Rare and Endangered Government Publications
A Little Help From Your Friends
(Distributed at Poster Session presented by Jim Gravois at ALA Annual Conference, Chicago, 1995)
Here is a brief list of citations that might be of interest to
someone pursuing this question. In addition, it is probably a good idea
to browse through your collection, looking at Serial Set volumes, and
titles from the Bureau of Ethnology (Smithsonian) and the Interior
Department. Actually, just about anything from the nineteenth century
is worth considering. When you find something that contains maps and/or
illustrations, consult with your map librarian, or special collections
librarian, or art librarian. Some of these titles may need to be placed
in a secure area.
Perhaps the most important work to look at is the Checklist of United States Public Documents 1789-1909, compiled under direction of the Superintendent of Documents, and published by the Government Printing Office in 1911. This can give you an idea of the types of documents published throughout the nineteenth century and may lead you to discover valuable works in your own collection. The following items deal directly with the question of rare documents:
Benjamin T. Amata, ed., "Government Documents as Rare Books," Documents to the People 16 (December 1988): 174-79.
George Barnum, "Out of the Least Esteemed Books," Administrative Notes 13 (August 31, 1992): 4-6.
Charles A. Seavey, "Locating Illustrated Federal Publications from the Pre-GPO Period Using the 1909 Checklist," Documents to the People 17 (September 1989): 130.
Charles A. Seavey, "Government Graphics: The Development of Illustration in U.S. Federal Publications, 1817-1861," Government Publications Review 17 (March/April 1990): 121-42.
Mark Thomas, Aimee Piscitelli, and Julia Rholes, "Security and Preservation of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set," Journal of Government Information 21 (July/August 1994): 351-64.
Jim Walsh, Barbara Hulyk, and George Barnum, Rare and Valuable Government Documents: A Resource Packet on Identification, Preservation, and Security Issues for Government Documents Collections, American Library Association, 1993.
Aimee Piscitelli
Eastern Washington University
The Library
Cheney, WA 99004
APISCITELLI@EWU.EDU
Jim Gravois
RBD Library
Auburn University
Auburn Univ., AL 36849-5606
334-844-1759 844-4424 (FAX)
JGRAVOIS@LIB.AUBURN.EDU