English Books ESTC

English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC)

The best place to start searching for English books of the hand-press period is the English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC), a bibliographic database. ESTC's scope extends chronologically from the earliest printed English book (ca. 1473) through the last item printed in 1800. The database contains over 423,000 citations and is updated daily. It includes information on works printed in England and England's dependencies from 1473 to 1800, as well as works printed in English anywhere else in the world during that period.

The ESTC is a union list. Over 2,000 institutions in North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and New Zealand contribute records of their holdings. Each ESTC record has a list of locations at which copies of the item may be found.

You can select simple author or title searches, but it is best to go directly to the Advance Search button, where you can combine searches with boolean terms. To limit results to books held by the Clark, use "Clark" as a location word.

Subject searches are not recommended, because there are no subject headings for the eighteenth-century books, and those used for the earlier books are not specific enough to be useful. Limits by date are possible with the Advanced Search.

	The William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
	ENGLISH RARE BOOKS AT UCLA
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English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC) The best place to start searching for English books of the hand-press period is the English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC), a bibliographic database. ESTC's scope extends chronologically from the earliest printed English book (ca. 1473) through the last item printed in 1800. The database contains over 423,000 citations and is updated daily. It includes information on works printed in England and England's dependencies from 1473 to 1800, as well as works printed in English anywhere else in the world during that period. The ESTC is a union list. Over 2,000 institutions in North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and New Zealand contribute records of their holdings. Each ESTC record has a list of locations at which copies of the item may be found. ACCESS TO THE ESTC (http://estc.bl.uk/F/?func=file&file_name=login-bl-list) will take you directly to the ESTC's homepage. Select the "Search the ESTC" button. You can select simple author or title searches, but it is best to go directly to the Advance Search button, where you can combine searches with boolean terms. To limit results to books held by the Clark, use "Clark" as a location word. Subject searches are not recommended, because there are no subject headings for the eighteenth-century books, and those used for the earlier books are not specific enough to be useful. Limits by date are possible with the Advanced Search. ALWAYS expand the record to the long form; the microfilm information — collection name, reel number and position on the reel (if the title has been filmed) -- will be in the notes.
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ALWAYS expand the record to the long form; the microfilm information — collection name, reel number and position on the reel (if the title has been filmed) -- will be in the notes.