Before launching fully into a discussion of procedures for bibliographical
analysis and description of periodicals, some explanations are in order. First,
I offer a very general set of observations, geared primarily towards the
description of a single number of a periodical, on the assumption that other
bibliographers will modify them according to the particular characteristics of
the materials they wish to describe. I advocate the description of numbers for
several practical reasons, the primary one being that some analysis and
description of numbers is basic to any periodical-based project, no matter
how large (i.e., description of an entire run of a given periodical) or small
(analysis of typography, illustrations, or other parts of a run or number).
It is to be hoped that large projects such as descriptive bibliographies of
entire runs of major periodicals will be made feasible and more flexible
through the use of technology such as CD-ROM and hypermedia. The
CD-ROM version of the
Waterloo Directory of English Newspapers and
Periodicals, 1800 — 1900 allows users to view digitized images of title
pages of some periodicals. One can easily imagine the benefits to be gained
from presenting a descriptive bibliography in a similar format, and the even
greater benefit of linking bibliographic descriptions to each other and to
images (which could include not only title pages of the items described, but
illustrations, wrappers, or even entire periodicals or books).
[21] Bibliographies of complete periodical runs
offer the advantages of presenting each number both as an individual
publication and as part of the larger series, and of avoiding the duplication of
effort that could result from including full descriptions of periodical numbers
in author bibliographies. Indeed, one of the most compelling arguments for
creating descriptive bibliographies
of literary periodicals is that by so doing, a bibliographer could provide
insight into the writing lives of a large number of authors. Bibliographies of
periodicals would also be particularly useful to editors of texts that were first
published in periodicals.
But while literary and biographical considerations may be foremost in the
minds of many readers, the act of establishing the bibliographical histories of
individual periodical numbers carries a larger significance. The simple fact
that a periodical number might have a life of its own is generally ignored, and
since any investigation of a number necessarily involves placing it in the
context of the rest of the series, studies of even a single number shed light
both on that individual publication and on the other members of the series.
Therefore, while it is enjoyable to contemplate the possibility of large-scale
work on periodicals, it is also important to realize that any bibliographical
work on periodicals, however limited in scope, is welcome and needed.
Along these lines, it is important to consider whether author
bibliographies might attempt to render periodicals in greater detail. Since the
bibliographer's task always includes determining the kind and amount of
information to include in a description, it is reasonable to ask that the process
of compiling an author bibliography should include
a careful consideration of how the author's periodical contributions should be
represented.
[22] Of course, if reliable
descriptive bibliographies of the relevant periodicals existed, no one would
expect an author bibliography to do more than make note of the fact; at
present, however, one hardly expects author bibliographies to make up for
the absence of periodical bibliographies. It is all too easy to imagine
situations in which full treatment of an author's periodical contributions
would leave no room for descriptions of any other materials. But if an author
served as the editor of a periodical, or as a primary contributor to one or
more periodical numbers that are not likely to be covered in other author
bibliographies or in a periodical bibliography, an expanded treatment within
the author bibliography may be justified. A range of possibilities exists
between the brief citation that is usually presented, and the full description
that almost never
appears. For example, a bibliographer may wish to establish the context for
an author's contribution to a certain periodical number; one way to
accomplish this goal would be to present a full list of contents, but the goal
might also be met by mentioning the items that precede and follow the
author's contribution, or by noting some other contents that are especially
relevant. This point is that each author presents a unique publishing history,
and that the bibliographer's decisions about the treatment of periodicals must
reflect the particular circumstances of the author's career as well as the
bibliographer's own interests and goals.
My comments are based on trial descriptions of a number of single
numbers and bound volumes of Victorian periodicals; most of my work was
done in the Newberry Library.[23]
Unfortunately, I have rarely been
able to secure multiple copies of any number or bound volume. I have,
however, been able to work with a variety of periodicals and thus to identify
the main ways in which the collection and presentation of bibliographical data
for periodicals differs from that of books. What I offer, then, is a general
discussion of the special considerations that come into play in the process of
analyzing and describing a periodical number, followed by a partial
description of one number of
The Broadway.
It is assumed that the reader is familiar with the elements of
bibliographical description as developed in Bowers's Principles and in
the work of other scholars such as G. T. Tanselle (whose "A Sample
Bibliographical Description With Commentary" is especially useful both as a
model of bibliographical practice and a guide to previous scholarship).
Because Victorian periodicals are in many ways similar to Victorian books,
the procedures articulated by Bowers, Tanselle and others often do not
require modifications when applied to periodicals; it is to be understood,
then, that one proceeds as one would with a book except in the matters
discussed below.
