Art Books: A Basic Bibliography of Monographs on Artists, 2nd Edition | Garland Reference Library of the Humanities | Perfect for Art Students, Researchers & Collectors

I wish I had this book years ago as it would have helped me build my Art Library such as it is. I bought a second hand copyThis book was printed in 1997 so is getting a bit dated. It is however an excellent 1 volume bibliography of Artists worldwide. Due to its wide scope and extended chronological range you will find gapsIn the preface to the first edition the author gave some interesting general factsThe proportion of citation by national school or geographic region are;Italy 20 percent, Austria, Germany and Switzerland 18 per cent, North America 16 per cent, France 15 per cent, Great Britain and Ireland 9 per cent, Belgium and the Netherlands 7 percent, Russia 4 per cent and so onThere were 1,870 artists in the first edition. Painting and Drawings made up 64 per cent, Sculpture 11 per cent, Architecture 11 per cent , Graphic arts 8 per cent, photography 5 per cent, and Decorative and applied arts 1 percent. I didn't note updated figures in the second editionThere are 278 new artists in the new edition ( not all recent. ) and 3,395 new entries - about a 35 per cent increase .there seem to be a number of recent publications in the second edition. The book is beautifully produced with Acid free paper meant to last 250 years- that partly accounts for the priceThe books came from the Harvard Fine Arts Library and very reviewed before inclusionThere is a introductory section on "a Selection of Biographical Dictionaries and other Reference Works Containing Information on Artists" with both international works and the works by countryTis is then followed by the Artist index in Alphabethifc order. Each book,has a specific number making reference easy. The book is well laid out with the information easy to see. The coverage seen appropriate .There is a very full and helpful indexIt is a good guide to the art literature up to the time of its publication- it is worth using in conjunction with. Jane Turner editor the Grove Dictionary of Art 1996 34 volumes. Turner's work has excellent bibliographies that list both early important critical studies along with more recent workI tend to supplement them with Ursus books cataloguesCatalogues Raisonne, Art in the 19th Century, Art in the 20th Century etc-- I have reviewed a few in my reviewsThis one is much easier to read in bed