bibliographer

American  

[bib-lee-og-ruh-fer] / ˌbɪb liˈɒg rə fər /

noun

1. an expert in bibliography.

2. a person who compiles bibliographies.

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Etymology

Origin of bibliographer

1650–60; < Greek bibliográph ( os ) book-writer ( see biblio-, -graph) + -er ¹

Explanation

If you’ve decided to read everything Shakespeare ever wrote, or are looking for the best books on American basketball for a research paper, you’ll appreciate that some bibliographer somewhere has probably made a list suitable for each of those two projects. A professional bibliographer makes lists of published writings, including when and where they were published and sometimes giving notes on each one. The list, called a bibliography, might be all of a certain author's works, or all the most important works on a certain topic. The Greek roots of both words are biblion, "book," and graphos, "something drawn or written." Whenever you make a list of all the resources you consulted for an essay, you’re making a bibliography and acting as an amateur bibliographer yourself.

Example Sentences

The heir contacted Lucio Aquilanti, a Buenos Aires antiquarian bookseller, and a prominent Cortázar bibliographer, who confirmed the piece’s authenticity.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 12, 2023

Yes — at least, if it’s by that high­functioning bibliographer Mike Ashley.

From Washington Post • Jun. 8, 2016

And then the relationship between Edgar Allan Poe and Griswold, who became his bibliographer after he died, and kept Poe a minor figure in literature for over a hundred years.

From The Guardian • Jun. 14, 2013

Orwell bibliographer Peter Davison says that in Decline of the English Murder he neither approves nor disapproves of the paper.

From BBC • Jul. 11, 2011

These reprints would be dear, not only to the bibliographer, but to the philologist and men of letters generally.

From Notes and Queries, Vol. IV, Number 96, August 30, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Various