referencebooks

The Organ: An Encyclopedia

Douglas E. Bush, Editor
Richard Kassel, Associate Editor

Published by Routledge, 2006

This is an 8.5" by 11" hardcover book running to 679 pages including the index and the list of contributors, plus a brief preferatory section. This volume is part of a three volume set, the other volumes being encyclopedias on pianos and on harpsichords and clavichords. The three books are sold separately and paginated individually.

For a sense of what is covered, here is a list of the first fifteen entries in the "C" sequence, with SEE references included:

• CABINET ORGAN SEE CHAMBER ORGAN
  
• CADIRETA SEE RÜCKPOSITIV
  
• CAHMAN
  
• CALCANT
  
• CALLIDO
  
• CALLINET SEE DAUBLAINE-CALLINET
  
• CAMPANA
  
• CANADA
  
• CARE AND MAINTENANCE OF PIPE ORGANS
  
• CARHART, JEREMIAH (1813-1868)
  
• CARIBBEAN SEE CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
  
• CARILLON
  
• CARLIER, CRESPIN (CRÉPIN) (D. 1636)
  
• CASAVANT FRÈRES
  
• CASE
  

The entries include parts of organs and organ technology through history geographical entries that discuss organ building history in different countries and regions; and important organ builders and organ building firms. Entries for organ-builders actually make up the majority of entries in the book, which is quite interesting.

I happen to know a bit of random knowledge about Italian pipe organ history and about an Italian organ building firm, and was very satisfied to find and entry for Italy, which went into depth where my knowledge consists of very little, as well as an entry for the organ building firm. The entry for the firm even mentioned their organ at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, which I have heard. It is fun to find a bit of unusual knowledge reflected and validated in a reference book. Take that as a sign of the quality of this book or as reason to think that I can't be objective in evaluating it.

The information in the entries is very detailed and clearly written. Not too much knowledge of music theory or history is assumed by the contributors.

This is a useful resource for anyone doing serious research in music history and musicology where it concerns organs. A very serious and well-done reference book.

Encyclopedia of Fraud: 2005 Edition

By Joseph T. Wells, CFE, CPA

Published by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners

This is a 7" by 9.5" hardbound book running to 848 pages including the brief bibliography, plus appendices and a preface.

The preface states that this encyclopedia is intended for an audience of "practitioners and academics," which could easily mislead a literal-minded person. It's not practitioners of fraud who are the intended audience, of course, but academics and accountants and other investigators of fraud.

The book has entries on numerous fraud schemes, organized by both topic and type of scheme, as well as entries about fraud cases and "notable fraudsters." Here is a list of the first fifteen entries in the book:

• Adelphia
  
• Antar, Eddie
  
• Antitrust
  
• Asset Misappropriation
  
• Asset Valuation, Improper
  
• Atkins, Charles and William hack
  
• Attitudes Toward and Perceptions of Fraud
  
• Auditing for Fraud
  
• Auto Sales Fraud
  
• Automotive Repair Fraud
  
• Avant!
  
• Avocational Crime
  
• Bait and Switch
  
• Banco Ambrosiano
  
• Bankruptcy Fraud
  

Entries on types of fraud are the longer ones, often going on to easily a dozen pages. Biographical and historical entries are a little shorter but are also often several pages in length. The prose is clear and enjoyable to read, so that it's easy to get a lot of knowledge about different varieties of fraud and fraud cases quickly and easily.

One entry caught my eye in the table of contents - an entry for Marcus Garvey. This two and a half page entry summarizes the story of Marcus Garvey and J. Edgar Hoover's politically-motivated pursuit of him on fraud charges. The entry is very clear in stating that the Garvey case was not a case of fraud but of persecution for political reasons; this makes it interesting that the case is written up in the book at all. I suppose the author felt that the record still needs to be set straight.

The book is good but somewhat weak from a design standpoint, which is not surprising given that its publisher is a professional association with priorities other than publishing. It's a useful reference work for business and history students and scholars.

Encyclopedia of Early Cinema

Edited by Richard Abel

Published by Routledge, 2005.

This is a 7" by 10" hardcover book running to 791 pages including the bibliography and rich index, plus 30 pages of preferatory material. The book is well-manufactured, as Routledge books usually are. Its pages are printed in two columns using a not-very-big font.

This book is an example of a highly specialized and deep subject encyclopedia. The period of cinema covered is around 1890 to the mid 1920's, so you can imagine how deep the encyclopedia can get into the subject in its nearly 800 pages.

Here is a list of the first fifteen entries in the "P" sequence:

• Pagano, Bartolomeo or Maciste
  
• PAGU/AKGT
  
• painting and the visual arts
  
• palace cinemas
  
• Palestine
  
• Paley, William ("Daddy")
  
• Parnaland, Ambrose-François
  
• Pasquali & C. (1908-1921)
  
• Pasquali, Ernesto Maria
  
• Pastrone, Giovanni
  
• Patankar Friends & Company
  
• Pathé (Australia)
  
• Pathé, Charles
  
• Pathé Cinematograph
  
• Pathé Film (Sweden)
  

Most of the entries are for people and companies involved in film in its earliest days, but there are also entries for aspects of film and the film industry of the time. Those latter entries tend to be the longer ones. Entries range in length from a paragraph to a few pages. The entries focus on telling the history of early film. Accordingly, the writing doesn't involve a lot in the way of concepts in film theory; little or no specialized background knowledge is required to use the book.

The editor does not shy away from politically-related topics in the history of early film. For example, there are lengthy entries on the imperialism of the American film industry in its quest for new markets (that article is titled, "imperialism: USA") and on the labor movement in Europe and the United States in its relation to the film industry.

This is a deep, high-quality encyclopedia on a narrow topic. It's potentially of great use to anyone studying early film.

The Language of World War II: Abbreviations, Captions, Quotations, Slogans, Titles and Other Terms and Phrases

Compiled by A. Marjorie Taylor
Head, Literature Division
Rochester (N.Y.) Public Library

Published by H.W. Wilson Company, 1944

This is a 5.5" by 8.5" paperback running to 94 pages including two pages of references, an index, and a list of song titles, plus a one-page foreword by the author.

I love finding these odd gems in our reference collection, items that generations of librarians here have held onto either by neglect or by recognition of their unique contributions from a reference point of view. This is one that's more than entertaining, but has a definite use to students of WWII history.

I am copying the entire preface here, because it describes how the process of putting the book together was something that arose out of the day to day work of being a reference librarian:

This collection really began with "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition." When conflicting stories were circulating as to who actually used the phrase at Pearl Harbor, I felt, from the background of my library experience, that the stories should be noted for future reference. So a folder was made for the vertical file under the heading, World War II--Slogans, and soon many other stories joined the "Praise the Lord." As the file grew, other members of the Rochester Public Library staff became interested and having once become slogan-conscious, we found apt phrases, headlines and poster captions in increasing numbers, as we read magazine articles, glanced through the daily newspapers, read books and listened to the radio.

Our material soon seemed to approach book proportion. It was difficult to know just what to include but the final decision was : quotations, slogans, poster captions and song titles (since so many of both of those resembled slogans), initialed government agencies created in connection with the war effort, and initialed women's organizations which were either started in this war or developed during the course of it.

Poster captions came not only from observation but also from the collection of posters in the Rochester Public Library. For song titles we consulted the large collection of songs of this war in the Sibley Music Library of the University of Rochester, which they generously placed at our disposal. For government war agencies we used the United States Government Manual published by the Division of Public Inquiries of the Office of War Information.

Many activities which seemed very directly connected with the war effort, such as Blood Bank, Rationing, Victory Gardens etc. were included in an attempt to make this a useful handbook on subjects connected with World War II.

Throughout the book we have listed the sources of information in the hope that librarians everywhere may be saved hours of research.

We realize that since the material relates to the present war, of necessity it cannot be complete at this time, but there seems to be enough included to answer a real need. And we hope that readers and users of the book will send us new entries as they find them so that a revised edition if any, may be as complete as possible.

To the staff members of the Rochester Public Library and to others who have aided in collecting items, our sincere thanks.

September 7, 1944
A. M. Taylor

Here's a list of all the entries on facing pages 34 and 35:

• "Hell, We Haven't Started to Fight. Our Artillery Hasn't Been Overrun Yet."
  
• "Hello, You Limey"
  
• Help Him . . . Help Yourself . . . For Victory at Least 10% of Your Pay Every Payday
  
• H for V
  
• H-Hour
  
• Hit Hard and Often with the Marines
  
• "Hit Hard, Hit Fast, Hit Often"
  
• He's a 'Fighting Fool'--Give Him the Best You've Got!
  
• "Hit the Enemy Twice: First to Find Out What He's Got; Then, to Take It Away from Him"
  
• Hit the Silk
  
• "Hitler Can't Lick These People"
  
• "Hitler Has Missed the Bus"
  
• "Hitler Has No Theme, Naught but Mania, Appetite and Exploitation"
  
• Hitlerite
  
• H.M.S. Pepperpot; H.M.S. Porcupine
  
• "Hold the Line"
  
• "Homma May Have the Bottle--But I've Got the Cork"
  
• Honest Bob
  

Here are a couple of excerpts:

"Tomorrows that Sing": Last words of a French hostage about to be shot by the Nazis. Before he was shot (July, 1942) in the Cherche Midi prison in Paris, Communist Deputy Gabriel Peri wrote : "I should like my friends to know that I have been faithful to my life-long ideal. I should like my fellow-countrymen to know that I am dying that France may live. . . In a few minutes I am going out to prepare the tomorrows that sing. (Je vais préparer tout à l'heure les lendemains qui chantent.)" --New York Times Magazine. April 11, 1943. p. 15

"We Are the Ultimate Hope and Sanctuary of Human Liberty": By Herbert Hoover. Address to Pennsylvania Society of New York, December 21, 1940. --Vital Speeches. January 1, 1941 p.183

"We Do Not Covet Anything from Any Nation Except Their Respect": By Winston Churchill. To the French people, an address broadcast in French and in English, October 21, 1940.--Vital Speeches. November 1, 1940. p. 48; Churchill. Blood, Sweat and Tears. p.403

Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt

Compiled and Edited by Kathryn A. Bard

Published by Routledge, 1999

This is a chunky, 7" by 10" black clothbound book running to 938 pages including a glossary, an index, and an 80-page section of introductory essays, plus a long preferatory section.

This book has a little over 300 entries on the archaeology of ancient Egypt that discuss important sites, aspects of their society and culture, archaeology, famous Egyptologists, buildings, and geographical features.

The entries are really encyclopedic in length and are efficiently written - densely packed with facts. Each entry finishes with a few see also references and a few references to further readings. Here is the full list of entries in the "N" sequence:

• Naga ed-Deir
  
• Nagada (Naqada)
  
• Napoleon Bonaparte and the Napoleonic expedition
  
• natural resources
  
• Naukratis
  
• Neolithic and Predynastic stone tools
  
• Nile, flood history
  
• Nile, modern hydrology
  
• Nile Valley, geologic evolution
  
• nome structure
  
• Nubian forts
  
• Nubian towns and temples
  
• Nuri
  

Typical of a Routledge reference book, this one is authoritative and very thorough. An essential resource to support the study of ancient Egypt and Egyptology.

Encyclopedia of Russian History: From the Christianization of Kiev to the Break-Up of the U.S.S.R.

By John Paxton

Published by ABC-CLIO

This is a 7" by 10" clothbound book that runs to 483 pages including a chronology, bibliography, and map section, plus a brief preface. It is printed in larger type with two columns per page.

As reference books go, I would say the physical bulk of this one is misleading, because it lacks depth relative to many historical encyclopedias, and it is correspondingly easy to browse. It could have been printed as a physically much-smaller paperback and been a handier book. But as it is it is not bad.

Entries are mostly very brief, and cover, primarily, people, places, and events. Here is a list of the first fifteen entries in the "M" sequence:

• MACARIUS, METROPOLITAN OF MOSCOW
  
• MACMAHON, MARIE EDMÉ PATRICE MAURIE
  
• MAGADAN
  
• MAGDEBURG LAW
  
• MAGNITNAYA, MOUNT
  
• MAGNITOGORSK
  
• MAGNITSKY, MIKHAIL LEONTYEVICH
  
• MAHMUD II
  
• MAISKY, IVAN MIKHAILOVICH
  
• MAKAROV, ADMIRAL STEPAN OSIPOVICH
  
• MAKAROV, ALEKSEY VASILYEVICH
  
• MAKEYEVKA
  
• MAKHACHKALA
  
• MAKHAYEVISM
  
• MAKHNO, NESTOR IVANOVICH
  

This is a handy and pleasureable book and useful for getting a few bits of information about a large number of people and places in Russian history. A thorough encyclopedia of Russian history, though, it is not.

An Atlas of Poverty in America: One Nation, Pulling Apart, 1960-2003

By Amy K. Glasmeier

Published by Routledge, 2006

This is a slick, full color coffeetable paperback measuring 12" by 9" (landscape format) and running to 97 pages including the index, plus a preferatory section and a CD-ROM. The pages are thick and slick and the printing is high-quality. The borders in the layout of this book are extremely narrow.

The introductory section of the book discusses in detail, among other things, statistical and conceptual issues involved in data relating to poverty. It is a good thing when a data book that is easy to use includes a discussion of methodology. The data used in the atlas come from "hundreds of publications, groups, and individuals who study the various themes.."

The book is divided into four major section: "Lived Experiences," "History of Poverty," "Distressed Regions," and "History of Poverty Policy." In the "Lived Experiences" section are such sub-sections as "Black Families at Risk," "Black Male Incarceration," "Hard Work and Low Pay Define the Lives of Hispanic Americans," "Elderly," and "Working But Poor." The "History of Poverty" section devotes a few pages to each decade from the 60's to the present. The "Distressed Regions" section focuses on U.S. regions where poverty is extremely widespread (Appalachia, The Mississippi Delta, Indian Reservations, The Border Region, etc.). The section on the history of American poverty policy is the briefest section.

The maps are mostly about 6" by 3.5" in size. They use color effectively to highlight information without distracting from it. The book communicates its information clearly and is easy to use. The methodology behind the information is also given a very sufficient discussion. The combination of those qualities makes it a good reference book for getting a geographic picture of poverty in the U.S.

Encyclopedia of the Vatican and Papacy

Edited by Frank J. Coppa

Published by Greenwood Press, 1999

This is a 6.5" by 9.5" hardback book running to 484 pages including the index and appendices, plus a brief preface.

The emphasis on this book, which is not stated in the title, is on the modern period, or anyway the period since the Renaissance. The preface begins, "This volume, which is a collaborative effort involving more than forty contributors from the United States and abroad, focuses on the historical, politcial, diplomatic, social, cultural, and religious role of the Vatican and the papacy in the modern world." This saves the editor from having to deal with the many uncomfortable facts about the Church during the periods of its greatest corruption and most obviously evil activities. There is plenty of evil left to talk about in the history that is covered, but, predictably, this is mostly whitewashed by the "neutral" approach of the editor. Most of the entries provide basic historical information about popes, diplomatic relations, and the organization of the Church. Some uncomfortable topics are addressed, but often more defensively than objectively (for example, apologizing for and excusing Pius XII's passive response to Hitler's crimes).

This book is a reliable source for the "official line" on papal history in the modern era, but shouldn't be relied on for more than that.

Dictionary of the Holocaust: Biography, Geography, and Terminology

By Eric Joseph Epstein and Philip Rosen

Published by Greenwood Press, 1997.

This is a 6.5" by 9.5" hardbound book running to 416 pages including the bibliography and index, plus a foreword, introduction, and acknowledgments.

There is a thorough, multivolume encyclopedia of the Holocaust; this book is much less ambitious, aiming only to provide brief dictionary entries about numerous people, places, and terminology relating to the Holocaust.

The word "Holocaust" is kind of like the word "Semite," in that it has an older, general meaning and a more Jewish-specific meaning. An anti-semite is understood to be someone who hates Jews, not someone who hates the broad ethnic or linguistic group that includes Jews and Arabs. Similarly, though to a much lesser extent, the word "Holocaust" usually refers to the German genocide against the European Jewish population during World War II. The numerical loss was devastating in terms of the number killed in comparison to the total world Jewish population, and this is perhaps the major reason that it is viewed as a Jewish tragedy moreso than a tragedy for Communists or Gypsies or Homosexuals, who were also put in concentration camps and killed en masse. It was also, of course, not the only genocide in history or even in the 20th Century, but has the distinction of being the most systematic and modern, justifying those who claim it is uniquely horrific in history. Nevertheless, for a reference book on the 20th Century European Holocaust, this one is, as usual, disappointingly focused on the Holocaust from a Jewish perspective, relatively ignoring the tragedy as it was experienced by other groups.

Aside from that major flaw, this is a well-done, informative book that includes much useful information, very little of it general knowledge. For an example, here are the first fifteen entries in the "M" sequence:

• Ma'apilim
  
• Maccabi
  
• Macedonia
  
• Mach, Sano
  
• Machtergreifung
  
• Madagascar Deportation Plan
  
• Magyar Zhid
  
• Majdanek
  
• Maly Trostinets
  
• Mandel, Maria
  
• Mann, Thomas
  
• Manstein, Field Marshal Erich von
  
• Mantello, George Mandel
  
• Maquis/Maquisards
  
• Marmalade
  

These fifteen entries cover three pages and range in length from two lines to about a half a page. Within each entry, cross-referenced terms are in bold. The prose is concise and factual. For most entries there is one reference given to an item for further reading.

A very useful book for information on people, places, and terminology relating to the Jewish side of the 20th Century European Holocaust.

Textiles: 5000 Years: An International History and Illustrated Survey

Edited by Jennifer Harris

Published by Harry N. Abrams, 1993.

This is a 9" by 11" book bound in red cloth and running to 320 pages including a bibliography, a glossary, and an index.

A lot of people might not consider this a reference book, because it's a history and because it's so visually oriented. I think it makes sense for certain kinds of reference works to be filled with images; sometimes you need to know what something looks like. This book is organized in a way that makes it very easy to dip into for particular bits of information: the first, shorter part has brief chapters on different kinds of textiles, and the longer second part gives histories of textiles divided by region.

Opening the book at random, and I'm in the section on South-East Asia, looking at several columns of text broken by large color photographs of well-preserved historic fabrics from Thailand and Burma. They are beautiful to look at. The text describes the different textiles from the region through history, giving a bit about how they were made and used, as well as describing their designs.

This is a very fine book, useful for people studying art history or responsible for costume design, and potentially other uses.

Lag's Lexicon: A Comprehensive Dictionary and Encyclopaedia of the English Prison of To-Day

Compiled by Paul Tempest

Published by Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1950.

This is a little 5" by 7.5" book bound in green hard covers, running to 232 pages.

Like many reference collections, ours has a few of these fun oddities sprinkled through it. Though it was published in 1950, it seems older because of some of the language (like the hyphenation of "to-day" in the subtitle).

Here's the beginning of the introduction:

This Lag's Lexicon was compiled for a variety of reasons, with the object of entertainment, amusement, or enlightenment. Its apparent uses are manifold, whether looked on as a bedside book to be dipped into or as a reliable reference book.

The amateur authority on slang should derive pleasure in picking it to pieces and finding words which, according to his belief, have an entirely different meaning.

The writer of those crime stories which concern prison life--unless he has had some personal "inside' experience--can be confident of the accuracy of the Lexicon. He need never be guilty of referring to a prison officer or 'screw' as a warder, a 'Peter' as a cell, or 'twirls' as skeleton keys and so on.

Furthermore, no previous age in our island history has offered such unique opportunities for the ordinary peaceful citizen to find himself suddenly thrust behind the barred gates of the prison block. Forewarned is forearmed.

To-day, with the biggest crime wave we have ever known and the new Criminal Justice Act already in force, the national conscience is slowly awakening to the imoprtance of prisons and punishment of the wrongdoer as a social problem which can no longer be ignored.

To the sincere and conscientious prison visitor and lecturer I hope this encyclopaedia will provide the answer to some of those questions which must inevitably come to his mind and which he cannot, for ethical reasons, put to the men for whom he gives up so much of his spare time...

Entries in the book range in length from two lines to several pages (for example, the four-page entry on "executions," which goes into detail about the process in England at the time, and doesn't actually talk much about slang terms and their meanings, interestingly). Many entries are brief encyclopedia entries on topics relating to prisons, rather than definitions of slang terms. Here is a list of the first fifteen entries in the "P" sequence:

• paddy
  
• Padre's Hour
  
• pads, the
  
• pail, food
  
• paint party
  
• painters
  
• palm
  
• Palmolive
  
• pansy
  
• paper
  
• Parcel Post
  
• Parkhurst
  
• pastimes
  
• Paterson, Sir Alexander, M.C., M.A.
  
• Paterson's Farm
  

A fun book potentially useful on very rare occasions.

Illustrated Great Decisions of the Supreme Court, 2nd Edition

By Tony Mauro

Published by CQ Press, a division of Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 2006.

This is an 8.5" by 11" hardcover book running to 415 pages including the bibliography, index, and appendices relating to the Supreme Court, plus an alphabetical list of cases that supplements their topical arrangement in the book.

"Great" in the title doesn't indicate the author's strong approval for the Supreme Court decisions he talks about so much as an estimation of their significance in setting legal precedents and shaping some aspect of society. The book takes 108 important Supreme Court decisions and summarizes them, providing some of the historical background, excerpts from the actual decisions, explanations of some of the decisions' highlights, and explorations of the decisions' impact on American society.

The book groups the cases into twenty-four topical sections. ("Voting Rights," "Commerce Power," "Free Excercise of Religion" and "Gay Rights" are some examples.) Opening the book at random, and I'm looking at the entry for Lochner v. New York, in the section on Property Rights. The first information given is the date of the decision (April 17, 1905), the legal citation (198 U.S. 45), and the URL for the actual decision on the Findlaw website. Then the decision is summarized in two sentences, and then we have about a half a page of background info, a couple of sentences on the vote, a half a page of highlights, a few sentences excerpted from the majority opinion, and then just under a page on the impact of the case. There is also a photograph of "Lochner's Home Bakery," the business whose owner was a party to the case, which connects the case to its concrete meaning in history.

The book does a good job of connecting the decisions of the Supreme Court to the flow of American history and to their real implications in people's lives, but doesn't do quite as good a job in explaining the legal reasoning involved and the implications of the decisions in terms of the interpretation of legal principles. The author placed emphasizes accessibility and relevance over depth, which is not unreasonable but should be noted.

A useful and interesting reference book with a place in public and academic libraries.

The Encyclopedia of Chicago

Edited by James R. Grossman, Ann Durkin Keating, and Janice L. Reiff. Cartographic Editor Michael P. Conzen.

Published by The University of Chicago Press, 2004.

This is a beautifully printed clothbound book measuring 9" by 12" and running to 1117 pages including the index and appendices, plus 31 pages of preferatory material.

This book is a tour de force of reference information on the city of Chicago and its history.

Here is a list of the first twenty entries in the A-Z section:

• Abolitionism
  
• Accounting
  
• Acting, Ensemble
  
• Addison, IL
  
• Adler Planetarium
  
• Advertising
  
• Afghans
  
• African Americans
  
• Agrarian Movements
  
• Agricultural Journals
  
• Agricultural Machinery Industry
  
• Agriculture
  
• AIDS
  
• Air Quality
  
• Airlines
  
• Airports, Commuter
  
• Albanians
  
• Albany Park
  
• Aldermanic Privilege
  
• Algerians
  

The entries listed above take us from page one to page fourteen of the book.

The book is laid out in three columns per page. Entries typically give a succinct historical account of its subject with some interesting detail in language that is clear and interesting, ending with with an author's signature, "see also" references, and a brief bibliography of for further reading. Included with many entries are small illustrations and black and white photographs. Interspersed throughout the A-Z section are 46 full-page maps. The center of the book has a good-sized section of color plates and text describing and illustrating a timeline of Chicago's history. There are two other sections of color inserts - one containing some of the maps and the other showing pictures of murals and other public art. The appendices include a "Dictionary of Leading Chicago Businesses, 1820-2000," a biographical dictionary of Chicago figures, a list of Chicago mayors, a section of tables showing the population figures for Chicago area neighborhoods, suburbs and counties in different time periods, a list of credits, and map sources.

This is a very fine reference work about Chicago, the definitive work.

Encyclopedia of Women in the American West

Edited by Gordon Morris Bakken and Brenda Farrington

Published by SAGE, 2003.

This is an 8.5" by 11" hardbound book that runs to 381 pages including a chronology, a directory of women's organizations, a guide to research, a reading list, and an index, plus preferatory material that includes a preface and an introduction as well as contributors' bios and a list of entries. The pages are laid out in double-columns in 12-point type.

In the introduction the authors define "The West" as west of the 100th meridian (which splits North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and cuts the panhandle off of Oklahoma), making reference to their own 2001 work, Where is the West?.

The preface says,

"...The articles in this encyclopedia contribute to the growing body of literature documenting the diverse lives of women in the West and the nation. Some of the topics explored include the clubwomen's movement, politics, prostitution, women homesteaders, suffrage, mining, agriculture, rodeo women, literary women, conservation, emigrant experiences, librarians, and research strategies locating primary and secondary resources."

The majority of the entries are biographical, describing the lives of important women in the West. Not all of these women are 19th Century figures; some living women are included to, like Senator Barbara Boxer. (Deciding what contemporary women to include in the book would seem like an impossible task to me, both because there are many more women involved in all areas of society and history-making and because the West is less distinct as a place.) Other entries are for organizations and historical phenomena and events, like "Drivers, Women," "Conservation Movement, 1870-1940," and "Women's Experiences on the Western Emigrant Trails."

There is a lot of creativity evident in the compilation of this book due to the ground it covers and the necessity of gathering ideas broadly.

Entries are clearly written and informative. This is a highly useful reference book.

World Monetary Units: An Historical Dictionary, Country by Country

By Howard M. Berlin

Published by McFarland, 2005

This is a 7" by 10" hardbound book running to 229 pages including a series of appendices, a bibliography and an index, plus a brief preface and a "how to use this book" section.

The book has entries of a half a page to just over a page covering the monetary units of each country in the world. Each entry gives a brief history of the country's monetary units, finishing with tables laying out the chronology of their development and the orthography of the country's currency (the formation of words, abbreviations and symbols representing the monetary denominations). Economic facts about a country's money system and its history are not covered; the book is limited to information about monetary units.

The detail is quite impressive given the brevity of the entries. For example, the entry on Uzbekistan's currency provides a note showing the difference between the Uzbek/Uigur spellings of the denominational units "som" and "tiyin" and the Kyrgyz spellings, in the Cyrillic alphabet.

This book provides a thorough coverage of this limited topic into a efficient, relatively small package. A well done, useful reference book.

Dictionary of Afro-American Slavery

Edited by Randall M. Miller and John David Smith

Published by Greenwood Press, 1988.

This is a 7" by 9.5" black, clothbound book running to 866 pages including a chronology, a lengthy list of contributors, an a substantial index, plus an introduction and "A Note on Using the Dictionary."

Containing nearly 300 articles on topics related to African American slavery in the U.S., this book is aimed at a mixed audience of scholars and public library users.

For an idea of what is covered, here is the full list of entries in the "D" sequence:

• Dance
  
• Declaration of Independence: Slavery And The
  
• Delaware, Slavery In
  
• Democratic Party
  
• Demography
  
• Diet
  
• Disciples of Christ
  
• District of Columbia, Slavery In The
  
• Douglas, Stephen A. (1813-1861)
  
• Douglass, Frederick (1818-1895)
  
• Dred Scott Case
  
• Drivers, Slave
  
• Dubois, Silvia (ca. 1768-1884?)
  
• Durnford, Andrew (1800-1959)
  

Oftentimes reference books that are called "encyclopedias" would really more accurately be called "dictionaries," because they contain several brief entries on a page. The case with this one is the reverse: it's called a "dictionary," but its articles really are encyclopedic in length, depth and scope.

The articles in this book are highly informative, well-written, and don't require significant background knowledge to understand.

This is a very useful book whose only major downside is its datedness, as scholarship in the history of American slavery has no doubt been significant over the past two decades.

Encyclopedia of Furniture Materials, Trades, and Techniques

By Clive Edwards

Published by Ashgate, 2000.

This is a black, clothbound book measuring 10" by 10" and running to 254 pages including the bibliography. The printing and paper stock are very fine. The middle of the book has a section of beautiful color plates.

What the title doesn't say is that the book is primarily about the history of furniture making, rather than about contemporary techniques that a modern-day furniture maker would use (unless they are attempting to duplicate authentically an historical style), though some modern techniques are included. The introduction makes this clear, and also makes clear that furniture design is not covered, only furniture manufacture. The result is a very limited and specific reference book of use to a pretty small group.

For an idea of what is covered, here are the first fifteen entries in the "T" sequence, "see" reference excluded:

• Tabaret (Tabouret/Tabourette/Tabaray)
  
• Tabbinet
  
• Tabby
  
• Table opening and extending mechanisms
  
• Tacking
  
• Tacks
  
• Taffeta
  
• Tambour
  
• Tammy
  
• Tape joint
  
• Tapestry
  
• Tasmanian Oak
  
• Teak
  
• Templates
  
• Tension top
  

Entries range in length from a few lines to a few pages, but are mostly on the shorter end. The prose is clear, informative, and very British.

This is a valuable reference book with a very narrow focus.

Notable Last Facts: A Compendium of Endings, Conclusions, Terminations and Final Events Throughout History

Compiled by William B. Brahms

Published by Reference Desk Press, 2005.

This is a 7.5" by 10" clothbound book running to 833 pages including the index and bibliography.

This book is the work of a reference librarian who thought of the idea for the project as a library student at Rutgers University in the early 90's. This book is presently the only title offered by Reference Desk Press, which indicates that it is a self-published book.

The book is like a book of "famous firsts" but about endings and conclusions, rather than beginnings. Brahms compiled the information in the book by searching thousands of books, magazines, journals, atlases, and almanacs, encyclopedias, and websites.

The organization of the book is slightly odd. It is not divided into sections and subsections, as one might expect, but is based on an alphabetically ordered list of topics that are given like subject headings, often with subheadings. Thus, access to the book from the eight-page table of contents is a little awkward. However, the index is extensive and well done, and provides very good access to the facts in the book.

Opening the book at random, I am looking at the heading "Nations -- Malaysia," which is situated partway down the page on the left-hand column. Also on the same page are the entries, "Nations -- Maldives, Republic of," and "Nations -- Mali, Republic of." For the entry on Malaysia there is a brief paragraph giving its geography and history, followed by a number of "lasts:" the end of World War II occupation by the Japanese, the end of the Federated Malay States, the end of the Union of Malaya, the last British High Commissioner, etc.

Opening the book again to another spot, I'm looking at a table listing a lot of movie directors that gives the dates and names of their last movies and their dates of death. At another spot, I am reading about "lasts" in civil engineering.

The book is an unusual compilation of facts through an interesting avenue. However, the collection seems somewhat arbitrary, and for a given "last" that one might want to look up, it would take some luck to actually find it in the book. Nevertheless, it's a useful and unique reference book.

A Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery

By Lyndy Abraham

Published by Cambridge University Press, 1998.

This is a thin, 7" by 10" clothbound book. It runs to 249 pages including the bibliography and index of alchemical and literary authors, plus a list of figures, abbreviations, and a substantial introduction. The type is fairly small, and the margins (left margins on both left and right pages) are large and hold the entry titles.

The book is what its title says it is - a dictionary of alchemical imagery. However, a little more needs to be known about it to make use of it. Unlike many subject-oriented dictionaries, this one does not serve as an accessible introduction to the field. The entries, which can be for either terms from alchemy (processes, concepts) or names of objects used, are written for an audience that is already familiar with alchemical literature. For example, here is the the entry for sol niger:

sol niger (the black sun), symbol of the death and putrefaction of the metal, or of united *sulfur and *argent vive at the *nigredo, the initial stage of the opus alchymicum (see chemical wedding) (see fig. 38). At the nigredo the metal or matter for the Stone is 'killed' and dissolved into its *prima materia so that it may be resurrected in a new form. At the death of the matter, darkness reigns. The light of the sun (gold) is said to be put out, totally eclipsed (see eclipse). Artephius wrote: 'But first this Sol by putrefaction and resolution in this water, loseth all its light or brightneess and will grow dark and black' (SB, 4).

Asterisks in the above entry indicate terms discussed elsewhere in the book.

Contemporary interest in alchemy tends to be literary, psychological and spiritual; no one today believes in it the way the alchemists did, but find humanistic significance in what they were up to. Carl Jung's approach to it in his Mysterium Conjunctionis is instructive (though that book is not listed in the bibliography of this dictionary). So this book, which is classified in the PN's in our collection, could be of use to students of literature, history, religion, psychology, or, because of the focus on imagery, art. It's an interesting book but one that would have to be used by someone with background knowledge or in conjunction with a more introductory text.

The Value of a Dollar: Prices and Incomes in the United States

By Scott Derks

Grey House Publishing, 2004

This is a chunky 8.5" by 11" hardcover book running to 664 pages including the two-page bibliography and fourteen-page index, plus a brief introduction, contents pages, and a one-page Composite Consumer Price Index that summarizes the value of an 1860 dollar for each year up to 2003.

What this book does is fascinating. It paints a rich picture of personal economics through U.S. history by providing the following types of information, in a usefully-organized way:

• Historical snapshots of the country by year, focusing on economic news;
  
• Income for selected jobs by half-decade, with a brief description of what the job was like at that time;
  
• Typical totals for per-capita consumer expenses by category of expenditure (including things like Auto Parts, Dentists, Religion/Welfare Activities, Furniture, and Tobacco) and by year;
  
• Typical investments by year and their returns;
  
• Income by job type and year;
  
• Prices for different foods in different cities, by half-decade;
  
• Prices for different goods and services, by half-decade, with descriptions taken directly from the advertisements of the time;
  
• Miscellaneous brief articles, advertisements, and letters to the editor, illustrating economic conditions, by half-decade;
  
• Graphs showing trends in price over time for seventy goods and services, and income for twenty occupations, in both original dollars and 2002 dollars.
  

The author compiled this information from a large number of sources - so this is much more than processed census data (though there's nothing wrong with that). Among the sources he used are publications from a variety of governmenet agencies, surveys conducted by private research firms, historical works, Sears Roebuck Catalogues, books for collectors, and newspapers and popular magazines.

Thinking about pricing trends immediately raises interesting questions. One factor in changing prices is inflation, which can be tracked by watching the consumer price index. Another is changes in technology and manufacturing processes. The car a person might buy today is not the same car that was manufactured in 1930, though in a way it is comparable because one would buy it for the same reason. None of these factors are lost in the way the data is presented in this book; consumer price index numbers are there, 2002 dollars are there, original dollars are there, advertising descriptions of products are there. Also interesting is the ability to compare pricing trends to changes in income in 2002 dollars, and see how people choose different kinds of goods and services according to how much they have to spend.

There is relatively little offered in the way of interpretations of these numbers, or essays relating to the data. The author leaves that to the users of the book.

A fascinating and useful resource.