- In The Chronicle Review, Thomas Bartlett explores the ongoing controversy over the Gospel of Judas, which was released last year to much fanfare. I guess I've missed most of the kerfluffle that's gone on since the original publication of the National Geographic translation, so this is a good way to catch up.
- Over at BookN3rd, Laura has a must-read post on gender and the rare book world, where she comments on the role of men and women in the biblio-community. Also quite a few excellent links.
- I watched a "Nova" episode ("Lord of the Ants") yesterday profiling one of my favorite authors ever, Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson. If you have a chance to see this show, do watch.
- Michael at Book Patrol notes that the Morgan Library will be displaying its three copies of the Gutenberg Bible simultaneously, through 28 September.
- Everyone else who blogs about books has already mentioned Robert Darnton's NYRB essay in the current issue; I hadn't yet simply because I haven't had a chance to read the whole thing. I will, and I think I'll have more to say about it once I have - I'm not sure I entirely agree with him so far.
- Travis posts another comment-rant he received recently, this one from a friend of the Brubakers.
- The folks at Houghton report that they've acquired a copy of the anonymous 1821 translation of Faust which some believe was translated by Coleridge.
- J.L. Bell had a useful Google Books moment the other day, discovering some mentions of Bartholomew Broaders, who played a bit-part in the Boston Massacre.
- BibliOdyssey's got a great miscellany up this week: images include Sri Lankan fish from an 1834 monograph, some drawings by Cruikshank and some early political cartoons, and a couple amazing Swammerdam engravings.
- The AP's Justin Pope interviews James Cuno, author of the forthcoming ("already controversial") book Who Owns Antiquity? Museums and the Battle for Our Ancient Heritage. One I'll have to read, sounds like.
Reviews
- This was the week for reviews of Simon Winchester's new book, The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom (HarperCollins). Here are a few: Washington Post, Boston Globe, Salon, The Inquirer.
- Alberto Manguel's The Library at Night was reviewed by Philip Hensher for The Telegraph. My review is forthcoming, I'm (finally!) reading the book now.
- Rick Ring reviews Richard Wendorf's beautifully-designed and excellently-written America's Membership Libraries.
- In the TLS, James Gould reviews Built by Animals: The Natural History of Animal Architecture.
