It gives me very great pleasure to write a foreword to Mr Freer's “Bibliography and Modern Book Production”. Naturally I make no pretence to being a bibliographer; but what I do know is Mr Freer's intense interest in his subject.

Mr Freer was born in 1893 and entered the library world as a boy, at the age of 14, in the Birmingham Reference Library, and in 1909 the University Library. He was there till War Service took him away in 1914. On his return from the war he entered the University of Birmingham as a student graduating B.A. with Honours in 1922. After a period at the Norfolk and Norwich Library, Norwich, he came to the Union as Under-Librarian, South African Public Library, Cape Town, in 1926 and in 1929 was appointed Librarian of this University. He is retiring at the end of this year at his own request after 46 years in library work.

Ever since I came to know him in 1929 I have realized his immense keenness not only as a working librarian, but also as a student and teacher of bibliography. After Mr Freer had been at the University for two years we lost almost the whole of our book collection in a disastrous fire, but nothing daunted, he set to work again and assisted with the design of the new building, funds for the erection of which were provided by generous donors. At the same time he began once more to build up a book collection of which the University is rightly proud.

But Mr Freer has not limited his activities to the service of the University. All South African scholars are deeply indebted to him for his “Catalogue of Union Periodicals”. He was also one of the prime movers in the establishment of the South African Library Association and has at all times devoted special attention to its Education Committee and the instruction of its students in Bibliography.

The present book is the outcome of his studies and his lecture notes, and I commend them to librarians both here and overseas as the essence distilled from a lifetime of experience in the subject.