Saturday, February 23, 2019

Links & Auctions

- There's a preview of the New York Antiquarian Book Fair over on the ABAA blog. On the same weekend, don't miss the New York City Book and Ephemera Fair (Saturday and Sunday), and the Manhattan Vintage Book & Ephemera Fair/Fine Press Book Fair (Saturday). Plus there are lots of auctions and exhibition talks and other things going on around New York during the week. I'm looking forward to the fairs and to the ILAB symposium earlier in the week. Before that, though, I'm off to Eugene, OR for the biennial meeting of the Society of Early Americanists, where I'll be giving a short talk on one of my old favorites, William Jenks' Memoir of the Northern Kingdom. I'll post a version of that talk here once I get home.

- Now online, the "Legally Binding" exhibition from the Yale Law Library.

- The Boston Athenaeum has announced an expansion into an adjoining building; this follows hot on the heels of the announcement that Elizabeth Barker will leave as director at the end of March.

- From Sarah Zhang in the Atlantic, "The Lab Discovering DNA in Old Books."

- Sarah Werner's Lieberman Lecture, "Working Towards a Feminist History of Printing" is now available on YouTube.

- The third Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize is now open for entries, which will be due before 1 June 2019.

- Gabrielle Dudley is in the "Bright Young Librarians" spotlight this week.

- The B.H. Breslauer Foundation has announced a $25,000 investment in the ILAB Breslauer Foundation Prize fund.

- A unique Caxton fragment from the Sarum Ordinal has been identified at the University of Reading.

- In Apollo, Melanie Gerlis asks "Have printed auction catalogues had their day?"

Upcoming Auctions

- Ornithology, Zoology & Voyages at Chiswick Auctions on 27 February.

- Autographed Documents, Manuscripts, Books & Relics at University Archives on 27 February.

- Autographs & Memorabilia at Chiswick Auctions on 28 February.

La Collection de M. Gaulard, Première Partie at Rossini on 5 March.

Rare Books, Featuring the Otto Penzler Collection of Mystery Fiction, Part I at Heritage Auctions on 6 March.

Printed Books, Maps & Documents at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 6 March.

- Early Printed, Medical, Scientific & Travel Books at Swann Galleries on 7 March.

- Fine Books: A Biblio-Medley for All Tastes at PBA Galleries on 7 March.

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Links & Reviews

Aside from the ensuing jet-lag, it was lovely to be out in Oakland again for the California International Antiquarian Book Fair last weekend.

- There's a good look-back at the fair over on the Tavistock Books blog.

- At least twenty rare books were stolen from Baldwin's Book Barn in Chester County, Pennsylvania last weekend.

- Dave Gary has an excellent piece on the APS blog about what we can learn from the early circulation records of the Society.

- Oliver Stead writes for the National Library of New Zealand's blog about the recent digitization of an album of watercolors by George Raper (1769–1797) in the Alexander Turnbull Library.

- Ben Schmidt has a useful caution to anyone still trying to use Google Books as a research tool in "How badly is Google Books Search broken, and why?"

- John Mark Tillman, who was sentenced in 2013 to nine years in prison for various thefts from Canadian libraries, archives, and museums, has died. He was granted parole in 2016.

- Peter Libbey writes for the NYTimes about the grand Tolkien exhibition now on display at the Morgan (very much looking forward to seeing this show in March).

- A wonderful rubricator's complaint over at Notabilia.

- Over on the N-YHS blog, a really great photograph of the 1925 solar eclipse.

- The BL's Medieval Manuscripts blog explores the different writing systems found in early Anglo-Saxon England.

- Michael Dirda looks through a few of the works released into the public domain this year.

Review

- Susan Orlean's The Library Book; review by Kathryn Hughes in the Guardian.

Upcoming Auctions

- Winter Auction at Alexander Historical Auctions on 18 February.

- Antiquarian and Collectors' Books at Toovey's on 19 February.

- Bibliothèque d'un Amateur at Pierre Bergé & Associés on 19 February.

- Prints and Maps at Toovey's on 20 February.

- Bibliothèque Marc Litzler at Christie's Paris on 20 February.

- Americana – Travel & Exploration – Hawaii – World History – Cartography at PBA Galleries on 21 February.

- Livres Anciens & Modernes – Manuscrits & Autographes at Aguttes on 22 February.

Saturday, February 02, 2019

Links & Reviews

Bibliography Week last week, the California International Antiquarian Book Fair next weekend. There's a preview over on the ABAA blog. Hope to see some of you there!

- Shelly Bradbury reports for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that defense attorneys for the librarian and bookseller charged with thefts from Pittsburgh's Carnegie Library are asking prosecutors to specify the date on which each of the 321 books was stolen, reportedly to "allow them to consider statute of limitations and alibi defenses."

- A great find at Bristol Central Library: manuscript waste from a copy of the Vulgate Cycle with mentions of Merlin and other Arthurian characters, used in bindings. More from the Guardian.

- Sarah Werner will be speaking at the Columbia Book History Colloquium on 13 February on "Old Books as Digital Objects."

- Kate Ozment has a new Sammelband post, "Roundup of Materials: Teaching Book History."

- Alison Flood for the Guardian: "Hold the front pages: meet the endpaper enthusiasts."

- The Bodleian Library has acquired a fifteenth-century French Gothic book coffer.

- Among February's Rare Book Monthly articles, Michael Stillman analyzes the 2018 auction prices, and Bruce McKinney reports on Christina Geiger's appointment as head of rare books and manuscripts at Christie's New York and on Richard Ramer's fiftieth-anniversary catalog.

- Over on the Library of Congress blog, Carla Hayden talked to Mark Dimunation and John Hessler about the LC's copy of Galileo's Sidereus Nuncius.

- Harvard's Houghton Library has acquired the remainder of John Ashbery's papers, as well as his 5,000-volume library. More in the NYTimes.

- Geraldine Fabrikant profiles Bauman Rare Books for the NYTimes.

- Don Skemer on the Princeton RBSC blog, "Recovering Lost Manuscript Evidence."

- "Errors in Bookplate Design" at Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie.

- From Aaron Pratt over on the HRC blog, "Collated & Perfect," on the publication and program series being organized jointly by HRC and the Beinecke.

- The Boston Globe highlights the recent expansion of the Massachusetts State Archives.

- Over on the BBC, "The Library of Forbidden Books."

- At medievalbooks, Erik Kwakkel on "The Oldest Surviving Printed Advertisement in English."

- Miriam Intrator was featured in "Bright Young Librarians."

- The Irish Times reports on the recent digitization by Trinity College Dublin of the fourteenth-century Dublin Apocalypse.

- Pyewacket Books on selling books, but not at book fairs.

- Over on the Penn Special Collections Processing blog, Liz Broadwell on "An Uncommon Proof."

Reviews

- Diane Setterfield's Once Upon a River; review by Laura Miller in the Guardian.

- John Martin Robinson's The Travellers Club; review by A. N. Wilson in the TLS.

Upcoming Auctions

- Travel and Exploration at Bonhams London on 6 February.

- Modern Literature & Illustrated Books (online) at Forum Auctions on 7 February.

- The Book Fair Century: One Hundred Fine Books, Plus Books Sold to Benefit the ABAA Benevolent Fund at PBA Galleries on 7 February.

- Printed Books & Ephemera at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 13 February.