Four Centuries of Cat Books: A Bibliography, 1570-1970

Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, first edition, 1972. Cloth, small 8vo,. vii, 480 pp. Over 2,200 entries. The most substantial bibliography of books about cats. The bibliography claims to include: "1) All known separately published items in the English language (including translations) which deal exclusively or predominantly with cats; 2) A selection of books covering Felidae the cat family; 3) Books with outstanding cat illustrations, regardless of text; 4) All 'cheap' old items that could be found, providing they offer something feline- -this because they afford a background to the cat's rise in literature; 5) Satirical tirades which used cats in a comparative fashion; 6) Fiction in which cats play an essential role in the plot, as in Masefield's The midnight folk; 7) The contents of prose anthologies. These follow the main entry of each anthology; 8) Authors represented in anthologies, with the titles of the inclusions. They are listed in the main-entry author index and the anthologies in which the titles appear are noted; 9) Illustrators and joint authors. These are included alphabetically In the main-entry author Index as well as under the book in which each appears." - from the introduction. Fine.