The Genealogist’s Bookshelf: Handybook of American Genealogy

3 September 2008 by Libbi.

Every genealogist needs a bookshelf of references to help with sources, techniques and history. Of course, you should have my book ;D but that’s not the only one!

Today, I’m going to start in this blog an occasional series on books the genealogist should have to help at every stage of research and explain why each is important. Most of these books will be for American genealogists, but I will also tell you about some books to help with other nations as well. 

First up is a very important volume that my mother kept on her desk at all times, and occasionally toted to the library: The Handybook of American Genealogy from Everton’s Publishers. It is now in its 11th Edition, published in 2005.

The Handybook is an atlas, a history book, an address book, and a comprehensive guide to family research in the U. S., all rolled into one.  Full-color maps of each state show every country in the U.S. Map coordinates help you locate the county you are looking for, even tracking the boundary changes through the years, a feature will save you hours of research.

Histories for each state in the U.S. help you understand how Native American movement, wars, settlements, territory, and statehood affected their creation. 121 migration trail maps give detailed descriptions of the paths your ancestors traveled.

This new edition has updated information for vital records, repositories, jurisdictions, and details on records they hold. The Handybook is where you will find descriptions of the major record collections available in each state and addresses that help you go straight to the source, mailing and internet addresses for societies, archives, and libraries in all 50 states including telephone and fax numbers are included when available. The latest edition is also available with an optional CD (for PC/Mac) that  has the complete book, word searchable, and printable maps.

Handybook for Genealogists 11th Edition $50.00
Handybook for Genealogists 11th Edition/w CD (for PC/Mac) $60.00

Posted in Bookshelf, Genealogy | Print | 1 Comment »