{"value"=>"<p>Before the Astor Library opened in 1854, Cogswell had already put together a catalog of books acquired and desired, <span class=\"title\">An Alphabetical Index to the Astor Library; or, Catalogue with Short Titles, of the Books Now Collected and of the Proposed Accessions, as Submitted to the Trustees for Their Approval</span>, printed in 1851. This list included shelfmarks for the books, assigned according to the fixed-location classification scheme employed by the Astor for its entire period of operation.</p> <p>A variety of catalogs, printed and handwritten, on slips and in volumes, alphabetical and classed, followed the 1851 list. Most notable among these are: Cogswell's classed catalog, listing books under fourteen main subjects, which was begun in 1854 and was never completed; the four-volume <span class=\"title\">Catalogue or Alphabetical Index of the Astor Library</span>, compiled by Cogswell and published in 1861; Cogswell's <span class=\"title\">Supplement</span>, of 1866; and Charles Alexander Nelson's four-volume <span class=\"title\">Continuation (Accessions to 1880) Catalogue of the Astor Library</span>, published by the Riverside Press, 1886-1888. For a more detailed history of the Astor Library's catalogs, see Wyllis E. Wright, \"History of the Catalogues,\" in <span class=\"title\">A Guide to the Reference Collections of the New York Public Library</span> (New York: New York Public Library, 1941).</p> <p>The Classed Catalogue comprises the manuscript notebooks of Cogswell for this never-completed finding aid, with additions made by other Astor staff. Sample Entries from the Card Catalogue are actual cards from the catalog mounted into scrapbooks. Catalogues of Additions are interim manuscript catalogs that list bibliographic entries alphabetically by author, along with shelfmarks for the books. The two volumes for the years up to 1886 only cover authors A-E and M-P. The List of Books not on the Printed Index is a manuscript supplement, probably to the 1861 index. The Record of Shelf Changes gives old and new shelfmarks for books, the locations of which were changed in 1876 and 1877.</p>"}