engleski

Old books, bibliography and its research possibilities

All books are products of their time and circumstances, and as such they are rich in a mass of important documentary and historical information. Historical bibliographers, who take a broader view of the context in which a book is produced, are well aware of that. For that reason, they consider their task is to record not only traditionally considered "bibliographical" information, but also a series of other significant details - information on subscription lists, dedications, book advertisements, prices of books, signs of ownership, etc. In doing so, they emphasize the importance of bibliographies for the history of book, which is the primary objective of this paper too. The paper first discusses the role bibliographies played in ancient times. It furthermore shows the significance bibliographies have nowadays. Finally, it suggests the importance bibliographies have to those engaged in book history research, which is illustrated by the retrospective bibliography selected for that purpose. At the core of the interest are the research possibilities of bibliographies, the topic that still does not attract the necessary attention. The paper concludes that bibliographies are made to be in the service of their users and thus should be adjusted to their needs.

bibliography, old books, history of book, research possibilities

nije evidentirano