A lively, superbly well-curated, and handsomely illustrated celebratory volume.… An irresistible treasury for book and library lovers.” —Booklist Starred Review
“A lively, superbly well-curated, and handsomely illustrated celebratory volume.… An irresistible treasury for book and library lovers.” —Booklist Starred Review
“This book about card catalogs, written and published in cooperation with the Library of Congress, is beautifully produced, intelligently written, and lavishly illustrated…. The Card Catalog is many things: a lucid overview of the history of bibliographic practices, a paean to the Library of Congress, a memento of the cherished card catalogs of yore, and an illustrated collection of bookish trivia…. The illustrations are amazing: luscious reproductions of dozens of cards, lists, covers, title pages, and other images guaranteed to bring a wistful gleam to the book nerd’s eye.” —The Washington Post
“This book about card catalogs, written and published in cooperation with the Library of Congress, is beautifully produced, intelligently written, and lavishly illustrated…. The Card Catalog is many things: a lucid overview of the history of bibliographic practices, a paean to the Library of Congress, a memento of the cherished card catalogs of yore, and an illustrated collection of bookish trivia…. The illustrations are amazing: luscious reproductions of dozens of cards, lists, covers, title pages, and other images guaranteed to bring a wistful gleam to the book nerd’s eye.” —The Washington Post
“Beautifully designed and executed, this work by the Library of Congress examines several histories: the library; the science of cataloging; and the cards themselves as aesthetic objects. Interspersed throughout are images to delight book lovers—covers and title pages of classics from Shakespeare’s First Folio to The Joy of Cooking, with their accompanying cards. These are wonderful eye candy but also, on close reading, fascinating records of the cataloging process, complete with revisions, corrections, marginalia, and name changes.” —Library Journal Starred Review
“Beautifully designed and executed, this work by the Library of Congress examines several histories: the library; the science of cataloging; and the cards themselves as aesthetic objects. Interspersed throughout are images to delight book lovers—covers and title pages of classics from Shakespeare’s First Folio to The Joy of Cooking, with their accompanying cards. These are wonderful eye candy but also, on close reading, fascinating records of the cataloging process, complete with revisions, corrections, marginalia, and name changes.” —Library Journal Starred Review
★ 10/01/2017
Beautifully designed and executed, this work by the Library of Congress examines cross-sections of several histories: of the library itself; of the science of cataloging, from cuneiform tablets and bound bibliographies to automated card production and, ultimately, the card's replacement by machine-readable formats; and the cards themselves as aesthetic objects. Interspersed throughout the text are images to delight book lovers—covers and title pages of classics from Shakespeare's First Folio to The Joy of Cooking, often first editions from the library's Rare Book and Special Collections Division, with their accompanying cards. These are wonderful eye candy but also, on close reading, fascinating records of the cataloging process, complete with revisions, corrections, marginalia, and name changes. This volume is particularly strong on the politics of cataloging within the library, from Thomas Jefferson's original collection (geography titles were listed north to south) to early Librarians of Congress's resistance to involvement in cooperative library activities to the library's explorations of early computer systems and eventual adoption of MARC; the catalog was officially "frozen" in 1980. VERDICT Knowledgeable but not dry, this visually appealing offering will please most bibliophiles and library lovers.—Lisa Peet, Library Journal
