New System of Classification and Scheme for Numbering Books, Applied to the Mercantile Library of Philadelphia

"New System Of Classification And Scheme For Numbering Books, Applied To The Mercantile Library Of Philadelphia" by John Edmands offers a historical and practical blueprint for organizing a large lending library. The work lays out a dual approach: first, dividing books into broad primary classes and nuanced sub-classes to reflect topics and disciplines; second, arranging them on shelves so they can be located quickly without consulting a catalogue. The system uses capitals for primary classes and lowercase letters for sub-classes, with a ten-thousand-numbering scheme to permit indefinite growth and easy reference to author names across the collection. The biography section is treated specially, combining biographical dictionaries with individual lives under a unified labeling scheme. The text provides a comprehensive synopsis of the classifications (Theology, Sociology and Law, General History, History of Asia and Africa, Voyages and Travels, Biography, Philosophy and Education, Mathematics and Physics, Natural Science, Medical Science, Useful Arts, Fine Arts, Language and Literature, Poetry and Drama, Bibliography, and General Works), and details on Prose Fiction by author groupings and an author-numbering system. Published in Philadelphia in 1883, this manual remains influential in library classification theory and practice.