A Descriptive Bibliography of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) is a reference work that no publisher, library or academic of Swedenborg should be without. Editors and proofreaders will be grateful to be able to look up publishing and bibliographic details of Swedenborg editions spanning over 300 years without having to make trips to various libraries, or trawls through their respective catalogues (not one of which matches Norman Ryder’s Bibliography for the comprehensive detail of its records). For academics, meanwhile, Ryder’s new Bibliography will be useful in providing contexts and overviews of the compositional and publishing history for each of Swedenborg’s individual texts. And for ‘professional’ Swedenborgians, academics and all other interested readers of Swedenborg alike, the Bibliography contains a wealth of useful and fascinating information, revealing, beneath the astonishing depth of its data, the stories and trends behind the reception of Swedenborg’s works across the globe.
 
Volume One of the Bibliography contains:
 
·       ‘Section A: Swedenborg’s Literary Corpus, 1700-1771’ (an overview and summary listing of Swedenborg’s entire literary output)
·       ‘Section B: Bibliographies of Swedenborg’s Works’ (details of all previous bibliographies of Swedenborg)
·       ‘Section C: Bibliographical Descriptions, 1700-1742’ (each of Swedenborg’s works written or published during this time period is treated to an introduction concerning its compositional history, followed by detailed bibliographical entries for the manuscripts, first editions, and all subsequent editions and translations of the work known to have appeared, including extracts, accompanied by lists of libraries and institutions known to possess copies of the editions in question)
 
Also included in the volume are a general introduction; lists of abbreviations; and a glossary of bibliographical terms.

Norman Ryder has worked on numerous publishing projects for the Swedenborg Society during nearly fifty years of service on its Advisory and Revision Board, including significant and patient work on the compilation of A Lexicon to the Latin Text of the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) and the English translation of Swedenborg’s Secret. Ryder is a former president of the General Conference of the New Church and the editor for the Annual Journal of the New Church Historical Society.