The primary purpose of the MARYLAND MANUAL is to present
in concise form to the citizens of Maryland a description of their
government and a directory of its agencies and officers. Since this
is a publication sponsored and paid for by the State, the emphasis
is on State government. However, the lists of county officers and
those of Baltimore City, and the other local material are compiled
with great care and ought to prove equally useful.

Sketches of individual governmental agencies contain, at the very
least, the legal justification of the agency, the date of its origin, its
major function, the names of its responsible administrators, the
members of its governing board or commission if any, the size of
its staff, and its appropriation for fiscal years 1959 and 1960. Current
publications of all agencies are given in a separate section.

It is obvious that every edition of the MARYLAND MANUAL
requires thorough revision. This volume required more changes than
usual because the last General Assembly radically redistributed many
governmental functions, a new Annotated Code required alteration
of almost every reference, and the completion of two new State Office
Buildings caused the relocation of a large number of agencies. In
addition, we have made several additions to the information formerly
included in the MANUAL: an essay on the accomplishments of the
General Assembly of 1959; biographies and photographs of the
Comptroller, the Treasurer, the Attorney General and the Secretary
of State; and a historical list of the Clerks of the Court of Appeals.

A book of this kind could never be compiled without the cooperation
of a great many agencies and individuals. We gladly acknowledge
indebtedness to all of them. We are especially grateful to Carl N.
Everstine for the text of the Constitution, the Index and the Amend-
ments thereto, as well as for the essay on the General Assembly of
1959. Janet L. Hoffman provided the charts of State Government and
valuable counsel. Chester A. Tucker made available all the materials
in the office of the Secretary of State. William H. Bayliff revised
"Maryland at a Glance," and Margaret W. Lee helped with the
Executive appointments, especially the difficult temporary commissions
and committees. For the painstaking task of compiling the roster of
Baltimore City officers we are grateful to James Benson.

We are grateful to all the county officers, especially the clerks to
the Boards of County Commissioners who gave us material available
nowhere else but in the counties. Finally, the compiler wishes to
acknowledge the help of the other members of the Hall of Records
Staff who contributed time, energy and thought to this exacting task:
Lois Green Clark, whose special assignment it is, Frank F. White,
Gust Skordas, Dorothy B. Cullinane, Rose Mary DiStefano, and
Mary E. Martin, Daisy L. Jones and Mary E. Hopkins.

MORRIS L. RADOFF
Archivist and Records Administrator.