While on this subject, let me name the books specially devoted to lists of bibliographical works-general and special. These may be termed the catalogues of catalogues,-and are highly useful aids, indeed indispensable to the librarian, who seeks to know what lists of books have appeared that are devoted to the titles of publications covering any period, or country, or special subject in the whole circle of sciences or literatures. The first notably important book of reference in this field, was the work of that most industrious bibliographer, Gabriel Peignot, who published at Paris, in 1812, his Repertoire bibliographique universelle, in one volume. This work contains the titles of most special bibliographies, of whatever subject or country, published up to 1812, and of many works bibliographical in character, devoted to literary history.
Dr. Julius Petzholdt, one of the most learned and laborious of librarians, issued at Leipzig in 1866, a Bibliotheca bibliographica, the fuller title of which was "a critical catalogue, exhibiting in systematic order, the entire field of bibliography covering the literature of Germany and other countries." The rather ambitious promise of this title is well redeemed in the contents: for very few catalogues of importance issued before 1866, are omitted in this elaborate book of 931 closely printed pages. Most titles of the bibliographies given are followed by critical and explanatory notes, of much value to the unskilled reader. These notes are in German, while all the titles cited are in the language of the books themselves. After giving full titles of all the books in general bibliography, he takes up the national bibliographies by countries, citing both systematic catalogues and periodicals devoted to the literature of each in any period. This is followed by a distributive list of scientific bibliographies, so full as to leave little to be desired, except for later issues of the press. One of the curiosities of this work is its catalogue of all the issues of the "Index Librorum Prohibitorum", or books forbidden to be read, including 185 separate catalogues, from A. D. 1510 to A. D. 1862.
The next bibliographical work claiming to cover this field was in the French language, being the Bibliographie des bibliographies of Leon Vallee, published in 1883 at Paris. This book, though beautifully printed, is so full of errors, and still fuller of omissions, that it is regarded by competent scholars as a failure, though still having its uses to the librarian. It is amazing that any writer should put forth a book seventeen years after the great and successful work of Petzholdt, purporting to be a catalogue of bibliographies, and yet fail to record such a multitude of printed contributions to the science of sciences as Vallee has overlooked.
Some ten years later, or in 1897, there came from the French press, a far better bibliographical work, covering the modern issues of books of bibliography more especially, with greater fullness and superior plan. This is the Manuel de Bibliographie generale, by Henri Stein. Thus work contains, in 915 well-printed pages, 1st. a list of universal bibliographies: 2d. a catalogue of national bibliographies, in alphabetical order of countries: 3d. a list of classified bibliographies of subjects, divided into seventeen classes, namely, religious sciences, philosophical sciences, juridical, economic, social, and educational sciences, pure and applied sciences, medical sciences, philology and belles lettres, geographical and historical sciences, sciences auxiliary to history, archaeology and fine arts, music, and biography. Besides these extremely useful categories of bibliographical aids, in which the freshest publications of catalogues and lists of books in each field are set forth, M. Stein gives us a complete geographical bibliography of printing, on a new plan. This he entitles "Geographie bibliographique," or systematic lists of localities in every part of the world which possessed a printing press prior to the 19th century. It gives, after the modern or current name of each place, the Latin, or ancient name, the country in which located, the year in which the first printed publication appeared in each place, and finally, the authority for the statement.

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