THE FIRST EDITION AND ALL THE EIGHTEEN EDITIONS - A review

The Forest Press Division of the Lake PlacidEducation Foundation has brought out two publica-tions to mark the first hundred years of use of themost widely used scheme of library classification.There is no doubt that this is an important event andthere could hardly be a better way of celebratingthis great event than to present these two publica-tions to the world community of librarians and otherinformation workers. The publications are:

l . A Classification and subject index for cata-loguing and arranging the books and pamphlets of alibrary. Amherst (Mass .}, 1876. 44p. (DeweyDecimal Classification Centennial1R76-1976.Facsimile reprinted by Forest Press. 1976).

2. The eighteen editions of the Dewey DecimalClassification, by John Phillip Comaromi, Albany,Forest Press, 1976. xio , 678p. ISBN 0-910608-17-2.

The first edition of the DDC, published hund-red years ago, can have hardly any practical utility.to-day. But, it must be having great sentimentalvalue for all information workers. We have beentold and we are aware that the DDC had a verymodest beginning. However, the present genera-tion of librarians who are familiar with the multi-volume eighteenth edition of the scheme could hardlyvisualise how modest the beginning could be. Thepresent reviewer, at least, and a number of othersin the profession around him, both his seniors andjuniors, had not seen a copy of the first edition sofar and hence had only a vague idea of it. The pre-sent fascimile reprinted volume was, naturally, anobject of great curiosity. For many more this willbe BO.

The first edition, as reprinted, is a slimvolume of just 44 pages, including the title page.The title page does not carry the name of MelvilDewey nor the Preface is signed. The name appear-e s only on the back of the title-page as the personholding the copyright of the publication. The Pre-face occupies a substantial 8 pages (from p. 3 to 10)of closely printed matter. From page 13 begins theactual schedule which extends upto page 22, a page

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each for the ten Main Classes. The Subject Index,as it is called, occupies 18 pages, from page 23 to40. The last four pages features end matters likeExplanations and Subject Catalogue.

The Preface remains even today an ~mportantsource of information for studying the origin andgrowth of DDC also the first, yet firm, pronounce-ment of the epoch-making changes that Dewey wantedto introduce, in library management, through hisscheme of classification. It is remarkable howclear Dewey was on some points which have onlyrecently become part of our general theory of 1

classification. As for example,. let us take Dewey'sidea on Mnemonics. He wrote in the Preface: "Thearrangement of headings has been sometimes mod i-fied to secure mnemonic aid in numbering and f ind-ing books without the Index. For instance,thescheme is so arranged that China has always thenumber 1. In Ancient Histo ry, it has the firstsection, 931: in Modern History, under Asia, it has951: in Philology, the Chinese language appears as491. .. The Italian 5, for instance, will be noticedill 35, 55, 450, 755, 850, and 945. This mnemonicprinciple ls specially prominent in Philology andLiterature and their divisions, and in the form dis-tinctions used in the first 9 sections of each class.... Users of the scheme will notice this mnemonicprinciple in several hundred places in the classi-fication, and will find it of great pr ac t ic a l utility innumbering and finding books without the aid of Cata-logue or Index, and in de t er rnin mg the character ofany· book simply from its call number as recorded onthe book, on all its catalogue and cross referencecards, on the ledger, and in the check box".

Even if told emphatically one would hardlybelieve that the above was written hundred yearsago. Only the Preface makes us believe it to be so.

To appreciate the novelty of the DDC, we mustremember that the scheme was a part of a biggerplan to improve the organisation and services oflibraries. The scheme introduced the idea of re-lative location of boo ks on shelves, whic h, thoughcommon place now, was revolutionary in those days.Moreover, the sche rne was to be used in the pre-paration of classed catalogues, arrangement of

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shelf lists, issue records, p arnphl et cases, news-paper clippings and so on. For each of these ideasand uses, Dewey provided SOIne explanation in thePreface.

On the advantages of relative location, Deweysaid IIp arts of sets, and boo ks on the same 0 rallied subjects, are never separated as they aresure to be, sooner or later, in every libraryarranged on the common plan, unless it be fre-quently re-arranged and re-catalogued. The greatexpense of this re-cataloguing rnake s it impracti-cable except for a few very wealthy l ibr a r ie a, Inthis s vs te m the catalogue and book numbers re-rna in unchanged through all changes of shelving,buildl:n.gs, or arrangement". He said in anotherplace, on the same point, "Thus all the books onany given subject are found standing together, andno additions or changes ever separate them. Notonly are the books on the subject sought, foundtogether, but the mo st nearly allied subjects pre-cede and follow, they in turn be ing pr ec eded andfollowed by other allied subjects as far as practi-cable". To highlight the advantage of relative loca-tion, Dewey, again and again, referred to the fl ex i-bilityof card catalogue. As for example, he said,"In arraning the books on the shelves, the absolutelocation by shelf and book number is wholly aban-doned, the relative location by class and book nurn-bel' being one of the most valuable features of theplan. The class number serves also as the locationnu mb er and the shelf number in common use isentirely dispensed with ... New books as receivedare numbered and put into place, in the same waythat new titles are added to the card catalogue".Again, in another paragraph, he said "As in thecard catalogue system, there is room for idefiriiteexpansionwlthout devices or provisions. Space isthe only requisite and if the shelf rOOIn is exhausted,the floor space is equally good, except for theinconvenience of stooping".

On the use of the scheme in the organisation ofpa mphl ets in a library, Dewey had this to say:"These class nurnbe r s applied to p arnphl e ts haveproved specially satisfactory. The number iswritten on the upper left corner and tlte pamphletsare arranged either in pamphlet cases with the bookson the same subject or on special shelves ... Aseach pa rnph le t is e.xarriine d when received into thelibrary, it is the work of a single moment to pencilon it its class "number. There is no expense what-ever incurred, and yet the entire pamphlet re-sources of the library on any subject can be pro-duced almost instantly".

Coming to the actual tables or schedule onefinds that the first edition had only ten pages in all,devoted to the ten main classes. Compared to therecent editions, the headings or the names-of-sub-jects were brief and simple. In fact in most casesthe hea d mg a were s ingl e-wo r ded, This was donewith a purpose. As Dewey explained, "In namingthe headings, brevity has been secured in rrlany

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cases at the sacrifice of exactness. It was thoughtmore important to have short, familiar titles for theheadings than that the names given should expresswith fullness and esactness the character of allbooks catalogued under them".

Since the headings were brief a user of thescheme could easily get the impression that anumber of subjects were orriitt ed , To take care ofthis situation Dewey made the Index quite elaborateaud cautioned in the Preface, "Many subjects,apparently omitted, will be found in the Index,assigned, with allied subjects, to a heading whichbears the name of the rno st important only. Refer-ence to this Subject Index will dec ide at once anydoubtful points". Thus, one does not find, forexample, any mention of diseases, such as, cancer,cholera, dysentery, rnea s Ie s etc. in the schedulebut they are all mentioned in the Index and areassigned to the class bIb-Pathology, theory andpractice. Simtl a.rlv , the Index shows that bookson Gold can be assigned 549 (Mineralogy) 0)" 671(Metals). A number of synonytnous te r ms are alsotaker. c are of in the Index.

Through tne scheme, Dewey wanted a numberof innovations to be introduced in library practice.As for example, he wanted fuller entrie~ to be madeunder subjects. He wrote in the Preface, "Thecustom of giving full titles, etc . , under authors,and only references or very brief titles under sub-jects, has been reversed. A reader seeking a bookof a known author, in the vast majority of cases,wants simply the number by which to call for it, andCan find it much sooner in a brief t it Ie catalogue.In the rare cases where more is needed the classnurnb er refers instantly to all these facts on thecards. On the other hand, a reader see king bookson a known subject, needs the fuli title, imprint,cross-references, and notes, to enable him tochoose the boo-kbest suited to his wants".

It must have beer. noted that in the above para·graphs the present reviewer has quot ed extensivelyfrom the Pref ace. That has been ir r e sistible. Theidea was to bring out the richness of the Preface i.nthe then prevailing condition of library practice. Infact the Preface can still be considered a c l as s icin library literature. So far as the scheme itselfis concerned, it has no w vastly changed reflectingthe rapid developrnent of the subjects themselvesover the last hundred years. Looking at the mereten-page schedule of the first ed it ion , one is sur",to ponder over the infinite adaptability of the origin-al fr amework that has been able to ab sorb the vastchanges in the subjects. The present facsimilereprinted first edition of DDC w ilI be very enthu-siastically received by all librarians and informa-tion worke 1'5.

if. go ing through the first publication, namely,the facsimile reprinted first edltion of DDC onegets the feeling that he is looking at an artisticcreation of a great master, then the second publi-cation. by Co mar orni , will give h irn the feelin.g that

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NATURAL SCIENCE,6i1Hl NaHaTa' serenee, ~:;o (.enloe)"·

'GI Philosophy. S!ll l'hy~i{::'l Gcogm,.hy, Mcteomlos;y.

'G2 Compenda. 5~2 Lithulog-y.~03 Dictionaries. 553 Dyuunucul geolo!;y.50(. E.sSn.)'8. 554 Europe.

'05 Periodicals. 555 A8i1~.506 Societies. 556 Africa.507 Education. 557 Nonh Amerlce.508 Travd1f. ,.. South 1\lIIcrit:a,

sos History. 559 Occunica.~n<li' M».ft~lcftna"f;.~oC.:8. <569 ~·.\'At.~olJ\ltoh)ii)·•

~! ~ Arithmcl,ic. I !:~ l'IJ;l.f\t::l.

6U Alg-cb'!'a. Iuvertcbnuee.513 (Ieomctey. ssa Prmuz()tl Ql1d UadialtJ.5l~ 'I'rigonometry . I 66~ Mdlusca.,.. Conic sections. I 565 Articutctes.5.6 Analytical geometry.

1

566 vertebrntee.017 Calculus. 567 FillhefJ.'18 Qnntt!r.Jiollll. 568 R~ptilr:! o,.d OirJ •..IS l'r6babilitieB. 569 Mnmmal •.

c.~C A\.I\ __o~~"I'IAn~. :>711 MioC"tl!r)'.Co2l Theoreucal. 571 Prehistoric A rcheeology.522 Practical. 572 EthI\OIOi(Y·M!3 Descriptive. 573 N atural History of Man.52< Mupe. 574 Hcmologfee.52. Observanoee. 51. Evolution..2& l!'igur~ or the eanb. 576 Embryology.527 Navigation. 577 Spontaneous generation.528 AlmanaL~. 57S Microscopy..29 Chronology. 579 Collectors' Mauuale.

:130 .·h)·8Ic8. ~~O ButUII)',

531 Mechanics. 581 Physiological..32 Hydrostatic" 582 Systematic..33 Pneumatlca. 683 Ornamental.53. Ae~ustic!l. 584 Europa635 Optics, ~85 Asia.

'3~ Hens. 586 Africa..637 l!.1ectricity. 587 North America..538 Ml\gnctism. 588 South America,

'39 Molecuhir physics. 589 Oceanica.646 «::I,cIAI••trl', ~1I0 Zoology,

HI Tbeoretlcal. 591 Compnrarivc A narcmj-.

64" Experimental. .92 Invertebrate •.~3 Analysil. 593 Protozoa and Radil.ltn.

644 Quu/jtatiw. 59. MoJ/u$CQ.

6.6 Quantitati"" 59' .Arlicu/alt •.

5.& Inorgnnic. 596 Vertehrate..547 Orga.nic. 597 Fi'/It,.

14' Crystallography. 598 Rlplilu ond Bird •.

••• Mineralogy . 699 Mom.ol •.

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A page from the schedule of the first edition of DDCpublished in 1876,

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Anatomy. human 61 J Architecture 1'0 Astronomical observation. S25Ancient architecture 722 II naval 699 Astronomy 520

" customa. costumes 391 Arctic regions 998 Atheism 211u design 746 •• "travela 1)19 Athletic sports 7¢•• geography 91:! Argentine republic 982 Atlases 910Ii history 930 Arianism 281,232 Atmosphere 533II philosophies 180 Aristotelian philosophy 185 Atonement 2344' sculpture 732 Arithmetic 511 Aurora 537, 551

Anecdote. Religious 249 Arizona 977 Australasia 993A~curism 617 Arkansas 976 Australia 994Angels 235 Armenia 956 AUitria 943Anglican. church 283 Armies 3S5 Authority 171Angling 799 Arminianism 287, 234 Authors' Jives 928Anglo-Saxon history 942 Armor J~5 Autobiography. JU Biography.

.~ language 4z9 Art an .••.•omy 7"3 Azores "946Animal magnetism 134 •• biography 927 Bnb)'lon 9JS

•• kingdom 590 •• education 707 Backgammon 795Animals, domesric 636 •• schools 753-7S6 Baconian philosophy J9ZAnimalcula S93 Artesian wells 628 Ball playing 797Annuities 3JJ Articulates, paleontology 565 Ballads, Ut Poetry.Anonyms 14" ZOOlogy 595 BallooningAntarctic regions 999 Arlillny 3S8 lbnditti

" " travels- 919 Artists' lives 927 Bank Note Ena:ravingAnthropology 1,:)0 Arts, fine 700 Bankrupt lawsAnti-Masonry 366 II U biography of 921 DanksAntinomianism 234 II useful 600 BaptismAntiqv.illes, 1ft subject or c'utry. II II biography of 92:6 BaptistaAphorisms 819,829,839. etc. Asbantee cfi7 Barbary St;;r,luApocalypse 228" geography 916 BarometerApocrypha 2~9 Asia- 950 Bas-reliefsApologetics 239 botany 585 Base ballApoplexy 616 customs and costumes 395 Basque languageApostles 9JZ ecclesiastical history 215" province.Apostolic church 214-216 geography 915 Baths

u succession 262 geology 555 BavariaApothegms 819.829,839, etc. history 9So BeautyApparitions 133 statistics 315 Beer~pple9 634 travels 91 S BeesAquariltms 590 Asia Minor 9S6 BeetlesAquatint 166 Assassination 345 BeetsAqueducts 628 Assault anG, battery 345 II ~ugarArabia, ancient history ~39 Assa.ying US Belgium

" modern 953 Assent J6] Belles-lettresArabian language 493 Associations 360 Bell·ringing

• U philosophy 197 "musical 789 BellsArboricuhure 7'5 Assurance )68 Bcrmud •••Arbors 717 Assyria 9JS BibleArch.eology, prehistoric 571 Assyrian language 493 H dictionaries. etc.Archery 799 Asthma 616 01 in schoolsArchitects, lives 9:!7 Astrology IJJ •• societies~rchi~ectur<l.1 drawing 744 Astronomical map. 524 Bibliographie;

A page from the Subject Index of first edition of DDCpublished in 1876,

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he has befo re him a maste rly commentary from agreat art critic. Looking at the scheme of classi-fication as a final product, one can hardly imaginethe dark controversy and red-blooded passion thatthe scheme had generated after its publication andthrougll the editions. All that is vividly captured inthis study. T.e publication is a Ilistory of DOC. Astile author has put it, "In spite of the DOC's long andIlealthy life, Ilowever, its full story has riev er beentold. Tllere ltave been biographies of Dewey thatbriefly describe his system, but this is the firstattempt to provide a detailed history of the wo rkthat more tltan any other ltas spurred the growth oflibrar ians a ip in t.is country and abro ad".

Tlle author had started the work as a researchproject in the University of Michigan and the pre-sent study is a revision of his earlier thesis. Thisstudy is an edition-by-edition commentary of thedevelopment of DOC from a 42-:page slim anonymousfirst edition to the present 2718-page mz.s s iveeighteenth edition. There is one chapter for each ofthe e ight een editions. with third, fourth, fifth edi-tions put togetit.er in a single chapter, and additionalchapters on the Idea, The First Decade: 1876-1885,The Duet: Schwartz and Perkins, and ForeignEntanglement. Nearly a third of the book is de-voted to the first two editions. The reason for thisemphasis, as stated by the auther, is. "thestructure of knowledge set forth in the first. andeven more so in the second edition is essentiallythe same as tltatfound in subsequent editions".

In the compilation of the history of the DOC,the autltor has used extensively the primary materialavailable In three important sources namely, theMelvil Dewey Collection at the Columbia Unive 1'5 ity ,the files of the Forest Press at Albany, and theeditorial files at the Decimal Classification Di-vision of the Library of Congress. This has givena meas ure of authentic ity to the study which is notavailable in any other work.

Tlle present reviewer feels that the best wa.yto bring out the richness of the contents and exposi-tion of t.is publication would be to quote f r orn itspages. In fact, one can hardly resist the t.e mpcatio nwhen one has before hi m a study of such absorbinginterest. In the first chapter, The Idea. Co rna r ornid isc u s se e mainly how Dewey got the idea of usingArabic nwnerals decimally to number the subjectsof books. He examines all the probable sources,Dewey's own expl an at ions, and what others havesaid on this point. The probable influence of otherclassification scltemes, such as, the Nuo vo Sist€crnaof the Italian bookseller Natale Battezzati, the ~'l"'nof the St. Louis Public School Library devi s ec; "'fWilliam T Harris, a s trrril ar plan for the i\':'~-_ ~':\l;-

ces Library of New York devised by Jacob :)cnv,artz,a scheme for the arrangement of the c ent.er.nl a Iexhibits by William Phipps Blake and other philG$c-phic schemes are examined.

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The autltor, after examining all evidencecarefully, says: ''We will never be certain uponthis point, but I suspect that Dewey dtd draw uponHarris' scheme. or Schwartz's. or. in alllikeli-hood. upon both. The chapter ends with the impor-tant conclusion:" .... the outline of the DOC isbased on the sche:ne that William Torrey Harr isprepared .•. in my opinion Ole evidence is strongthat :-Iegel provided the philosophic underpinnings ofHarris' classification. and thus of Dewey's."

The second chapter is on the first editionof the DOC. The author discusses mainly the logicbehind the sequence of the main classes and theirsubdivisions. This is important because thislogical foundation w as to support a huge super-structure that was built up through the subsequenteditions. The s e que nc e-and divisions of the classeswere suggested by various authorities from Amherst.This gave the scheme an 'academic cast' from thebeginning. Plac ing the tenth class, unnamed in thefirst edition. which is now called Generalia at'thebeginning, has been claimed by the autAo r, was agood example of Dewey's practicality'.

There are long commentaries on all thesubjects. Only a few can be mentioned or quotedhere. On the class 300- Sociology, the authormakes the following gene r atco mment: "Soc iolo gy ,300, would become Social Sciences, 300, when thefocus of the term "sociology" would narrow andcome to mean the academic discipline it is today.As God has been less annoying to man than man hasbeen to himself, it is not surprising that it was evenmore difficult to devise a cl as s if ic at ion for so c iolo gythe science of society, than it was for theology.Man's unpredictable desires, interests, and viewscreated problems, as did the vast literature on thesubject". Apart from such words of profoundwisdom, there are many objective criticisms onthe order of subjects. Consider, for example, the£oilowing comments on the class 330-PoliticalScience. "Political Economy, 300, or'economics'as it is now called, possessed a logical structure,bu t it suffered from overlapping as well as from a'r<lctu::-ing of some subjects. Political Economy-,,,3 the BC ienc e which conce rned itself with the:-',-c"I1ction, distribution, and consumption of things

""ng an exchangeable value, with particularr eic r enc e to the effects of such production, distri-h" lion, and consumption upon the national wealthand we lf ar e . Thus 331-334 dealt with the produc-tion of we al th , 335- 337 with the distribution ofwealth. Pl'orJ,.!<:tion, 338, w as out of order andperhaps should not have been assigned since itwas a subdivision of Capital and Labor, 331. Con-sumption did not receive a number, which is nots ur pr rs ing since the economics of consumptionhas gained s ign if icanc e only recently. It waslogical for Pauperism. 339, to follow distribution,for pauperism was, after all. the result of amalfunction in the svs tern of distr ibution".

Ann Lib Sci Doc

FIRST EDITION AND EIGHTEEN EDITIONS

One would naturally like to know whatexactly was the impact of the publication of theDDC in the library world? We must rememberthat the DDC was introduced not merely as ascheme of classification but as a time-savingdevice in the processing of books in libraries,specifically, and in library management in general.This is discussed in the third chapter, entitled theFirst Decade 1876-1885.

Perhaps, the first significant impact wasthat the controversy between fixed location andrelative location of books on shelves carne to ahead. Librarian who had to manage large collec-tions defended the old practice of fixed locationwith shelf-mark for some time. But they foundtheir adversaries, both Dewey and Cutter being inthe rank, too strong. It may be recalled that theperiod also Saw the formation of the first profes-sional association of librarians, namely, theAmerican Library Association and also the laun-ching of the professional organ the Library Journal.All these provided scope for organised professionaldiscussions and debates. The DDC became imme-diately a subject of discussion. There were sharpcriticisms on several points. Cutter was a strongcritic. He said that he wanted to apply the DDC tothe Boston Athenaeum but soon became dissatisfied

'hecause minute classification led to very high'ii:-gures, and because it seemed that limiting theclasses to ten and their divisions to ten each hadcramped the mind of the classifier and preventedhis fully developing his subject".

Division of a subject into ten at every pointwas criticised by many. But Dewey held on to theprinciple for reasons of utility and practicallty. Heanswered: "A few cases where a little special effortw as made to fit the decimals have proved entirelysatisfactory in use. If we had six necessary headswe made ten by subdividing four of the largest. Theother method would have been to leave four numbers.blank. In practice it is more convenient to havethem divided, and any question of theory we esteemless than utility ... "

The first decade saw not only a greater in-terest in cl as s ificat ion but the publication of anumber of classification schemes. The classifi-cations of Cutter and Schwartz were publishedduring this pe riod. The DDC was instrumental ingetting certain basic ideas cleared and accepted.This helped the progress of classification alongright lines.

With the abandonment of the shelf-marksystem, a new mechanism became necessary forproviding a unique number to each book, on theshelf, with whic h it could be retr iev ed , This gaverise to the consideration of a suitable book numb-bering system. The first decade also saw theacceptance of DDC in a number of important Ameri-can libraries. The first such library, after theAmherst, was the Young Men's Association of

Vol 23 No 4 Dec 1976

Buffalo which changed over in 1878. The chapter,The First Decade, vividly portrays all thesedevelopments.

The next chapter is on the Second Edition:1885. As has been said previously the author de-vote s consider able space to the second edition.This edition had grown to 314 pages from 42 pagesin the fir st edition. It contained the largest numberof changes between any two consecutive editions.The general interest in classification and many ofthe new ideas in classification that were introduced,for which Dewey himself was responsible to a largeextent, were sought to be satisfied through thesecond edition. The concepts, such as, the com-mon subdivisions, the Generalia Class, mnemonic.notations, etc. became much more explicit now. Anumber of classes with four, five, and six digitswere introduced. The much too familiar number-building note 'divide-like' was also introduced forthe fir st ti me in the second edition. A number ofsubjects had to be relocated, which must have caused

.considerable d iff iculty to tho se librar ian s who wereusing the eer l ier edition. To assure the librariansthat such large scale relocations will not De intro-duced in the future editions, Dewey wrote, "Libra-rians making the necessary changes for the revisededition need not fear that a series of editions havebegun each of which will call for such changes ... "This promise of the 'integrety of numbers' becamean important editorial policy to be followed in thesubsequent editions.

The author of the book has very appropriatelysaid elsewhere, "The first edition had been pro-mising. The second edition was the pro mt s e ful-filled and probably the me at prominent landmark inthe development of American library classification."Howeve r , it is str ange that the bittere st cr itic s ofDDC were also active lmrned iate ly after the publi-cation of the second edition. Perhaps, t he mostunmerciful critics were Jacob Schwartz and FredericPerkins. Th":{ called themselves as the!·D~et. Thedark conrr over s y of this period is vividly capturedin the chapter entitled The Duet.

At times it is co rnpl a med that Dewey did not'adequately refute the Duet charges'. Perhaps, itwa s not neces sa ry as the succe s s of the DDC wasthe best answer to most of the criticisms. It issignificant that the third edition was published in1888, just three years after the second edition. Thie,surely, is an index of the success of the sche rne ,It may be pointed out that Dewey edited only thefir st three editions.

With the fourth edition a new era began. Therevisions were by editors other than Melvil Dewey.The first editor of this new era was May Seymour,who was editor for thirty years and had seen througheight new editions (upto the eleventh). The -ie xteditor was Dor ka s Fellows, another cIo se associateof Dewey, who edited the next three editions. Thelast edition, that Dewey saw, was the twelfth editionedited by Dor ka s Fellows.

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Chapter 11 is on Foreign Entanglement. It ismainly devoted to the working of the InternationalInstitute of Bibliography in the context of adaptationof DDC for the UDC, agreements between the twoagencies, gradual divergence between the twoschemes, and the opinions of the editors. This wassurely an important era in the history of DDC.

The next seven chapter s are on the next seven(twelfth through eighteenth) editions. The chapteron the fifteenth Standard edition, the most contro-

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versial of all the editions, is interesting. How thisedition was conceived and executed, that caused the'flight from Dewey' and wrecked the scheme finan-cially, are all discussed in this chapter.

The above wa s ju st an attempt to bring out therichness of the contents of this interesting study.Surely, the publication presents the most compre-hensive history of the DDC. There can hardly be anydoubt that librarians all over the world will welcomethi s public ation.

Ann Lib Sci Doc