These pages are now woefully outdated; I haven't updated the links in yonks. Still I resolved not to take the pages down, since there may still be some useful material in here. Just be prepared to be frustrated.

Literary Resources — Bibliography and History of the Book

This page is part of the Literary Resources collection maintained by Jack Lynch of Rutgers – Newark. Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Bibliography and History of the Book

Book History Online (Koninklijke Bibliotheek): Searchable English-language bibliography on book history, based on ABHB. Contains nearly 25,000 records. Very scholarly.
The British Book Trade Index (Univ. of Birmingham): "An index of the names and brief biographical details and trade details of people who worked in the book trade in England and Wales and who were trading by 1851." Admirably scholarly.
Color Printing in the Nineteenth Century (Univ. of Delaware Library): An exhibition on engraving, lithography, and photomechanical processes.
Conservation OnLine (Stanford): A collection of information on book conservation.
Cultural Readings: Colonization and Print in the Americas (Penn Libraries): Exhibition on early American print culture.
DScriptorium (Jesse D. Hurlbut, BYU): Digital images (medium-resolution) of several medieval manuscripts, mostly French, with transcriptions and links to related resources.
Digital Watermark & Ornament Catalogue (David L. Gants, Virginia): Very scholarly study of the watermarks and type ornaments in William Stansby's edition of Ben Jonson's Workes.
Early Manuscripts at Oxford University: High-resolution page images of more than 80 MSS at Oxford.
English Handwriting 1500-1700: An Online Course (Andrew Zurcher, Cambridge): A superb scholarly resource on early English hands. O si sic omnes!
Finales de libro: Exposición de colofones (Universidad de Salamanca): An exhibition with 56 images of colophons, from ancient Greek papyri to the present. In Spanish.
Hand Bookbindings: Plain and Simple to Grand and Glorious (Princeton Univ. Library): Images of more than 200 bookbindings, with the ability to zoom in and see details. Very impressive.
Handwriting & Script: A big collection of links on deciphering older hands.
HoBo (formerly History of the Book @ Oxford): "Dedicated webspace for all History of the Book events and resources."
A Hundred Highlights from the Koninklijke Bibliotheek: Images from the collection.
Identifont: A thorough guide to thousands of typefaces, including a series of questions to determine the name of a typeface. Not comprehensive, but very thorough and useful.
Karpeles Manuscript Library: Images of some of the rare MSS in the collection.
Library History Database (Robin Alston): A superbly learned database that covers library history in the British Isles to 1850.
Manuscripts, Books, and Maps: The Printing Press and a Changing World (Bruce Jones, UCSD): A hypertext essay on book history.
Oxford Bibliographical Society: Information on the Society and its activities.
Hand Bookbindings: Plain and Simple to Grand and Glorious (Princeton Univ. Library): Images of more than 200 bookbindings, with the ability to zoom in and see details. Very impressive.
Rare Books on the Web: A Brief Introduction, and Rare Books on the Web: A List of Resources (Albert Masters): A pair of sites on finding rare books and information about them on the Web. Very handy.
The Reading Experience Database 1450-1945 (RED): Information on the searchable database, with requests for contributions.
Research Society for American Periodicals (Ellen Gruber Garvey): Information on the Society, its publications, and its discussion list. Includes some very useful links.
The Research Society for Victorian Periodicals (ASU): Information on the Society and its events, with links.
Resources for the History of Books and Printing (Dan Traister, Penn): Superb copious list of annotated links on book history.
Unofficial D. F. McKenzie Home Page (Oxford): Information on the bibliographer and book historian.

Societies, Centers, and Projects

American Printing History Association: Information on the Association, its activities, and publications.
Bibliographical Society of America: Information on the Society, with an introductory essay on descriptive bibliography by Terry Belanger, selected volumes of the Society's Papers, and links.
Bibliographical Society of Canada (Toronto): Information on the Society and some links.
Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia: Information on the Society and links to other sites.
British Association of Paper Historians: Useful information on the history of paper, including its manufacture and sizes.
Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research (UCR): Information on the Center.
Center for Book Culture: Information on the Society, including its on-line journal, Context.
Centre for Editorial and Intertextual Research (Cardiff): Information on the Centre and its publications.
Centre for the History of the Book: University of Edinburgh: Information on the Centre and its publications.
History of the Book in Canada (Toronto): Information on the Project. English and French.
Idaho Center for the Book: Newsletters, exhibitions, and other information on the Center.
Oxford Early Printed Books Project: Information on the Project to catalogue early books not in the Bodleian.
Printing Historical Society (Reading, UK): Information on the Society.
SHARP Web: Information on the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing, with some useful links.
TEXT: Society for Textual Scholarship.
The University of Iowa Center for the Book: Information on the Center.

Information for Collectors and Dealers

Books & Book Collecting: A good collection of miscellaneous links and services for book collectors, as well as links to discussion groups.

This page, part of the larger collection of literary resources, is maintained by Jack Lynch.