Writers, being readers at heart, generally subscribe to the theory that one can never own too many books.  Historical writers, who are readers and researchers, have a special affinity for research books.  My own shelves groan with the burden of books about everything from Apaches to Witchcraft.

I write books set in the American west, so most of my books pertain to western history.  My medieval writing friends collect different research books. But writers of any historical period would benefit from having the following on their shelves.  The first three are also very useful for contemporary writers:

Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Ninth Edition (or later).  Webster’s Ninth, as it is commonly called, gives not only the definition of a word, but the date it first commonly came into use.  Invaluable if you’re wondering whether your 1860s heroine should refer to her ‘hairdo.’ (She wouldn’t.  She’d say ‘coiffure.’)

The Synonym Finder by J.J. Rodale, published by Rodale Press..  Throw out your old thesaurus and invest in this hefty tome, which lists not only words that are exact synonyms for each other, but words that have close to the same meaning, as well as antonyms.  Great for finding that just right word that is eluding you.

The Elements of Style By William Strunk and E.B. White This slim little volume has everything you need to know about good writing.  From where to put a comma to the proper use of pronouns, it’s all here, in a simple, easy-to-read format.  The final section, “An Approach to Style” is worth re-reading on a regular basis.

A timetable of history.  There are several of these published.  Mine is The Timetables of History, by Bernard Grun, published by Simon and Schuster.  Want to know what novels your historical heroine would be reading?  You can find it here.  What song played as your hero and heroine danced?  It’s here.  Every year lists the popular music, plays, books, inventions and notable political and social events of that year.

A good costume book.  Start with one that gives an overview of a lot of historical periods.  I have Costume 1066-1990s by John Peacock, published by Thames and Hudson, Inc.  A page for each decade shows daytime and evening wear for men and women, with descriptions, as well as any specialty clothing, such as bathing suits, motoring costumes and tennis outfits.  For more detail on specific time periods, Dover puts out a series of paper doll books which are useful, inexpensive and a lot of fun, too.

Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things by Charles Panati, published by Harper and Row.  All right, I admit you could probably live without this one, but why would you want to? Mr. Panati’s book tells the stories behind the invention of everything from paper clips to condoms.  Sections on the history of birth control, the evolution of underwear and courtship customs throughout history are well worth the price of the book.

That’s it.  Not a long list, and one to which I’m sure every writer could add.  But it’s a great start to a good basic research library.

Where to find these books

Obviously, any bookstore can order them for you, including online sites.  My favorite sources for research books on the cheap:

Quality Paperback Book Club.  They send offers to join in the mail and publish them in magazines — four books for a dollar and the like.  They carry a very esoteric collection of everything from erotica to literary novels, and some great history books.

Dover Publishing.  Www.doverbooks.com Cheap paper editions on all kinds of subject, from how to drive a carriage to Indian sign language.

Library sales.  With space at a premium, libraries periodically purge their shelves of unpopular titles.  Maybe nobody else wants to read Through the Grand Canyon from Wyoming to Mexico, written in 1914, but I treasure it.

Remainder tables.  Nobody wants their baby to end up here, but remainder tables are a great place to pick up research books for a few dollars.

Warning: once you start collecting research books, you’ll quickly run out of bookshelves.  And money.  And time. On the plus side, they’re tax deductable!