October 21, 1996

Contact: Craig D'Ooge (202) 707-9189

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New Volume About the History of the Book in America Published in Cooperation with the Library

In cooperation with the Library of Congress, Fulcrum Publishing has published The Book in America, with Images from the Library of Congress, by Richard W. Clement. Generously illustrated with 24 color and 94 black-and-white illustrations from the Library's rare collections, The Book in America brings to life the story of the book in America from 1638 to today. The foreword is by Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. John Y. Cole, the director of the Center for the Book, wrote the afterword.

Author Richard W. Clement is a librarian at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, where he also is a professor of English and proprietor of the Hole and Corner Press.

The Book in America is the ninth in Fulcrum Publishing's Library of Congress Classics series, which explores American and world culture through the Library's incomparable collections. Divided chronologically into five chapters ("Colonial Book Production," "Publishing in the New Nation," "The Rise of the Great Houses," "Industrialization and Expansion," "The Book in Twentieth-Century America") it also includes thematic sections on Libraries in America, Reading in America and Books at War. It includes a list for further reading, the Library of Congress negative numbers or item call numbers for the illustrations, and a detailed index.

A 150-page volume, The Book in America, with Images from the Library of Congress is available for $39.95 in bookstores throughout America. It also may be purchased in the Library of Congress Sales Shop. For information call (202) 707-0201.

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PR 96-149
10/21/96
ISSN 0731-3527