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George Arents Collection of Books in Parts

The George Arents Collection of Books in Parts contains over 1,200 items and is one of the most important collections assembled on the principle that the publications therein appeared serially in separate numbers and are still in their original state. In the words of Sarah Augusta Dickson, the first curator of the George Arents Collection:

Books in parts may be defined as works by an author or authors which are published piecemeal over a period of time, each unit having its separate cover, usually paper or boards, and in many cases with the title-page and other preliminary matter for the volume or volumes at the end of the last part.

This method of publishing benefited the publisher as it was thought that the price of a weekly or monthly part at one shilling was affordable to a wider readership than the price of pound sterling for a bound volume. The collection generally does not include other types of serial literature such as works that were published in installments in periodicals.

George Arents collected books in parts with an eye to acquiring the best possible copies of these ephemeral publications. The emphasis has always been on original condition and on obtaining the parts in their original wrappers. Several titles in bindings were added to the collection and they include particularly important works such as Redouté's Les Roses and Audubon's Birds of America (the octavo edition of 1840-1844).

Information about the George Arents Collection of Books in Parts can be found in two publications:

The Arents Collection of Books in Parts and associated
literature. A complete checklist: with an introductory survey /
by Sarah Augusta Dickson.
New York, 1957.
88 p. illus. 26 cm.

A supplement to the checklist, 1957-1963. Compiled by
Perry O'Neil.

[ the above web versions edited in 2002]

A complete listing of the holdings of the George Arents Collection of Books in Parts is maintained at the Library. There is an ongoing project to catalog the collection and an ever increasing number of the holdings are available in the Library's online catalog, CATNYP.