HOT OFF THE PRESS

"It is impossible to collect a library intelligently until you have first read certain books which treat of the subjects and books which you want to build your library on."

Charles J. Barnes

September 1891

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ANNOUNCING A NEW LIMITED SERIES FROM

BEAR HOLLOW BOOKS:

Early Mormon Bibliographies

BIBLIOTHICA SCALLAWAGIANA - CHARLES L. WOODWARD

THE BERRIAN CATALOGUE - WILLIAM BERRIAN

THE LIBRARY OF CHARLES J. BARNES - AMERICANA - CHARLES J. BARNES

Charles L. Woodward was a caustic old book dealer in New York in the last half of the Nineteenth Century. For some reason he collected Mormon Books including the Book of Commandments. His catalogue of Mormon books: Bibliothica Scallawagiana is considered the first Mormon bibliography. One need only to read a few of the annotations for some of the Mormon titles in Bibliothica Scallawagiana to conclude that Woodward was no fan of Mormonism. After a failed attempt to solicit financial assistance from like-minded folks opposed to Mormonism, Woodward decided to organize his 10-year accumulation of Mormon books and sell them at auction. His initial intention was to solicit enough financial support so that he could reprint his copy of the rare Book of Commandments in side-by-side columns along with the Doctrine and Covenants so that the reader could see for themselves the changes made in Joseph Smith’s revelations and thereby see for understand the fraud that the Mormon Church was perpetrating. —“This and the suppressed book, side by side, form a chain of evidence, that no one but a fool could fail to see, and none but a knave would deny.” Unfortunately he received little interest from others and so he abandoned his project and decided to sell his Mormon collection. Woodward realized that his catalogue was unique and would be referenced for many years to come: “As the extent of the collection will cause the catalogue to be frequently referred to, until a bibliography of Mormonism be compiled; considerable care has been exercised in the matter of collations.” This proved to be prophetic and Bibliothica Scallawagiana was used as the bibliography of choice when cataloguers referenced Mormon Books in their own catalogues, for example, see the Anderson Galleries’ auction catalogue number 1706 – Far West and Gateway Literature . . . Anderson Galleries, New York: 1923. Catalogers and bibliographers have always relied on bibliographies to check their entries and to reference their books—often noting “Sabin 345” or “not in Sabin or Wagner” to indicate that they have done their due diligence. With the advent of “Flake” (see endnote 20 below) it has become popular when cataloguing a Mormon book to do the same. Books found in “Flake” are listed—“Flake 1234”—or if not found are declared with some satisfaction and to emphasize rarity “not in Flake.” As early as 1923 the Anderson Galleries used this phrase to their advantage by declaring “not in Berrian or Woodward” when cataloguing Mormon books and using those two books as accepted authoritative bibliographical references. See items numbered 399, 401, 402 in that catalogue for examples:

399: Mormons. Cannon (Elder George Q.) Writings from the “Western Standard . . .” Privately printed in a very small number of copies for the author’s children and immediate friends. Not in Woodward; cited by Bancroft as one of his authorities.

401: Mormons. Harrison (E.) and Tullidge (E.) The Peep o’ Day . . . .” No previous records discovered, nor any other file located.

Not in Berrian or Woodward.

402: Mormons. Hyde (Orson, Editor). The Frontier Guardian. . . . “ Of Excessive Rarity, there being no record of the publication in either the Berrien (sic) or Woodward collections. . . .”

The Woodward and Berrian Catalogues remained the Mormon bibliographic authority for nearly one hundred years until with the impetus motivated by Dale L. Morgan to develop a comprehensive Mormon Bibliography, A Mormon Bibliography 1830-1930 by Chad Flake come on the scene.

Charles L. Woodward’s Bibliothica Scallawagiana contained approximately 500 Mormon entries. In comparison, “Flake” as it is known today contains over 14,000 entries.

William Berrian, a book collector from Brooklyn purchased the majority of Bibliothica Scallawagiana at Woodward’s auction in 1880 and continued to add to the Mormon collection for the next 14 years. Woodward died in 1894 and several years later his son, Charles Berrian organized and separated William’s Mormon collection from the rest of William’s large book collection. (William Berrian collected books in biology, history and free will as well as Mormonism – these “non-Mormon” books numbered over 4000 titles.)

Charles Berrian sold his father’s Mormon books to Helen Gould – daughter of Jay Gould the railroad tycoon. She donated the books to the New York Public library. Miss Gould states that she donated this collection to the New York Public Library because “. . . I believe it will be very useful for students to have access to a collection that gives a clear idea of this peculiar form of error. The Mormon Elders are proselyting (sic) in many sections of our country, and our people generally should become better informed on the subject of Mormonism in order to be on their guard against these “Latter Day Saints” as they style themselves.”

Probably the most prized book in Bibliothica Scallawagiana was Woodward’s’ Book of Commandments. The book was passed on to William Berrian when he purchased Woodward’s books and from there went to Helen Gould who then donated it along with the entire collection to the New York Public Library. The Library retained possession of the Book of Commandments until 1911 when it was sold to the Library of Congress when the New York Public Library acquired a better copy.

Then there is Charles J Barnes. He was a Chicago business man who happened to collect Mormon Books, including two copies of the Book of Commandments. He catalogued his books and sold them in 1920 – his Book of Commandments sold for $320.00. To put things in perspective, in 2012 a Book of Commandments sold for 1.7 million! I have included a 20-page biography of Barnes along with a photo copy of his Americana catalogue that contained his Mormon collection. Many of the premium books in the Charles J. Barnes Americana catalogue, including his Book of Commandments were purchased by the well-known New York Book Dealer, Edward Eberstadt at the auction. Eberstadt sold these fine books to William Robertson Coe. Coe's incredible collection of Western Americana was donated to the Bienecke Library at Yale University.