author
Charles Evans
1850–1935
Best known for the monumental American Bibliography, this pioneering librarian helped shape public libraries while documenting the earliest printed works in the United States. His career joined practical library building with years of painstaking scholarly work.
1 Audiobook
Oaths of Allegiance in Colonial New England
by Charles Evans
About the author
Born in Boston on November 13, 1850, he became an American librarian and bibliographer whose work left a lasting mark on both library practice and book history. Early in his career he worked at the Boston Athenaeum, then went on to organize or lead important library efforts in Indianapolis, Omaha, Baltimore, and Chicago.
He is most closely associated with American Bibliography, an ambitious long-term project cataloging books, pamphlets, and periodicals printed in what became the United States from 1639 through 1820. The scale and care of that undertaking made it a foundational reference for scholars, librarians, and collectors.
He died on February 8, 1935. Remembered as both a practical library builder and a meticulous bibliographer, he stands out as one of the key figures in the development of American library and bibliographic work.