- Some downright incredible archeological finds in London recently, including what is believed to be the earliest reference to the name "London." The cache of 400 wooden writing tablets, some dating back to around 50 CE, were found during construction-related excavations for the new Bloomberg European headquarters building. The wax originally on the tablets is long gone, but researchers have managed to read the "faint scratches" left behind.
- A Darwin letter, stolen twice from the Smithsonian Institution, has been returned. No charges have been filed, as the statute of limitations has expired.
- Dalya Alberge reports for the Guardian on some recent work using x-rays to "read" medieval manuscripts hidden within bindings."Experiments have found a fragment from a 12th-century manuscript that includes excerpts from the work of Bede, the 8th-century monk and scholar. The researchers were even able to disassemble multiple pages that had been pasted on to one another, making the text legible. In one case, they could read each of three medieval pages that had been glued together. Elsewhere, they found two fragments stuck together underneath the cover of a 16th-century binding." Erik Kwakkel posted about this project back in December.
- The June Rare Book Monthly articles are out, including a report by Michael Stillman on the Columbus Letter recently returned to Italy.
- At Manuscript Road Trip, Lisa Fagin Davis explores some manuscript leaves found in Maine, which she describes as an "Otto Ege treasure trove" (and which, happily, have been acquired by Colby College).
- At Past is Present, a quarterly look at books and articles recently published by members of the AAS community.
- Mark Wolverton writes for Nature on digital forensics and BitCurator.
- David Mitchell has joined Margaret Atwood in submitting a manuscript for the wonderful (and tantalizing!) "Future Library" project.
- Kayleigh Betterton reports on the London International Antiquarian Book Fair for The Bookhunter on Safari.
- Princeton has acquired a copy of the second edition of Bodoni's Manual tipografico, called "the specimen book to end all specimen books."
- Michael Rosenwald notices for the Washington Post a number of recent books on paper.
Reviews
- A whole shelf full of recent Shakespeare-related books, including Adam Hooks' Selling Shakespeare; review by James Ryerson in the NYTimes.
- Matthew Kirschenbaum's Track Changes; review by Lucy Ferriss in the Chronicle.
- Ricky Jay's Matthias Buchinger; review by Teller in the NYTimes.
- Jill Lepore's Joe Gould's Teeth; reviews by Scott W. Berg in the WaPo and Karen Long in the LATimes.
