Links & Reviews

- More on the closing of Cambridge's Lame Duck Books in today's Globe.

- Ken Sanders Rare Books is offering the family Bible of Joseph Smith, containing a genealogical record of Smith's family with his first wife Emma Hale Smith (including a seventh son who died before receiving a name). The book, an 1831 Philadelphia edition of the Bible, remained in Smith's family until 1979, and has been in private hands since then. A Bible of the same edition, containing the genealogy of Smith's brother Hyrum, is held at Brigham Young University. Sanders' asking price: $1.5 million.

- The Library Company of Philadelphia's Philadelphia Gothic exhibition website is still up and running, and the website now includes some podcasts of events, including Ed Pettit's April 2009 talk "Edgar Allan Poe and the Philadelphia Gothic Tradition."

- For the Tolkien fan, the Festival in the Shire may be for you: it starts next Friday in Pontrhydfendigaid, Wales.

- A new digital collection from the New-York Historical Society showcasing their materials documenting American slavery and the slave trade.

- There's an app for that! Check out the new Library of Congress iPhone app, which is lovely. [h/t Ian]

- In the Guardian's book blog, James Forrester muses on historical accuracy in fiction. I don't necessarily agree with his thesis, but it's an interesting essay nonetheless.

- The AAS hosted an event at the Library of Congress in April to celebrate the completion of their five-volume History of the Book in America project (the second volume was published this summer, and is impatiently calling to me from my desk every minute). You can watch the event here.

- Prague artist Matej Kren has created a room of books.

- From the Guardian, some literary last words.

- Following on the latest Bellesiles flap, two articles this week (Chronicle, NYTimes) track his attempt to return to the good graces of the academic world with his forthcoming book about the year 1877 in American history.

- Two posts about Belle da Costa Greene this week: from Princeton's Rare Book Collections blog, a look at Greene's pre-Morgan career, (and a 1934 letter describing Greene), and from Booktryst, an overview of Greene's life and works.

Reviews

- David Nokes' Samuel Johnson: An Independent Life; review by Christopher Hirst in the Independent.

- T.H. Breen's American Insurgents, American Patriots and Jack Rakove's Revolutionaries; joint review by Jan Ellen Lewis in the WaPo.

- Mary Roach's Packing for Mars; review by M.G. Lord in the NYTimes.