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The publication of the fiftieth volume of Studies in Bibliography offers an appropriate occasion for looking back over the history of the series, which is central to the history of bibliography in the second half of the twentieth century. When The Library, the journal of the Bibliographical Society in London, reached its fortieth volume in 1929, A. W. Pollard wrote an account of its history that serves to remind us how different were the origins of the two pre-eminent journals of bibliographical scholarship in the English language.[1] Whereas Studies in Bibliography was sponsored from the start by a bibliographical society, The Library began its life in January 1889 (three years before the founding of the Bibliographical Society) as the organ of the Library Association, and it did not become a bibliographical-society publication until 1920, more than three decades later. Nevertheless, there is one essential similarity in their histories: the crucial importance of a single individual. Pollard said that one of his goals in writing the history of The Library was to emphasize the debt owed by "all who are interested in bibliography" to J. Y. W. MacAlister--who (though his own primary interest was librarianship) managed to keep The Library alive as an outlet for bibliographical articles until the Bibliographical Society was (in Pollard's words) "strong enough to be able to take it over and carry it on with success." Similarly, Studies in Bibliography had a founder of vision and determination in Fredson Bowers, and its history is inextricably bound up with his life and personality.[2]
As Bowers's many bibliographical activities rapidly made him the leader of his field, so his journal quickly became, in the decade following World War II, the one that best conveyed to many in the bibliographical world the excitement of being at the heart of a developing area of study. During the first half of the twentieth century, The Library occupied that position; and although its standard of excellence did not diminish in the second half of the century, Studies in Bibliography became the place after 1948 where one witnessed most dramatically the exploration of new techniques and new areas.[3] That for most of its half-century it was the product of a single sensibility is one of its remarkable aspects, and one that differentiates it from The Library. MacAlister's role with The Library was to nurture it through hard times, until it could safely be released from his care; Bowers, in contrast, held on to Studies in Bibliography until his death, and its stature is a reflection of his qualities. Pollard ended his article by saying of MacAlister, "He was a great man"; and I begin this account by observing that one manifestation of Fredson Bowers's greatness is the success of Studies in Bibliography.
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