Bibliographies of botany : a contribution toward a bibliotheca bibliographica / compiled and annotated by J. Christian Bay.

Date:
[1909]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Bibliographies of botany : a contribution toward a bibliotheca bibliographica / compiled and annotated by J. Christian Bay. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    r. /7/r ■ /93Z. Bibliographies of Botany. A contribiition toward a bibliotheca bibliographica, compiled and annotated by J. Christian Bay. The present compilation is an outcome of more or less constant occupation with botanical literature for many years. While it appears here in an independent form its development has been in a way incidental to that of a larger work — a bibliography of botany from 1870 to 1899. I choose to send it forth at the present time for the reason that it is now ready and really covers quite a distinct field, one of interest equally to bibliographers and to botanists. Biblio- graphers will, I hope, find it of some value as a suggestion for the treatment of its subject in that successor to Petzholdt’s Biblio- theca Bibliographica for which we all are yearning. Botanists, on the other hand, may derive suggestions from the matter adduced, and inspiration from that which is lacking because it does not exist. Both classes of interest will observe that the writer attempts here to maintain an equilibrium between what is termed absolute completeness, and usefulness for practical purposes. One way to compile a work of this kind would be to survey the field of botanical literature and select all titles of all real bibliographies and, additio- nally, of books and papers provided with lists of references. By such a method this bibliography would have numbered as many thousand entries as it now includes hundreds. But it is easily recognized that this kind of bibliographies must contain much futile matter hopelessly overshadowing the portions having real and permanent value. It is true nowadays we legitimately include with real bibliographies all incidental collections of titles made for the sake of literary and
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