This catalog of Spanish rare books is the continuation of a previous catalog: The Spanish Golden Age (1472-1700): A Catalog of Rare Books Held in the Library of the University of Illinois and in Selected North American Libraries (Boston, 1979). The scope of this second volume is the same as that used for the previous volume of 1472-1700. Listed are all Spanish rare books printed between 1701-1974 located in the «Rare Book Room» of the University of Illinois. In addition, this catalog provides the locations of copies in other libraries in the United States and Canada. Most important is the inclosure of a selective and rather extensive Hispanic bibliography which will facilitate the identification and location of rare Hispanic books printed during the last five centuries. This is a valuable reference work which brings to the attention of Hispanists a wide range of rare and valuable books.

The Hispanic Rare Books of the Golden Age (1470-1699) collection is one of America's most outstanding collections of rare Hispanic books. It consists of approximately 1019 printed books, the property of the Newberry Library of Chicago. Among these printed books covering the entire period of the Spanish Golden Age, there can be found rarities considered museum pieces by scholars. Alemán, Amadís de Guala, las Casas, Cervantes, Granada, Guevara, Hurtado de Mendoza, Lazarillo de Tormes, Montemayor, Mejía, Nebrija, Quevedo, Rojas, Rivadeneyra, Valdés and Luis Vives, among hundreds of others, are represented in extremely rare editions as well as some translations into English, Dutch, French, Italian, and German.