals. It is not the wealthy collectors who are denuding England o'f the common books; it is the American libraries. Our second-hand booksellers so time the distribution of their catalogues that the American buyer if he is quick in_ sending his cable, is not at a very serious disadvantage. At Yale I have been told, two or three assistants ■ n the library spend all their time in checking up" the English catalogues and filling their gaps. American librarians and professors on vacation drive through our country towns and buy up whole shopfuls of books. And the Americans arc not alone. The libranans of the Dominions are beginning—only just beginning—to see that thev cannot be without old editions. Even llic Continent of Europe has its emissaries, in search of standard editions in important books. In our own country the habit of serious collecting', for professional purposes, has grown very much. Many of our professors and lectuieis m literature and history, and not a few of our undergraduate students in these subjects, arc collectors in their modest way. This is all to the good; but it helps the operation of the relentless laws of supply and demand. The Dwindling Supply. Ihe results are apparent. Every antiquarian bookseller will tell you that his difficulty is not to sell, but to buy. Books which, a few years ago, were more than plentiful, seem to have disappeared. Books which lav on the shelf unregarded, because they were not worth cataloguing, are now sold the day they are catalogued. A comparison of values tells the same story with even greater emphasis. Eet me give some to which you will not think that particulars of price are irrelevant: tliey are essential. [ln illustration Dr. Chapman quo tod some outstanding JLnjjlisti books which havo in* creased enormously in price during a period of less than ten years. lie suggested incidentally that librarians might seriously con sider the acquisition, for the use of studonts, ot imperfect copies of rare books, ami emphasisod tho value of the excellent facsimiles ot rare pieces which arc now widely available.]

I have given you an account of some of the difficulties which confront us. Others are too familiar to need discussion. The poverty oi our Universities and the inadequate stafling of their libraries arc a commonplace. But I hope you agree that, great as our difficulties are, want of money is not an insurmountable difficulty. Those needs, the satisfaction. of wlkcli requires money, will evoke financial help (within reasonable limits) if they are made known. For other needs I hope to show you that the essential requirement is not money, but knowledge and zeal.

[Dr. Chapman proceeded to describe the efforts made in tha Bodleian to fill gaps in English literature. and ruggested that the custodians of other learn.id libraries might v.'ell undertake similar campaigns; their wants must bo mado known and the necessary mone£ and goodwill would be forthcoming. J

W c must not wonder if Americans are eager to buy what we show so little reluctance to sell them. We are beginning, at last, to realise our danger. But we are constrained to admit that the Americans have taken what they have taken not only because they are richer, but also because they wanted it more than -we wanted it; and that many of our recent losses are due not to poverty but to indifference. There are some indications of a change of heart. But we are still too apt to wring our hands as in the presence of inexorable destiny. I have tried to suggest that the situation is not-in fact altogether beyond our control; and in particular that there are ways in which some of us can bo useful, if it is desired to make use of us.