This paper is directed toward helping the new graduate student in mathematics to acquire a feeling for the literature of his field and thus carry out a more efficient literature search. As the field of mathematics developed, the number of journals carrying mathematical articles grew. Today there are over 120 journals devoted in whole or in part to mathematics. This vast amount of literature presents a problem common to beginning graduate students initiating a research project. As an introduction, a discussion is given of the development of mathematics from the time of the first learned academies to the time of Crelle's Journal, with emphasis being placed on some of the outstanding mathematicians of the period. The years covered constitute the pre-birth era of modern mathematical literature. The second section concerns the growth of the literature and contains a partial listing of the major mathematical research journals of the world. Also in this section, there is a discussion devoted to the use of the literature with hints for organizing a systematic literature search. The remainder of the thesis is devoted to some of the major mathematical societies and journals of the world. In these letter sections there is information concerning 23 societies from 11 different countries. Particular emphasis is placed on the American Mathematical Society and its publications as it is one of the foremost organizations of its type in the world today. Much of the information for the sections concerning the societies was obtained by personal correspondence, on the part of the author, with persons directly associated with the various societies. / Master of Science