A letter to His Royal Highness the President of the Royal Society [i.e. the Duke of Sussex], on the new catalogue of the library of that institution now in the press / [Sir Anthony Panizzi].
- Anthony Panizzi
- Date:
- [1837]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A letter to His Royal Highness the President of the Royal Society [i.e. the Duke of Sussex], on the new catalogue of the library of that institution now in the press / [Sir Anthony Panizzi]. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![In order to carry on the Catalogue to the end of April, it would have been necessary to add all the volumes or numbers of works in progress, Transactions of Societies, Journals, &c. To do this well, may take perhaps a month’s time, for which no compensation would be made to me, as the num¬ ber of titles by which I was to be paid would not be in¬ creased. I can easily prove that I have been employed on this work at least six months more than I should have been, had I limited myself to do only what I was bound to do by my agreement. The collation of Transactions of Societies, and that of Journals, which were scattered all about the library, from the cellars under the apartments of the Geo¬ logical Society up to the floors of the Royal Society’s apart¬ ments, and to the very top of the book-presses, took an immense deal of time and trouble; and I now regret having bestowed it for the benefit of a body who have not appre¬ ciated it. I put the sets in order, made memoranda of what was wanting, put duplicates aside, had the series bound, placed them on the shelves, 8tc. All this I did out of a foolish notion that my exertions would have been kindly noticed. Instead of which, by this resolution the Com¬ mittee, treating me as if I were their servant, order me to add, as a matter of duty, to the work which I had performed out of mere good-will. The third resolution is expressed as follows: “That Mr. Panizzi be requested to make such alterations in the copies [query classes ?] of the catalogue as may be pointed out by the members of the Catalogue Committee; but if he should have a doubt on any of the points, that he be requested to refer to either of the persons attached to the class in ques¬ tion.” This resolution was passed before any alterations were made by the members of the Catalogue Committee; hence, before the Committee knew what alterations might be pointed out, it was ordered that I should make them: in other words, it was resolved, ere the individual cases were known, that the members of the Committee must be right, and I wrong, and that I must myself stultify my opinion by agreeing to whatever was suggested differing from it. This eventual infallibility is moreover assumed not only for each member of the Committee, but also for every unknown person to whom these members took the unwarrantable liberty of communicating the revises I had sent to them. I was allowed to be sure “ if I had a doubt ** to petition “either of the persons attached to the class in question.” But did it never occur to the Committee that “ either of the c](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b31918360_0033.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
