The books of the fairs

The title The Books of the Fairs is a play on the words of the title of Hubert Howe Bancroft's official history of the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition, The Book of the Fair (Chicago, 1895). The desirability of a monograph collection from the holdings of the Smithsonian Libraries grew from what started as a preservation need. This collection, which was originally published in microfilm, contains books on fairs held between 1834 and 1916. It is worth noting that the collection contains both "world's fairs," such as the Brussels International Exposition (1897), and national, regional, and state fairs that were not "international" but which, nevertheless, are of critical research value. Books in this latter category include the Tennessee Centennial Exposition (1897) and the Northwest Interstate Fair held in Tacoma, Washington (1894), among others. The monographs here offer a strong representative collection that illustrates the breadth and impact of the early international exposition movement, as well as the variety of publications associated with it, with considerable depth for certain fairs. The range of materials is broad in scope, from glossy and expensive limited-edition folios of artwork displayed at fairs, to manuscript letters, penny guides, exhibit brochures, congress proceedings, and issues of journals devoted to coverage of a fair. The collection contains some 1,000 monographs in western European languages, including English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, and Dutch.