Note 208 — Chapter V · Bibliographies of Bibliographies as Periodical and Cooperative Enterprises

Bibliographies of bibliographies found in handbooks of library science and bibliographies of reference works (which may often be bibliographies) have not been included in this essay. There are good books of these kinds that might seem to have been overlooked. For example, Georg Schneider, Handbuch der Bibliographie (4th ed.; Leipzig, 1930) names only currently useful lists of books and no bibliographies of subjects. His account of the bibliographies of incunabula (pp. 85-103) is an excellent introduction to a difficult subject, but gives no idea of the historical development of these works and cites the earliest bibliographies (p. 92, n. 1) in such a way that only an expert can interpret the references. A good American parallel to Schneider's book is H. B. van Hoesen and F. K. Walter, Bibliography, practical, enumerative, historical: an introductory manual (New York, 1928); a new edition is in preparation. John Minto, Reference Books (2 v.; London, 1929-1931) and Constance M. Winchell, Guide to Reference Books (7th ed.; Chicago, 1951) are guides to reference books, not bibliographies of bibliographies, Frantz Calot and Georges Thomas, Guide practique de bibliographie (Paris, 1936; 2d ed., Paris, 1950) is often a helpful guide to information, but it is not a bibliography of bibliographies.