The Plot Thickens

It's a safe bet if the word, "Encyclopedia" or "American" or "History" appears in a crappy old book title, I'll spend one United States Dollar to preserve it in my little library. It's a sure bet if all three words are in the title. And it's a surer bet-- if there was such a thing with there isn't-- that if all three are present and the crappy old book is less than one United States Dollar... .

And so, I present to you the Encyclopedia of American History (full citation below). It was one of my 19 $5 Bag O' Books books. What a find! Here's what others have said (from the back cover):

"... in the category of permanently useful and reliable reference book." --C. Vann Woodward

"This encyclopedia immediately assumes its place as a basic reference book for any library." -- John Barkham, Saturday Review Syndicate

And my personal favorite

"From now on when a question in American history comes up the first source of reference for students and libraries will be this encyclopedia." -- San Francisco Chronicle

[my emphases]

How this book, discarded by the Parkin High School Library in Parkin Arkansas, assumed its place in a $5 Bag O' Books table in a bookstore in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi is a mystery. But I'm ever-so-glad it did. It has now assumed its rightful place right over there on my go-to reference shelf.

The organization of the book, along with many many tables and lists, do make it a first source reference. It has three sections.

I. Basic Chronology begins with a discussion of the "Original Peoples" of America, c. 50,000-8000 B.C.! While detailed, this section is basic political history.

II. Topical Chronology deals with territorial expansion, populations, economy, science, thought, and culture. Fun stuff.

III. Four Hundred Notable Americans not just politicians. There's an entry on Irving Berlin who wrote and composed White Christmas. (p. 675)

Topical Chronology is crammed with all sorts of utterly useless information-- unless, of course, you need to know that White Christmas is one of the Twenty-Five All-Time Song Hits, 1892-1959. (p. 657) I like music just as much as the next guy but music is Mr. Big Food's thing, not mine.

My thing is books. And this crappy old book does not disappoint. Under the heading, "Trends Since 1860" in the "Literature" section of "Thought and Culture"  we have listed one or two best selling crappy old books for each year beginning 1862 and continuing through 1960. (pp. 604-605) Whoa Boy!

"I have that!" I exclaimed more than once.

"Well. Duh. They were best sellers," I replied.

I wondered how easy it would be to learn what the best selling book in 1906 was if one was not already in possession of a crappy old book with the answer.

(Not to mention the best selling book!)

As it turns out, thanks to that infallible source, Wikipedia, it's remarkably easy to find the answer (as long as you can connect to the World Wide Web). But there's just one small little problem.

And that's not all.

There are multiple discrepancies between the book list and the Wikipedia lists of best sellers for the years 1900 - 1909. The Wikipedia entry states: 

For 1895-1912, the lists were compiled from the New York Bookman, which is the only comprehensive source.

What are we to make of this? 

If Bookman is the only source, how can the two lists differ?

Why would a book like the Encyclopedia of American History exclude The Jungle in its list?

Why does the book include several Zane Grey novels, but the Wiki list none?

There is no citation for the list in the book; no link to the digitized issue of Bookman (relevant or otherwise) at Wikipedia. 

So the plot doesn't thicken. The story stops cold. Sorry 'bout that.

Richard B. Morris, ed. Encyclopedia of American History Updated and Revised. Harper & Row, Publishers, New York. 1965.