Page:Hubert Howe Bancroft His Work and His Method.djvu/12

169 such use of it as his judgment dictates." (179) So far as possible all the material was brought together within instant and con- stant reach, "so that I could place before me on my table the in- formation lodged in the British Museum beside that contained in the archives of Mexico and compare both with what Spain and California could yield, and not be obliged in the midst of my investigations to go from one library to another note-taking. " (470) Mr. Bancroft had bought every book - solid or trashy - on his subject. We are assured that "the task of making references as well as of taking out material was equivalent to five times the labor of writing,. .. for example, in taking out the material for California history alone, eight men were employed for six years; for making the references merely, for the History of Mexico, without taking out any of the required information, five men were steadily employed for a period of ten years." (582)

The system of note-taking was perfected by Nemos. "The first step for a beginner was to make references, in books given him for that purpose, to the information required, giving the place where found and the nature of the facts therein mentioned; after this he would take out the information in the form of notes. By this means he would learn how to classify and how duly to condence. . . . The notes were written on half sheets of legal paper, one following another, without regard to length or subject. . . . The notes when separated and arranged were filed by means of paper bags, on which were marked subject and date, and the bags num- bered chronologically and entered in a book." The assistants' duty was so to reduce the mass of notes and references as to lay the subject matter before the editor "weeded of all superfluities and repetitions, .. . . yet containing every fact, however minute."

The numerous authors referred to were divided into three or more classes, "according to the value of the authority; the first class comprising original narratives and reports; the second, such as were based partly on the first, yet possessed certain original facts or thoughts ; the third, those which were merely copied from others, or presented brief and hasty compilations." (567) By further comparison and refinement of matter the editor was shown which authors confirmed and which contradicted any statement" and thus enabled more safely to draw conclusions. He was thus not compelled to spend time in studying any but the best authorities.

The aim was to have the work in his hands in as advanced a state as possible. Several volumes and parts of volumes the author worked out with great toil alone, "not trusting any one even to take out the material in the rough." It is said that "the entire series, notes and text, was compared with the original authorities