Research Guides: History of the Book: 1900s-Present

Locating Materials

Browse this page for resources on the modern history of the book from the 1900s to the present.

The books listed on this page are located in the Maryland Room in Hornbake Library. You may also search the online catalog for books on this topic using the suggested subject headings below.

Additional books on this topic can be found in McKeldin Library and the Art Library at the University of Maryland. These resources are searchable using the online catalog. The location of each book is noted in the catalog record.

Use the subject terms below to search the University of Maryland Library online catalog for additional titles. Simply select "Subject beginning with..." on the drop-down menu. Then enter one of the terms below.

Book industries and trade -- Great Britain -- History -- 20th century
Book industries and trade -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Paperbacks -- Publishing -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Printing -- History -- 20th century
Publishers and publishing -- France -- History -- 20th century
Publishers and publishing -- Great Britain -- History -- 20th century
Publishers and publishing -- History -- 20th century

Rare Book Collections

Maurice Anneberg Collection
Maurice Annenberg (1907-1979) was a noted Baltimore printer and typography historian. The Maurice Annenberg Collection consists of Mr. Annenberg's personal library, which supported his interest in typography and the history of the printed book.

Below is a list of Rare Book Collections associated with book history from the 1900s to the present. Click on the titles for additional information.

Private Press Collection
A listing of the Private Press companies, and the associated books, held in the Rare Books Collection at the University of Maryland Libraries.
Stanbrook Abbey Press Collection
The Stanbrook Abbey Press Collection consists of approximately 300 items, including books, booklets, and ephemera printed at the Press. The collection also includes original drawings, manuscript leaves, and individual specimen sheets of printing, most of which are either mounted, in paper folders, or framed. Many of the items are religious texts, and are in English or Latin. The collection contains works covering the period from its first printed work in 1876 up to 1978.
The Carolyn Davis Collection of Louisa May Alcott
The Carolyn Davis Collection consists of more than 300 books by and about Louisa May Alcott. This collection has representative examples of almost all of Alcott's most popular works as well as a number of her lesser-known writings. Among these titles are her first book Flower Fables (1854), early to modern printings of Little Women, and a number of other works such as Little Men, Jo's Boys, and Under the Lilacs.
The Rose and Joseph Pagnani Collection of Girls' Series Books
Girls' series books provide strong role models for girls through captivating stories and memorable characters. This collection includes 300 books from 33 different series, dating from 1917-1980. The bulk of the collection's dates range from the 1930s through the 1960s.
Turret Press Collection
Turret Press was a small press located in London, England. Founded in 1965, it specialized in publishing a limited edition series of booklets of contemporary poets. The Turret Press Collection covers the period from 1965 to 1975. Authors in the Turret Collection include Lawrence Durrel, Dylan Thomas, Henry Miller, Alfred Perles, and George MacBeth.
W.A. Dwiggins Collection
William Addison Dwiggins (1880-1956) was a type designer, book designer, calligrapher, illustrator, and writer. The collection includes over 150 volumes including ephemera of books designed, written, and illustrated by Dwiggins as well as works written about him. The collection contains work from as early as 1902 and as recent as 1987.

Selected Books on Book History from the 1900s to the Present

History of the book in America ; v. 4: Print in motion : the expansion of publishing and reading in the United States, 1880-1940 by edited by Carl F. Kaestle and Janice A. Radway
Call Number: Special Collections Stacks Z473 .P75 2009
ISBN: 9780807831861
Chapel Hill : Published in association with the American Antiquarian Society by the University of North Carolina Press, c2009.
History of the book in America ; v. 5: The enduring book : print culture in postwar America by edited by David Paul Nord, Joan Shelley Rubin, and Michael Schudson
Call Number: Special Collections Stacks Z473 .E53 2009
ISBN: 9780807832851
Chapel Hill : Published in association with the American Antiquarian Society by the University of North Carolina Press, c2009.
Paper empires : a history of the book in Australia, 1946-2005 by Craig Munro & Robyn Sheahan-Bright
Call Number: Special Collections Stacks Z533.3 .P37 2006
ISBN: 0702235598
St Lucia, Qld. : University of Queensland Press, 2006.
The case for books : past, present, and future by Robert Darnton
Call Number: Special Collections Stacks Z116.A2 D37 2009
ISBN: 1586488260
New York : PublicAffairs, c2009.
The great American paperback : an illustrated tribute to legends of the book by Richard A. Lupoff
Call Number: Special Collections Folio Z479 .L86 2001
Portland, Or. : Collectors Press, c2001.
The history of the book in the West ; v. 5: 1914 - 2000
Call Number: Special Collections Stacks Z4 .H54 2010
ISBN: 9780754627838
The Holocaust and the book : destruction and preservation by Jonathan Rose
Call Number: Special Collections Stacks Z658.G3 H65 2001
ISBN: 1558496432
Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, c2001.