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THE IDENTIFICATION, PRESERVATION AND SECURITY OF RARE AND VALUABLE GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS:
A SELECTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY

Compiled by
Barbara Hulyk, Jim Walsh, and George Barnum

(Revised 1999)

Resources To Identify Rare and Valuable Documents

Resources To Identify Rare and Valuable Documents.

Historical Document Indexes and Bibliographies

Ames, John G. Comprehensive Index to the Publications of the United States Government, 1881-1893. 2 volumes. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905.
(I 15.2: IN 2/3). Also issued as: 58th Cong., 2nd Sess., House Doc. 754; Serial Set volume 4745 and 4746. {reprint edition available}.
Checklist of United States Public Documents, 1789-1909. 3rd edition, revised and enlarged. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1911. (GP 3.2: C 41/2). {reprint edition available}.
CIS Index to Unpublished US House of Representatives Committee Hearings, 1833-1936; 1937-1946, 1947-1954, 1955-1958, 1959-1964. 8 volumes. Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Service, 1988-1990.
CIS Index to Unpublished US Senate Committee Hearings, 1823-1964; 1965-1968, 1969-1972. 8 volumes. Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Service, 1986- .
CIS Index to US Senate Executive Documents & Reports: Covering Documents and Reports not Printed in the US Serial Set, 1817-1969. 2 volumes. Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Service, 1987.
CIS US Congressional Committee Hearings Index, 1833-1969. 8 parts in 42 volumes. Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Service, 1981-1985.
CIS US Congressional Committee Prints Index: from the Earliest Publications Through 1969. 5 volumes. Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Service, 1980.
CIS US Executive Branch Documents, 1789-1909. 6 parts in 26 volumes. Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Service, 1991- .
Part 1, Treasury, Commerce and Labor Departments; Part 2, War Department; and Part 3, Interior, Justice, and Labor Departments, Library of Congress, and Interstate Commerce Commission have been published as of March 1993.
CIS US Serial Set Index. 14 parts in 56 volumes. Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Service, 1975-1979.
Covers 1789-1969. Parts 1-12 Chronological subject and name indexes with auxiliary finding aids, Part 13 Report bill numbers, Part 14 Carto-Bibiliography of Maps.
Hasse, Adelaide R. Bibliography of the United States Public Documents Relating to Interoceanic Communications Nicaragua, Isthmus of Panama, Isthmus of Tehuantepic, etc. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1899. (GP 3.5:1).
Hasse, Adelaide R. Index to United States Documents Relating to Foreign Affairs, 1828-1861 (Publication 185, pts. 1-3). Washington: Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1914-21. {reprint edition available}.
Hasse, Adelaide R., compiler. Reports of Explorations Printed in the Documents of the United States Government: A Contribution toward a Bibliography. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1899. (GP 3.5: 2). {reprint edition available}.
Poore, Benjamin Perley. Descriptive Catalogue of the Government Publications of the United States, Sept. 5, 1774-March 4, 1881. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1885. (Y 4.P 93/1: G 74/1).
Also issued as: 48th Cong., 2nd Sess., Senate Misc. Doc. 67; Serial Set volume 2268. {reprint edition available}.
Schmeckebier, Laurence Frederick. Catalogue and Index of the Publications of the Hayden, King, Powell, and Wheeler Surveys: Namely, Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel, Geographical and Geological Surveys of the Rocky Mountain Region, Geographical Surveys West of the One Hundredth Meridian. (USGS Bulletin No. 222). Washington: Government Printing Office, 1904. (I 19.3:222).
Also issued as: 58th Cong., 2nd Sess., House Doc. 606; Serial Set volume 4684. {reprint edition available}.




Other Documents, Specific Bibliographies, and Articles

Claussen, Martin P. and Friis, Herman R. Descriptive Catalog of Maps Published by Congress 1817-1843. Washington: M.P. Claussen, 1941.
Haskell, Daniel Carl. The United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842, and Its Publications, 1844-1874: A Bibliography. New York: New York Public Library, 1942.
Karpenstein, Katherine. Illustrations of the West in Congressional Documents, 1843-1863. (ACRL Microcard Series #6). Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 1953. (not an extensive list, but provides some useful background).
Miller, Sarah Jordan. "Producing Documents for Congress and the Nation: Government Printing in the United States, Past and Present." Printing History. Part I, 11(no.1 1989): 27-41; Part II, 11(no.2 1989): 40-46.
Pestana, Harold R. Bibliography of Congressional Geology. New York: Hafner, 1972.
Powell, J.H. The Books of a New Nation: United States Government Publications, 1774-1814. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1957.
Seavey, Charles A. "Bibliographic Addendum to Carl Wheat's Mapping the Transmississippi West." Special Library Association Geography and Map Division Bulletin. number 105 (September 1976): 12-19.
Seavey, Charles A. "Government Graphics: The Development of Illustration in U.S. Federal Publications, 1817-1861." Government Publications Review. 17 (1990): 121-142.
Seavey, Charles A. "Locating Illustrated Federal Publications from the Pre-GPO Period Using the 1909 Checklist." Documents to the People. 17 (September 1989): 130.
Seavey, Charles A. Mapping the Transmississippi West, 1540-1861: An Index to the Cartobibliography. MAGERT Occasional Paper 3. Chicago: Speculum Orbis Press, 1992.
Seavey, Charles A. "Maps of the American State Papers." Special Libraries Assoc. Geography and Map Division Bulletin. no. 107 (March 1977): 28-35; and no. 110 (December 1977): 3-11.
Seavey, Charles A. "Wheat to Serial Set Conversion." Special Libraries Association Geography and Map Division Bulletin. no. 108 (June 1977): 37-40.
Wheat, Carl. Mapping the Transmississippi West, 1540-1861. 5 volumes in 6. San Francisco: Institute of Historical Cartography, 1957-1963.
Wondriska, Rebecca. "Women and the American Dream, 1900-1925." Government Publications Review. 17 (March/April 1990): 143-157.
This is an example of a list developed for a special interest subject and while the materials may not all be old or rare, they cover a period of change pertinent to the subject.

Bibliographic Search Tools (Which Include Documents)

The American Catalogue July 1, 1876-Dec. 31, 1910. New York: P. Smith, 1941. (reprinted, 8 volumes in 13).
Howes, Wright. U.S. -iana (1700-1950): A Descriptive Check-List of 11,450 Printed Sources Relating to Those Parts of Continental North America Comprising the United States. New York: R.R. Bowker, 1954.
Kelly, James. The American Catalogue of Books (original and reprints) Published in the United States from Jan. 1861 to Jan. <1871>. New York: J. Wiley & Son, 1866-1871.
Continues Roorbach and is followed by the American Catalogue, 1876-1910.
Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division. Civil War Maps: An Annotated List of Maps and Atlases in the Library of Congress. 2nd edition. Compiled by Richard W. Stephenson. Washington: Library of Congress, 1989. (LC 1.12/2: C 49).
LC's Geography & Map Division has published other cartobibliographies that are very useful and, in general, the Division's materials are classified under the following SuDocs stem: LC 5.2.
Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division. A List of Geographical Atlases in the Library of Congress. 9 volumes. Compiled by Philip Lee Phillips and Clara Egli LeGear. Washington: Library of Congress, 1909-1992. (LC 5.2: G 29/v.1-9).
Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division. A List of Maps of America in the Library of Congress; Preceded by a List of Works Relating to Cartography. By P. Lee Phillips. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1901. (LC 5.2: Am 3). (Also issued as: 56th Cong., 2nd Sess., House Doc. 516; Serial Set volume 4176).
Moebs, Thomas Truxton. U.S. Reference-iana (1481-1899). Williamsburg, VA: Bookpress Ltd., 1990.
Excellent starting place for ideas on subjects that are of collectible interest and for bibliographies that are government publications themselves.
Roorbach, Orville A. Bibliotheca Americana: Catalogue of American Publications, Including Reprints and Original Works from 1820 to [Jan. 1861]. 4 vols. New York: Roorbach, 1852-1861.
Roorbach's work is continued by Kelly's American Catalogue). A supplement volume was published in 1855, and an addenda was published in 1858. Both of these volumes were reprinted by P. Smith in 1939. A reprint edition of Bibliotheca Americana was published in 1967, 4 vols. in 1, Metuchen, NJ: Mini-Print Corp..
Sabin, Joseph. A Dictionary of Books Relating to America, from Its Discovery to the Present Time. New York: 1868-1936. (29 volumes in 15). Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1966.
Shaw, Ralph R. and Shoemaker, Richard H. American Bibliography: A Preliminary Checklist for 1801-1819. New York: Scarecrow Press, 1958-66.
The Shinn Lists. Edited by William A. Moffett. Oberlin, OH: Oberlin College, 1982.
The Shinn Lists contain a "search list and inventory list of presumably stolen books found in possession of James Richard Coffman, alias James Shinn, an alleged book thief."
Shoemaker, Richard H. A Checklist of American Imprints 1820-1829. New York: Scarecrow Press, 1964-71. Followed by: 1830, Cooper, Gayle; 1831, Bruntjen, Scott and Carol Bruntjen; and 1830-1839, Rinderknecht, Carol.
Title index for 1820-1829 by Cooper, M. Frances).
Taft, Robert. Artists and Illustrators of the Old West, 1850-1900. New York: Charles Scribner's, 1953.
Thompson, Lawrence Sidney. The New Sabin: Books Described by Joseph Sabin and His Successors, Now Described again on the Basis of Examination of Originals, and Fully Indexed by Title, Subject, Joint Authors, and Institutions and Agencies. 11 volumes. Troy, NY: Whitson Publishing Co., 1974-1986.
Thomson, Thomas Richard. Check List of Publications on American Railroads before 1841: A Union List of Printed Books and Pamphlets, Including State and Federal Documents New York: The New York Public Library, 1942.
Wagner, Henry Raup. The Plains & the Rockies: A Critical Bibliography of Exploration, Adventure, and Travel in the American West, 1800-1865. Various editions, 1937-1982.