Bibliography, a word which, meaning in Greek merely the copying or transcription of books, was for a long time employed in France for skill in reading ancient manuscripts, and has since the 18th century (as witness De Bure's Bibliographie Instructive, 1763) been generally adopted throughout Europe as the technical designation of that department of knowledge which deals with books as books, and takes account of their literary, scientific, or artistic contents only so far as these serve for the orderly arrangement of books or descriptions of them. The bibliographer distinguishes between a book on art and a book on botany, as the china-merchant or the collector between a tea-cup and a coffee-cup. With the art or the botany as such he has nothing to do. But the material of the book, its size and bulk, pagination, component parts, printing and peculiarities of type, date, authorship, language, place and press of issue (real or pretended), editions (legal or pirated), illustrations, price, abundance or rarity—all these are within his domain. A misprint may be of interest to him, not as affecting the sense of the passage, but as affording (like the mole on a child's cheek) the means of distinguishing two books otherwise apt to be confounded. The ideal accomplishment of the bibliographer's task would be the registration and history of every book (however unimportant in itself) that has ever been published in the world. But though Conrad von Gesner might still compile a Bibliotheca Universalis (4 vols. Zurich, 1545-55) without too absurdly misapplying the adjective 'universal,' even he would probably have shrunk from using it had he realised how much he left unchronicled. It is now sometimes the work of a lifetime to trace the vicissitudes of a single book or series of books (for example, the Earl of Crawfurd on the De Bry Voyages), and even then something still remains undone. Many writers have devoted themselves to the classification of books according to some all-embracing scientific scheme; but this inquiry is not strictly bibliographical. The classifier of books must practically adopt those views of the classification of human knowledge most accepted in his own time, and the most perfect scheme will leave on his hands a large residuum of books which refuse to recognise his scientific frontiers.
Of general bibliographies, the most important are Brunet's Manuel (6 vols. 8vo, 5th ed. Paris, 1860-65; supplement, 3 vols. 1870-80); Graesse, Trésor (7 vols. 4to, Dresden, 1859-69); Ebert, Allgem. bibliograph. Lexikon (2 vols. Leip. 1821-30; Eng. trans. by A. Brown, 4 vols. Oxford; 1837); Georgi, Allgem. Europä. Bücherlexikon (5 parts and 3 supplements, Leip. 1742-58); and Watt, Bibliotheca Britannica, a General Index to British and Foreign Literature, Authors and Subjects (4 vols. 4to, Edin. 1824). This last work labours under all the disadvantages of a posthumous publication, but still remains an indispensable vade mecum in every English library.
The tendency to specialise has caused even the more comprehensive schemes to be directed mainly along one of three lines—the registration either of all the works of a single national literature, of those of a single great department of knowledge, or of those marked off by some intrinsic or adventitious peculiarity.
I. NATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHIES.—For Great Britain, besides Watt's Bibliotheca, the standard works of reference are Ames and Herbert, Typographical Antiquities (3 vols. 4to, Lond. 1785-90; new ed. by Dibdin, 1810-19, not completed); Lowndes, Manual (4 vols. Lond. 1834; new ed. by Bohn, 6 vols. sm. 8vo, Lond. 1857-64); Allibone, Dict. of British and American Authors (3 vols. 8vo, Phil. 1859-71; suppt. by J. F. Kirk, 2 vols., 1891); and Sampson Low's English Catalogue of Books (4 vols. 1835-90; also a yearly vol. since 1862, and continuing to the present time). These works are arranged according to the names of authors; but the English Catalogue is accompanied with Subject Catalogues. Sonnenschein's The Best Books is a valuable guide to the reader (1st ed. with 25,000 works named, 1887; 2d ed. with 50,000, 1891). The Publishers' Circular (since 1838), The Bookseller (since 1858), The Bibliographer (since 1881), and such literary journals as the Athenæum and the Academy, may be consulted for current literature. Notes and Queries, too, often contains good special bibliographies. In regard to English publications previous to the 18th century, much information is accumulated in Collier's Rarest Books (1865); Hazlitt's Handbook (1867); and Collections and Notes (1876, 1882, 1886); Maitland's Lambeth Index (1845); the British Museum Catalogue of Books printed in England, Scotland, and Ireland up to 1640 (1884); and the Registers of the Stationers' Company, 1554-1640 (1875-76-77).
For books published in Scotland, reference may be made to Howie, Dalrymple, Dempster, Mackenzie, Nicolson, Irving, Chambers, and Edmond (Aberdeen Printers, &c.), though the works are in most cases only partially bibliographical. Books printed in or relating to Ireland are treated of in Shirley's Catalogue (1872), and O'Reilly's Chronol. Account (Trans. of Ibero-Celtic Society, 1820). Of books dealing with the literature of a district, a good example is Courtney and Boase's Bib. Cornubiensis (3 vols. 1876-81); of local topographical books, Mayo's Bibliotheca Dorsetiensis (1885).
For English books printed in America see the catalogues of Leypoldt (1876), Bowker & Appleton (1876-84), the Annual American Catalogue; and the works of Sabin (1869, &c.), Stevens (1856, &c.), Thomas (mainly previous to 1776), and Roorbach. Good bibliographical lists are issued by Mr Winsor, librarian to Harvard University.
The standard French catalogue is that published by Lorenz. It begins with 1840, and has corresponding Subject Catalogues or Tables des Matières of great value. Querard's La France Littéraire embraces, with its continuation by Querard, Louandre, and Bourquelot, the 18th and 19th centuries down to 1849 (6 vols. Paris, 1846-57). France has all along been rich in periodicals and serials dealing with bibliography, as Le Livre.
Among the authorities for German publications are the series of Frankfort and Leipzig fair catalogues (Messkataloge) (1564-1860) now represented by Hinrichs's Verzeichnis; Heinsius, Bücherlexikon, 1800-1888 (Leip. 1812-89); Kayser, Vollständiges Bücherlexikon, 1750-1890 (Leip. 1833-91), and the Gesammt-verlags-katalog des deutschen Buchhandels. Every five years since 1851 Hinrichs has published a catalogue of all the German works of the quinquennium, which have been registered in his half-yearly and quarterly catalogues.
Dutch literature is best represented by Brinkmann's catalogues, for which Van der Moulou has compiled a Repertorium (1850-82). As in Germany, the several sections have often elaborate monographs devoted to their bibliography.
Belgium is well equipped with the Bibliographie Nationale (since 1830), and the official periodical Bibliographie de Belgique (since 1875). See also Schnée's bibliography (1861) of works issued between 1830 and 1860.
The chief names associated with Scandinavian publications are for Denmark, Bartholinus (1666), Nierup (1820), Fabricius (1841-58), Brunn; for Sweden, Lüdeke (1781-96), and Klemming (1879); for Norway, Nissen (1814-47), Amesen, and Botten-Hansen (1848-65), Boeck (1866-72), Cammermeyer (1867-83), and for Old Norse and Icelandic the Catalogus Librorum by Möbius (1856; 1880), and Nierup's Litteratur-lexicon (1820). Sweden has an anonymous Bok Katalog, and for a time published a monthly Bibliographi. The University Library at Christiania issues a Norsk Bogfortegnelse.
II. DEPARTMENTAL BIBLIOGRAPHIES.—Agriculture.—Weston (1773); André (1847-59); Henning (1860-61); Baldamus (1856-75).
Achemy.—Barret (1815); Ladrague (1870).
Astronomy.—La Lande (1803); Weidler (1755); Struve, Pulkova Observ. Cat.; Holden, United
States Naval Observ. Cat.; Houzeau and Lancaster (1880).
Botany.—Pritzel, Thesaurus (4to, Leip. 1872-77) and Iconum Index (Berlin, 1855-66); Bemmelen, Repert. (since 1873); the Botan. Jahresbericht; Daydon Jackson, Index Society (1882); Trimen, Bot. Bib. of the British Counties (1874).
Chemistry.—Zuchold, Bib. Chemica (1859, &c.); Ruprecht (1872); Frank, Führer (1850-82); Bolton, Cat. of Chem. Periodicals (1885).
Classics.—Harwood's View (1790); Dibdin (1827); Moss, Manual (1825); Engelmann (1858); Loscher (1858-69); Mayor, Guide (2d ed. 1879; supplement, 1885); and Bursian, Jahresbericht Class. Alterthumswissenschaft (since 1873).
Electricity.—Sir Francis Ronald (1880); Salle (1860-83); Hartleben (1883).
Entomology.—Hagen (Leip. 1862-63); Sharswood (Leip. 1858-61); Wiener entom. Zeitung (since 1882).
Fine Arts.—The South Kensington Catalogue and Supplement (1870-77); Vinet (1874-77).
Geography.—Engelmann (1858); Vivien de Saint-Martin, Année Géogr. (1862-82); the Berlin Admiralty Registrande (since 1870); Petermann's Mitteilungen; Roy, Geogr. Soc. Lib. Catalogue (1870); Silver, Catalogue (1886); Jackson, Liste des Bibliogr. Géogr. (1881); Anderson, British Topography (1881); Dict. de Géogr. à l'usage du Libraire (1870).
Geology.—Agassiz (1848-54); E. von Berg (1862); Cat. Museum of Pract. Geology (Lond. 1878); Kat. Bibl. der Kön. Geol. Landes Anstalt (Berlin); Geological Record (since 1874); Bibliogr. of Fossil Insects (Harvard Un. Bull.).
History.—(1) Medieval and General: Franklin, Dict. des Noms . . . de Moyen Age (1875); Chevalier, Répertoire (1878); Oettinger, Hist. Archiv. Karlsruhe (1841); Adams, Manual (1882); Griswold, Q. P. Indexes, No. IX. (1882); Koner, Repertorium (1852-56); Müldener, Bibliotheca Hist. (1870-1882; resumed by Masslow, 1887); Hist. Zeitschrift and Hist. Review. (2) Great Britain and Ireland: Nicholson (1776); Macray (down to 1600; 1845); Hardy (down to Henry VIII., 1862-71); Gardiner and Mullinger (1881). (3) France: Lelong (1768-78); Ruelle, Bibl. gén. des Gaules (since 1880); Franklin, Sources . . . (1877); Répertoire des Travaux historiques (since 1882). (4) Germany: Weber (1800); Dahlmann (1875); Kletke (for Prussia; 1858-61). (5) Holland: De Wind (1835); Nijhoff (1871); Fruin, Repertorium (1863). (6) Italy: Sir R. C. Hoare's Catalogue (1825); Reumont (1863); Lozzi (1886); Bibliotheca Storica de Deputazione di Storia Patria (1884); Archivio Storico (in progress). (7) Scandinavia: Warmholtz (1782-1817) for Sweden; Baden (1815) for Denmark; Horn and Solberg (1884), general. (8) Switzerland: Von Haller (1785-87); Von Sinner (1851); Von Muelinen (1874). (9) India: Elliot (1849), and the India Office Lib. Cat. (1888); for China, Möllendorff (1876) and Cordier (since 1878); for Japan, Pagès (1859) and De Rosny (1883); for Persia, Schwab (1875) and Fraehn (1845); for the Jews, Fürst (1849-63); for the East generally, Zenker (1846-61) and Friederici (1875, &c.).
Law.—Mollat, Verzeichnis, 1820-82 (1886), and Catalogues by H. G. Sweet (1883), and Stevens and Haynes.
Mathematics.—Von Beughem (1688); Murhard (1797-1805); Rogg (1830); Solncke (1854); Erlecke (1873); Terquem, Bulletin (1855-61); Boncompagni, Bulletino (1868-82).
Medicine.—The Index Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon-general's Office (Washington, 1880, and still—1888—in progress) is worth consulting on many matters not strictly medical. It registers not only books and pamphlets but the individual articles of periodicals. Dr Billings, the editor of this enormous enterprise, founded the Index Medicus (1879, &c.). See also Neale's Medical Digest (1877; new ed. 1882); Waring, Bib. Therap. (1878-79); Clark, Bibliotheca (1878); and Schmidt's Jahrbücher d. ges. Medicin (since 1834).
Political Economy.—MacCulloch (1845); Mohl (1855-58); Blanqui (1838; 4th ed. 1860); Muhlbrecht (1868 and onwards).
Theology.—Of the vast number of guides to the enormous literature classed as 'theological' we can only mention Kempius (1677); Lipenius (1685); Walchius (1757); Le Long, Bibliotheca Sacra (various editions); Dorn (1721-23); Döderlein (1780-92); Thiessen (1795-97); Keil (1792); Baldamus (Roman Catholic and Protestant theology apart); Fühlmann (1813-21); Darling (1854-59); Zuchold (1868); Malcolm (1868); McClintock and Strong (1867-79); Pettingell (1878); and Hagenbach (1833; 10th ed. Leip. 1880). In 1881 a Theologischer Jahresbericht was started by Pünjer.
Zoology.—Agassiz, Bibliogr. Zoologie (1848-54); Engelmann, Bibliotheca Hist. Naturalis, 1700-1846 (Leip. 1846); supplement by Carus and Engelmann, containing articles in periodicals (1846-60); and continuation by Taschenberg; the Zoological Record (since 1864); Giebel, Thesaurus Ornithologiae (1872); Bosgoed, Bibliotheca Ichthyologica; the bibliographies in the report of the Challenger.
III. SPECIAL AND MONOGRAPHIC BIBLIOGRAPHIES.—Early Printing.—The name Incunabula or Incunables (i.e. 'cradle books') is conventionally applied to all specimens of European typography that issued from the press up to the end of the year 1500. Except that it marks the close of the century which saw the rise of the printer's art, the date has no relation to any bibliographical characteristics: the book of 1501 or 1502 is the same as the book of 1499 or 1498. Didot estimated that 13,000 separate works had appeared in the 15th century, with an average issue of 300 copies, making the wealth of nations in this department amount to about 4,000,000 in 1501; but more recent investigators (Hain, Van der Linde, &c.) have gradually raised the calculation to 30,000 independent publications (including pamphlets) still known to exist, and show that 500 at least may be accepted as the average edition. Works to be consulted in this department are: Saubertus, Historia Norisbergæ, 1643; Panzer, Annales Typographiæ . . . ad Annum MD (continued to 1536; 11 vols. 4to, Norimb. 1793-1803); La Serna Santander, Dict. bibliogr. choisi du XVe Siècle (3 vols. 8vo, Brussels, 1805-7); Laire, Index Librorum (2 vols. 8vo, Senonis, 1791); Marchand, Histoire . . . Imprimerie (1740 and 1775); Schaab, Gesch. . . Buchdruckerkunst (3 vols. 8vo, Mainz, 1830-31); Sotheby, Principia Typographica (3 vols. Lond. 1858); Hawkins, Titles of the First Books; Legrand, Bibliogr. hellénique, . . . Ouvrages publiés en Gree par des Grecs aux XVe et XVIe siècles (2 vols. 8vo, 1885). Special studies on the incunabula of individual countries and localities are: Claudin (1880) for Albi; Mezger (1840) for Augsburg; Aretin (1801) for Bavaria; Lambinet (1810) for Belgium; Hanky (1853) for Bohemia; Lechi (1854) for Brescia; Baruffaldi (1777) and Antonelli (1830) for Ferrara; Brunet (1865) for France; De Rossi (1795) for Hebrew works; Zapf (1778) and Wurdtwein (1787) for Mainz; Saxius (1745) for Milan; Péricaud (1840-51) for Lyons; Götzé (1872) for Magdeburg; Volta (1786) for Mantua; Panzer (1778) and Roeder (1742) for Nuremberg; Vermiglioli (1823) for Perugia; Lelewel (1823-26) for Poland; Canensis (1740) and Laire (1778) for Rome; Frère (1843) for Rouen; Baur (1764) for Spire; Desbarreaux-Bernard (1878) for Toulouse.
Famous Presses.—Some bibliographers confine themselves to the history of one famous press or publishing house. Thus Butters (1877) chronicles the Bipontine (i.e. Deux Ponts) editions of the classics; Renouard writes the annals of the Aldi (3d ed. 8vo, 1834) and the Stephenses (8vo, 1837-38); Bandini those of the Junta family (2 vols. 8vo, Luccæ, 1791); Blades (1861-63) those of Caxton; Duncan (1831) those of the Foulis press.
Individual Authors.—Serviceable monographs have been produced on the works of many important authors and the illustrative literature that gathers round them. For Shakespeare, we have among others, Wilson (1827); Bohn (1863); Mullens (1872-76); Halliwell-Philipps; Winsor. Shepherd has compiled handy bibliographies of Dickens, Thackeray, and Carlyle; and Axon a Bibliographical Biography of Ruskin. An elaborate bibliography of Balzac forms one volume of the best edition of his works.
Anonymous and Pseudonymous.—The special difficulty and curious interest of the subject has attracted a large amount of effort to the task of discovering the real authorship of those books which make no sign, or which intentionally mislead or mystify the reader on this point. Besides the old works of Vincent Placcius (Hamburg, 1708) and Mylius (1740), we have for French, Barbier (2d ed. 4 tom. 8vo, Paris, 1822-27), Toinsot (1867), De Manne (1862; 2d ed. 1868), and Quérard (1869, &c.); for German, Ersch (1788, &c.); for Scandinavian, Collin (1869); for Dutch, Van Doorninck (1866); for Belgian, Delecourt (1863); for Italian, Melzi (1848-59); for Russian, Ghennady (1874); for South American, Barros Arana (1882); and for Hebrew, Groddeck (1708). For English, the more serviceable books are Ralph Thomas (pseudonym Olphar Hamst), Handbook of Fictitious Names (1868), and Aggravating Ladies (1880); Haynes, Pseudonyms (1882); Cushing, Initials and Pseudonyms (1886); and the Dict. of the Anon. and Pseud. Literature of Great Britain (1881, &c.) begun by Mr Halkett, keeper of the Advocates' Library, continued by the Rev. John Laing. Weller's Mas- kirt Literature gives a general view of the subject.
Privately Printed Works have been curiously neglected. J. Martin's Catalogue has not been reprinted since 1834.
Periodicals.—This form of literature has become one of the most perplexing problems of the bibliographer: its value is so various, its ramifications so endless. A mere catalogue of the names of periodicals, such as have been long published annually in England, France, Germany, &c., is of little use; and even histories of periodical literature leave the practical question how to find what one wishes barely unsolved. Towards this the 'general indexes' of many of the leading journals (the Times, the Edinburgh Review, &c.) contribute; and for English and American periodicals the great Index, first published by W. F. Poole in 1853 (3d ed. Boston, 1882; suppt. by Poole and W. I. Fletcher to 1st January 1887), is of immense value. A continuation to the last is the Co-operative Index to Periodicals, edited by W. I. Fletcher, with the aid of the members of the American Library Association, published quarterly at New York, from 1885 onwards. The Royal Society of London's Catalogue of Scientific Papers (1800-63 and 1864-74) includes most scientific periodicals; but as it is arranged by authors' names, stands in need of a subject index. Similar works are Reuss, Repertorium (16 vols. Gött. 1801-21); Schubarth, Repertorium der techn. Lit. 1823-53 (Berlin, 1856), and Karl's continuation; and Schotte's Repertorium der techn. mathem. und naturwiss. Journal-Lit. (1869, &c.).
General.—Petzholdt's Bibliotheca Bibliographica (1864) is an admirable guide to the bibliographies available in his time. It is supplemented rather than superseded by Léon Vallée's Bibliogr. des Bibliographies (Paris, 1883), and its Supplément (1887). The British Museum Hand-list of Bibliographies (1881), and the bibliographic chapter in Wheatley, How to form a Library (Lond. 1886), will also be found useful. See also Boulard, Traité élém. de Bibliographie (1806); Peignot, Manuel Bibliogr. (1800), and Dict. raisonné de Bibliologie (1802); Namur, Manuel du Bibliothécaire (1834); Brunet, Connaissances nécessaires à un Bibliophile (Paris, 1878), and Kat. d. Bibl. d. Börsenvereins d. Deutschen Buchhändler (Leip. 1886). Sonnenschein's The Best Books (1887; new ed. 1891) and Reader's Guide (1895), and Fortescue's Subject Catalogue of Additions to the British Museum (1886) are of great service to the general reader. Le Petit, Principaux Éditions orig. d'Écrivains français (1888), and Könnecke, Bilder Atlas zur Gesch. der Deutsch. Litt. (1887), are good examples of art in the service of bibliography. An Index Society was founded in London in December 1877 for the purpose of forming indexes to rare and important books.
Compare articles BIBLIOMANIA, BOOK, BOOK-CLUB, BOOK-TRADE, CHAP-BOOK, HORN-BOOK, LIBRARY, PRINTING; and the lives of Brunet, Caxton, Dibdin, Elzevir, Foulis, Quérard, &c.