Encyclopedia of Ephemera A Guide to the Fragmentary Documents of Everyday Life for the Collector, Curator and Historian

EPHEMERA IS THE PLURAL FORM OF THE GREEK WORD EPHEMERON (EPI = ON, ABOUT, ROUND; HEMERA = DAY). LITERALLY, IT REFERS TO SOMETHING THAT LASTS THROUGH THE DAY, OR, AS MAURICE RICKARDS PROPOSED, THE MINOR TRANSIENT DOCUMENTS OF EVERYDAY LIFE, ALTHOUGH NOT EVERY ITEM OF EPHEMERA CAN BE REGARDED AS TRANSIENT OR EVEN MINOR. COLLECTIVELY THE MANY ENTRIES IN THIS FORMIDABLE NEW REFERENCE WORK PROVIDE A BETTER DEFINITION OF EPHEMERA, SINCE THEY INCLUDE MANUSCRIPT AND PRINTED MATTER (SPORTS PROGRAMS, ENVELOPES, VISITING CARDS, BALLOTS), RECORDS OF THE PAST AND PRESENT (NEWSPAPERS, CIGARETTE CARDS, SEED PACKETS, RATION PAPERS), ITEMS DESIGNED TO BE THROWN AWAY (BUS TICKETS, PAPER BAGS, FRUIT LABELS), AND TO BE KEPT (BOOKMARKS, PLAYING CARDS, BOARD GAMES).THIS LAVISHLY ILLUSTRATED LANDMARK VOLUME IS INTENDED FOR SOCIAL HISTORIANS AS WELL AS COLLECTORS OF EPHEMERA WHO TAKE A BROADER VIEW THAN THEIR OWN SPECIALIST FIELD.

First published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Cultural History
Material Culture and Consumption
Urban Archeology
Roots of Pop Culture

Maurice Rickards, one of the leading experts in the study of ephemera, spent more than twenty years compiling the Encyclopedia.

Michael Twyman is author of several books on the history of printing and before his retirement was Professor of Typography & Graphic Design at the University of Reading, England.