A GUIDE FOR THE CIVIL WAR BOOK COLLECTOR Compiled by E. E. Billings *** GENERAL CIVIL WAR BIBLIOGRAPHIES *** Louise Arnold, The Era of the Civil War, 1820-1876, (Carlisle Barracks, Pa.: US Army Military Institute Special Bibliographic Series no. 11, 1982), could serve as a guide to starting a collection. This 704-page book is an excellent source for looking up all aspects of the Civil War with possible interest or collection in mind. The entries are not annotated. Tom Broadfoot's Civil War Books: A Priced Checklist With Advice (Wilmington, N.C.: Broadfoot Publishing, 1990) is useful for prices of books which are based upon sales by a selected group of dealers. The arrangement of books is alphabetical. No analysis is made of the content of the books. Garold L. Cole, Civil War Eyewitnesses: An Annotated Bibliography of Books and Articles, 1955-1986 (Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press, 1988) is an annotated list of 1,395 books and articles appearing over a 30-year period. Books that are exact reprints of earlier volumes with little or no additional material are excluded. For periodicals over 100 historical journals and magazines were consulted. A detailed index guides the reader through the maze of available literature. Civil War Books: A Critical Bibliography, a two-volume set by Allan Nevins, James I. Robertson, Jr., and Bell I. Wiley (Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 1967-69) is essential for anyone wanting to collect Civil War books. Under these three editors, fifteen historians selected nearly 6,000 books and wrote brief commentaries on them. The selection of books was, on the whole, excellent, although hampered somewhat by the fact that choice of books was governed by availability of Library of Congress cards. Charles E. Dornbusch, Military Bibliography of the Civil War, 4 volumes (New York: New York Public Library, 1961-87) is particularly valuable for determining what has been written about regiments, North and South. Titles are grouped by military units in some sections and under subject headings in others. One caution: writings by members of regiments are not necessarily about that regiment. The campaign references do little more than introduce the subject. Despite claims to the contrary, this work does not supplant the Bibliography of State Participation in the Civil War (Washington, D.C.: War Department Library, 1913) since it does not include navy and civilian topics. Robin Higham, A Guide to the Sources of United States Military History (Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, 1975) contains a good summary of excellent recent books on the Civil War on pages 216- 46. It contains concise evaluations of books on policy and strategy, operations in the East, operations in the West, special studies, and primary sources. Susan K. Kinnell, Military History of the United States: An Annotated Bibliography (Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO) is a bibliographic study that will aid anyone wanting to collect on military history. Civil War materials are on pages 59-100. This work contains a good analysis of each item. Magazine articles are included. Lee W. Merideth has compiled the Civil War Times and Civil War Times Illustrated 30 Year Comprehensive Index, April 1959- February 1989 (Twentynine Palms, California: Lee Merideth, 1990). This is a handy guide for research. One drawback is that the index lists only the page on which the desired article begins--there is no indication of how long the article is. [Subsequently, Lee Merideth has also published Guide to Civil War Periodicals, Vol. 1, 1991, which indexes articles, reviews, people, places and events in America's Civil War Magazine; Civil War, the Magazine of the Civil War Society; Blue & Gray Magazine; Gettysburg Magazine and Civil War-related articles in Military History Magazine, all from inception through 1990. CWTI from March 1989 through 1990.] An excellent guide to naval affairs in the Civil War is American Civil War Navies: A Bibliography, by Myron J. Smith, Jr. (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1972). Its 2,800 numbered entries span the period between the 1850s and 1970s. Citations include books, scholarly papers, periodical or magazine articles, documents of American or English origin, and important doctoral and masters degree papers. *** THE SOUTH *** Confederate Imprints: A Bibliography of Southern Publications From Secession to Surrender, by T. Michael Parrish and Robert M. Willingham, Jr. (Austin, Texas: Jenkins Publishing, 1984), is a detailed listing of 9,500 books, pamphlets, broadsides, maps, pictorial prints and sheet music produced throughout the South during the war. It is buttressed by a 200-page index which gives detailed information on all entries. This work is invaluable in identifying publications. In Tall Cotton: The 200 Most Important Confederate Books for the Reader, Researcher and Collector (Austin, Texas: Jenkins Publishing, 1978) by the late Richard B. Harwell, is a "guide to an imaginary collection designed to help an imagined reader find his own version of the Confederacy." Only books about the Confederate side and from the Confederate point of view are included. It is essential for analyses of books included. E. Merton Coulter, Travels in the Confederate States (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1948) is especially good for studying the home front, particularly for localities. It analyzes 493 accounts of life in the Confederacy. Douglas Southall Freeman, The South to Prosperity: An Introduction to the Writing of Confederate History (New York: Scribners, 1951), should be read from cover to cover. Dr. Freeman not only evaluates books, he also adds background information not available elsewhere, answering such questions as why a book was written, information on the author, and comparison of books on similar subjects. John H. Wright, Compendium of the Confederacy: An Annotated Bibliography, 2 volumes (Wilmington, N.C.: Broadfoot Publishing, 1989) is an attempt to gather a listing of every book, pamphlet and article ever published relating to the Confederacy. Wright analyzed about 200 serials for articles of Confederate content. The periodicals analyzed (many of which had never been indexed) were read from cover to cover. Each entry contains detailed information on the subject. *** THE NORTH *** Eugene C. Murdock has compiled The Civil War in the North: a selective Annotated Bibliography (New York, Garland Publishing, Inc., 1987). Five thousand sixty-eight items are annotated on all aspects of Northern society during the conflict. This is a valuable starting point to begin a collection. The Union Bookshelf: A Selected Civil War Bibliography, by Michael Mullins and Rowena Reed (Wendell, N.C.: Broadfoot Publishing, 1982) is a two-volume reference book for the study of the Union side of the war. One hundred fourteen titles are presented with bibliographic information. Supplemental sections of unit histories and personal reminiscences also are included. The work covers social, economic, and political as well as military aspects of the war. The Union Army, 1861-1865: Organizations and Operations, The Eastern Theater, by Frank J. Welcher (Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1989) is the first single volume to narrate the organization and operations of the Union Army in eastern campaigns. The author's purpose is to save time in finding that which might be gleaned from the Official Records, but only after tedious, detailed searching. The work includes a good summary of all eastern campaigns. *** COMPREHENSIVE BIBLIOGRAPHIES *** Often researchers need to get complete bibliographic information on books for which they may have only an author or title. In such cases, comprehensive bibliographies can be of great value. The United States Catalog, 4th Edition (New York: H.W. Wilson, 1928) lists all books in print on January 1, 1928. Earlier editions of this work were produced in 1899, 1902, and 1912. Books are entered under author, publisher and title. The United States Catalog gives the edition, the price, the name and address of the publisher, the number of pages and the name of the translator or editor if there is one. The Cumulative Book Index, published since 1928, updates the United States Catalog. It adds such important items as books published by university presses and other institutions and societies, and selected works of the national and state governments. Additionally, it tells whether a book has been revised, and whether new material has been added. Originally published in cumulative volumes every 4 years, it is now published monthly with annual cumulations. These two reference sources constitute the most comprehensive record of books printed in the United States from 1898 to date. *** SOURCES FOR BOOK REVIEWS *** To keep up with new Civil War books as they are published and to evaluate Civil War books new and old, indexes to book reviews can be very useful. A useful source in evaluating books for research or general reading is the Book Review Digest, which dates from 1905. Reviews are skillfully condensed from some 70 general magazines. The book reviewed must be hard-bound and published in the United States. To be reviewed, a non-fiction book must have had two or more reviews. A limitation is that books reviewed are for the general reader. Closely related to the Book Review Digest is the Book Review Index, which began in 1965. Published quarterly, the first cumulation contained some 13,000 citations to 9,500 books. It lists author entries only, covering about 180 periodicals. It is excellent for reviews of books by scholars and popular writers. Reviews are listed about six weeks after books are published. This is a "current guide to current reviews of current books," and because of its inclusiveness, it is probably of marginal use for Civil War items.