Why Not Ephemera? The Emergence of Ephemera in Libraries

Abstract

There are multiple ways of approaching the topic of ephemera in libraries. I want to begin with some personal comments that reflect on my experience with ephemera, demonstrate the potential scholarly interest in ephemera by citing several recent publications that make excellent use of such collections, and share the results of some informal conversations with curators in other institutions. I will close by considering our experiences at the American Antiquarian Society (AAS), where I have been aware of ephemera as a classification of material for over thirty years.As director of the AAS’s new Center for Historic American Visual Culture— ...