Kaser, David

College and Research Libraries

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248 I College & Research Libraries • May 1982 Jameson's contribution to the establishment of the institution. Indeed, Jones calls Jame-son the "most influential single force in the drive for a national archives." Neither vol-ume, however, chronicles the years of work and many disappointments that Jameson en-dured before his dream was realized. By fill-ing out the record, Condos' study documents the basis for Jones' assessment and serves as a fitting tribute to Jameson's tireless efforts. Second, Condos' study is important be-cause it reminds us that the National Ar-chives was born of the political process. The long and difficult struggle to establish the Ar-chives drew support initially from only a small portion of the citizenry. Had Jameson and his colleagues not engaged the active support of historical and patriotic groups, in particular the American Legion, one won-ders if the Archives would ever have been es-tablished. As Condos noted, "it was not until the rise of the American Legion, able to claim thousands of votes in each congressio-nal district, that any organization was in a position to compel a congressman to think twice about failing to support the archival demand." In this current period of political and fiscal assault by the Reagan administration, is there not need for a new coalition of citizen groups, commanding thousands of votes, to save the institution for which Jameson worked so long and hard? Those of us who would take up Jameson's legacy will, I be-lieve, learn much from Victor Condos' thor-oughly researched, meticulously written study.-Nancy E. Peace, Simmons College, Boston, Massachusetts. Wolfe, Gerard R. The House of Appleton. Metuchen, N.J. and London: Scarecrow, 1981. 450p. $17.50. LC 81-2564. ISBN 0-8108-1432-3. Franklin D. Roosevelt once observed that there were few businesses more intimately interwoven with the national fabric than publishing houses. Gerard Wolfe must have had that statement in mind when he wrote this book, because throughout it he strives to relate events in the history of the House of Appleton to contemporary circumstances in the development of the nation. Appleton's of course is one of the most dis-tinguished names in the history of the Ameri-can book industry. It was in 1825 that Yan-kee merchant Daniel Appleton opened his dry goods store in New York City with more than half of its floor space set aside for the re-tail marketing of books. Only six years later, however, he forsook all other selling in favor ' I r--A . •t• -y--L_b ~ ~ ~ l. A cqutst ton 1 rartans . . . . . t I I I : I ' II I j f Now is the time to try the best source for: • ANY BOOK IN PRINT • accurate invoicing • meaningful reports • rush order service • competitive discounts ;1.,. l e plus many other services i I f CALL TOLL-FREE TODAY I I -l-800-248-1146 1 I In Canada & Michigan I i CALL COLLECT (517)849-2117 ANY BOOK IN PRINT ..... means de-livery to your library of "any book in print" from any publisher or distribu-tor in the U.S. or Canada. We have no list of publishers you must check ..... WE ACCEPT THEM ALL! the BOOK HOUSE JOBBERS SERVING LIBRARIES WITH ANY BOOK IN PRINT SINCE 1912 208 WEST CHICAGO STREET JONESVILLE . MICHIGAN 49250 SAN 169-3859 of the book trade, and in 1831 also, his im-print first appeared in a tiny religious work entitled Crumbs from the Masters Table. Wolfe's book recounts faithfully the chronicles of the Appleton firm from those · modest beginnings through the next 150 years. From religious books the firm went on to children's books, Spanish-language books, medical books, subscription books, fiction, science books, periodicals, atlases and travel guides, history and biography, and virtually all other imaginable aspects of trade publish-ing. The House of Appleton proceeds not un-like a picaresque novel itself. The saga is told of the many members of the family who guided the firm through the period of its greatest ascendency (between 1850 and 1900), and the circumstances that led to its latter-day transmogrification as a conglom-erate subsidiary issuing books solely in the fields of health and nursing are related. The book is graciously written and easy-even fun-to read. Its breezy, journalistic style captures quite effectively the sense of hustle and bustle that have pervaded the New York book trade, especially through the middle years of the nineteenth century. The gossip and fashions, as well as the political news and economic fortunes of the times, are reviewed for each period in a lively pano-rama of social history. Some will feel that the book sometimes de-parts a bit far from its central theme, how-ever. For example, only about 15 percent of the chapter on the Civil War has, except by inference, even the remotest relationship ei-ther to Appleton's or to the book trade. The book also tends to superficiality. The chronicle is all here, with myriad detail about every member of the firm, every au-thor it published, every title on its lists, but there is a dearth of interpretation. The au-thor nowhere either asks or attempts to an-swer the question "What does it all mean?" In that sense, the book is less a history than it is a record-albeit a full, well written, use-ful, and much needed record-of one of America's great imprints.-David Kaser, In-diana University, Bloomington. Cline, Hugh F. and Sinnott, Loraine T. Building Library Collections. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books, 1981. 170p. Recent Publications I 249 $16.95. LC 80-8602. ISBN 0-669-04321-4. Sociologists Cline and Sinnott use a com-parative case study methodology to analyze collection development in relation to the structure and function of complex organiza-tions and in relation to resource allocation theory. This is not a book for readers inter-ested in the "how to" of collection develop-ment, but is for the reader who seeks a theo-retical framework for and detailed analyses of the fund allocation and item selection as-pects of collection development. The authors collected data related to the organizational locus and collection develop-ment practices of seven academic libraries: Earlham College, Stockton State College, Brown University, Pennsylvania State Uni-versity, University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), University of Wisconsin (Madison), and University of California (Los Angeles). The data were then analyzed with respect to the planning for and implementa-tion of collection development. The analysis of the distribution of acquisi-tions funds spent by vendor, librarian, and faculty at each of these groups in the collec-tion development process is especially inter-esting. In addition the work includes the more traditional analyses of expenditures by format and broad discipline. The summary tables and detailed discus-sions of the planning and implementation process, both within specific institutions and in comparative summaries, document and highlight the wide variability of collection development practices, something most col-lection development librarians are well aware of. The strength of this book lies in the authors' collection of comparable data and placement of the information in a broad the-oretical context, something heretofore sorely lacking in the library literature. The mobil-ity of libraries to relate collection develop-ment policy statements to actual expendi-tures is interpreted in relation to the complex reporting responsibilities of the library within an institution and in relation to social change. The only weakness of the book lies in the final chapter, where the authors go beyond their data collection and analyses and discuss several areas of librarianship that they per-ceive as important to change and adaptation in academic libraries; namely, library in-struction, special collections, microforms, 

The House of Appleton (Book Review)

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The House of Appleton (Book Review)

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