Das Öffentliche Bibliothekswesen im Dritten Reich by Engelbrecht BoeseReview by: Fritz VeitThe Library Quarterly, Vol. 59, No. 2 (Apr., 1989), pp. 177-179Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4308362 .

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REVIEWS 177

it then expands on the original entry to show adequately what book it is and to provide item numbers from standard bibliographies that describe it. It notes, when possible, sizes, paginations, inscriptions and other markings, the source, and, for those books still in the collection, the present class mark. When books are simply missifrg or have been replaced by copies later acquired, those facts are reported. Painstaking investigation has established with considerable precision the content of the collection on April 27, 1637, and the means by which that collection was acquired.

The introduction has been prepared with similar care. It tells how the college originated and how the library was established, housed, and administered. It traces the steps by which the collection was acquired, modified, and increased. It describes and discusses in considerable detail the book donations and their donors and the significance and impact of those gifts. If any part of the introduc- tion is open to question, it is the rather extended discussion of inferences that may be justified by the nature of the collections. On the evidence of the twelve books that Mildmay donated to the college, it speculates at length about the founder's conception of the proper character of a collegiate education. Then, analyzing the larger number of books that had been acquired by 1598, it outlines the subject distribution of books in the whole collection, suggesting that the topics in the books closely reflected the interests and needs of the institution. In fact, however, the authors are careful to point out the speculative nature of their conclusions, which are indeed at least plausible. They appear to be on even sounder footing when they show changes in subject emphasis between 1598 and 1637, apparently reflecting purposeful shaping of the collection to include a breadth of religious and secular subject interest beyond that conventionally expected. The work provides a beginning at analysis; the catalog evidence on which it is based remains available for future scholars. Though not as sumptuous as many from this press, the book is well printed, with photographs of some of the most interesting books of the collection. It is a valuable contribution in itself as well as a model to guide similar studies.

W. L. Williamson, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Das Offentliche Bibliothekswesen im Dritten Reich. By ENGELBRECHT BOESE. Bib- liothek und Gesellschaft. Frankfurt: Bock & Hercheni 1987. Pp. 104. DM 68.00. ISBN 3-88347-141-0.

This discussion of public librarianship in the Third Reich is preceded by a sketch of the public library situation in the pre-National Socialist era. Boese's work includes these topics: book policy; theory of the public (popular) library in the Third Reich; developments from 1933 to 1937; toward a national public library system; competing providers of library materials; personnel; holdings; and impact of the Second World War.

Boese pays considerable attention to the so-called Richtungsstreit-the dispute between representatives of opposing concepts of public library service. This dispute, which was very intensive during the Weimar era, flared up several times after the Nazis came to power. Walter Hofmann and his followers gave the public library a strong pedagogical role, insisting that the library provide only material of distinct literary and social value. Paul Ladewig and his adherents felt

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178 THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY

that the user should be able to determine what kinds of material he needed and the library should supply it. Both groups agreed that the reader had to request library materials at the counter.

Boese stresses the contrast between the humanistic concern for the individual in pre-Nazi times and the disregard of an individual's wants under the Nazi regime. In the Third Reich an individual had a place and a function only as part of a group. He was to be supplied only with books which represented the National Socialist worldview.

This objective meant Sdubeung (cleansing), removal of books which had a socialist, communist, or liberal tinge, or which for other reasons were considered objectionable. The removal did not occur in a uniform way. Many librarians were confused. A letter from the head of the Solingen Public library is an example of the quandary in which many librarians found themselves (letter reproduced in chap. 8, n. 56).

Removal of the books created large gaps. Lists which contained books accept- able to the regime were prepared and had to be utilized for new acquisitions. Large public libraries were often permitted to make additional selections. Boese makes it clear that the Nazi regime also subjected nonpublic library collections to rigorous scrutiny. In fact, it was the goal of the authorities to eliminate such competitors for the reader's mind. Especially hard hit were the Catholic libraries.

Of the many other interesting observations which could be made, only a few can be singled out within the compass of a space-limited review. Initially it was the Nazi aim to fill the libraries with National Socialist literature exclusively. But with the passage of time the subject literature section had to be enlarged to satisfy reader needs.

A development one would not have expected was the widespread change from closed to open stacks. One might have assumed that the authorities, who wanted to control every aspect of life, would have been opposed to free access by users. One of the reasons suggested for this change is the desire of the younger Nazi librarians to break with procedures prevailing before their ascent to power.

Also, to break with the past, some librarians wanted to move away from the systematic GesamStkaalog which included all holdings of the library. These in- novators split the catalog into numerous units, sometimes with nonconventional title designations. However, this change did not prove efficient and was gradu- ally abandoned.

Boese describes the significant role several librarians played during the Third Reich. Most of them had occupied leading posts during the Weimar Republic. Of these Wilhelm Schuster is probably the most influential. Schuster, while embracing most enthusiastically National Socialism as his 'gtiiding philosophy, seems to have applied sound library principles in managing technical library matters. Boese gives credit and praise to Schuster for his professional ability, while overlooking his wholehearted support of the party.

The requirement that staffs conform to National Soialist princples (Gkichschallung) caused a number of well-known directors, as well as other noncomplying staff members, to lose their jobs. Among those affected were Erwin Ackerknecht in Stettin, Adolf Wass in Frankfurt am Main, Ernst Moering in Breslau, and Alfred Lbckle in Dresden. Beyond merely reporting that these librarians lost their positions, Boese might have examined what consequences the loss had on those affected and the reactions of the colleagues who remained employed.

The Second World War had a devastating effect upon the libraries. Most malc

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REVIEWS 179

staff members were drafted into the army. Many libraries were destroyed. Library rooms often lacked heat. New books could only rarely be acquired, and for lack of transportation it became nearly impossible to move books from suppliers to libraries.

After slowly recovering from the collapse of the Third Reich, reconstruction could begin, and Germany has been able to create modern, efficient public library systems. The evaluation of these positive developments is not within the scope of the book.

Boese's work gives a comprehensive picture of the public library situation in the Third Reich. The study is based on thorough research and is exceptionally well documented. It is supported by over twelve hundred footnotes, separately numbered for each chapter. There are sections of sources consulted, including archives. There is also a list of abbreviations used in the text. The detailed index is divided into a list of personal names and a list of entries leading to the subjects covered.

Fritz Veit, Chicago, Illinois

Textual Criticism since Greg: A Chronicle, 1950-1985. By G. THOMAS TANSELLE. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1987. Pp. xi+ 154. ISBN 0-8139- 1166-4.

For anyone who has attempted to follow the often complicated and difficult controversies in the field of textual criticism over the past forty years, this work will serve as a lucid and judicious explication. It consists of three essays, origi- nally published in Studies in Bibliography in 1975, 1981, and 1986, that now stand as a single historiographical overview of textual criticism and analytical bibliogra- phy since 1950. As the title makes clear, the seminal figure for this period has been the British scholar W. W. Greg. It has been almost obligatory to begin any discussion of the editorial task of establishing a copy-text with a reference to Greg's "Rationale of Copy-Text." Given the virtual canonization of Greg's "the- ory," it is remarkable how few critics seem to have read the original. Far too often, the participants in the textual and bibliographical controversies of the last few decades have simply accepted what others believe Greg said without going back to the "Rationale" itself. This indeed is one of Tanselle's recurring themes.

Greg first set out his "Rationale 6f Copy-Text" as a paper for the 1949 English Institute, and it was subsequently published in Studies in Bibliography (3 [1950- 51]: 19-36). Greg's method for choosing a copy-text, the form of the text that will become the basis for an edition, is really quite simple. He posited that the editorial treatment of a text ought to mirror the manner in which the text was treated by the compositors, printers, and editors in the printing and publication of the work. It is a commonplace that compositors, at least during the common- press period, altered spelling, punctuation, and the like without regard to copy, but, on the other hand, treated the actual words of the author with great respect. Greg differentiated these two classes as accidentals (spelling, punctuation, word division, etc.) and substantives (the words themselves). Because the substantives are more faithfully reproduced, subsequent changes or variants in later editions are worth careful editorial consideration. On the other hand, changes in the accidentals probably bear no discernible relationship to authorial intention. The purpose of this substantive/accidental distinction is to give the editor a basis for

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