Incunabula from the 15th Century
Incunabula Short Title Catalogue - International database of 15th-century European printing created by the British Library. Records nearly every item printed from movable type before 1501, but not material printed entirely from woodblocks or engraved plates.
Material Evidence in Incunabula - MEI is a database specifically designed to record and search the material evidence (or copy specific, post-production evidence and provenance information) of 15th-century printed books: ownership, decoration, binding, manuscript annotations, stamps, prices, etc. MEI is linked to the Incunabula Short Title Catalogue (ISTC), from which it derives the bibliographical records, and it allows users to combine searches of bibliographical records (extracted from ISTC) with copy specific records.
Union Catalogue of Incunabula Database - English entrance into the database (Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke), online database appears in conjunction with the print edition, which lists all 15th century prints in alphabetical order.
Münchener Digitalisierungszentrum - Open-access digital library of digitized holdings of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Bavarian State Library), the biggest universal and research library in Germany. Collections include extensive incunabula and printed works published worldwide, in all languages, since the beginning of book printing in the 15th century, up to the year of publication 1950.
Index Possessorum Incunabulorum - Database some 32,000 entries of personal names, institutional names, monograms, and arms pertaining to the ownership of incunabula.
Incunabula in American Libraries - E-Book access to a the supplement to the third census of fifteenth-century books recorded in North American collections (1964).
What is a book? : the study of early printed books. Joseph A. Dane, 2012.
Gutenberg and the Book of books, with bibliographical notes, reproductions of specimen pages and a listing of known copies - 1932 facsimile
16th Century Books
Census of Italian 16th Century Editions - Records all editions printed in Italy between 1501-1600.
Census of German 16th Century Editions - Attempt to record all editions printed in Germany between 1501-1600, as well as books printed in German elsewhere during the period.
A Guide to Early Printed Books - By Mark Bland.
Scriptorum illustrium majoris Britanniae catalogus - John Bale's catalogue of Tudor authurs. An annotated translation.
Sources for the History of the Book
- ABC for book collectorsResource for terminology and definitions used in book collecting. Links to library catalog record.
- Encyclopedia of the Book, 1996Guide to terminology. 2nd revised edition of Glaister's Glossary of the book, 1979.
- A New Introduction Bibliography by Philip GaskellThe classic guide to understanding books.
- Eighteenth Century Collections OnlineDatabase of digitized 18th century books.
- History of the Book at Cambridge Histories OnlineSeveral digitized books available through JMU libraries.
- RBMS Orbis LatinusTranslation of Latin place names used by printers before 1800.
- English Short Title CatalogueBooks in English printed from 1473 to 1800.
- The European LibraryLinked catalogs of national libraries in Europe, many of them with access to digitized books.
- HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new windowA surprising number of rare books can be found digitized at the HathiTrust.
- Rare Books InfoDigital library of reference works on rare books.
- Universal Short Title CatalogueBrings together several major reference works on surviving issues of books printed from 1450-1600.
- Bibliographical Society of the University of VirginiaGroup that has supported an interest in books and manuscripts since 1947 through meetings and publications.
- Exlibris-lA news and discussion list serve for the rare book community, provides an environment for discussing matters related to rare book and manuscript librarianship, including special collections and related issues.
- The Oxford Companion to the BookDigital version available through JMU libraries.
- Rare Book ResourcesList of societies and libraries from the British Library.
- Rare Book SchoolClasses on many aspects of the history of the book.
- SHARPSociety for the History of Authorship, Reading & Publishing.
- Washington Rare Book GroupGroup of collectors, dealers, and scholars.
Rare American Books
Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800 - Full-text digital books about every aspect of 17th and 18th century of American life, from religion to agriculture to diplomacy.
Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker, 1801-1819 - Collection of fully searchable digital books, a compilation of all books published in the United States from 1801 to 1819.
Sabin Americana - Database searching full text of every book about the Americas published anywhere between 1500 and 1926.
Guide to the study of United States imprints, 1971. - By Thomas Tanselle.
National index of American imprints through 1800; the short-title Evans, 1969. - By Clifford K. Shipton and James E. Mooney.
Book trade bibliography in the United States in the nineteenth century, 1969. - By Adolf Growoll.
Incunabula and Americana; 1450-1800; a key to bibliographical study, 1961 edition. - By Margaret Bingham Stillwell.
Bookman's guide to Americana - A standard price guide to the antiquarian book trade, first published in 1953. Libraries holdings comprise 6 issues of the publication from the years 1953, 1960, 1969, 1971, 1986.
A History of the book in America - Multi-volume resource on various topics and eras relevant to American book history. Some volumes available in print, other volumes available as e-book resources.