Welsh Journals

THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF WALES A < COPYRIGHT LIBRARY In December, 191 1, the Royal Assent was given to the Copyright Bill of that year, as a result of which the name of the National Library of Wales was added to the libraries already entitled to receive a copy of every book published in the United Kingdom. The granting of the privilege to the other libraries-The British Museum, the University Libraries of Oxford and Cambridge, the Advocates' Library, Edin- burgh, and the Library of Trinity College, Dublin,-was unconditional, but in the case of the National Library of Wales certain exceptions were made. These exceptions were governed by Board of Trade Regu- lations, known as The National Library of Wales [Delivery of Books] Regulations, and were as follows Books (other than books written wholly or mainly in Welsh or any other Celtic language, or relating wholly or mainly to the antiquities, language, literature, philology, history, religion, arts, crafts, or industries of the Welsh or other Celtic peoples, or relating wholly or mainly to the natural history of Wales) of which (i) The number of copies in the published edition does not exceed 300; or (ii) The number of copies in the published edition does not exceed 400 and the published price of each volume exceeds ^5 or (iii) The number of copies in the published edition does not exceed 600 and the published price of each volume exceeds £ 10. By an amendment to the Regulations in April, 1924, a clause was inserted entitling the Library to a copy of any book imported from abroad of which the published edition in the United Kingdom exceeds 100 copies. The Act came into operation on July I, 1912, and from that date statutory copies were obtainable (with the exceptions mentioned above) if written demand was made within twelve months of publication. The purpose of this article, within its limited space, is to explain how the National Library came to receive Copyright privilege, but before doing so it may be well to examine the position of legal deposit in Great Britain and Ireland before 191 1. The first English Act entitling certain libraries to free copies of all new publications was the Press Licensing Act of 1662, but over fifty