Bibliography of American literature : a selective index /

Compiled to provide increased access to Jacob BLanck's nine-volume Bibliography of American Literature (9v., 1955-91), these two works offer concise, one-volume formats for use with the larger work. Although both titles are selective, compiler Winship (editor of the final three BAL volumes) clearly identifies areas of abridgement in the introduction to each title. The Epitome includes all BAL authors, listing primary works only; ephemeral materials, sheet music, broadsides, and private printings of each author's works are excluded. A star preceding each entry indicates when additional information can be found in the complete BAL entry. The organization follows the BAL alphabetical listing of authors; titles are entered in chronological order with the corresponding BAL numbers. An outline of BAL volumes precedes the detailed author/title listings. The Selective Index is organized into title, date, and publisher indexes. The title index includes a main alphabetical listing of primary titles, variant titles, and subtitles where appropriate; series titles are listed separately. The date index lists authors and titles chronologically, 1763-1984, based on title page imprint or by year assigned in BAL; references to BAL number are included. Publishers are subdivided into US and foreign, and there is a combined list of all publishers. The Index is not comprehensive but emphasizes each author's separately published works. All entries in the Epitome, as well as BAL entries and other information omitted from the Epitome, are indexed. For libraries which own the full BAL, these two sources offer essential access by author, title, date, and publisher. For libraries without BAL, the Epitome provides core author/title information volume by volume from BAL. Highly recommended. N. Knipe Colorado College