NOTES AND COMMENTS HERE came on the market in England recently a small collection of manuscripts of great interest to Canadians. These were some letters and other docu.ments, relating to the British conquest of Canada, discovered among the papers of the Monckton family. The Hon. Robert Monckton, second son of the first Viscount Galway, was one of Wolfe's brigadiers at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, was wounded at the battle, and was later ordered south for his health. Among his papers

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... been preserved, apparently, a number of letters between Wolfe and him-.self, and, if one is tO believe the cabled newspaper reports, the original of Wolfe's secret orders before the Battle of the Plains. It is these which have now been effered for sale. In the natural course of events, the proper resting-place for them would be the Public Archives at Ottawa. Unfortunately, the price asked for them•a price fixed apparently with an eye single to the wealthy collector--is so high that it must be questioned whether even the Archives Would be justified in paying it, especially in these days when photostat reproductions of manuscripts and'rare books can be .made for only a small fraction of what it would cost to procure the originals. The original of an historical document is, of course, always preferable to a copy, since it is often only by a study of the original that the authenticity of a document may be established. But once the question of authenticity has been settled, a photostat reproduction is just as reliable as the original, and just as 'serviceable to the student. It is perhaps permissible to doubt whether Canadian scholars and investigators always realize the great. use of the photostat that can be made in connection with their researches. Those especially whose lines are cast in places remote from great libraries and important archives collections are often too apt to take it for granted that the material necessary to their researches is not available to them--when, as a matter of fact, what they need may be procured with the exercise of a little patience. Not only manuscripts, but rare books and pamphlets, extracts from rare or inaccessible journals and newspapers, maps, diagrams, tabular statements--no matter where they may be preserved--can be photographed with absolute accuracy at a very low cost. Indeed, in many cases, even the use 'of the photostat is unnecessary. Under the modern system of inter-library loans, the original of a book, a pamphlet, or a map may be obtained, at the cost of postage or express, through the agency of the public library of the locality in which the student lives. In this way, it is hardly too much to say that both the manuscript and printed resources of the great libraries and archives collections, not only in Canada, but all over America and Europe, may be placed under contribution by investigator in a small and secluded Canadian town. Before, however, the fullest use may be made of the facilities afforded by the inter-library loan system and by the photostat in research, it is essential that there should be a greater degree of co-operation and co-ordination, both from the national and the international standpoint, between libraries and archives departments. If the student .is to make use of the materials that are in existence, he must know where these materials are to be found. So far as archives collections are concerned, the problem has been at any rate partially solved by the publication of lists, calendars, and reports, such as the magnificent series of reports which the Public Archives of Canada have issued--though, it must be confessed, even in this case the very magnitude of the series has introduced an element of difficulty for the student. 'In the case of libraries, however, it cannot be said that a solution of the problem has begun to be reached. Whether it will be found to lie in the establishment at convenient centres of" union" or collective card-catalogues, or in a revival of the printed catalogues dear to a former generation (followed up by a periodical list of accessions), or in some other method, remains to be seen. But what is important for Canadians to observe is that, in Canada, the very Library--is lacking. As Mr. L. J. Burpee pointed out in the first volume of this REviEw, in a most valuable article advocating the establishment of a national library, this fact places Canada in a class with Siam and Abyssinia. "None of the three has a National Library." For what the Canadian Archives have done, and are doing, one must express the most unbounded admiration and gratitude; but, after all, the Archives cover only one field--that of purely Canadian history--and even here they concern themselves primarily with documentary material. In this connection, especial interest attaches to the results of the meeting of the Fifth International Conference on Bibliography, which met at Brussels in September, 1920. To the man on the street, nothing more dismal than a conference on biblio- graphy could perhaps b6 imagined; but no one who has thought at all deeply on the question of intellectual activity and research, no matter in what field it is carried out, can fail to appreciate the vital importance of bibliography. Where bibliography is neglected, whether it be in the field of historical or scientific or industrial investigation, the investigator is inevitably handicapped by an ignorance of what has been done in other times, and what is being done in other places. The problem of making available to investigators everything of importance in connection with their subjects is what the International Conferences on Bibliography have attempted to solve; and among the recommendations made by this last conference are several which should be of interest to Canadians. No apology, it is hoped, is necessary for reprinting •hese recommendations here in extenso: I. Collections, Libraries. (a) That in each nation belonging to the organization the sum total of national intellectual production should be collected in a national depository (a unified central library or several libraries considered as parts of a system); (b) That for each branch or group of sciences an international depository should be established. II. Catalogues. (a) That in each country with the aid of aational depositories the production of works (books and pamphlets) thould be catalogued by author and subject; (b) A collective mtalogue should be made according to the authors whose works are t! be found in the principal libraries of the country. III. Bibliography. (a) That through an international organizatim (single bureau or several bureaus recognized as a system for THE'CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW this purpose) a bibliography be established for each branch of learning, which should be universal, 'international, and comprehensive, with entries by authors and subject, and periodical articles published from time. to time in all countries. (b) That measures be taken to utilize existing bibliographies and catalogues by connecting them into one unit, by means of additions, reprinting and indexes. IV. Summaries. That there should be established a general collection of rgsumgs giving objectively an analysis of publications which are original contributions to learning. In order to facilitate this work, authors themselves might be requested to add r•sumgs of their publications. V. Exchanges. (a) That in each country belonging to the organization a bureau of service should, be established, from which nationally or internationally publications of no commercial value (books, extracts, periodicals, reports, laws, official documents, etc.) could be exchanged promptly and without expense between authors, societies, universities, museums, libraries, parliaments, public administrations, etc. (b) That an international service should be established to facilitate the work of the national bureaus in controlling international service and in centralizing a complete collection of all publications exchanged. VI.' Loans. That the scientific societies of every country belonging to the organization should, upon their own responsibility and by paying postage, be able to borrow directly from all public libraries works needed. VII. Publications. That for each branch of learning there should be established a complete system on national and• international bases, utilizing those works which already exist and supplementing and co-ordinating them. This system should extend to all the needs of recording knowledge and information (periodical re. ports, treatises, alphabetical encyclopedias, scientific catalogues, annuals, histories, etc.). VIII. Unification of Codes. That for the establishment 0f collections, catalogues, bibliographies, rgsumgs and publications, an international code of rules should be adopted, dealing v•th points necessary for co-operation and time-saving in the work; •hat rules should also be applied to the classification of authors and, as far as possible, to the standardization of sizes; that they sl•uld work towards the use of the card system, uniform classificatio• and notation. IX. Organization and Co-operation. That to realize •ch a plan an appeal should be made for co-operation between existing One needs only to peruse these recommendations to realize how far Canada--which, by the way, was not represented at the con-'ference--is lacking in even the rudimentary elements of what might serve as a sort of intellectual clearing-house. The names of the contributors to this REVIEW are perhaps not always familiar to readers of the REVIEW. For this reason, it has been decided to include regularly in this department a paragraph giving some information about the authors of articles. In the present number of the REVIEW, the first article, "Nationalism and Self-Determination", is by Professor W. P.M. Kennedy, of the staff in Modern History at the University of Toronto, an Irish scholar who came to Canada before the war, and who has