Microforms Research Collections: Early American Imprints

Location: Microprint Shelves M-1 through M-12 (ask at circulation desk for access)

Scope: This collection is based on Charles Evans’ bibliography, American Bibliography: A chronological dictionary of all books, pamphlets, and periodical publications printed in the United States of America from the genesis of printing in 1639 down to and including the year 1820. This bibliography (REF.Z1212.E92) actually covers the period 1639-1800, not 1820 as suggested in the title. The microprint edition of the complete text of every existent book, pamphlet, and broadside printed in the United States includes more than 42,000 titles obtained from major libraries such as Library of Congress, Harvard, and Yale. Although Evans lists serial titles, only non-serial titles are included in the microprint collection.

How to search the collection: To find a title in this set you can search the ESTC on CD-ROM (available at the Reference Desk), or one of two printed bibliographies. The National Index of American Imprints through 1800; Short Title Evans (REF.Z1215.E924) is located on the index table in the Multimedia Room. The arrangement is alphabetical by author. Anonymous works are arranged by title. Make a note of the Evans number located next to the desired title. You can also search the complete Evans bibliography mentioned above. This 14-volume set is located in the Reference Collection on the first floor. Arrangement in this publication is chronological, though each volume has an author index and a classified subject index. The final volume is a cumulative index. After getting the Evans’ number from one of these three sources, you can search for it in numerical order in the red boxes of microprint cards on shelves M1 – M12 in the Multimedia Room. The range of Evans numbers is indicated on the front of each box. Pay attention that the boxes are filed two-deep to conserve shelf space.