Tangible Books, Catalogues of Holdings and Abstract Bibliographies – Retrospective Bibliography in Denmark

This article analyses the history, state and possible development of retrospective bibliography in Denmark. Current bibliography, a joint responsibility of the Danish Bibliographic Centre (DBC) and the Royal Danish Library, is governed by legislation, whereas retrospective bibliography is not. The history of retrospective bibliography is closely connected to legal deposit and to the holdings of the Royal Danish Library. The printed retrospective bibliography, Bibliotheca Danica, was published in the years 1872–1931. An addition was published in 1943, and a photographic reprint with corrections and supplements was published 1961–1963. In spite of the fact that the Royal Danish Library many years ago made a retrospective conversion of all entries in Bibliotheca Danica, there is today no digital version of its entries and no digital Danish retrospective bibliography covering the period 1482–1840. There are instead catalogues of holdings of individual libraries and national union catalogues. The article concludes that it would be desirable to produce a digital retrospective bibliography of books printed before 1841.