- More this week on the thefts from Kansas University's libraries, where pages from antique plate books are being ripped out (presumably to be sold). Midwestern librarians, be on the lookout for more of this - chances are pretty good that this is not an isolated incident.
- A Picasso notebook was stolen from a French museum this week.
- At Wynken de Worde, Sarah Werner writes about being a reader at rare book libraries. This week's must-read post.
- In his Fine Books blog, Nick Basbanes comments on his annual spring-bookshelf-weeding project.
- At first edition Origin of Species sold for £15,625 in Edinburgh this week.
- Writing in the Chronicle of Higher Ed, Ronald Musto examines one of the major downsides to Google Book Search - its lack of quality control.
- Paul Collins notes that his next book proposal has been acquired by Harmony: it'll be called Murder of the Century, "about a Gilded Age homicide that sparked a tabloid war and led to the beginnings of modern forensics" (I'm guessing the Hawley Harvey Crippen case).
-Over at Boston 1775, John's been taking a look at the pre-Revolutionary Boston newspaper The Censor. First he examines the origins of the name, and then he looks at why the paper was doomed from the get-go. Earlier this week, John hopped into the fray over Bunker Hill Day and Evacuation Day, inserting some good sense and perspective into the conversation as always.
Reviews
- Common-place has an "extra issue," released this week. It includes reviews of Thomas Truxes' Defying Empire, Vincent Brown's The Reaper's Garden, and Marcus Daniel's Scandal and Civility.
- In the WaPo, Michael Kazin reviews Simon Schama's The American Future: A History.
- There's a short review of Zafon's The Angel's Game in the Scotsman, and a longer review in the Telegraph by Lionel Shriver.
