E. Tomlinson Fort "Memorial" Library

The advantage of having your own library is that it is always open when you need it. However, once your library reaches a certain size it can become difficult to remember whether or not you have certain works. Some years ago I began a catalogue of the items in my collection. This has helped me on many occasions for knowing what I do have when I need to look something up or when I am offered a book for purchase.

My library contains items covering most aspects of ancient/mediaeval numismatics and sigillography, as well as political, religious, social, and economic history. However, it is strongest with regards to my own areas of interest and research: the Roman Republic, the late Roman Empire, Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman England and the kingdom of Scotland. To a somewhat lesser extent I have a number of items dealing with ancient West Semitic and medieval sigillography as well as the coinages and history of Visigothic Spain, Merovingian Gaul and the Carolingian Empire. If I may flatter myself for a moment, I think it is safe to say that my library represents one of the largest collections of such works in Pennsylvania.* However, on a more humble note, I should point out that even a casual glance through this work will quickly show that this library has a long way to go before it is even half as comprehensive as it should be. Nevertheless, despite these limitations, it is my belief that a catalogue of the works on my shelves should be available to any who share interests similar to mine.

This listing is intended to help those with an interest in pre-modern Europe know what is available. I am NOT a public library. I do not lend books out and I do not make photocopies. Likewise, nothing in the listing is for sale. If you want your own copy(ies), or want to know how much a particular work is worth, please consult the dealers listed on the NBS sponsor's page. If you need to use any of these works consult your public library (for interlibrary loan), a university library, the ANA (American Numismatic Association) or the ANS (American Numismatic Society). Bone fide researchers (ie. those associated with a college or university or published authors whom I know) may come to my house to consult them.

Also, please remember that the catalogue you download is a work in progress, there are a large number of works that I have yet to enter. I only work on this project when I get a chance. About every six months or so I will try to post an update.

*As far as I know the only larger collections are those of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania State University in State College and the Classical Numismatic Group in Lancaster.

E. Tomlinson Fort is the editor of The Asylum, the award-winning journal of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society (NBS). His extensive Numismatic Library is cataloged in this PDF file. (click here to download). The catalogue has 332 pages and is a rather large file - 969kb (991674 bytes), so it may take a while to download. If you don't have the Adobe Acrobat Reader go here to download it.

A "zip" file is now available. It is 781 kb so it will download somewhat faster. Click here for a self-extracting file (781kb) or Here for a plain zip file (742kb).

The library contains items covering most aspects of ancient/mediaeval numismatics and sigillography, as well as political, religious, social, and economic history. However, it is strongest with regards to his own areas of interest and research: the Roman Republic, the late Roman Empire, Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman England and the kingdom of Scotland.

Tom may be contacted at etfort@aol.com

These are some pictures of a portion of my library taken by my friend Rick Hayes - they illustrate about half the collection