Rushton M. Dorman, Esq. Library Sale Catalogue (1886) A Study of the Dispersal of a Nineteenth-Century American Private Library (Volume One)

This two-volume set constitutes an edition of the sale catalogue of the private library of Rushton M. Dorman of Chicago, Illinois, a collection numbering 1,842 separate items. It casts an interesting and important light upon book-collecting and reading habits and interests among affluent late 19th-century Americans. In addition, the substance and tone of the comments set down by the original compiler of the catalogue allow one to view the marketing methods employed by a major late 19th-century book auction firm. The volumes will be of interest to students of literary history, librarians, bibliophiles, historians of the book and book trade.