Anna Marble Pollock Memorial Library of Books about Cats

Scope

The nucleus of the Anna Marble Pollock Memorial Library of Books about Cats was given to Yale by Carl Van Vechten in 1948.Van Vechten began collecting cat books while writing his The Tiger in the House (1920). The collection is named in honor of Anna Marble Pollock, who shared Van Vechten’s love of cats.For more information see Carl Van Vechten’s article, “Puss in books,” in the Yale Library Gazette, v.23, no.4, pp. 175-180. The collection continues to grow through additional gifts.

Size

The size boundaries are:

Octavo:
up to 25 cm. high (and gaylords slightly over 25 cm. high)
up to 23 cm. wide
Quarto:
between 25 and 37 cm. high
between 23 and 27 cm. wide
Folio:
over 37 cm. high
over 28 cm. wide

Marking

The following guidelines are used when marking volumes in Pollock:

  1. Mark on Yale bookplate when there is one, generally in the upper left corner.
  2. Mark on back cover, lower right hand corner, when there is no Yale bookplate unless cover is too dark.
  3. Mark on verso of last page, lower right hand corner, when 1 or 2 don’t apply. The lower left hand corner is the alternate location when the lower right hand corner is unusable.
  4. If the last page is unmarkable (e.g. too dark or shiny or filled with text or illustrations), mark the verso of the first usable page from the end.

Classification

Class as a name collection and use a sequential numbering scheme for monographs and serials.

Monographs
Octavo beinycal ‡h Pollock ‡i 843
Quarto beinycal ‡h Pollock ‡i +31
Folio beinycal ‡k Folio ‡h Pollock ‡i 3
Serials
Octavo beinycal ‡h Pollock ‡i S62
Quarto beinycal ‡h Pollock ‡i +S4
Folio beinycal ‡k Folio‡h Pollock ‡i S3

Special notes and tracings

Add subject headings relating to cats to works that would not normally have the tracings made.

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