Books on Publishing
The weekly trade news magazine of the publishing world. PW is a major source for news about paperback publishing, and the advertisements that fill its pages are a great source for information about books in series. Additionally, the new publication notices help solidify publication dates, even though series numbers are sometimes not included.
Annual listing of catalogs submitted by publishers to Publishers’ Weekly. In 1948, PTLA became the basis for the newly-created Books in Print (see below, noting that Books in Print expanded its database beyond PTLA in the 1970s). The publication of PTLA continued until 2001, when it merged online with Books in Print at http://www.booksinprint.com.
Other Publications
The Paperbound Book in America: The History of Paperbacks and Their European Background (Frank L. Schick, 1958), available at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001176647. LC Virtual Card Catalog.
Indispensable account of the early years of the paperback.
Bowker Lectures
How to Run a Paperback Bookshop (Sidney Gross & Phyllis B. Steckler, 1963); LC Virtual Card Catalog
Heavily promoted in PW. One of the first ad is PW, July 29, 1963, at 91. The title was also reviewed in the New York Times Book Review (see There's More to Bookselling Than Selling, NY TIMES BOOK REVIEW, Jan. 5, 1964, at 22, https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1964/01/05/101493166.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0).
Growing Up With Paperbacks (biannual, 1967-1977) LC Virtual Card Catalog (1967), LC Virtual Card Catalog (1969)
This pamphlet joined the earlier Growing Up With Books and Growing Up With Science Books in 1967, intended to be a compilation of children-appropriate paperback books handed out by booksellers. They were available for purchase in quantity lots. Images of most editions are viewable in Bowker ads in Publishers Weekly: 1967 (July 10, 1967, at [223]), 1969 (Sept. 1, 1969, at 12), 1971 (July 19, 1971, at 58), 1975 (May 12, 1975, at 72), and 1977 (May 9, 1977, at 34).
The Bowker Annual of Library and Book Trade Information (annual, 1956-)
Has library and trade publishing statistics as well as information on associations.
A History of Book Publishing in the United States (John Tebbel, 4 vols., 1972-1981)
THE source for the subject of the title. Volume IV obviously is most informative for this project.
Volume I: The Creation of an Industry, 1630-1865
Volume II: The Expansion of an Industry, 1865-1919
Volume III: The Golden Age Between Two Wars, 1920-1940
Volume IV: The Great Change, 1940-1980
Book Collecting: A Modern Guide (Jean Peters, ed., 1977)
Collectible Books: Some New Paths (Jean Peters, ed., 1979)
The Bookman's Glossary (Jean Peters, ed., 6th ed. 1983)
Library Journal
Literary Market Place (LMP)