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.
