BOOKS AND THE DATE OF PUBLICATION
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sia,—It is possible that your correspondent, Mr. Chester, may be under some misapprehension. The Council of the Publishers' Association have always done their utmost to insist on dates being printed on title pages, but there are one or two firms who have always tried to evade this regulation. On the other hand, my own firm and some others have adopted the practice of putting a full bibliography on the back of the title page instead of a single date at the foot of the front page. This bibliography gives the original date of publication and. full particulars of reprints and new editions, and is, therefore, exceedingly useful to librarians and booksellers. For instance on the back of the title page of Darwin's Origin of Species there is a full bibliography of twenty-one lines. This biblio- graphy may be overlooked by those who only see the face of the title page ; but I think it must be admitted that it has much to recommend it.--I am, Sir, &c., JOHN MLTRRAY.
50a Albemarle Street, London, W. 1.
Ma. E. Ausrix HorroN (Literary and Philosophical Society, Neweastle-upon-Tyne) writes : "I understand that in the U.S.A. it is compulsory for every boOk issued by a publishing firm to contain the date of its publication. You would, Sir, render great service to the cause of good and honest book- production, and save annoyance to every booklover, could YOU set in motion a successful agitation for the introduction of a similar obligation on the part of publishers in this country. As a first step I would suggest informing the chief offending publishers (whose names I could supply) of the annoyance that they give and of the complaints that are made."
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