Records of the Harvard College Observatory Phillips Library

The Records of the Harvard College Observatory Phillips Library contain eight bound volumes documenting the publications received by the library. The volumes, classified by the Harvard College Observatory as accession books, a memorandum book, and stock books, record information such as the date the volume was procured, accession number, author, title, publisher location and year, volume number, source, and notes about the publication.

The "Books Received" accession book includes entries dating from 1858 to 1862, many of which are initialed by Harvard College Observatory directors William Cranch Bond and George Phillips Bond. The "accession book" contains entries from 1890 to 1900. Additionally, the "memorandum book" has accession entries from 1903 to 1911, as well as data entries from the summer of 1941, which appear to be unrelated to the earlier data.

The five bound volumes of "stock books," which date from approximately 1932, also document works obtained by the library. The publications relate to a variety of astronomical subjects, including books of reference, biographical works, comets and meteors, history, instruments, navigation and nautical astronomy, descriptions of observatories, photography, stars, atlases, and planets, practical and spherical astronomy, and almanacs.