Little Blue Book series

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As part of its Shakespeare Collection, the Folger holds about 140-150 volumes in the Little Blue Book series published by the Haldeman-Julius Company. These volumes are partially cataloged. So far, Pocket series, Ten Cent Pocket series, and Little Blue Book impressions are represented, all in paper wrappers. Each volume is cataloged individually, and differing series titles are treated as justification for the creation of a new record. When not present in the item, dates are approximated based on work done by Richard Colles Johnson and G. Thomas Tanselle's article "The Haldeman-Julius 'Little Blue Books' as a Bibliographical Problem" in Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, volume 64 (1970), pages 29-78 (partially reprinted for the Big Blue Newsletter no. 5 and available online here). For more information on the Little Blue Book series, please see the Haldeman-Julius website maintained by LBB collectors. More recently, see the "Little Blue Books bibliography" site for an extensive bibliography with variants noted for each issue.

The bulk of the Little Blue Book series is cataloged on cards only, but some have been recataloged. To find recataloged items in Hamnet, search "Haldeman-Julius Company" in Name Browse, "PR2756.L3" in Call Number (Left-Anchored), or "Little blue book" in Series/Uniform Title Browse.

Cataloging

  • Use series title on item in hand when adding 490/830 (all LBB series titles are established) in OCLC. Locally, add "Little Blue Book" as an 830.
  • Note the number of advertisements on the back cover of the paper wrapper, or the lack of advertisements. (This can help date the book.)
  • Otherwise, following regular Vault/Shakespeare Collection cataloging guidelines.