Some biblio-news from the British Isles and Europe today:
- The Edinburgh Evening News reports that 22 Winston Churchill documents and photographs will be auctioned at Lyon & Turnbull on 16 January, along with a 1929 telegraph from the mayor of Rome to Benito Mussolini.
- Also going under the hammer at Lyon & Trumbull's 16 January sale: a signed set of all seven Harry Potter books, donated by J.K. Rowling to fund the restoration of the Portobello Rugby Club's clubhouse, which was burned down by vandals. The books may fetch up to £3000.
- The University of Ulster and the Heritage Lottery Fund have joined forces to pay for a £740,000, three-year program to restore more than 5,000 books in the collections the Derry & Raphoe Diocesan Library. "The majority of the collection dates from between the 16th to 19th centuries. The project will simultaneously train a team of skilled book conservators and facilitate a range of education and outreach activities to allow groups and communities across Northern Ireland explore the books’ themes and history." Conservator Caroline Bendix called the collection "a relatively undiscovered historical resource – a Cinderella of the book world. It is one of the most significant libraries in Ireland and gives a fascinating insight into the history of Derry city."
- Nuremberg's municipal library has announced that it will return more than 10,000 books believed to have been stolen from Polish owners by the Nazis in World War II. "After the war the books were handed over to the local Jewish commune, which subsequently placed it on an unlimited-time deposit with the Nuremberg authorities."
