While working on the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library’s hidden collections cataloging project, I’ve found some examples of the different methods authors and printers used to fix small errors in a text after an item was printed. Shown below are a few examples of the corrections that were made directly to the page. In the first…

Sometimes when catalogers examine a book, we find that parts of its structure use recycled materials from other books. These materials are often invisible, hidden away under outer coverings of paper or leather, and revealed only when an item is damaged or taken apart for conservation. But sometimes, the entire outer cover itself is made from…

The New-York Historical Society Library has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to catalog titles from 1600 to 1801 in the library’s rare book collection. As part of this project, we will be blogging monthly about noteworthy finds. We’re cataloging books in Latin, French, Spanish, German, Dutch, English; some cover astronomy,…

The American Historical Manuscript Collection (AHMC) cataloging project, supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, wrapped up on January 5, 2018. Since June 2014, when the project began, our catalogers have created searchable, electronic records for thousands of small manuscript collections and single items, racking up some impressive totals: Collections cataloged:…