8vo scrap-books were made and severally entitled, Science and Art, Washingtoniana, Lincolniana, New York History and Biography, Biographical and Historical, and Poetry. Appropriate cuttings are pasted, as they accumulate, in the books, and these will be indexed.

At Yale, clippings are mounted in ordinary scrap-books with binder's paste.

The Wisconsin Historical Society mounts longer and more valuable articles separately on letter paper, and treats as pamphlets, classifying closely and cataloguing specifically. These are much used by general readers. Shorter articles are put into scrap-books and lettered according to subject. These are less frequently used, and mainly for reference by historical students. Paste and thick mucilage is used, the former preferred for old and porous newspaper cuttings. It is difficult to estimate cost. The time of one catalogue assistant, when not employed in her special work, is given to this department, mainly in the summer months.

From the Sutro Library at San Francisco, Cal., Mr. George Moss, the Librarian, reports that, although they have no scrap-books in the library, he has had a good deal of experience elsewhere in compiling and binding. He prefers pasting on single sheets, drying and pressing between pieces of straw-board, by which means the sheets dry smoothly, the straw-board absorbing the moisture from the paste, and thus preventing the paper from cockling or curling up. As the sheets are pasted, a weight is kept on them until they become dry, which leaves them straight and smooth.

Mr. Moss once compiled thirteen royal octavo folios for Mr. Basqui, of the Basqui Lithographing Co., the material being selected from an enormous pile of illustrated weeklies. The clippings (illustrations) were classified, as fast as made, under subjects such as "Marine," "Naval and Military," "Domestic Animals," "Tropical Scenes," "Arctic Scenes," "Eminent Men," etc. These were then sub-divided; for instance, Eminent Men into English, French, German, American, etc., and in like manner the other large divisions were minutely classified. The pictures were then pasted on sheets of paper, leaving a fair margin, and sewed on flexible bands, so that, when the book is opened, the leaves will lie perfectly flat, and handy for reference. These books are in constant use, and are so strongly bound as to be almost indestructible. Mr. Basqui says he would not take $1,200 for them, and that they earn him that amount every year. Mr. Moss declares he has never seen an ordinary scrap-book that was bound

strong enough; and considers an indiscriminately pasted book a nuisance, unless an index is placed in front. He has about a dozen scrap-books of his own on such subjects as "The Franco-German War," "The Russo-Turkish War," "Assassination of Garfield," "Trial of Guiteau," "Labor Troubles in America," "Manufactures and Exports of England and the United States," etc. A scrap-book containing all the municipal election tickets of San Francisco, from 1849 to 1878, was recently sold for $2,000.

Mr. Moss claims that in binding a scrap-book, six pages to a section is enough, this, with the guards, making it sufficiently heavy; that a royal 4to should be sewed on four bands all the way along with blank-book thread, and should always be sewed flexible; that is, by a pencil mark, and not by deep saw marks, as books made in this manner cannot possibly open well. He has looked in the Library journal for a good article on suitable and cheap binding for public libraries, but so far has not seen one. Binders in San Francisco say" their girls cannot sew without a saw mark," and "have never seen it done; " but one employed by Mr. Moss soon learned to sew as firmly as the old binders of incunables, of which we have specimens sewed 400 years ago, and perfectly good to-day.

At the Johns Hopkins University clippings are pasted on manilla sheets, and enclosed in the Woodruff file boxes for preservation. The marking is done by advanced students in history and political economy, the cutting and pasting by an office boy. This method of preservation is regarded the best yet found for convenience of reference, since it has all the good characteristics of a card catalogue. Various experiments were tried before this plan was adopted. There is very little cash expense connected with the work, as the men who look over the papers apply the time on their tuition. As to the cost of mounting, smart boys can be had in Baltimore for $3 a week.

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At the Apprentices' Library, Mr. Schwartz classifies roughly by subjects, such as "Portraits," Animals," "Public Buildings," "Landscapes,” etc., space being left for growth at the end of each division. The scrap-books are made of tough manilla paper, by the binder employed on the premises, the pictures mounted with paste. The cost is, therefore, trifling, the binder doing the work when there is nothing else to do.

The Massachusetts State Library scraps are arranged by subjects, classifying as minutely as possible, mounting on separate sheets, and binding

each subject separately, as in binding pamphlets, in 8vo size. Photographer's paste is used in mounting the clippings.

At the Pennsylvania State Library, Harrisburg, Mr. Wm. H. Egle uses the Mark Twain Scrapbook, 150 pages, indexed, and considers this method of mounting cuttings the most economical, serviceable, and convenient.

At Cornell their collection, being composed of loose sheets, etc., has not been mounted. The work of arranging has been done at odd moments by the ordinary assistants, and no estimate of the cost can be formed.

At the Patent Office Library, clippings are pasted on manilla paper, 11 x 8 inches in size, classifying and sub-classifying the matter clipped; this method being found preferable to pasting in books, as it saves space and makes the material easier to handle. No estimate has been formed of the cost of mounting, either as to time or money used.

Mr. Newton, of the Cincinnati Y. M. C. A., prefers making a separate index for the scrapbooks made. Thinks he devotes more time to reading and selecting than to the mere manual work of pasting and indexing. He is in favor of requesting readers to mark with pencil articles which strike them as worthy of being preserved. He says: "We have about fifteen or twenty members who do nothing all day but read the papers, and if they could be put to some good in the world, or be made to think they were, it would ensure their continuance as members, and give them an object in life. I do not know whether you have any such people or not, but it would save you a heap of work, and cost nothing. A man with a historical bent would choose something in his line; a natural history or scientific man in his; all scraps, of course, would be subjected to your decision."

At the Grand Rapids Public Library, Michigan, Mr. H. J. Carr reports that they have no scrapbooks, but that he has had some practice in scrapping on his own account. He is in favor of arranging by subjects, say fifty or sixty general headings. For librarians, where plenty of material is obtainable, possibly a wider range might be obtained. Mr. Carr recommends careful and thorough index. ing. He once spent three months in classifying a special line of cuttings, the material for which cost $75, and the labor, perhaps, $250. The work, when completed, was not very valuable in a commercial point of view, but the personal satisfaction in it as it progressed to completion, and its value as a work of reference on various occa

12mo.

ELDERDICE, Jas. L. One Way of Making a scrap-book. In Youth's Companion, June 5, 1884.

DURFEE, C. A. Scrap-books in Libraries. In Library journal, 2: 65-66 (1877). (EDITORIAL.) A System in Scrap-books. In Literary World, 15: 276 (Aug. 23, 84, 11⁄2 col.) PERKINS, F. B. Indexing and Scrapping. Note No. 25, In Readers' and Writers' Economy Notes No. 9 (Jan. 3, 1880). [P. III. by Ed. on Scrap-books.]

(Anon.) Scrap-books and Index Rerums. In the Office 2:38 (Feb. 1887). Extract from Industrial World,

See also The Writer, Vols. 1 and 2, 1887-88. Sundry articles by various writers in case of Cuttings, Indexing, Scrapping, etc.

At the Brooklyn Library the cuttings are mounted on sheets of jute paper, which are 9 x 12 inches in size when folded once. They are pasted close together in the center of sheet, leaving a margin all around for binding. The sheets are laid one on another, and kept in boxes closing with a spring catch, thus excluding dust. Sheets can be incorporated as new material is added, and the alphabetical arrangement by subjects at the same time preserved. The boxes in which the sheets are kept will comfortably hold fifty sheets or 200 pages each; but, in labelling, room is left for at least ten sheets, thus obviating the necessity of frequent change of label. The boxes used are the "Seaside Library" size, made by the "Globe Files Co.," C. H. Felton, agent, 40 Beaver street, New York, $6 per dozen, when ordered in quantities. The lettering is stamped on second and fourth square of the box, with subject and subdivision of same, by a rubber alphabet and stamping-pad, by which means the subject is also lettered at the top of each sheet. The jute paper is the same used for covering books, and costs about 8 cents per pound, by ordering a ton at a time from the mill, and is sent packed flat, to avoid creasing, in sheets 40 x 48 inches in size. A paste made of Duryea's corn-starch has

been used, but we have recently been converted to gum tragacanth, which seems to carry less water than paste, and does not wrinkle the sheets so much. After pasting, the sheets are laid between pieces of straw-board, which helps to dry them, and a weight is kept on the pile, leaving the sheets quite smooth when they have become dry. The pasting is done during the more leisurely season, from May to September, by boys employed in the library, the clippings being first arranged for them. Should it be thought best, after a while, portions of the collection can readily be bound and lettered, leaving the boxes empty for further accumulations.

III. Does Scrapping Pay? Opinions, etc.

As to the question of scrap collecting being remunerative; whether the use of the collection justifies the outlay of time and treasure required for its development, or whether the reward of an approving conscience is not about all the satisfaction the scrapper reaps for his toil, there seems to be some diversity of opinion.

Mr. Romeike and other proprietors of bureaus for supplying the public with press cuttings believe in scrapping, for with them it is a paying business. Their patrons find it is worth what they pay for the subscription; otherwise they would not subscribe for the cuttings.

Mr. Townsend has invested a great deal of money in his "Library of War Records," and will probably get what he asks for the collection, although he claims that $50,000 will not any more than reimburse him for what he has spent in time and money. Mr. Moss mentions special collections that have been held at $1,200 and $2,000.

Mr. Carret thinks the future only can decide as to the value of cuttings. There are many topics coming up in all periodicals that will be of value in the future. He considers it the province of any library to collect, in this way, all historical matter touching the town or city in which it belongs; notices of worthy citizens-anything that may be of use to the future historian. The Boston Public Library has at times collected newspapers upon some great public event, such as the death of Garfield, and had them bound up entire by themselves.

Mr. Winsor doubts the advisability of a set purpose of scrapping. Mr. Saunders, after filling about twenty volumes, gave up the practice, not finding the experiment of much value. Comparatively rare calls were made for them when new, and now still fewer. Mr. Peoples, of the New

York Mercantile, can see in it a field for a great expenditure of time, money and labor, for which he believes there would be little compensation, and has no hesitancy in saying that, for his library, money can be spent to better advantage in other directions, and in ways that would be of much more service to the members. Mr. Edwards, of Philadelphia, has not thought scrapping advisable for the Mercantile, and thinks, that, though scraps have their value, they cost a great deal in the item of time, and are difficult to use.

At the Boston Athenæum Mr. C. A. Cutter does no scrapping, which is rather astonishing, considering the insistency of his requests for a report on the subject. He says: "The only item I can furnish about them is that a collection was offered us a year or more ago, in about 100 octavo volumes, with an index in seven volumes. We bid $1 a volume for it, but the owner wanted $1,000, if I remember right. I think it was afterwards pledged as collateral for a loan of $100."

Mr. Barnwell, of Philadelphia, cannot speak from actual experience, but is of opinion that in every library a department of this kind to cover certain subjects, would be found of great interest and of profit quite sufficient to justify the expense, unless the library were very much cramped financially. At the Cincinnati Library Mr. Chester W. Merrill thinks that scrapping is a very useful thing for a library to do, if the necessary time for it can be found, but that the difficulty would be to find the time.

Mr. Howell thinks that judicious scrapping, collecting on such subjects as the librarian knows will interest his constituency, and keeping within the limits of ability to index, would be useful in any library.

Mr. Van Name thinks, regarding the utility of the practice, that though it may be well worth the while of individuals to preserve in this way matter relating to their specialties, it is better for libraries to preserve complete files of newspapers. We cannot tell what may be wanted a century hence, and not unlikely what we should reject as waste, will then be sought after. Our American newspapers of the last century are largely occupied with fugitive news of less consequence to us than the local advertisements. Newspapers are bulky and their binding a serious expense. The scrapbook plan diminishes the bulk, but, he imagines, not the expense.

Mr. Durrie says: As to whether our collection is used enough to justify the expense, we only say, perhaps not; but we preserve much valuable

it is his opinion, and that of many well qualified to judge, that the work so commenced will prove a valuable auxiliary to the library and to searchers upon matters appertaining to applied industry.

Rev. C. R. Gillett, of the Union Theological Seminary, New York, does not doubt that a collection of scrap-books might be made useful, if enough time and labor were expended upon it.

Mr. Carr inclines to the opinion that for library use he should undertake scrapping with much hesitation, owing to the large amount of labor and time necessary, in proportion to the meagre showing which can be had in return therefor.

At the Free Public Library, Quincy, Ill., Mr. A. W. Tyler is favorably impressed with the scrap idea, although he has not yet developed it. He recommends pasting on sheets of manilla paper of uniform size, and classifying by the Dewey system, keeping in closed boxes, considering each leaf as a pamphlet until bound into a book.

At the Brooklyn Library the use of cuttings has been considerable, particularly the parts, such as biography, etc., that have been arranged and mounted. In some cases information has been supplied to students and newspaper reporters that could not be found elsewhere. It is believed that as the collection is developed its use will become more general. The arrangement will be by subjects, large and small in one alphabet; and, for the present, the boxes are arranged on the tables in the reference department, where they are easily accessible. The time required for arranging and mounting is the chief part of the expense; but the scraps being once arranged for pasting, the rest of the work is done by the boys at odd times. We think that, in the long run, the collection will more than repay what it costs in time and outlay. The following libraries are reported as having no scrap collections:

To sum up: Of the forty-six librarians and others reporting on the subject of scrapbooks, twenty-two have collections of greater or less magnitude; twenty-four have not any. Of the forty-six who report, thirty-one either have scrap collections or yearnings toward them, which may stimulate to action, and in time result in something tangible; while fifteen do not regard scraps with favor, and will none of them. They are either appalled at the magnitude of the undertaking, or are convinced that scrapping would not pay for the time and labor it requires; or, possibly, they shrink from an occupation, the fascination of which is very sure to increase with the growth of one's collection. The principal element of cost is generally admitted to be the time required; but economy in this will do much. A well-selected collection of clippings, properly classified and indexed, must increase in value with age. Will not its maker, like the man who plants a tree, become a benefactor to posterity?