This fifth volume of ABBB (Annual bibliography of the history of the printed book and libraries) contains about 2700 entries and added entries, selected from some 4000 periodicals, the list of which follows this introduction. They have been compiled by the National Committees of the following countries: Italy Australia Austria Luxembourg Belgium The Netherlands Bulgaria Norway Canada Poland Denmark Portugal Finland Rumania France South Africa German Democratic Republic Switzerland German Federal Republic USA Great Britain USSR Hungary Yugoslavia Ireland (Republic of) From next volume on, there is some reasonable expectation that India will collaborate to this bibliography. Benevolent readers are requested to signal the names of bibliographers not mentioned above, who would be willing and historians from countries to co-operate to this scheme of international bibliographic collaboration. The editor will greatly appreciate any communication on this matter. VIII INTRODUCTION Subject As has been said in the introduction to the previous volumes, this bibli­ ography aims at recording all books and articles of scholarly value which relate to the history of the printed book, to the history of the arts, crafts, techniques and equipment, and of the economic, social and cultural environment, involved in its production, distribution, conservation, and description. Of course, the ideal of a complete coverage is nearly impossible to attain. However, it is the policy of this publication to include missing items as much as possible in the forthcoming volumes. The same applies to countries newly added to the bibliography.