These two directories below, published by Dr. Iwan Parlapanoff, are the oldest directories for Bulgaria in the collections of the Library of Congress. In the initial section the entries are arranged alphabetically by town or city and intermingle surnames with businesses. At the beginning of each town listing are the names of town officials. The second section has the business or "yellow pages" listings. Besides having entries for individuals and businesses, the directories also have maps and advertising. The 1917 volume has several unique features such as black and white photos of the royal family, a listing of members of the National Assembly and their political party affiliations, and parallel Bulgarian and German texts for all pages. Although the 1919 volume has listings only in German, both directories have advertisements in the two languages. In addition to traditional directory listings, the volumes also offer a brief history of Bulgaria, the constitution of the Kingdom of Bulgaria, statistical data, and advice on how to compose business letters. After digitization, both of the original items were returned to the book stacks for permanent retention in the Library of Congress collection.

The publisher of the directories, Dr. Iwan Parlapanoff (1874-1958), was a Bulgarian who lived in Germany for most of his adult life. He founded a publishing house that produced, among other things, educational texts and volumes on Bulgarian culture. His works reflect his support for German-Bulgarian educational and economic cooperation. Due to his valuable contributions in this arena, the Bulgarian government appointed him first Vice-Consul and later Consul to Leipzig from 1929-1936. For more information about Parlapanoff, consult the two items listed immediately after the directories.​