Between the covers: documentary evidence, material features and cataloguing failures of early printed retail Sammelbände

Sammelbände are usually considered to be collections of diverse items bound together by readers as a result of their reading habits and needs. This contribution discusses early printed Sammelbände made available by publishers and booksellers as one unit, and suggests a few possible means to identify them either through their material features or documentary evidence. This sort of refreshed editions are also considered in the light of the IFLA Library Reference Model (LRM). This new conceptual model can support a reconsideration of current cataloguing practices in order to make Sammelbände more easily retrievable through online catalogues.