Catalogue of the Library of Congress in the Capitol of the United States of America, December 1839

Library of Congress

Published by Printed by order of Congress, Washington D. C., 1840

About this Item

Octavo. vii, [9]-747 pages. Binding worn. Ex-libris of the Library of Congress, crossed out, stamp of "Surplus - Library of Congress Duplicate" and no.3 in pencil on title-page. After the Library's collections were destroyed in 1814 when the British burned the U.S. Capitol, Congress agreed in 1815 to purchase Thomas Jefferson's personal library of 6,487 volumes to reconstitute the Library's collections. Five major catalogs (1830, 1840, 1849, 1861, 1864) and 31 catalog supplements or chapter reprints were published by the Library between 1815 and 1864. Each was a substantial volume, and each was arranged according to Jefferson's system. This volume is the classified 1840 catalog, representing about 30,000 volumes; with an "Index to the names of authors and annotators: and to the publications of learned societies, to encycloaedias, newspapers, reviews, magazines, &c." (p. [687]-747) Supersedes the 1830 catalog and its annual supplements, 1831-35 [pub. 1831-37]. "Chapters" 18-23, which are included here, were issued separately in advance under half-title Catalogue of books in the Law department of the Library of Congress, January 1, 1839. Scarce. Seller Inventory # 002247

Bibliographic Details

Title: Catalogue of the Library of Congress in the ...

Publisher: Printed by order of Congress, Washington D. C.

Publication Date: 1840

Binding: Three-Quarter Leather

Condition: Fair