In 1994, James Raven encountered a letterbook from the Charleston Library Society detailing the ordering, processing, and shipping of texts from London booksellers to their American customers. The 120 letters, covering the period 1758-1811, provided unique material for understanding the business of London booksellers (for whom very little correspondence has survived) and Raven decided to publish an annotated edition of the letters. The letterbook, reproduced in its entirety, forms an appendix to the present volume, but Raven's study has blossomed from a relatively narrow examination of booksellers and their customers to a larger exploration of the role of books and institutions such as the Library Society in the formation of elite cultural identity on the fringes of empire. As a result, this meticulously researched book has much to offer scholars of gentry culture and community in the eighteenth-century British Atlantic world as well as historians of the book--Publisher's Description.
Although nineteenth-century Bibles have been often overlooked by retail and trade markets, the twentieth century has seen an increase in the rate of discovery of antiquarian Bibles thanks to new means for dealers and owners of Bibles to market their editions. Now, literally thousands of these and older Bibles have been discovered, many of which have turned out to be uncataloged in any of the major sources, such as Hill’s The English Bible in America. Adding detailed descriptions of one hundred of these new editions of the American Catholic Bible not cataloged in other Bible bibliographies, The American Catholic Bible in the Nineteenth Century—A Catalog of English Language Editions: Volume II is a continuation of the original first volume published in 2006. It is extensively illustrated with title page reproductions and includes photographs of ornate binding covers and interior engraved plates. Also included are a publisher index and examples of contemporary advertising materials.
