Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

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<div class="two-columns"> [[About | <dl><dt>About this Site</dt>  
 
<div class="two-columns"> [[About | <dl><dt>About this Site</dt>  
 
<dd>Book Owners Online is a publication of the Bibliographical Society in partnership with the UCL Centre for Lives and Letters (CELL), with a rationale developed by David Pearson.</dd></dl>]] [[User Guide | <dl><dt>What's in BOO</dt>  
 
<dd>Book Owners Online is a publication of the Bibliographical Society in partnership with the UCL Centre for Lives and Letters (CELL), with a rationale developed by David Pearson.</dd></dl>]] [[User Guide | <dl><dt>What's in BOO</dt>  
<dd>Book Owners Online is built around a backbone of named owners of libraries, who died between 1610 and 1715, for each of whom there is an entry with a standard structure.</dd></dl>]] [[Searching and Browsing |<dl><dt>How to use BOO</dt>  
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<dd>Book Owners Online is built around a backbone of named owners of libraries, who died between the 16th and 18th centuries, for each of whom there is an entry with a standard structure.</dd></dl>]] [[Searching and Browsing |<dl><dt>How to use BOO</dt>  
 
<dd>Book Owners Online works much like Wikipedia. Search using simple keywords in the box above, or browse using special semantic features.</dd></dl>]]
 
<dd>Book Owners Online works much like Wikipedia. Search using simple keywords in the box above, or browse using special semantic features.</dd></dl>]]
 
[[Editorial Team| <dl><dt>Editorial Team</dt>  
 
[[Editorial Team| <dl><dt>Editorial Team</dt>  

Revision as of 00:52, 17 December 2021

Book Owners Online is a directory of historical book owners, with information about their libraries, and signposts to further sources. It currently has entries for over 2100 British owners from the 16th to the 18th centuries, and is being expanded. Feedback from users is welcome, via the site or our Facebook group.

Sir William Dugdale: etching by Wenceslaus Hollar, 1656 (detail)

Book owners played an essential role in creating the documentary heritage we value today. Our libraries, curating our collective printed and written memory, were built on countless donations or purchases from individuals over the centuries. Books which they kept and valued have significantly shaped ideas about our literary legacy.

Key questions which BOO seeks to answer include “did this person own books?”, "how many and what kind?", "what happened to them?", and “where do I look for more information?”. At a time of growing interest in provenance studies, private libraries, and work on the material book, it fills a gap in our book historical reference sources. There are many online sites which start from books or libraries and provide provenance data, but BOO starts with owners.

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