- Quite a sad end to the Raymond Scott case this week: the man sentenced to serve an eight-year prison term in relation to the theft of the Durham University First Folio was found dead in his cell on 14 March, having apparently committed suicide. Today's Sunday Sun prints what they say is Scott's final letter to the paper, dated 4 and 10 February, in which he admits that he's on suicide watch and writes "What a waste this all is. I'll not bounce back from this." Obituaries: The Telegraph.
- More good stuff at American Circus (which if you're not reading, you should be), including a very interesting look at this year's SXSW conference.
- The Harvard Gazette highlights the early years of printing at Cambridge.
- A copy of the 1555 edition of Vesalius De Humani Corporis Fabrica, with Vesalius' own annotations for a possible later edition, has been identified.
- In the Oxford Times, Chris Koenig profiles 17th-century antiquarian John Aubrey.
- Jason Epstein's "Publishing: The Revolutionary Future" in the NYRB is entirely worth a read (I love the last paragraph).
- Israeli antiquities dealer Oded Golan was acquitted this week of charges that he'd forged historical artifacts, including the "James Ossuary."
- The SHARP-L discussion list celebrated its 20th birthday yesterday. The listserv's editor, Patrick Leary, reflects on the first two decades.
- I enjoyed Michael Dirda's "This Is a Column," in the new American Scholar.
- Zhenya Dzhavgova guest-posts on the Fine Books blog about "book scouting in Bulgaria."
- From Echoes from the Vault, a follow-up on a conundrum they posted back in January.
- Charles Dickens' house at Gad's Hill Place will open to visitors this summer.
- If you're headed for the ASECS 2012 conference this week, check out the list of digital humanities/book history topics.
- In the "You've Got Mail" series, a look inside the Universal Register Office.
- Peter Harrington partner Adam Douglas guest-posts at The Cataloguer's Desk to explain why the first English book was printed in Bruges. Nice post, with some fabulous illustrations.
- Sarah Werner posts at The Collation about printing with her students.
- Via Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie, word that the University of British Columbia has digitized their bookplate collection.
Reviews
- Myra B. Young Armistead's Freedom's Gardener; reviewed by Andrea Wulf in the NYTimes.
- Gail Collins' William Henry Harrison; reviewed by Justin Moyer in the WaPo.
