Bibliographical Journals

Bibliographical Journals 

periodical publications devoted to the critical and bibliographical elucidation of new books, the systematized enumeration of published works, and the understanding of bibliographic work.

The first group of bibliographical journals includes those critical and bibliographical journals in which the basic content consists of a motivated analysis and evaluation of new books. In prerevolutionary Russia there were the following such journals: Sanktpeterburgskie uchenye vedomosti (St. Petersburg Academic Record; St. Petersburg, 1777; edited by N. I. Novikov), Bibliograficheskie listy (Bibliographical Sheet; St. Petersburg, 1825–26), Bibliograficheskie zapiski (Bibliographical Notes; Moscow, 1858–59 and 1861), Knizhnyi vestnik (Book Herald; St. Petersburg, 1860–67), Kriticheskoe obozrenie (Critical Review; Moscow, 1879–80), and Biulleteni literatury i zhizni (Bulletin of Literature and Life; Moscow, 1911–18). In the USSR the following have been published: Kniga i revoliutsiia (The Book and the Revolution; Moscow-Petrograd, 1920–23), Pechat’ i revoliutsiia (The Press and the Revolution; Moscow, 1921–28; this journal was also published in 1929–30, but by then it had lost its bibliographical character), Kniga iproletarskaia revoliutsiia (The Book and the Proletarian Revolution; Moscow, 1932–40), Sovetskaia kniga (The Soviet Book; Moscow, 1946–53), andV mire knig (In the World of Books; since 1961). Of the foreign journals belonging to this group the following should be listed: Journal des savants (Paris, 1665–1792, 1816–), Göttingische gelehrte Anzeigen (Góttingen, 1739–), Literarisches Zentralblatt für Deutschland (Leipzig, 1850–1944), Polybiblion (Paris, 1868–1939) Deutsche Literaturzeitung (Berlin, 1880–), and the Times Literary Supplement (London, 1902–).

The second group of bibliographical journals consists of organs of current bibliographical information, especially state registration of published works. In the USSR this group includes the following: Knizhnaia letopis’ (Book Chronicle; 1907–), Letopis’ zhurnal’nykh statei (Chronicle of Journal Articles; 1926–), Letopis’ gazetnykh statei (Chronicle of Newspaper Articles; 1936–), Letopis’ pechatnykh proizvedenii izobrazitel’nogo iskusstva (Chronicle of Published Works in the Fine Arts; 1934–), Notnaia letopis’ (Chronicle of Music; 1931–), and Letopis’ retsenzii (Chronicle of Review; 1935–). Analogous publications are issued in all the Union republics except the RSFSR–for example, Litopys knig (Chronicle of Books; began in 1924) in the Ukrainian SSR. Examples of this type of bibliographical journal published abroad are as follows: in Bulgaria, Bulgarski knigopis (Sophia, 1929–); in Hungary, Magyar nemzeti bibliografía (Budapest, 1946–); in the German Democratic Republic, Deutsche Nationalbibliographie (Leipzig, 1931–); in Poland, Przewodnik bibliograficzny (Warsaw, 1946–); in Rumania, Bibliografía Republicii Socialiste Romania (Bucharest, 1953–); in Czechoslovakia, Bibliograficky katalog, issued since 1949 in two series (Prague-Bratislava, later Martin, 1933–: A. Knihy Ceské; B. Knihy Slovenské; in Yugoslavia, Bibliografija Jugoslavije (Belgrade, 1950–); in Great Britain, British National Bibliography (London, 1950–); in Spain, Repertorio bibliographico clasificado por materias (Madrid, 1942–): in Italy, Bibliografía nazionale Italiana (Florence, 1958–); in the USA, American Book Publishing Record (New York, I960–); in France, Bibliographic de la France (Paris, 1811–); and in the Federal Republic of Germany, Deutsche Bibliographic: Wóchentliches Verzeichnis (Frankfurt am Main, 1947–). Various periodical bulletins and other types of publications, usually issued by libraries, also belong to the group of bibliographical journals whose contents provide systematized information concerning published works.

The third group of bibliographical journals are those which are devoted to the theory, history, and methods of bibliography. Examples are Bibliograficheskie izvestiia (Moscow, 1913–27 and 1929), Sovetskaia bibliografiia (Moscow, 1933–), and Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America (Chicago, 1904).

G. G. KRICHEVSKII