International Bibliography of Historical Sciences by Jirina Sztachova; Adolf SztachoReview by: Gray C. BoyceThe Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Vol. 39, No. 2 (Sep., 1952), pp. 367-368Published by: Organization of American HistoriansStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1892234 .

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BOOK REVIEWS 367

controversial one on the Negro problem, and one entitled "The Task of the Critic" which was part of another controversy. Bassett wrote philosophically about the critic of things as they are as an editorial defense of William E. Dodd, then professor of history at Randolph-Macon College, whose paper entitled "Some Difficulties of the History Teacher in the South" (also re- printed in this volume) had aroused bitter recriminations.

The editor of this volume does not too much emphasize, however, the southern interests which represent only a part of the scope of this review. Despite its title, the South Atlantic has had from the first a pretty well- defined national outlook, and a considerable proportion of its contributors have been from the North and West.

This is an interesting and well-balanced book, full of good stuff. It is en- couraging that such a fine journal as the South Atlantic Quarterly is able to celebrate a semicentennial. May it live to observe many more.

University of Missouri FRANK LUTHER MOTT

International Bibliography of Historical Sciences. Eighteenth Volume for 1949, including some publications of previous years. Edited by Dr. Jirina Sztachova and Dr. Adolf Sztacho for the International Committee of Historical Sciences. (Paris: Librairie Armand Colin, 1951. Pp. lii + 354.)

This important bibliography is now published with the assistance of UNESCO and under the patronage of the International Council for Philoso- phy and Humanistic Studies. All historians can scan its many sections with profit; however, American scholars primarily interested in the history of the United States will find few works unfamiliar to them. Their own writings are, nevertheless, here brought to the attention of scholars in distant lands. A perusal of the selections made for American history indicates good judg- ment on the part of the editors and American historians will find listed a number of foreign works that may not have come to their attention. These will be examined possibly less for scholarly contributions than for reflections of attitudes on the part of others who are analyzing our past and trying to understand us today.

The volume for 1949 has 6,540 entries - at least that is all the reviewer could find, although the editorial preface and information on a fore-leaf refer to some 6,700 items. This represents an increase when comparison is made with other volumes recently published, although the issue for 1932 (Vol. VII) reached similar limits. The use of smaller type, entirely adequate in every respect, keeps the latest volume within 348 pages, whereas that for 1932 required 528 pages, although its listings were approximately the same in number. Only works of major significance and importance are noted and no attempt is made to cover local history or the history of cities. Naturally

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368 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY HISTORICAL REVIEW

many towns are represented in the indexes, and articles of general interest also offer much for the local historian. Some 145 pages are given to general history, the history of antiquity and the middle ages, and to the various aux- iliary sciences; approximately the same amount of space is reserved for the years after 1500. Any bibliographer faces the problem of classification and knows that there are limits to multiplication of subheadings, but often a heading is forced to cover here more than should be expected of it. An ex- ample of this sort is found on pages 133-36 where, for the middle ages, the caption "Storia della civilita, della letteratura e della scuola" covers all in alphabetical order. Certainly the use of three separate headings would more readily facilitate the rapid use of articles of interest to a searcher in this special field. There is an index for authors and persons and a separate one for places. Both have proven to be accurate and adequate where tested. It is to be hoped that the future volumes in this series will receive the same careful, skillful attention that has been given this issue.

Northwestern University GRAY C. BOYCE

White House Profile; A Social History of the White House, Its Occupants and Its Festivities. By Bess Furman. (Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1951. 368 pp. Illustrations, bibliography, and index. $4.00.)

Late in March President Truman moved back into the White House. But it was not the same structure in which thirty-one other presidents had lived. Only the outer walls of Aquia Creek sandstone remained; within that stout masonry a new building, supported by a steel frame, had been erected. That the public approved of the expensive effort to save at least the shell of the old mansion was eloquent expression of its unique hold on the sentiments of the American people.

Bess Furman of the New York Times, who has covered the executive man- sion for more than twenty years, has essayed a timely profile of the White House. She sketches not only the building, but its occupants, with emphasis on the ladies who have presided there. She places presidential social functions in political perspective. She deals with the changes made in the structure throughout the years and with its effect on those who have lived within its walls. She has written a book which makes clear the extent to which 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has become the symbol of the presidency.

Any sentimental attachment to the wood and plaster of the old White House interior should be destroyed by the account of the recurrent remodel- ing that the ancient dwelling has endured. Most presidents have found altera- tions and redecorating a necessity. Under Grant the East Room resembled the main salon of a Long Island Sound steamer. The fastidious Arthur elimi- nated some of the worst furnishings, but had Louis Tiffany construct an

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