84 The Library. a good one. The printer deserves much praise, as we do not remember having seen a catalogue of the kind better or more exactly printed. Moreover it is not disfigured by the ugly, but it is to be feared oftimes necessary, advertisements. Leicester Free Public Libraries. Catalogue of the books, pamphlets, &c., relating to Leicestershire in the Central Reference Library, compiled by C. V. Kirkby. [? 1893] 8vo, pp. 94. The arrangement is that of a dictionary catalogue with subjects and many title entries. Many of these entries are quite superfluous in what is but a contribution towards a list of Leicestershire literature. In the case of topographical works or those concerned with local history, more than author-entries are no doubt necessary, but not otherwise. We should have preferred to have seen the local connection of the authors invariably shown, and if the dates could have been added, all the better. Sizes, collations, and the names of local printers also would have given it a distinct value. If the formation of a local collection carried to the inclusive length, now so often adopted in free libraries is to be justified or prevented from being characterized as a mere fad, its special value and interest can only be proved by treating a catalogue of it bibliographically upon some such lines as those suggested above. Leicester Free Public Libraries. Supplementary Catalogue of the Central Lending Library. 2nd ed., compiled by C. V. Kirkby. Sm. 8vo [? 1893], PP- I2 ^- The criticism offered on a former catalogue from Leicester, compiled as this is in a quasi-dictionary form under classes, is applicable to this and need not be repeated. That an ordinary classed catalogue would have served the same purpose and could have been sold at one-third the price there is no doubt. There are a number of slips ; inter alia we note Dr. Garnett appears throughout as Garnet, Rev. A. Jessopp as Jessop, Isle of Man is under Isle, and Hardy's "Group of Noble Dames" is classified as biography with the contents treated as if they were not fictional. Darwen Public Free Library. A list of books added to the Library, 1891-93. Pp. 9, sm. 4to. A mere short-title list, calling for no particular remark except that the omission of dates of publication is a drawback. " Hopkinson on the Indicator," one of the entries, seems new if bearing upon the subject as it concerns librarians, and might mislead any professional brother who did not recognize in it a well-known work on the steam-engine. Nottingham Free Public Libraries. Central Lending and Reference Libraries. Music, musical instruments, and musicians. 2nd ed., Nov., 1893. Ry 8vo, pp. 7. An alphabetical list, useful enough in its way, but would have served its purpose much better if arranged in the customary manner, i.e., into theory, instrumental, operas, histories, &c. It is an odd idea to include
