Christian-Muslim Relations Volumes 1 and 2 (CMR1 and CMR2) cumulate all eight volumes published so far in Brill’s serial bibliography, Christian Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History. CMR1 covers the time period 600-1500. CMR2 claims to cover 1500-1914, but like the four previously-published volumes on which it is based, its coverage seems to extend only as far as 1700.
Continue reading “New Online Resource: Christian-Muslim Relations”
History of Science, Technology, and Medicine: Identifies books, book chapters, and journal articles on all aspects of the history of science, technology, and medicine. It is based on four standard bibliographic tools: the Isis Current Bibliography of the History of Science (1913-currrent with expanded retrospective coverage), the Current Bibliography in the History of Technology (1964-current with expanded retrospective coverage), the Bibliografia Italiana di Storia della Scienza (1982-2011 with expanded retrospective coverage), and the catalog of the Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine (1532-current). The Isis Current Bibliography of the History of Science began in 1913 as an annual supplement to the journal Isis. The Current Bibliography in the History of Technology began in 1964 as an annual supplement to the journal Technology and Culture. The Bibliografia Italiana di Storia della Scienza began in 1982 as part of the Biblioteca di bibliografia italiana. These three bibliographies, along with the catalog of the Wellcome Library, form the core of this database.
Continue reading “New Online Resources: October 2017 Update”
Halloween 2016 netted retail industries approximately $8.6 billion (CNN). Millions more may be factored into the season when cafes and grocers market many items labeled as “pumpkin spice.” It’s impossible to mention Halloween without invoking images of costumes, trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving, pumpkin smashing, witches, black cats, etc. Halloween is such a symbolic and long-standing holiday in American culture that it is worth serious consideration by historians, anthropologists, and students of folk-lore. It is the product of the migration of Western Europeans and a fusion of their traditional practices on this continent. Although it is such a historically rich festival, how is it that one of the longest-standing crafts affiliated with All Hallows Eve is that of pumpkin carving? When all is said and done, it seems a tad silly to carve a scary face into a vegetable. Patterns range from happy to scary, from eccentric to mainstream, the patterns reflecting both the skill and the whims of the carver. Why and how did this tradition of pumpkin carving emerge? That annual pilgrimage to a country-side pumpkin patch in order to select the perfect squash canvas? The answer lies with the development of Halloween as an American holiday.
Continue reading “‘Tis Time! Sharpen the knives and carve the pumpkins!”
We are currently running a trial to the post-1922 issues of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (we currently own 1874-1922). Trial covers the years 1923-2003.
When looking for research paper topics, and examining the available body of primary sources, don’t get too hung up on what any particular source is “about”. Sometimes a source is about much more than it seems. For example, Canary and Cage-Bird Life, a weekly newspaper published in England, would make an excellent source for researchers interested in the history of domestic life, history of leisure, history of collecting, history of natural science, history and ethics of human-nonhuman relationships, rural history, and more. Continue reading “Research Paper Tip”
Yesterday we began processing a collection (over 300 boxes!) of labor newspapers acquired several years ago from Canada’s Department of Labour Library.
Already this morning we cataloged our first rarity: Labour, the official periodical of the Ghana Trades Union Congress. Our run goes from the very first issue (July, 1960), through the combined November/December issue for 1961. The periodical seems to have ceased in 1962.
Readex’s American Business: Agricultural Newspapers is a valuable, but in many ways disappointing collection. When complete, it will contain 238 farm newspapers from the 19th and late 18th centuries, the heyday of rural America. About 20% of the projected 238 titles are forthcoming.1 Over half of the titles currently available are represented by ten or fewer issues;2 almost half of the titles currently available are represented by five or fewer issues;3 and 33% of the titles are represented by a single issue.4 Only 58 of the newspapers have fifty or more issues. Continue reading “New Agricultural Newspaper Collection”
All extant legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world, as well as documents on free African-Americans before 1870. Includes every statute passed by every state and colony, all federal statutes, all reported state and federal cases on slavery, and hundreds of books and pamphlets on the subject. Free to use, but registration required. Part of Hein Online.
TRIAL OVER. Now through December 3rd, we have a trial to Ancestry.com Library Edition.