INTERNATIONAL VITAL RECORDS HANDBOOK: A Review If there were one book that could be considered invaluable to ANY genealogical researcher, it would be the new edition of the International Vital Records Handbook. A genealogist would be hard pressed not to put it to good use -- even frequent use. And the second edition is many times more useful than the first. Compiled by Thomas Jay Kemp (who frequents this conference as Tom Kemp), the 355-page book has hundreds of application forms for obtaining birth, marriage and death records. These are exact copies of the forms that government agencies issue and are acceptable by all of them. Unlike the first edition of the Vital Records Handbook, which came out in 1988, the 1990 version has been considerably expanded to include forms not only for every state and province requiring them, but also all major European nations (even tinies like San Marino and Andora), English-speaking Caribbean nations and islands, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. For each state or nation, there are also instructions, fees, and even tips for the best sources. The beauty of the book, of course, is that you don't have to write for applications -- you have them all at your fingertips. Just take the book to a photocopier, and you have as many copies of each form as you want. Except for the invention of the computer and the publication of the International Genealogical Index, I think nothing has improved the lot of the genealogist more than the appearance of this book. The International Vital Records Handbook will be available shortly in libraries and, I suspect, many bookstores, but may be ordered directly from Genealogical Publishing Company, Dept SM, 1001 North Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD, 21202 at $24.95 plus $2.50 postage and handling. --Jack Sanders, 1/1990 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 � This file appears on The Source of Magic BBS, Ridgefield CT � � 203-431-4687, specializing in genealogy, radio, and writing. � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸