Some Bibliographical Aids to the Use of British Government Publications1

It is a well recognized fact that government publications are frequently the most valuable, and sometimes practically the only, reliable source of information on many phases of political, social, and economic life. Every bibliographical aid to their use, therefore, is to be highly welcomed by the student of government; and, fortunately for him, these aids are being rapidly multiplied. A noteworthy illustration is the List of Serial Publications of Foreign Governments, 1815–1929, now being prepared by Miss “Winifred Gregory under the general direction of a joint committee of the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Eesearch Council, and the American Library Association. Under each country will be listed, in a classified arrangement, the reports and other serials which record governmental activities since 1815. Section two of the preliminary checking edition of the List is devoted to the British Overseas Empire (except Canada).Angus Fletcher, librarian of the British Library of Information in New York, points out that “the publication of official documents is a relatively recent development in English parliamentary history. It was not until 1837 that official documents were finally made available to the public, in the form of the regularly issued Parliamentary Papers as we know them today. The publication of Non-Parliamentary Papers is of stilllater origin.” The establishment of His Majesty's Stationery Office was a result of Burke's Act for Economical Reform in 1782, prior to which time the service of this office had been granted as a monopoly to persons in favor at court. The student entering on a study of British public documents can well afford to review the very readable and valuable historical account of the records of Parliament given by Sir Courtney Ilbert, wherein he traces the development of the written reports of the journals and debates from their beginnings.