GUIDE: Thompson, Ralph. American literary annuals and gift books, 1825-1865. Z6520.G4T5 This set includes 469 souvenir volumes. The titles are important for the book design and decoration techniques employed by publishers and for their sentimental content representing a prevailing national perception of antebellum and Civil War era America. In addition, the gift books included the works of then-unknown and often lastingly obscure authors as well as minor works by Hawthorne, Poe, Stowe and Emerson. All the titles in this set have been analyzed, and records appear in the Center's catalog.