Talking pub dates with the pros

One of the issues we constantly run into, whether as we look for new books to add, or in cataloging the books we already have, is how to know when the book was published if there isn't a publication date, or if there is only a copyright date.

We'd like our library to reflect accurately the years that the editions we have were published, and we'd like to have a strong sense of the age of the books we want to acquire when we are out searching.

I took this question to the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library's main branch in Charlottesville, hoping a library professional could provide some useful info to help us figure out publication dates where there are not any.

I approached the front desk, explained my question, and was told by the attendant: "Let me get someone from downstairs on the phone." When she reached this next person, she handed me the phone, and I explained my question to person No. 2. At the end of the explanation, I was told: "I'm going to transfer you to Ann, hold on."

When Ann got on the phone, I explained to her what my question was. Third time's a charm, right?

Ann was as helpful as she could be, and very nice, and at the very least, the answer I got made us feel like we weren't banging our heads against the wall about this for nothing. It's apparently a very inexact science, especially with the kinds of books we are mostly dealing with.

It seems to primarily be complicated by the following factors (and likely more): copyright laws and copyright dates having limitations, which we knew; pirated copies of books being somewhat common in the 19th and early 20th centuries, which we are learning; even after both of those, it seems many legitimate publishers of classic literature in the 19th and 20th centuries just didn't put publication dates in their editions, which we find it hard to understand. Why not?

So an edition of Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises that is clearly not older than 20 years might only include the copyright renewal date of 1954, but nothing else. And though we know it is published by Hemingway's publisher, Scribner's, or rather the company that uses the Scribner's imprint today, Simon & Schuster, they don't tell us when they published this particular edition.

And we've found similar issues across the decades/centuries, so it's not only an issue of modern times.

The most helpful advice Ann gave us was to use the Library of Congress' online catalog to search for our editions. While not a guarantee of 100-percent success, it has proven a useful tool, and has helped fill in some of our blanks.

Our next stop in search of more info on this subject is to visit the UVa library to talk to some more library professionals, including checking in at the Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature. Earlier than we thought we'd be going, but we need answers.