A writer's must have list

I did find this "out there" on the web... someplace... and originally posted it to my writer's messageboard in 2003 but I had even forgotten by then or lost the information as to the source for this and I would like to give attribution, so if you know who the original composer of this list is, please leave a comment. Thanks!

BOOKS/TOOLS FOR THE PROFESSIONAL WRITER

A fine dictionary. Oxford Edition, Webster's, etc. (It'll weigh 25 pounds.)

A good thesaurus, such as Roget's Thesaurus. (This is what Stephen Sondheim uses to create all his clever lyrics.)

A complete, current encyclopedia. Random House. Columbia. You must keep current.

A basic style manual. New York Times. Webster's American Standard. Prentice Hall.

An atlas of the world.

The New York Public Library Desk Reference. Times and dates; weights and measures; symbols and signs; animal facts; math and science basics; inventions and discoveries; basic literature; religion and religious data; grammar and punctuation; etiquette; useful addresses, and anything else you need to know. (See the movie Desk Set for credentials.)

The New York Times Guide To Reference Manuals. The main reference source to begin searching. Faster than the Web.

The World Almanac (St. Martin's Press). Facts, facts, facts.

What's What (Ballantine). The name of every part of every major thing cf. philtrum, bung.

The Browser's Book Of Beginnings. (Houghton Mifflin). The first time anything happened.

AMA Encyclopedia of Medicine.

The Bible. A Biblical Concordance.

Bulfinch's Mythology.

Bartlett's Quotations.

Norton's series of poetry anthologies.

How Does A Poem Mean? by John Ciardi

A Shakespeare anthology wouldn't hurt.

Literary Market Place (reference work in large libraries)

The Poet's Market. Updated annually. {But I bet you already know about it.}

The Writer's Market. Ibid.