Wilberforce Eames is regarded today as the greatest of Americanists and one of the most remarkable of bibliographers. Although he lacked a formal education and never traveled outside of North America, Eames attained a facility with a variety of languages and an almost overwhelming knowledge of books and their histories--especially in the area of Americana. As a collector he assembled a series of sizable libraries, ranging in content from books on Native American linguistics to histories of Asia and Africa. As a librarian he was responsible for the custodianship of the collection built by James Lenox; he oversaw its operation during a period of transition from private library to a part of the New York Public Library. As a bibliographer he played an instrumental role in the compilation and publication of Joseph Sabin's Bibliotheca Americana. A Dictionary of Books Relating to America From Its Discovery to the Present...