A MADAGASCAR BIBLIOGRAPHY. IN TWO PARTS: Part I.-Arranged Alphabetically according to Authors' Names; REV. J. SIBREE, F.R.G.S., Missionary of the L.M.S., Member of the Royal Asiatic Society, and ANTANANARIVO: PRINTED AT THE PRESS OF THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY BY NATIVE PRINTERS. (LONDON AGENCY, TRÜBNER AND CO.) PREFACE. A VERY few words will suffice to explain the reasons which led me to think of making the catalogue of books, pamphlets and papers of various kinds which is printed in the following pages. During my unusually lengthened furlough in England I was almost constantly employed in preaching and speaking about Madagascar; and during the few intervals of this, my chief work, I was continually occupied in writing about the country and about its people. In order to collect the information already available in books and periodicals on these subjects, and to make myself acquainted with what had already been written about Madagascar and the Malagasy, I was a frequent visitor at the magnificent library of the British Museum, and so gradually became familiar with almost all that is contained in that wonderful collection which relates to this great island and its inhabitants. The information thus obtained, however, has, until recently, been scattered through a number of note-books and scrap-books, and so has been difficult of reference. It occurred to me a few months ago that it would be worth while to collect these scattered notes and arrange them in alphabetical order, and also to classify them according to their subjects; and this Bibliography is the result. I have been surprised at the large amount of information available about Madagascar, and the work has proved a much greater one than I had anticipated when commencing it. More than fifteen years ago I prepared a short list of books, pamphlets, etc., as one of the appendices to Madagascar and its People (1870); and in the first and second numbers of the Antananarivo Annual (1875 and 1876) I gave a list of English, and then of French, publications on the subject; while in my article 'Madagascar,' in the new edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (vol. xv. 1883), a list of the most important books and papers is also given. In these pages, however, I have tried to make the list as full and complete as the materials at hand allowed, although I am fully aware that in several subjects, especially in the botany and natural history of the island, there must still be many papers which have escaped notice. I do not think it likely that any book of importance on Madagascar has been omitted, but as regards shorter papers and articles in scientific journals, more especially in those of France, a careful search would doubtless bring to light many more. However, fully believing the proverb that "the best is the enemy of the good," I have preferred to publish this catalogue, imperfect as it still is, rather than risk never publishing it at all through waiting to make it complete in every respect. I venture to think that it is a considerable step towards a perfect bibliography of Madagascar, and I hope that it may prove serviceable to all who are interested in the country and its people by showing what has already been written on these subjects, and where the information can be obtained. I beg also to remind readers in England that this Bibliography has been compiled and put to press in Madagascar, and that in this country there no public libraries which can be |