Access to Uncataloged Early American Imprints in the Library Company Collections

FAIN: PC-50146-07

Library Company of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA 19107-5679)
James N. Green (Project Director: July 2006 to August 2009)

Cataloging and conserving 2,884 pre-1820 pamphlets, broadsides, bound books, and other imprints published in America from the Michael Zinman Collection.

The Library Company of Philadelphia, an independent research library for the study of early American history, seeks funding to make accessible some 2,884 pre-1820 American imprints, primarily ephemeral publications and popular books, that are uncataloged (or inadequately cataloged) in national databases and have not been included in Readex?s digital collections of Early American Imprints. Newly created or substantially upgraded catalog records will make these imprints accessible by the usual points of access (author, title, and subject) but also by others that will facilitate advanced research. Once they have been cataloged, Readex intends to digitize these imprints at their own expense and publish them, along with fully searchable OCR text, as a supplement to their Early American Imprints series; the records created by this project will serve as the primary means of access to the digital images and texts.