Does ModernLib cover all Modern Library books?

We're working on it.

ModernLib covers everything in what many collectors call the Modern Library classical period (1917 - 1970), the "plain brown wrapper" titles (1977 - 1982), quality paperbacks as well as the college editions, and the woodcut titles (1982- 1986). We'll likely cover later ML titles as well, but it depends on our time. (This is, after all, a hobbiest/volunteer website).

For nearly 20 years , ModernLib covered ONLY the classical period. Here's why:

The Modern Library published new titles continuously from 1917 through 1970. The books had sewn blocks, every title was numbered, and they were amazingly inexpensive. And the dust jackets were pretty amazing. The series really lived up to its original intention of providing a fine library of well-made books that anybody could afford. But starting in 1977 when the series was relaunched, the blocks were perfect bound (that is, glued), the books no longer were numbered, and titles were priced more in line with competitors and no longer were the bargain they used to be. And the dust jackets weren't nearly as attractive. Thus the quality went down, the price went up, and the charm went out—along with the interest of the Webmaster.

Over time, editorial contributions from collectors slowed to a crawl. That was to be expected: There is, after all, a finite amount of information about a topic, and ModernLib had collected a vast amount of information about the titles in the classical period. The Webmaster, who is now retired, grew bored and wanted something to do. So responding to suggestions from ModernLib users, he decided to expand the website.

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