CATALOGUE OF WHEELER GIFT

Institute and not more than a quarter of the whole number of members of this Committee to be allied with any one

commercial or other interest.

Fourth. The Library to remain in New York City and to be a reference library, free to all, including non-members and available for consultation at least three days in the week and some evenings and some Sundays, as soon as the Institute is in permanent quarters.

Fifth.-Rare books, that is, books which it is practically impossible to replace, to be exhibited under glass with suitable explanatory cards and to be subject to closer examination only at the Library and upon suitable introduction of the visitor to the Library Committee or their representative, the Librarian, and under such other precautions as will positively assure the preservation and safety of the books.

And further, it is my earnest desire that the Institute shall within five years raise a sufficient fund by subscription, and provide itself with a permanent home for its meetings and Library, and that this home shall be centrally located, reasonably safe from fire and not heavily mortgaged.

In case of the failure of the Institute to comply with the substance or spirit of these conditions, or with the desire expressed above for a permanent home, the Library shall revert to me or my heirs or assigns.

Having in view the sole purpose of encouraging the Institute to attain the position which I feel sure all of its members desire, I have sought to name conditions easily within its reach.

Ampere, New Jersey,

SCHUYLER SKAATS WHeeler.

May 17th, 1901.

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PREFACE

HIS work is due to the generosity of Mr. Andrew Carnegie, who donated a fund to house, catalogue and complete the celebrated Latimer Clark collection of books, pamphlets and periodicals, presented to the Library of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers by Dr. Schuyler Skaats Wheeler. A history in detail of the acquisition of the collection and of Mr. Carnegie's gift is given in the Report of the Library Committee for 1903. It is not inappropriate to recall here that it was on the day following a "Library Dinner," given February 9, 1903, by the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, at which Dr. Wheeler and Mr. Carnegie were the guests of honor, that Mr. Carnegie announced his desire to provide in New York City the building now known as the Engineering Societies' Building. In this palatial structure, of which the two upper floors are devoted to library purposes, the collection has found an ideal home.

In planning the work, and particularly in view of the requirement of the Wheeler Deed of Gift that a copy should be placed in the hands of each member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, of whom but a small proportion can make use of the collection at its home in New York City, it was felt that the contents should be given as much general interest as the titular scope of the book would

As this Report was not published in the Transactions of the Institute, and also contains a history in detail of the founding of the Library, it is printed at the end of Vol. II. with the omission of the sections dealing with financial matters.

admit. In other words, it was thought desirable to impart to the work so far as seemed feasible a direct educational value, to the end that the reader might through its pages easily trace the evolution of the electrical science and arts and form at least a passing acquaintance with the monuments of electrical literature. The character of the notes was fixed by this consideration, and in accordance with it a large number of engravings have been introduced, consisting of reproductions of significant pages of text, title pages of rare books, portraits of authors, plates illustrating epochal discoveries, etc. The admirable Introduction by Brother Potamian (Dr. M. F. O'Reilly of Manhattan College, New York City) adds in a high degree to this feature of the work, which is also furthered by an Appendix on that curious fiction. of the sixteenth century, the sympathetic telegraph.

The chronological order of entries and the division into sections adopted were naturally suggested by the historical character of the collection and the special nature of some of its parts. A systematic subject classification was not found practicable for the reason that most of the books antedate any specialization in the electrical science or art. Moreover, for historical research, and especially in the early periods, a chronological arrangement has a distinct advantage where the nature of the subject matter is indicated, as in the present case, by notes accompanying the title entries. Any advantage incident to an alphabetical arrangement according to authors finds compensation in an author index, which also includes all names occurring in the titles as editor, party to a controversy or otherwise, together with all names mentioned in the annotations. Owing to the great richness of the collection in books and pamphlets relating to the telegraph, and especially to the early period of the ocean telegraph, a subject index has been provided for entries of this class.

In making additions to his library, Mr. Latimer Clark evidently considered nothing obtainable in print should be excluded that has any relation, however slight, to the historical or technical side of electrical science or the electrical arts. This inclusiveness, which greatly enhances the value of the collection, rendered desirable some system of classification that would insure due prominence to its extensive miscellaneous portions, and also avoid what, under a strict chronological arrangement, might be the entry of an important historical work sandwiched between entries of, say, a trade catalogue and a parliamentary report. It was therefore decided to distribute the entries into sections according to certain criteria which, though far from satisfactory from a bibliographical standpoint, nevertheless appeared defensible if judged with reference to the needs of those who will make practical use of the Catalogue. Since circumstances rendered it necessary to carry out the work of classification with reference to a card transcript of titles and annotations and not from examination of the contents of each book, close scrutiny will doubtless show that some items have been misplaced. In particular, the latter method of selection might have placed in Section I. some of the entries now in Section II.

Section I., which occupies Vol. I., comprises the more notable items of the collection. Section II. consists largely of excerpts or reprints from the Transactions of learned societies, from periodicals, etc., the total of entries for this class of items being not far from two thousand. It may be added that these items, together with the pamphlets of the collection, are to be found in the Library gathered in bound volumes numbering about 200. In this section are also included a considerable number of pamphlets and some miscellaneous items, such as engravings, collections of clippings, etc. Sections III., IV. and V. comprise miscellaneous publications relating specific