The Illustration Index, edited by Marsha C. Appel is an index to reproductions, appearing in ten American journals. Now in its eighth edition, this volumes covers the years 1992‐1996. At first glance, one might think that this index would be of limited use outside America. However, a closer inspection reveals an index accessing a wealth of material likely to be of use and value on an international level. For a start, amongst the journals indexed are National Geographic, Life and Smithsonian, titles likely to be widely collected in many major libraries. Subjects indexed are very general for example scientists, animals, mountains, occupations and sports. Individual personalities are included where they merit a separate article in World Book Encyclopedia. The depth of indexing in these journals is extensive: there are 19,000 individual subject headings, covering some 28,000 entries. A very comprehensive system of cross‐referencing directs the reader from one subject to related entries: for example, the entry on deer advises checking antlers, caribou, elks, mule deer, musk deer and reindeer.
The vast majority of illustrations indexed are photographs, but where this is not the case, further details are given. Information is also included on size of image and whether it is in black and white or colour.
This is altogether a very useful index to illustrative materials and likely to be a valuable asset, along with the previous seven editions, to major reference libraries. Clearly, this is an essential reference book for professional picture researchers, but it could also help all those librarians stuck with requests for pictures.
