Yesterday, team Stainforth members at CU Boulder Libraries Special Collections made a video that shows how Stainforth’s library catalog manuscript works.

The manuscript is a tête-bêche (head-to-toe) volume in which two catalogs share a spine: an inventory of the library’s holdings as well as a wish-list or “Wants” catalog of those works the collector knew were in circulation and wanted to acquire. (In the Wants catalog those works that are crossed-off indicate that Stainforth acquired them.) When a reader reaches the end of the holdings catalog, she finds the last page of the Wants catalog, written upside down. In other words, the back cover of the volume is the front cover of the Wants catalog when the book is flipped over. Watch the video for a clear, visual explanation of my confusing description of this tête-bêche.

Credits and special thanks to Michael Harris, Sean Babbs, Katelyn Cook, Deborah Hollis, and Greg Robl.