BIB'LIOG'RAPHY. A term which was first. used, according to its original meaning, to de note the transcription of books. After the pub lication of the first volume of De Bure's Bib liographic Instructire in 1763, it was used to signify the proper description of books, and con cerned itself with authorship, printing place, and date of publication. editions, rarity, history, and external beauties of books. With the spread of popular education, the multiplieation of books, and especially with the modern development of libraries and the book-trade, the term bibliogra phy has come to be used in a still more praetieal sense, as concerning itself with the contents of books. The most useful modern bibliographies are those of special countries, those eoncerning any one considerable branch of knowledge, and bibliographies of individual authors. Allied to them are bibliographies of anonymous and pseudonymous works. Subject-indexes to period icals or society transactions may also be re garded as bibliographic.
A favorite dream of bibliographers has always been the production of a catalogue which would cover the whole realm of printed books. The most notable, though not the earliest, attempt of this sort was that of Conrad Gesner, who lished at Zurich his Bibliotheca Cnirersalis, in 4 volumes, 1545-55. In one alphabet he recorded, under the names of the authors, all the hooks in the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin languages about which he could obtain information. Since ner's time there have been many others who have attempted to make a universal catalogue, among them Dr. Robert Watt, of Edinburgh, who pared the Bibliotheca Britanniea (4 vols., But the latter's work, in respect to foreign books, is selective and not universal. Its greatest use is in connection with British works. The other general bibliographies of greatest Utility are the following: Brunet. Manuel rlu libraire et de Pantateur do Drees (5th ed.. 9 vols., Paris, 18(10 Si): supplement, 3 vols., 1878•801: Griisse,
Tyrcor do litres rares rt pr4'cieu• (7 vols., den. and Ebert, A//gemeincx bibliogra• phisehes Lexikon (2 vols.. Leipzig. 1821-30). An English translation was published under the title arm rut Bibliographical Dictionary (4 vols., Oxford. 1837 ). Bibliographieal literature has increased to such proportions that a large ber of extensive works have been published, pl• to enumerate them. The most famous of these is Pet Ambit's Bibliothera Bibliographira ISSIi). Henri Stein's Manuel de liographic p'ne'rale (Paris, 1897) uses the terial of Petzholdt, revising it and bringing it up to date. Of t•VPII greater value to the general reader is the published List of Bibliographical Works in the Reading Roost of the British. Museum (1889). Finally, these works have increased to such a number that the Biblio graphical Society of Chicago printed as its first publication in 1901 A. G. S. Josephson's Biblio g•aphy of Bibliographies Chronologically Ar ranged.
For the general purposes of the ordinary stu dent, bookseller, and librarian, the book-trade bibliographies of the various countries are of most service. In the case of American books, the series of the American Catalogue and its supple ments will be sufficient for most cases. Beginning with the books in print in 1876, 12 volumes cover the field to 1902. Annual volumes have been published since 1886, and the Publisher's Weekly keeps the record up to date. The Pub lisher's Trade List Annual is indispensable, and the Monthly Cumulative Book Index, published since 1S98, is excellent. American Book Prices Current. a record of books, manuscripts. and autographs sold at auction since 1894, is pub lished aimnally, and is exceedingly valuable as giving the fluctuating prices of out-of-print books. Both English and American books are included in Allibone, Critical Dictionary of Eng lish Literature (3 vols., 1859-72), With supple ment (2 vols., Philadelphia, 1897).