Practical Books published in England, 1476–1600

These two .csv files are companion data for the book Reading Practice: The Pursuit of Natural Knowledge from Manuscript to Print (University of Chicago Press, 2024). They contain publication information for all "practical books" printed in England between 1476 and 1600. Practical books are defined as books published in English in any of the following genres:

medical recipe collections

herbals

astrological manuals

agricultural treatises

anatomies

surgeries

dietaries or health regimens

urinaries

books on distillation

gardening manuals

books on hawking and hunting

husbandry manuals

veterinary medicine 

The publication information for the 479 books reflected in these spreadsheets were collected from the British Library's digital database, estc.bl.uk, which contains information bibliographical data drawn from Katherine Pantzer, et al, eds., A Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of English Books Printed Abroad, 1475–1640, 3 vols., revised and enlarged second edition (London: Bibliographical Society, 1976–1993). Note that as of summer 2024, the digital ESTC remains inaccessible following a cyber attack on the British Library. 

Both spreadsheets contain information on the same 479 titles, but the data in the second "standardized titles" spreadsheet has been cleaned in order to create standard titles for reeditions of the same texts. In other words, in the "standardized titles" spreadsheet, all editions of the same text are registered under the same title.