New Ranges for Collecting Western Americana: Is It Time to Put the Old Bibliographies Out to Pasture?

Abstract

The bibliographies of Western American history owe a great deal to the energy and interest of early book collectors, among whom were Henry R. Wagner, Ramon F. Adams, Thomas W. Streeter, and Everett D. Graff. These bibliographies have identified thousands of books relating to the West. But the fundamental direction of Western American history which these bibliographies were based on is being challenged by up-and-coming historians who are asking new questions about the West.

The new questions are giving energy and emphasis to an area of study whose survival seemed in doubt only a few years ago. The introspection in . . .