Page:The library a magazine of bibliography and library literature, Volume 6.djvu/217

 Rh Colonies generally, their history, resources, Government and Trade, as well as Emigration and the important question of Imperial Federation, and embracing the works of all the chief writers upon Colonial questions during the past two centuries. The Parliamentary Library in another part of the building contains the proceedings of the legislatures of the various Colonies, together with the Blue Books, Parliamentary Debates, Statutes, and Government Gazettes, which are regularly supplied by the Colonial Governments and carefully preserved for purposes of references. Colonial Directories and Handbooks regarding all the Colonies and general works of reference published in this country, such as the Encyclopædia Britannica which was presented by Mr. F. H. Dangar, a member of the Library Committee, form a special feature of the library, whilst a collection of over 300 colonial newspapers and magazines, generously presented in many instances by the proprietors, supplies a mass of information regarding current events throughout the whole of the British Empire, and at the same time constitutes a rich fund for the investigation of future historians. Back files of the newspapers are presented annually to the British Museum, where they are preserved and rendered available to Fellows of the Institute by the Museum authorities. Having taken a cursory glance at the contents of the library, I will very briefly refer to its catalogue, which is now in the printer's hands. The system I have selected is similar to that adopted by Mr. S. W. Silver, to whom I am greatly indebted for many hints, as well as to Mr. E. A. Petherick, the compiler of the York Gate Catalogue, which, in my opinion, is the most suitable and at the same time simple for so distinct a collection as that of the Royal Colonial Institute. Whilst it facilitates research, it shows at a glance all the works which the library contains upon any particular Colony, with the additional advantage of a chronological arrangement. And not only will the catalogue contain the titles and authors of the various books and pamphlets, but it will also embrace the contents of the collections of voyages and travels, as well as the titles of all papers bearing upon the Colonies which have been read before societies scattered over all parts of the world, magazine articles, and special reports contained in parliamentary papers, all of which have been carefully extracted and placed under the subject, or Colonies, to which they immediately refer. With regard to the magazine articles, it is a