Retrospective Bibliography of American Demographic History from Colonial Times to 1983

Modern American demographic history emerged as a clearly defined discipline in the 1960s when historians began to realize the full value of demographic information to their studies of both population and more indirectly related subjects. In recent years a large body of literature has been produced, but there is a significant amount of material, which originated before demographic history became popular, that is still useful to scholars today. In addition, the range of related topics has broadened considerably, making the information more difficult to locate. This bibliography is the first comprehensive guide to the entire field of Amerian demographic history. It contains over 3,800 citations of published materials on all aspects of the subject, including marriage and fertility, family and societal values, and the interactions of population with economics, politics, and society. Each section is introduced with a substantial bibliographic essay highlighting the chief works, the contours of the field, and the directions it appears to be taking.

The first of two volumes, this scholarly work offers reader access through an elaborate table of contents that points up subject arrangement; an author index, a place name index, and an index of groups of people according to ethnic and national division, ages, religions, occupations, and gender. The extensive preface provides a discerning overview of the history of demographic research, and the literature covered spans the period from the colonial times to 1983. The companion volume will present the available sources from 1984 to the present. This exhaustive survey will be an important addition to academic and research libraries and a valuable resource for scholars, students, and genealogists.