Bibliography - Descriptive Bibliography

Descriptive Bibliography

Fredson Bowers described and formulated a standardized practice of descriptive bibliography in his Principles of Bibliographical Description (1949). Scholars to this day treat Bowers' scholarly guide as authoritative. In this classic text, Bowers describes the basic function of bibliography as, " sufficient data so that a reader may identify the book described, understand the printing, and recognize the precise contents" (124).