FAQs: getting the most out of the catalogue

Can I search by printer/publisher/ bookseller?

Pre-1700 books catalogued since 2001, and all private press books, include headings for printer, publisher or bookseller. These can be searched via an author search, e.g.
Plantin, Christophe
Kelmscott Press

Printers have normally been entered under the vernacular form of their name e.g.
Manuzio, Aldo (rather than Manutius, Aldus)

For pre-1700 books catalogued prior to 2001 (i.e. books with prefixes [B.L.], [E.P.] and [G.L.]), and to find printers etc. post-1700, do a keyword search. This will catch names of printers etc. as they are spelt in the imprint e.g. Plantini. To be absolutely sure of capturing everything, you will need to know the output of a particular printer and look up editions on a title-by-title basis.

Can I search by place of publication?

For pre-1700 books catalogued since 2005 (i.e. excluding books with prefixes [B.L.], [D.-L.L.], [E.P.], [Elzevier Collection], [G.L.] and H.P.L.), the modern English name of the place of publication has been added to the bibliographic record wherever this differs from the name in the imprint e.g. a book with imprint Venetiae has an entry for Venice. The English forms are not searchable via an index but will be retrieved by a keyword search.

For a higher level of retrieval, do a keyword search under Latin forms and using wildcards to retrieve the names of cities as they are found in the imprint e.g.
Francofurti
Paris* to include Paris and Parisiis
Lug* Bat* to cover Lug. Bat., Lugd. Batav. and Lugduni Batavorum (Leiden)

Does the catalogue include information relating to the provenance of special collections items?

To find out whether the library has books previously owned by a specific individual, do an author search under that person. The name will come up with the suffix ‘former owner’, e.g.
Evelyn, John, 1620-1706, former owner

Some books with classmarks beginning with a prefix in square brackets do not index former owners, but the classmark gives a clue. All books with classmarks beginning [B.L.], [E.P.] or [Heisler] belonged to Lt. Col. Alfred Claude Bromhead, Edward Phelips, or Ron Heisler respectively. Further information about named special collections is available here. An exception is for books acquired by H.S. Foxwell in the Goldsmiths’ Library, as the library lacks documentation to show what Foxwell formerly owned and what was acquired subsequently.

A search on ‘associated name’ will call up those associated with a book who did not own, inscribe, or annotate it, e.g. someone who has written a letter to a former owner which is enclosed in the book. The term ‘donor’ appears for people who gave books to Senate House Library apparently without owning them first.

For specific marks of ownership, search under keyword e.g. for ‘bookplate’, ‘inscription’, or ‘prize label'.

Can I browse the contents of a named special collection?

Yes. An overview of many of the library’s named special collections (i.e. collections made by a particular individual or corporation and kept together) can be gained by doing a mixed classmark search under the prefix for that collection e.g. [B.L.] for the Bromhead Library. The collection descriptions available via our Named Special Collections page give further examples of how to do this.

Does the catalogue record evidence of reading?

If you want to find out whether a particular person inscribed or annotated books, do an author search under that person. Their name will appear followed by ‘inscriber’ or ‘annotator'. A former owner who annotated books will be indexed as ‘former owner’. Such instances can be found by doing a keyword search on ‘former owner’ in combination with ‘annotat*’ (to retrieve ‘annotated’ and ‘annotations’).

To find different kinds of evidence of reading, do a keyword search on e.g. ‘annotat*, ‘underlining*’, ‘marginal markings’ or ‘fists’. This can be combined with other search terms to find, for example, early editions of a particular author or text which are annotated.

Does the catalogue include information on bindings?

The catalogue entries for all the library’s incunabula include descriptions of their bindings. Other bindings have been described when they differ from the binding issued (for nineteenth- and twentieth-century books), when they are fine or armorial, or when the library holds two copies of one edition in one collection, to help differentiate between them.

If you are looking for a particular type of binding, try a keyword search on e.g. ‘calf’, ‘morocco’, ‘pigskin’, ‘reversed calfskin’, ‘mottled’, ‘raised bands’, ‘panelled’, ‘inner dentelles’, ‘limp vellum’, ‘ties’, ‘clasps’, ‘blind’, ‘filleted’, ‘gilt’. This will not recover all instances of such bindings but it will provide examples. The presence of a dustwrapper has occasionally been noted, e.g. for the Walter de la Mare Library.

Does the English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC) duplicate the library’s catalogue?

No. Many of our holdings are awaiting uploading to ESTC, and a few books are recorded on ESTC which are not yet on our online catalogue. Our catalogue provides information about bindings, provenance and some other features (e.g. when books are bound together) which is not on ESTC. If you learn about a book in Senate House Library through ESTC, you should always check our catalogue for more information.

 

shl.specialcollections@london.ac.uk 020 7862 8470