Council may think fit to obtain." This was seconded by Mr. WALFORD, and carried without discussion. The report of the Committee as to the proposed Catalogue of English Literature, was then read by the SECRETARY, and adopted after a short discussion. With regard to the Library Journal, it was moved by the SECRETARY, and seconded by Mr. WALFORD, that Mr. Bowker be requested to confer with the Council on the subject. The consideration of the Cataloguing Rules was then resumed; but the hour being late, it was resolved to postpone the further consideration until the next annual meeting, and accordingly the meeting dissolved. The following is a list of the names of members present at the annual meeting : names of members elected at the meeting are distinguished by an asterisk. It is requested that notice of any errors or omissions should be sent to the Secretaries : * Prof. H. W. Acland (Oxford); *Robert Anderson, *Prof. Archer (Edinburgh); Wm. Archer (Dublin); W. E. A. Axon (Manchester); F. T. Barrett (Glasgow); A. J. Birch (New Swindon); *W. Black (Edinburgh); F. Boase, G. C. Boase, J. W. Bone (London); *R. R. Bowker (U. S. A.); *Lord Provost Boyd (Edinburgh); Wm. Brace (London); *W. H. Braithwaite (Trinidad); J. P. Briscoe (Nottingham); *— Bryce, *Alex. Buchan, *T. R. Buchanan (Edinburgh); Geo. Bullen (London); *W. Carfrae, *Richard Cameron, J. T. Clark, *T. Clark (Edinburgh): A. Cotgreave (Wednesbury); W. P. Courtney (London); P. Cowell (Liverpool); *W. R. Credland (Manchester); D. Dickinson (West Bromwich); W. Traquair Dickson (Edinburgh); W. R. Douthwaite (London); *Andr. Elliott, *J. R. Findlay (Edinburgh); H. T. Folkard (Wigan); A. J Frost (London); *Edm. Goldsmid, *Jas. Gordon, *G. Goudie (Edinburgh); D B. Grant (Leamington); *R. Grant, *A. Greig (Edinburgh); W. J. Haggerston (Newcastle); R. Harrison (London); *Thos. Heath (Derby); Henderson, *John Henry (Edinburgh); Rev. J. C. Hudson (Horncastle); R. Hudson (Lapworth); *W. W. Hunter (Edinburgh); John Ingram (Glasgow); L. Inkster (South Shields); J. W. Knapman (London); *Rev. S. Kennedy, *T. G. Law (Edinburgh); B. Lomax (Brighton); T. J. W. MacAlister (Leeds); *R. A. Maefie, Rev. Prof. Macgregor, *Prof. Mackay, *Rev. W. MacKellar, *Duncan Maclachlan, *John Maclaren (Edinburgh); John Maclauchlan (Dundee); Rev. W. D. Macray (Oxford); *G. McWhea (Edinburgh); F. Madan (Oxford); *A. Main, *Jas. Marshall, *Rev. D. W. Morris (Edinburgh); J. D. Mullins (Birmingham); E. Neville (Over Darwen); E. B. Nicholson (London); *Wm. Paterson (Edinburgh); John Plant (Salford); *Ralph Richardson (Edinburgh); *Bailie Robertson (Dundee); C. E. Scarse (Birmingham); L. Seligmann (Berlin); *Prof. W. G. Sellar, J. Small, *Jas. Smith, *D. W. Smith, *T. G. Stevenson, *Andr. Taylor (Edinburgh); E. C. Thomas (London); S. Timmins, Edm. Tonks (Birmingham); J. K. Waite (Bolton); A. Wakefield (Liverpool); W. C. Walcott (River Gambia); Cornelius Walford (London); *D. Watson (Hawick); Charles Welch (London); Leonard Wheatley (Edinburgh); *Councillor Wilson (Glasgow); W. H. K. Wright (Plymouth). London: TRÜBNER & CO., Ludgate Hill. MONTHLY NOTES OF THE Library Association of the United Kingdom. AT the meeting on Friday, December 6, a paper will be read by Mr. ERNEST C. THOMAS, and Mr. H. B. WHEATLEY, Hon. Sec. of the Index Society, on "A Proposed Subject-Index to Bibliologies and Bibliographies." We shall be glad to receive from our readers, statistics and other information relating to the libraries with which they are connected, and also as to other matters that they may consider likely to interest the members of the Association. Communications may be addressed to either of the Secretaries, Mr. E. C. THOMAS, 13, South Square, Gray's Inn, W.C., and Mr. C. WELCH, Corporation Library, Guildhall, E.C., or to the Editor, care of Messrs. TRUBNER & Co., Ludgate Hill, E.C. The Secretaries will be glad to receive offers of papers to be read at the Monthly Meetings of the Association. NOVEMBER MONTHLY MEETING. THE first Monthly Meeting of the fourth year of the Association was held at the London Institution on Friday, November 5, 1880; Mr. R. HARRISON, Treasurer, in the chair. The minutes of the previous meeting having been read and confirmed, the Chairman called on Mr. E. B. NICHOLSON to read his paper entitled THE USE OF BUCKRAM, LINOLEUM, AND CRETONNE FOR BINDING. Mr. NICHOLSON said: The result of my advocacy of buckram as a binding-material at the Conference of Librarians in 1877, has been to bring it into great use, both in this country and in America. Since then I have been driven almost to abandon its use, and I wish to make known the reasons which have led me to do soadding to those reasons a few remarks on one or two other new materials. The virtues which in 1877 I claimed for buckram were durability, good looks, and cheapness. As regards its durability, I am still convinced that, if anyone were to bind Chrysoloras's Greek Grammar in buckram, and were able to see it again in five hundred years' time, he would find the material unworn; because, being a linen, it is not disintegrated by any amount of heated air, and because Chrysoloras's Greek Grammar is not a book which is likely to suffer from excessive use. But, if the same person were to bind "Roland Yorke" in buckram, were to place it in a popular lending-library, and were to see it again, not in five hundred years, but in five hundred days, he would very probably find that the corners and the joints of the back were wearing to rags-a fact of which I was unaware in 1877 simply because I had bound no popular books in that material. As regards the good looks of buckram, I am sorry to say that the caution which I then gave against red and green, on account of their tendency to fade, should have been extended to black, blue, purple, and yellow; and that not only all of these, but also brown and slate, lose their glaze altogether, and take stains and spots as badly as the least fast of bookbinders' muslins. Lastly, as regards cheapness, I now find that it is possible to get any book, up to demy quarto, bound as cheap in half-morocco as in buckram, while the difference for demy folios is no more than threepence. I do not wish for a moment to deny that an atlas folio would cost much less to bind in buckram than in half-morocco, that if it were bound in slate or brown it would not perceptibly fade, and that, if it were hardly ever used, it would keep its glaze, and be a permanently respectable-looking volume. Nor do I see why buckram should not be better glazed, better dyed, and made stouter and cheaper. All I say is, that, until these things come about, it is very far from an ideal material for binding moderate-sized books in common use. It was suggested to me a few months ago, by one of our binders, that linoleum might be made of a thickness suitable for binding; and in September last one of the members of the London Institution called my attention to a prospectus of the linoleum called "lincrusta-Walton," or 66 muralis," in which it was suggested as a binding-material. I found, on enquiry at a London agent's, that muralis" was asserted to be damp-proof, heat-proof, acid-proof, and so little liable to fade or rub that it might be cleaned with a scrubbing-brush. Here, I thought, is the promise of an absolutely perfect material, and, on finding that it was made thin enough, I at once had twenty volumes bound in it, some in plain, some in figured muralis, some full-bound, some half-bound. Specimens of these I now show; and I must ask you, in criticising their appearance, to bear in mind the fact that the material has never been manufactured with a view to binding. The plain muralis has only been made in its self-colour, instead of being dyed to such a colour as is usual in bookcovers. The figured is made in patterns suitable for wall-decoration, and the particular pattern which I have chosen, because it was the cheapest, is also only made at present in the self-colour of the material. Moreover, had it been intended for binding, the pattern should have been in low instead of high relief, to avoid rubbing the binding of the books next to it. Again, in consequence of the pattern being in high relief, the binders have sometimes had to put the lettering-piece much lower down than is at all usual. And, lastly, these books were bound in a great hurry, so as to enable me to take them, if I thought fit, to the meeting at Edinburgh. If you imagine them carefully bound in brown or chocolate muralis, with sunk patterns, and the lettering-piece consequently in its right place, you will, I think, admit that their appearance would be decidedly good. But muralis will not do as a binding-material. It is so soft that you can pick it to pieces with the greatest ease; and this copy of Liddell and Scott, which has not been in use for three weeks, is, you will see, already cracked down the joints between back and sides. A second fault is, that the unevenness of the material prevents gilding on it, and makes lettering-pieces necessary. Nevertheless, these experiments make it likely that a linoleum can be made which will be in every way suitable for binding-for the main defect of muralis, its extreme softness, is one in which ordinary linoleum does not share. Whether such a linoleum will be as cheap as durable remains to be seen. The price of fullbinding an ordinary octavo in plain muralis is 2s. 8d.; the price of full-binding Liddell and Scott in figured muralis is 3s. 9d. One other new material may be mentioned. Mr. Bentley has taken to binding his three-volume novels in crétonnes, exactly the same material as is used for covering drawing-room chairs. Some of the patterns are very pretty, but of course they soil and fade, while the material clearly would not stand much rubbing. At first Mr. Bentley lettered the crétonne itself, but as it did not take gilt well, or show it well, he now sews a letter-piece on the back. In a paper of mine which will be printed in the Transactions of the Edinburgh meeting are some remarks on the durability of the different kinds of leather in common use for binding-purposes. I will not duplicate those remarks in the present paper, further than to say that for the combination of durability, good looks, and reasonable cheapness, no material that I know equals half-morocco, unless (as I think possible) time shows equal durability in halfpersian. As for russia, calf, and common roan, as they are at present prepared, it were much to be desired, in the interests of libraries, that their use for binding purposes were made a penal offence. No librarian with any knowledge of these leathers, and any regard for the future of his library, will ever think of using them on books which are expected to descend to a new generation. DISCUSSION.-Mr. WALFORD said that he had tried several experiments, and had come to the conclusion that Manilla paper sides with basil leather backs was about the best kind of binding for ordinary purposes, and much cheaper than ordinary bindings. As to calf, he thought that the acids used in bleaching were a principal cause of its decay. He thought highly of chintz, but feared that the tendency to cheapness would induce the employment of a bad material.-Mr. FROST had found some old calf bindings much improved by a coating of paste, which they absorbed very freely.Mr. WELCH regretted that publishers did not sew their books more strongly; many new books with handsome covers soon came to pieces, and had to be rebound long before the cover had suffered any damage. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON INDICATORS. THIS Committee, consisting of Messrs. ELLIOT, MULLINS, TIMMINS, TONKS, and WRIGHT, issued a series of inquiries to the Free Public Libraries using indicators, and having received replies to the same, presented the following Report, which was adopted at the last Annual Meeting (see p. 79): REPORT. The Committee, recognising that the indicator effects a saving of time of both the borrower and the library staff, consider it a useful addition to a lending library. It appears from the subjoined analysis that some of the libraries make the indicator the sole record of issues, and do not supplement it by any other entry. The Committee are of opinion that as the record afforded by the indicator may be seriously affected by the carelessness or mischief of those who have access to it, it is indispensible, whatever form may be used, that an additional record be kept in a book, or on a series of cards, such as is used in some libraries. If this additional entry be made, it is less necessary to use complicated indicators, and they think the simplest form will be found to be the best. They avoid specifying any particular form, as the merits of each to a certain extent depend on circumstances, and generally the librarian who has to use the indicator can judge which form will best suit his purpose. ANALYSIS OF ANSWERS TO CIRCULAR OF INQUIRIES. 1. Do you use an indicator to inform your borrowers what books are available for issue, viz., "in" or "out"? 2. What kind of indicator? 3. Whose invention ? Six libraries out of fourteen use Elliott's indicator, Bristol, Leeds, Newcastle, South Shields, Wednesbury, and Wolverhampton; at Wednesbury, one on Elliott's principle with an additional invention by the librarian. 4. Do you make your indicator also a record of your issue, or do you register the issues in a book? At nine libraries, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Derby, Dundee, Manchester, Plymouth, South Shields, West Bromwich, the issues are registered in a book or on a register card. |