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Historical Resources

by Charla Chin
 

In my own library I have around eight hundred books. My taste covers a vast area, so time and space won't permit me to list every topic and book. Also, because medieval is not what I presently write my sources in that area are limited. However, perhaps this printable list will help a few of you get started.
    The * means the resource is especially good. If the title is in bold, it's a must have.
Architecture
Etiquette and Beauty
Everyday Life
Fashion and Accessories
Household Items
Immigrants
Magic/Myth/Paranormal/New Age
Natural Settings
Professions/Occupations/Business/Economy
Slang/Expressions/Dialects/Foreign Phrase Books
Transportation
Women's History

Architecture

How-to books on fixing up old houses are surprisingly helpful.

  • How to Create Your Own Painted Lady by Elizabeth Pomada and Michael Larsen (the fixing up old Victorian homes)

Architectural history books

  • An American Heritage Guide—Historic Houses of America by Beverly Da Costa, editor (American Heritage Magazine Book)

  • A Field Guide to American Houses by Virginia & Lee McAlester

  • Fort Worth's Log Cabin Village—A History and Guide by Bettie A. Regester and Selden a. Wallace

  • American Shelter by Lester Walker

  • Castle by David Maculay

  • Painted Ladies and Daughters of Painted Ladies by Elizabeth Pomada and Michael Larsen (full-COLOR photos and descriptions of Victorian houses in America with dates)

  • A History of Western Architecture by David Watkins

  • Wrought Iron in Architecture by Gerald K. Geerling

  • Victorian Dream Homes—160 Victorian & Farmhouse Plans from Three Master Designers by Home Panners, Inc. (includes history and floorplans)

Carpentry books published in historical eras or modern how-to books on recreation of yesteryears.

  • Farm Conveniences and How to Make Them - The Lyons Press

  • The Homestead Builder—Practical Hints for Hand-Men by C. P. Dwyer

  • The Porcelain God, A Social History of the Toilet by Julie L. Horan (An especially unusual and useful book for bathroom plumbing)

Old-time catalogs like Montgomery Wards and Sears show building materials, including plumbing and lighting fixtures for sale.
Internet antique sites
*Modern catalogs that sell equipment and fixtures for old home renovations. Example: The Antique Hardware Store

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Etiquette and Beauty

Books

  • From the Ballroom to Hell by Elizabeth Aldric

  • Civil War Era Etiquette by Arthur Martine

  • The Model Wife, Nineteenth-Century Style by Rona Randall

  • Personal Beauty by D.G Brinton, M.D., & G. H. Napheys, M. D.

Personal diaries—0ld diaries and letters give wonderful insight into what it was in days gone by. One very important factor to remember when reading diaries of women from eras before the 20th century, is that it's what's left unsaid that actually tells the true story. A simple example is when a Victorian woman became pregnant. In most cases, during the entire nine months there would be no mention in her diary of the coming event. Then suddenly, the woman would write, that little "so and so" made their debut into the world today. Or, there would be mention of a new sister for an older child. Sex and pregnancy were indelicate subjects.

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Everyday Life

    Everyday life books often have a section on the social practices of the time.

  • Beauty Aids and Medicine and Cures For Everything by Laird & Lee Publishing.

  • * Dr. Chase's Recipes Or Information For Everybody by S. W. Chase M. D. (1876 - this is an antique book but there are lots of them around. Contains medical remedies for horses and other animals as well as people! A wonderful resource.)

  • Wondrous Times on the Frontier by Dee Brown

  • Early Pleasures and Pastimes by Bobbie Kalman

  • Seeking Pleasures in the Old West by David Dary

  • Leisure and Entertainment in America by Donna R. Graden

  • Sod House Days, Letters from a Kansas Homestead 1877-1888 by Howard Ruede

  • Victorian Parlour Games by Patrick Beaver

  • Christmas in America by Penne L. Restad

  • *A Book of Christmas by William Sansom

  • Pills, Petticoats & Plows—The southern Country Store by Thomas P. Clark

  • The Foxfire Book Edited by Eliot Wigginton (contains cabin building, hog butchering etc.)

  • The Reshaping of Everyday Life, 1790-1840 by Jack Larkin

  • Victorian American Transformations in Everyday Life, 1876-191 5 by Thomas J. Schlereth

  • The Expansion of Everyday Life, 1860-1876 by Daniel E. Sutherland

  • Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the 1800s by Marc McCutcheon

  • Everyday Life in Victorian America, 1865-1900 by Robert Haywood

  • Serving Women Household Service in Nineteenth Century America by Fay E. Dudden

  • I Do: Courtship, Love and Marriage on the American Frontier by Cathy Luchetti

  • *Victorian Houseware, Hardware & Kitchenware by Ronald S. Barlow

  • The Historical Supply Catalog: Newly Manufactured Items from the Past by Alan Wellihoff

  • Food on the Frontier (1850-1900) by Marjorie Kreidberg

  • Old Fashioned Woodstove Recipes by Beau Wallow Books (Found at Living History Farms in Iowa)

  • The Colonial Cookbook by Lucille Recht Penner

  • Old Timey Recipes by Phyllis Connor

  • The Oregon Trail Cookbook by Morris Publishing

  • The First Texas Cookbook forward by David Wade and Mary Faulk Koock

  • The Townsmen by Time Life Books

  • Medieval Households by Penne L. Restad

  • Castle by David Maculay

  • The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the Middle Ages - the British Isles by Sherrilyn Kenyon

  • Life in a Medieval Castle by Joseph & Frances Giles

  • Victorian England by WJ. Reader

  • What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel Pool

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Fashion and Accessories

Antique shops often display actual old dresses worn in days gone by.

Costume history books

  • Victorian Jewelry by Peter Hinks

  • *20,000 Years of Fashion by Francois Baucher

  • Historic Dress of the Old West by Ernest Lisle Reedstrom

  • Bridal Fashions: Victorian Era by Donna H. Felger

  • Men's Fashion: The Complete Sourcebook by John Peacock etc.

  • American Indian Costume by Josephine Paterek

  • Everyday Dress of the American Colonial Period by Dover Publishing

  • Costumes of Everyday Life: An Illustrated History of Working Clothes by Margot Lister

  • Clothing Guidelines for the Civil War Era by Janet Burgess (Amazon Book)

  • Victorian Fashion and Costumes Plates Women's Fashions in England, 1818-1828 by Stella Blum, editor

  • Achermann's Costume Plates Women's Fashions in England, 1818-1828 by Stella Blum, editor

  • Tom Teirney Paper Doll Books—each set features a different era in American history

  • Uniforms of the American Revolution by Peter F. Copland

  • The American Soldier by Philip Katcher

  • Calico Chronicle by Betty Mills

  • History of Underclothes by C Willett & Phillis Cunnington

  • Victorian Fashions. Volume I: 1880-1890 by Hazel Ulseth & Helen Shannon

  • Victorian Fashions. Volume II: 1890-1905 by Hazel Ulseth & Helen Shannon

  • History in Camera: Fashion A La Carte, 1860-1900 by Avril Lansell and Victorian and Edwardian Fashion: A Photographic Survey by Alison Gernsheim

  • The of Dress, Clothes and Society, 1500-1914 by Jane Ashelford

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Household Items

Antique shops, books and magazines

How to books of the era

  • American Woman's Home by Catherine E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe (Originally published in 1869, it has everything from how to clean the old wood stoves, to how to tell which stove is of the best quality, to how to care for servants, babies and domestic animals.)

Books on history of furniture

  • The History of Furniture—William Morrow & company, Inc., 1976

  • Joseph Byron Photographs of New Your Interiors at the Turn of the Century

  • The Tasteful Interlude: American Interiors through the Camera's Eye, 1960-1917 by William Seale

  • New Orleans Furniture by The Knapp Press

  • The Knopf Collector's Guides to American Antiques. Volume I: Chairs, Tables, Sofas & Beds

  • Gas Lighting by Daive Gledhill (excellent; found in an antique shop)

  • Firegrates and Kitchen Ranges by David J. Eveleigh (Excellent; found in an antique shop)

  • Colonial and Early American Lighting by Arthur H. Hayward

  • Simple Beauty, the Shakers in America by Willliam C. Ketchum, Jr.

  • The Legacy of Mormon Furniture by Maryilyn Conover Barker

Reprints of yesteryear specialty catalogs

  • Authentic Mid-Victorian Gas Lighting Fixtures (reprint of the Historic Mitchell, Vance & Co. Catalog, ca. 1876)

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Immigrants

Cultural societies—almost every nationality in America has its own society. They are very helpful in locating specialized books and materials for research. These societies also run museums.

Books

  • *Serving Women's Household Service in Nineteenth-Century America by Fay E. Dudden (excellent because it tells about many poor immigrants who became servants)

  • They Chose Minnesota—A survey of the State's Ethnic Groups by Jun Drenning Holmquist (another excellent reference for most immigrant groups)

  • Captains, Curates & Cockneys–The English in the Pacific North West by Frank Green

  • Straw Hats, Sandals and Steel–The Chinese in Washington State by Lorraine Barker Hildebrand (explains laws of the time which affected Chinese immigrants to all states; explains prejudices and rebellion of Americans against them)

  • Italians in Washington State Emigration, 1853-1924 by David L. Nicandri

  • Builders, Brewers and Burghers–Germans of Washington State by Dale R. Wirsing

  • Material Culture & People's Art Among the Norwegians in America by Marion Nelson

  • The Promise of America–A History of the Norwegian-American People by Odd S. Lovall

  • Out of Ireland, The Story of Irish Emigration to America by Kerby Miller and Paul Wagner

  • The Scotch-Irish, A Social History by James G. Leyburn (Scottish emigration to Ireland and later America)

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Magic/Myth/Paranormal/New Age 

  • The Complete Book of Witchcraft by Katheryn Paulsen

  • The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft by Rosmary Ellen Gueley

  • Charms, Spells & Formulas by Ray T. Malbrough

  • Magical Herbalism by Scott Cunningham

  • Gypsy Love Magick by Raymond Buckland

  • **Gypsy Demons & Divinities: The Magic and Religion of the Gypsies by Elwood B. Trigg

  • The Gypsy Fortune Teller: Or the Zingara Fortune Teller by A Gypsy Queen

  • Magical Almanac by Raymond Buckland

  • True Magic—A Beginner's Guide

  • Developing Psychic Abilities by Apryl Douglas

  • Sexual Hauntings through the Ages by Sanaya Roman

  • The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits by Rosemary Ellen Guiley

  • Haunted America by Michael Norman and Beth Scott

  • Ghosts of the Old West by Earl Murray (a so-so reference)

  • The Norse Myths by Kevin Crossley- Holland

  • The Druid by Berreford Ellis

  • Norwegian Folktales from the Collection of Absjornsen & Moe, 1812-1885

  • Trolls Remembering Norway by Joanne Asala

  • Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions by James Bonwick

  • Irish Folk & Fairytale Omnibus by Michael Scott

  • Ghosts of Old Europe by Hans Holzer

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Natural Settings

These types of references can often be found at local library sales and second hand bookstores for very little.

  • North America, The Historical Geography of a Changing Continent by Robert D. Mitchell and Paul A. Groves, editors

  • Caprock Canyonlands, Journeys into the Heart of the Southern Plains by Dan Flores

  • The Rockies, Backbone of a Continent by Jeremy Schmidt

  • The Colorado Plateau, A Geologic History by Donald L. Baars

  • Mountain New England, Life Past and Present by William F. Robinson

  • Wildflowers Across America by Lay Bird Johnson and Carlton B. Lees

  • Roadside Flowers of Texas by Mary Motz Wills and Howard S. Irwin

  • Hiking the Wasatchi by John Veranth (there are many such hiking guides available that give good descriptions of the landscape)

  • The Mammals of Texas by William B. David and David J. Schmidly

  • Historical Atlas of Texas by William C. Pool (such atlases are available for many states and countries)

  • A Natural History of American Birds of Eastern and Central North America by Commonwealth of Mass.

  • North American Wildlife Edited by Susan J. Wernert

  • Arizona Wildflowers by Eleanor H. Ayer

  • The Natural History of the Southwest by Williams A. Burns, editor

  • Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Plants of the Northern Plains and Black Hills by Theodore Van Bruggen

  • Birds of Arizona by Primer Publishers

  • Snakes of Arizona by Primer Publishers

  • Trees of Arizona by Primer Publishers

  • A Golden Guide to Trees by Herbert Zim Alexander C. Martin

  • Mammals of Arizona by Primer Publishers

  • Insects by George S. Glenn Jr.

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Professions/Occupations/Business/Economy

  • Merchants and Manufacturers: Studies in the Changing Structure of Nineteenth-Century Marketing by Glenn Porter and Harold C. Livesay

  • Economic Issues and the American Past by Roger Leroy Miller, Gary M. Walton and Robert L. Sexton (Lots on the legalities)

  • America's Iceman: An Illustrative History of the US Natural Ice Industry, 1665-1926 by Joseph C. Jones Jr.

  • Fire Fighting of Long Ago by Chandler Press

  • The Riverman by Time Life

  • The English River Book: A North West Company Journal Book of 1786 by Harry W. Duckworth, editor (Fur Trade)

  • Up the Columbia for Furs by Cecil Dryden

  • In the Barn by Bobbie Kalman (Farming)

  • Mapping the Farm by John Hildebrand

  • Diary of an Early American Boy, 1805 by Eric Sloane (describes farm and farm work at the time)

  • Pioneer Farming in Iowa by Edward J. Letterman

  • The Grain Harvesters by Graeme quick & Wesley Buchele

  • Country Things by Bob Artley (Farm equipment)

  • American Farm Tools from Hand Power to Steam Power by Douglas Hurt

  • The Farmer's Age, 1815-1960 by Paul W. Gates

  • The Farmers Last Frontier—Agriculture, 1860-1897 by Fred A. Shannon

  • Farm Conveniences and How to Make Them by Denis Boyles

  • Pills, Petticoats & Plows: The Southern Country Store by Thomas P. Clark

  • Early American Trades by Jack Larkin (Coloring book but very good)

  • Peddlers and Post Traders: The Army Sutler on the Frontier by David Michael Delo

  • The Chroniclers by Time Life Books

  • *Cowboy Culture: A Saga of Five Centuries by David Dary

  • British Gentlemen in the Wild West—The Era of the Intensely English Cowboy by Lawrence M. Woods

  • The Cowboys by Time Life Books

  • The Log of a Cowboy by Andy Adams

  • The Greatest Cattle Drive by Paul I Wellman (youth book, but great, easy to understand)

  • Cow Country by Edward Everett Dale

  • *The Cattlemen by Mari Sandoz

  • The Longhorn s By J. Frank Dobie (and all his other books about old time Texas)

  • The Day of the Cattleman by Ernst Staples Osgood

  • Cattlemen Vs Sheepherders by Bill O'Neal

  • Hell's Half Acre by Richard F. Selcer (Ft Worth, TX cattle trade)

  • Trail Dust and Saddle Leather by Jo Mora

  • Livestock Legacy—Fort Worth Stockyards, 1887-1987 by J'Nell Pate

  • The Ladder of Rivers: The Story of I. P. (Print) Olive by Harry E. Chrisman (about a man who tried to build a cattle empire in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas).

  • The Story of Our Police from 1856 to Present Day by Soman-Wherry Press

  • Vigilante by William E. Burrows

  • Crime and Punishment in American History by Lawrence M. Friedman

  • The Saloon On the rocky Mountain Mining Frontier by Elliott West

  • Saloons of the Old West by Richard Erdoes

  • The Gamblers by Time Life Books

  • The Freight Rolled by James R. Jennings

  • The Expressmen by Time Life Books

  • Wells Fargo Stagecoaching in Montana Territory by Turrenine W. Jackson

  • Stagecoach Across Texas By Highland Historical Press

  • The Old Overland Stagecoaching by Eva Jolene Boyd

  • Destiny Road: The Gila Trail and the Opening of the Southwest by Odie B. Faulk

  • Via Western Express & Stagecoach–California Transportation Links With the Nation 1848-1869 by Oscar Osburn Winter

  • Wondrous Times on the Frontier by Dee Brown

  • Print in a Wild Land: Frontier Journalism by John Myers

  • The American Fur Trade of the Far West, Vol. I & II by Hiram Martin Chittenden

  • Bible in Pocket, Gun in Hand by Ross Phares

  • Heroes of the Saddle Bags by Jesse Guy Smith (traveling preachers)

  • The San Francisco Stage: From Gold Rush to Golden Spike, 1849-1869 by Misha Berson

  • The San Francisco Stage: From Golden Spike to Great Earth Quake, 1869-1906 by Misha Berson

  • Send Us a Lady Physician: Women Doctors in America, 1835-1920 by Ruth J. Abram, editor

  • Medicine and American Growth, 1800-1860 by James H. Cassidy

  • The History of Surgery by Elisabeth Janos

  • Doctors of the Old West: A Pictorial History of Medicine 0n the Frontier by Robert F. Karolevitz

  • The Great American Medicine Show by David Armstrong & Elizabeth Metzger Armstrong

  • Pictorial Encyclopedia of Civil War Medical Instruments and Equipment, Vol I and II by Dr. Gordon Dammann

  • *Holy Old Mackinaw: A Natural History of the American Lumberjack by Steward Holbrook (excellent)

  • Seabeak Tide's Out; Table's Set by Fredi Perry (about a logging town on the Puget Sound)

  • The Last Wilderness by Murray Morgan (logging)

  • Mill Town by Norman H. Clark (logging)

  • This was Logging by Ralph Andrews

  • Timber by Ralph W. Andrews

  • Early Loggers in Minnesota, Vol I-IV by J.C. Ryan

  • The Loggers by Time Life Books

  • Skid Road: An Informal Portrait of Seattle by Murry Morgan

  • Precious Dust: The True Saga of the Western Gold Rushes by Paula Mitchell Marks

  • The Rockies by David Lavender

  • Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rush, 1896-1899 by Pierre Berton

  • River of Gold by Hector Halthouse (Australian gold rush)

  • Pictures of Gold Rush California by Milo Milton Quaife

  • Women of the Gold Rush by Elizabeth Margo

  • A COLORado Reader Edited by Carl Abbelahde

  • Boom Towns of the Great Basin by Frank C. Robertson & Beth Kay Harris

  • Nevada Treasure Hunters Ghost Town Guide by Theron Fox (found this a rock shop)

  • Western Arizona Ghost Towns by Stanley W. Paher (mining mostly)

  • Northwestern Arizona Ghost Towns by Stanley W. Paher (Mining)

  • Old Forts of the North West by Herbert M. Hart

  • Fort Laramie and the Pageant of the West, 1834-1890 by Le Roy R. Hafen & Francis Marion Young

  • Indians, Infants & Infantry by Merrill J. Mattes

  • Fort Bridger: A Brief History by R. S. Ellison

  • The Thunder Fort Story of Fort Huachucha by Ben T. Traywick

  • The United States Infantry: An Illustrated History, 1775-1918 by Gregory J. Urwin

  • The Art of Blacksmithing by Alex W. Bealer

  • *Old Ways of Working Wood by Alex W. Bealer (Even has instructions about felling a tree and how to hew it.)

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Slang/Expressions/Dialects/Foreign Phrase Books

Using the slang or lingo of a particular group of people gives characters a touch of reality. Whenever possible buy books in which the expressions are dated. English/Country Country/English dictionaries are especially helpful as well. They cost more, but try to buy foreign dictionaries that include slang and euphemisms.

  • Bob's Your Uncle: A Dictionary of Slang for British Mystery Fans by Jann Turner-Lord (although this says for mystery fans it has many historically correct slang terms in it)

  • Like We Say Back Home by Dick Syatt

  • The Slang Thesaurus by Jonathon Green

  • Je Ne Sais What? By Jon Winokeir (French phrases)

  • Scots Dictionary by Harper Colins *Robert Burns poems are great Scottish accent

  • Irish-English, English-Irish Dictionary and Phrasebook by Hippocrene Books (this is a good one)

  • Civil War Word Book by Darryl Lyman

  • Fighting Words: From War, Rebellion and Other Combative Capers by Christine Ammer

  • A Sea of Words by Dean King (excellent)

  • Dictionary of Foreign Words & Phrases by Maxim Newmark

  • Merde: The Real French You were Never Taught at School by Genevieve

  • Imierda! by Frances de Taloriera Berger

  • Flappers 2 Rapppers by Tome Dalzell

  • Medieval Wordbook by Madeleine Pelner Cosman

  • Gabbin by Russ Grizz Davis (fur trader and mountain man lingo)

  • Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang by J. E. Leghter

  • Mountain Range: A Dictionary of Expressions from Appalachia to the Ozarks by Robert Hendrickson

  • Cowboy Slang by Edger R. Potter (Excellent)

  • Talking Dirty: Slang, Expletives, and Curses from Around the World by Jeremy R. Ellis

  • Savvy Sayin's by Ken Alstead

  • Whistlin' Dixie by Robert Hendrickson

  • That Cat Won't Flush by Wallace O Chariton

  • That Dog Won't Hunt by Wallace O Chariton

  • A Dictionary of the Old West by Peter Walts

  • Happy Trails: A Dictionary of Western Expression by Robert Henrickson

  • Heavens to Betsy By Charles Earle Funk

  • 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Robert Cromie

  • Slang and Euphemism by Richard A. Spears

  • Swearing: A Social History of Foul Language Oaths & Profanity in English by Geoffrey Hughes

  • Wicked Words by Hugh Rawson

  • Slang Down the Ages by Jonathon Green

  • Speak Welsh by John Jones

  • Dictionary of Word Origins: A History of the Words, Expressions and Cliché's We Use by Jordan Almond

  • The Lightning-fast Lexicon of Period Lingo by Leland Burbank, Linda L. Crockett, Nicke Martinez & Leslie Metcalf

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Transportation

A good place to find railroad books and schedules and maps is at railroad parks or museums that host railroad hobbyists. The same goes for cars, airplanes, and ships. The Mariners Museum in Newport News, Virginia, is wonderful.

Books

  • The Railroads by Time Life Books

  • The Robber Barons by Mathew Josephson

  • Railroad Signatures Across the Pacific Northwest by Carlos A. Schwantes

  • The Great Iron Trail: The Story of the First Transcontinental Railroad by Robert West

  • The History of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe by Pamela Berkman

  • The Historical Atlas of the American West by Warren A. Beck & Ynaz D. Haase

  • Railroad Maps of North America—The First Hundred Years by Andrew M. Modelski

  • Cinders and Smoke by Doris B. Osterwald (about the narrow gage railroads of COLORado)

  • Westward by Rail by William Fraser Rae

  • Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow by Dee Brown

  • Roads, Rails, & Waterways: The Army Engineer's Early Transportation by Forest G. Hill

  • The Great Platte River Road by Merrill J. Mattes (Covered wagon trail)

  • Nineteenth Century American Carriages: Their Manufacture, Decoration and Use by The Museum At Stony Brook (excellent)

  • Carriage Terminology: An Historical Dictionary by Don H. Berkebile

  • Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History. Vol. II: The Mountain States by Donald B. Robertson

  • The Romance of Tall Ships by Jonathan Eastland

  • The Frigates: An Account of the Lighter Warships of the Napoleonic Wars by James Henderson CBC

  • The Buccaneers of America by John Esquemeling

  • Along the Clipper Way by Francis Chester

  • The Atlantic Liners: Seamanship in the Age of Paddle, Wheel, Sail and Screw by Peter Allington & Basil Guenhill

  • Pirates & Patriots of the Revolution–An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Colonial Seamanship by C. Keith Wilber, M. D.

  • Wooden Ship Building by Charles Desmond

  • Ship by David Macaulay (wreck of 16th century caravel discovered by archaeologists, contains journal about the ship's construction)

  • The Windjammers by Time Life

  • Motoring in America: The Early Years by Frank Oppel (excellent)

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Women's History

  • The Timetables of Women's History by Karen Greenspan

  • Timelines of American Women's History by Sue Heinemann

  • America's Working Women: a Documentary History, 1600 to the Present by Rosalyn Bazandall and Linda Gordon, editors

  • One Woman's West: Martha Gay Masterson, 1838-1916 by Lois Barton

  • Beauty Aids and Medicine and Cures for Everything by Curtis Mayborn

  • Weathering the Storm–Women of the American Revolution by Elizabeth Evans

  • The Oldest Profession—A History of Prostitution by Lujo Bassermann

  • Medieval Prostitution by Jacques Rossiaud

  • Land of Enchantment: Memoirs of Marion Russell Along the Sante Fe Trail by University of New Mexico Press

  • Women of the Gold Rush by Elizabeth Margo

  • The Women Who Made the West by Doubleday & Co., Inc.

  • *School Women of the Prairies & Plains, 1860s to 1920s by Mary Hurlbutt Cordier (excellent; even lists wages and compares to male teachers of the times; list colleges for teachers, etc.)

  • Butter in the Well Historical Diary, 1868-1888 by Linda K. Hubalek

  • Send Us a Lady Physician–Women Doctors in America, 1835- 1920 by Ruth J. Abram, editor

  • The Female Frontier: A Comparative View of Women On the Prairie & Plains by Glenda Rily

  • Claiming Their Land: Women Homesteaders in Texas by Florence C. Gould & Patricia N. Pando

  • The Uncommon Soldier of the Revolution: Women & Young People Who Fought For American Independence by Easter Acorn Press

  • The Puritan Family by Edmund Morgan (excellent)

  • Women in American Law, Vol I by Marlene Stein Wortman, editor

  • The Gentle Tamers by Dee Brown

  • Pioneer Women Voices from the Kansas Frontier by Joanna Stratton

  • The Model Wife—Nineteenth-Century Style by Rona Randall

  • Love and Glory–Women of the Old West by Larry D. Underwood

  • Outlaws in Petticoats by Gail Drago & Ann Ruff (part of Women of the West series put out by the Republic of Texas Press)

  • Westward the Women by Nancy Wilson Ross

  • *Covered Wagon Women, Vol. I-V by Kenneth L. Holms (excellent; these are diaries)

  • The Colonel's Lady on the Western Frontier by Alice Kirk Grierson

  • Liberty's Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women by Mary Beth Norton

  • **Contraception and Abortion in Nineteenth Century America by Janet Farrell Brodie (excellent)

  • Women in the Middle Ages by Frances and Joseph Gies

  • Medieval Households by David Herlihy

  • Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings by Amy Kelly

  • The Fair But Frail: Prostitution in San Francisco, 1849-1900 by Jacqueline Baker Barnhart

  • The Grand Dames by Stephen Birmingham

  • **Broken Lives: Separation and Divorce in England, 1660-1857 by Lawrence Stone

  • **Road to Divorce England, 1530-1987 by Lawrence Stone

  • *The Fight for Freedom for Women by Barrie Pitt, editor

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Copyright © 1999, Diane Farr.
All rights reserved.
You may reprint this chapter in whole or in part
provided credit is given to the author.

Diane Farr was first published at the age of eight when the Bakersfield Californian printed a sample of her poetry. She has spent most of her life with her nose in a book, sometimes reading, sometimes writing. When she comes up for air, she enjoys travel and theater. Diane is a published playwright and award-winning actress. Her critically-acclaimed debut novel is The Nobody (NAL Signet, Jan.'99) You can e-mail Diane, or visit her website.