- The Washington Post reported this week on rumors that a new Leonardo da Vinci painting is being authenticated by Boston's MFA. If true, awesome (and I can't wait to hear the story!).
- In the Worcester Telegram, a profile of the AAS' S.J. Wolfe, who's been researching the question of whether mummy wrappings were ever used to make paper in America. A find she made during her research seems to suggest that the answer was almost certainly yes.
- Paul Collins notes his Slate piece on Omni Magazine.
- In the January AEMonthly, Michael Stillman examines the Top 500 Auction Sales of 2009, Bruce McKinney's provides the seller's viewpoint on the sale of his De Orbe Novo sale at Bloomsbury (my report here), and there are reviews of 24 dealer catalogs.
- Jonathan Shipley notes that there's a movie coming about Charles Darwin, starring Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly.
- Jonathan Shipley notes that there's a movie coming about Charles Darwin, starring Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly.
- Author Ursula LeGuin has resigned from the Authors Guild over the Google Books Settlement.
- From McSweeney's, "Declarations of Conjugal Interest from the Massachusetts Federalist, 1733."
- The library of Rush University Medical Center has been acquired by the University of Chicago.
- Stanford reports on the very cool "Mapping the Republic of Letters" project.
- There's a Q&A in the Boston Globe with author Joel Richard Paul about his recent book Unlikely Allies (which I got for Christmas and hope to read soon).
- Allison Hoover Bartlett was on NPR's "All Things Considered" this week, talking about The Man Who Loved Books Too Much. And there's a great quote from Ken Sanders, too, about Bartlett's subject, thief John Charles Gilkey: "He's a dirty little book thief and there's nothing romantic about it. There's nothing noble about him. He might have a passion for books but his passion is for thievery. As far as I'm concerned, he's the man who loved to steal books too much." Hear, hear!
- Stephen Ferguson has a post on the Princeton Rare Books blog about books in Princeton's library owned by Americans before 1700, along with an image of the very cool ownership stamp/brand used by minister Thomas Shepard.
- Another anthropodermic binding (or at least the remnants of one), profiled at Reading Copy.
- In the NYTimes, Danny Hakim profiles historian Charles Gehring, director of the extensive and impressive New Netherland Project.
- Writing in the WSJ, John J. Miller examines Arthur Conan Doyle's love-hate relationship with his most famous fictional creation.
- Monica Hesse writes on Vooks in the Washington Post.
- Methuen, MA has applied for an IMLS grant ($3,000) to preserve a school attendance log kept by Robert Frost in 1893. They're also accepting donations.
- A lawsuit filed against Yale University, if successful, could call into question the ownership of tens of billions of dollars worth of art and artifacts, the Washington Post reports.
- The First Parish Church of Beverly, MA will sell off a collection of silver communion vessels, including several made by Paul Revere (including a c. 1798 silver ewer which could bring $200,000-300,000) [h/t Boston 1775]
- Monica Hesse writes on Vooks in the Washington Post.
- Methuen, MA has applied for an IMLS grant ($3,000) to preserve a school attendance log kept by Robert Frost in 1893. They're also accepting donations.
- A lawsuit filed against Yale University, if successful, could call into question the ownership of tens of billions of dollars worth of art and artifacts, the Washington Post reports.
- The First Parish Church of Beverly, MA will sell off a collection of silver communion vessels, including several made by Paul Revere (including a c. 1798 silver ewer which could bring $200,000-300,000) [h/t Boston 1775]
Reviews
- Jack Lynch's The Lexicographer's Dilemma: review by Neil Genzlinger in the NYTimes.
- Jasper Fforde's Shades of Grey: reviews by Adams Roberts in the Guardian; Ron Charles in the Washington Post.
- Robert Calasso's Tiepolo Pink: review by Arthur C. Danto in the NYTimes.
- Donald Kagan's Thucydides: review by John Timpane in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
- Kathryn Allamong Jacob's King of the Lobby: review by Fergus Bordewich in the WSJ.
