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PRINTED CATALOGUES OF THE HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY, 1723-1790
Bond, William H. and Hugh Amory (editors).

- Boston : Colonial Society of Massachusetts 1996 - thick 8vo. - cloth, dust jacket. - (xlii), 710 pages. - ISBN 0962073733 / Order Nr. 44060 - Price: $ 75.00 View Table of Contents

First edition. Printed Catalogues is an important record of 17th- and 18th-century books in the first printed university and public catalogue of the Harvard College Library. By 1764, the Library was considered the most substantial library in British North America at the time. For scholars of book history, American history and education, Printed Catalogues provides insight into the books of the period, the early formation of this academic institution and the education of its early students. This work includes the "Catalogue of the Books of the Harvard College Library" (Boston, 1723-35), "Select Catalogue of Books in the Library of Cambridge Most Frequently Used by Harvard Men" (Boston, 1773) and the "Catalogue of the Harvard Library in Cambridge, New England" (Boston, 1790), as translated from their titles. All these have been reproduced with enhanced legibility. A brief introduction outlines the history of the catalogues, the library and the manuscript materials for its study, which are not included. Though the 1723 catalogue describes books destroyed by fire in 1764, these 3,000 volumes composed the first library at Harvard College and are arranged alphabetically by author and title in this work. The strength of the collection is in divinity and classical philology, but the subjects of law, medicine and science are also prominent. The 1773 catalogue is a brief undergraduate reading list, mainly of interest for the history of the College and its curriculum. The 1790 catalogue describes the roughly 9,000 volumes acquired between 1764 and 1790, categorized by subjects which range much more widely than those of the earlier library due to the intellectual interests of its chief donor, Thomas Hollis. An index of authors and titles allows the user to locate the catalogue entries in modern references such as the British Museum Catalogue or the pre-1956 National Union Catalogue and, conversely, to check Harvard's 18th-century holdings of particular titles. The facsimiles and index have been prepared by William H. Bond, Librarian Emeritus of The Houghton Library and authority on Thomas Hollis, along with the help of Hugh Amory, Senior Rare Book cataloguer at the Harvard College Library.