The Directory Of Rare Books And Special Collectionswas the first and most ambitious

project of the newly formed Rare Books Group of what was then the Library Association. Work began in 1966. When it was published in 1985, it was a great if imperfect achievement. Its true begetter – Stanley Roberts – did not live to see it in print, a fate shared by the mastermind of the revised 1997 edition, Barry Bloomfield. They, their successors and their teams of contributors and collaborators succeeded in creating an invaluable tool for those who are looking for collections of rare books in the British Isles. Perhaps the greatest achievement of the Directory is that it opened up a realization of the richness, diversity and ubiquity of those collections. Far from being confined to London, Oxford, Cambridge, and a small number of provincial, Scottish and Irish cities, there were collections everywhere, and many of them in real danger.

For the third edition, Karen Attar has trawled far and wide for information, and made radical changes which go far beyond anything which could be attempted by Bloomfield. The most obvious change is the re-ordering of the entries to make the book more usable; welcome as that is, however, more profound is the rewriting of many entries, a new depth of verification of data, and a more comprehensive coverage of the field. For scholars seeking to find and exploit the resources of rare books and special collections in the British Isles, what was a useful work of reference has been transformed into an invaluable and indispensable tool.

The successor body of the the originators – the Rare Books and Special Collections Group of CILIP – can only be congratulated on undertaking the work, and on maintaining at least for this edition, the tradition of publishing it in its traditional form. Surely there can never be another edition in print? But I recall saying exactly the same thing when the second edition was published more than 15 years ago. I hope I am wrong this time as well.