A collection of great importance to the history of the American book trades is that of booksellers' and book auctioneers' catalogs, which include examples from the beginnings of the American wholesale and retail book trades.
Access
The General Catalog uses local (i.e., just used at AAS) genre/form terms to make findable hundreds of catalogs produced through 1900. Researchers can use the following terms:
- Booksellers' catalogs
- Book auction catalogs
- Publishers' catalogs
Lists of materials for sale from a publisher
Materials from 1840 to the present day are not cataloged and are filed alphabetically by firm name.
- An inventory of American booksellers' catalogs, listing the firm names and dates of catalogs, is available as an Excel spreadsheet.
- An inventory of foreign booksellers' catalogs, listing the firm names, country, and dates of catalogs, is available as an Excel spreadsheet.
Resources
The Society published Robert B. Winans's Descriptive Checklist of Book Catalogues Separately Printed in America, 1694-1800 in 1981. His work and George L. McKay's American Book Auction Catalogues, 1713-1934 (New York, 1937), introduced by Clarence S. Brigham, provide annotated guides to AAS holdings.