Your Most-Often-Consulted Reference Books?

[Trapped in T-wilight Zone]

Unfortunately. Most of my books, both collections and reference, never got out of the boxes after we moved nearly ten years ago. Many hundreds of books, packed away (I should be taken out and shot). However, I have a couple hundred books at my ready fingertips. One small four shelf bookshelf full of mostly antique automobile, early movies, and other historic interest books that I refer to quite often, and a bunch of other books scattered around that I also use often.
Being first an antique automobile aficionado, the book I refer to most is probably my Kimes and Clark "Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1805-1942" . I also use my "Model T Ford, The Car That Changed the World" by Bruce McCalley fairly often.
I use my "The Reader's Digest Encyclopedic Dictionary" (1966 edition) probably more than any other general reference. It is 7X10 inches and over 3 inches thick of print fine enough that these days I need to use a magnifying glass to read it even with my glasses on.

 

[Edward]

I don't currently use many reference books at home (as an academic, much of my working life is spent looking things up in books, though increasingly, with the nature of my field of law especially, the most up to date information is to be found online rather than in print). Most of my books at home are currently boxed up awaiting the redecoration of my lounge, which will largely be based around as much shelving space as I can fit in. (Looks like I'm going to have to go to the hassle of custom shelving, though; sadly, while nice, affordabled bookcases are readily available, they're all ridiculously inefficient in their use of space, with shelves spaced so far apart only half the number of books can be fitted in that otherwise would be possible, and twice the depth back to front of the average book. I refuse to double-layer, and otherwise it's a waste of space to let them encroach that far into my room.) I have a few clothing reference books, a range of manuals and other reference books on the development of the electric guitar, both specific models and mored general, books on leather jackets, tailoring, how to survive azombie attack, and so on. I like also to be able to referf myself regularly to literature in order to check certain details - Shakespeare, Scott Fitzgerald, all the obvious stuff, and some less so. It's going to be nice to have my library up and accessible, moreso than it's been before in my own home. The OED, of course, will live on the desk in my as yet to be completed study (the to be repurposed spare bedroom).

 

[Nobert]

Mostly type specimen books, either modern or from previous decades. One from the 50s, called something like Type and Calligraphy. For inspiration in period life, the 1910 Wannamaker catalog, repros of The 1900 and 1923 Sears/Roebuck catalogs. For writing, the Gregg Style Manual, simply for being the most easily arranged and cross-referenced.

 

[O'Sully]

I suppose my most often used reference books are AASHTO design standards and specifications, the MUTCD, and ALDOT standards and specifications for highway construction. I use the latter two daily

 

[Old Mariner]

My most frequented reference is my one of the many ebooks I have on essences for my healing work:

The Practitioners Encyclopedia of Flower Remedies

(Second would be the Mushroom essences ebook.)

Between that and all the information that I spent many hours copying from essence sites and saving as files to my kindle. I really can't think of anything that I refer to more than those.

 

[Turnip]

Left is the one for coming year, the right is my classic reference...

 

[Pinguinus impennis]

Muret-Sanders 1912, a four-volume German-English dictionary and Lewis and Short, the best known Latin dictionary in Britain. Also Liddell and Scott (Classical Greek).

 

[Harp]

Muret-Sanders 1912, a four-volume German-English dictionary and Lewis and Short, the best known Latin dictionary in Britain. Also Liddell and Scott (Classical Greek).

I had Reginald Foster's opus Ossa Latinitatis Sola until my sister absconded with my library-long story. ahhh.
Had to leave the University of Illinois-Chicago for a private college after UIC spooled the GI Bill with red tape,
so Ancient Greek is still awaiting.
IF Stone left the University of Pennsylvania to pursue journalism, later revisited Ancient Greek, read all Greek
sources for his book, The Trial of Socrates. My hero.

 

[belfastboy]

"Jpy of Cooking".....lots of good base recipes from which to riff from.

 

[Bugguy]

Aquatic Entomology (McCafferty, 1998)

I've done a a number of Wisconsin plant and invertebrate lake surveys for the WI DNR over the years. Now I try to stay ahead of my grand-daughter in ID'ing critters under stream rocks. Since I've taken up fly-fishing, I need to up my game.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

Magistrates of the Roman Republic, vol. 2. I write a series of mysteries set at the end of the Roman Republic, which is covered in vol. 2. Absolutely essential for letting you know who held what office in which year. Best of all, it says when there is some doubt or not enough information surviving, which gives me wiggle room to improvise.

 

[Trenchfriend]

"Der Hof zu Weimar - privat (1854)
From Duke Wilhelm to the Goethe time (up to Carl Alexander, 1853>)"

All you need about the famous Weimar classic era, and chronological!!
THIS is, what I call BACKROUND INFORMATION.

Karl Eduard Vehse - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org