A NOTE
Disorderly in life, Samuel Johnson was nonetheless among the most
articulate of scholars who have tried to make an exemplar of order, that
unruly thought might at least possess a vision of its aspirations. In the
illustrious context of the Preface to the first fascicule of the OED (A
New English Dictionary . . . 1883) Dr. James A. H. Murray, a wise as
well as a learned man, quoted Johnson on reaching an end of matters.
The authors, having reached an end of their labors if not of their
enquiries, ponder that end and this Bibliography. Although it is very
much the creature of their footnotes and thus lacks certain airs and
graces, nevertheless its planning has been given close attention in the
awareness that this detail of book design often gets short shrift. Is this
because, coming at the end of a work, bibliographies appear merely as
lists of proper names and book titles, unworthy of the same care at times
bestowed on title and occasionally on text pages? Or did the designer,
weary of the main work and too tired to go further, decide to dismiss
himself from what seemed a mere final drudgery?
Whatever the reason, the authors hope the reader may peruse this
assembly of works, finding assorted old acquaintances but also perhaps
making many new ones. Far from being a concise literary sarcophagus, a
bibliography holds keys to minds of many men, who continue freely to
aid and sometimes to inspire us. Authors and editor consider that the
bibliography should be cut from cloth of not less quality than that of the
work itself. When Carl Purington Rollins admonished, "In the designing
of books there's no sin like complacency," he spoke well.
E.B., L.P.
