Digital Bibliography of Delaware

The Digital Bibliography of Delaware is a new compilation of bibliographies created by many individuals and organizations. The information presented here includes two previously published bibliographies, annual bibliographies created and published by the Delaware Historical Society (formerly known as the Historical Society of Delaware), and additional entries created by Robert Fleck, proprietor of Oak Knoll Books. Each publication is explained in detail below.

This project was initiated by Robert Fleck, who created a personal and professional database of the materials included.  Mr. Fleck determined that the public would benefit from increased access to this substantial database and contacted the University of Delaware Library to host this online version.

Bibliography of Delaware Through 1960

This compilation of materials published about Delaware or by Delawareans was organized by H. Clay Reed, Professor of History emeritus from the University of Delaware and Marion Bjornson Reed, former Executive Secretary, Historical Society of Delaware. The list was limited to printed and mimeographed works, as well as works that were reproduced in quantity.

Generally omitted from this publication were general histories, reference works (i.e. encyclopedias and yearbooks), newspapers, Delaware imprints, fiction, poetry, sermons that contain no specific Delaware interest, United States government documents, trade catalogs, single maps, official compilations and handbooks of state laws, programs, broadsides and student yearbooks.

Bibliography of Delaware 1960 - 1974

Compiled by members of the Reference Department of the Hugh M. Morris Library at the University of Delaware, this bibliography was originally intended to continue the Reeds’ work up through 1974. Certain types of materials, dated prior to 1960, however, that were omitted from the previous publication are also included here as supplemental materials. These new additions include all dissertations and master's theses about Delaware and some state documents such as those published by the Agricultural Experiment Station, Geological Survey, and the State Planning Office.

Delaware History

Delaware History is published semiannually since 1946 by the Delaware Historical Society.  The journal is indexed annually and includes a biannual bibliography of Delaware history, comprising citations to books, articles, pamphlets, films, and reprints on Delaware history.  It excludes genealogical works and literature. As new publications are released, entries will be added annually to this digital database.

Oak Knoll Books Inventory

Over the years, Mr. Fleck has also included information that he has gathered while working with his own inventory during his tenure as a rare and out-of-print book seller and a collector of Delawareana. He has added annotations and notes of relevance to many existing entries, as well as adding many volumes of interest that were not listed in the previously mentioned publications.  As Mr. Fleck continues to update his own personal database with information that has not been published in any of the listed bibliographies, this database will continue to be updated to incorporate his findings.

Notes about viewing the records

Subjects: The subject headings used in the two original publications were not consistent between bibliographies and each entry was assigned a single subject heading. This limitation resulted in accessibility difficulties for entries that cover many areas of interest. The entries in the Delaware History publications are not assigned subject headings in their original publication. In order to make the database more user friendly and materials more easily accessible, the subjects that were used in the original publications were restructured and standardized. The additional entries from Delaware History and Mr. Fleck’s inventory have been assigned subjects as well.  Whenever possible, more than one subject heading was assigned to each entry. Though the subjects tend to be broad, they have been narrowed down from their original headings in order to assist the user in finding the desired information.

Digital books: Some of the materials listed in this digital bibliography have been digitized by Google as part of its Google Books project. Links have been provided to those digitized versions of sufficient quality for use as resource materials. In some instances, alternate editions have been digitized by Google.  When that is the case, the link will identify the digitized version as a variant edition. Materials that are in the public domain that have not been reproduced by others will be digitized so that additional resources included in this database may be made available for public access.