- Fifteen arrests were made this week in Romania and the UK in relation to the January 2017 theft of rare books from a shipping warehouse near London. The investigation also led to more than forty property searches in the UK, Romania, and Italy. None of the press releases or media reports I've found indicate whether any of the stolen books were recovered.
- A new episode of PBS' "Secrets of the Dead" focusing on the forged Sidereus Nuncius will premiere on Tuesday, 2 July at 8 p.m.
- The ABAA issued a "Missing Items Lost in Transit" alert for two manuscripts purchased at auction in July 2017 and subsequently gone missing in shipment.
- Over on the BL's Medieval Manscripts blog, "Noah's Ark and the Anglo-Saxons" and "Unexpected encounters of the fragmentary kind."
- Tim Barrett's work is featured in a recent issue of the Daily Iowan.
- The DPLA has issued a new strategic plan for 2019–22.
- The B.H. Breslauer Foundation has given $25,000 to further support the ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography, which will next be awarded in 2022.
- A major fracas is brewing over the sale of several early biblical manuscript fragments. Candida Moss has an overview for the Daily Beast, but see also the EES statement and the several posts from this week on Brent Nongbri's blog Variant Readings.
- At LitHub, M. Sophia Newman on early movable type in China and Korea.
- The National Library of Scotland has a new exhibition on the Scottish Enlightenment, which includes an excellent online component.
- A new Bodleian Library exhibition will feature maps from the library's collections.
- Allison Ebner and Ann Manser write for UD Daily about the recent "Black Bibliographia: Print/Culture/Art" symposium.
- Simon Beattie put together a good list of places to talk about rare books and the like on Facebook, if you're so inclined.
Reviews
- Stuart Kells' The Library; review by Dennis Duncan in the Spectator.
- Jerry Kelly's Hermann Zapf and the World He Designed; review by Pradeep Sebastian in The Hindu.
Upcoming Auctions
- Bibliothèque Paul Destribats at Christie's Paris on 3–5 July.
- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions (online) on 3 July.
Saturday, June 29, 2019
Saturday, June 22, 2019
Links & Auctions
- A new Virtual Research Environment for the the Dutch Prize Papers has been released.
- Don Skemer has a checklist of Middle English manuscripts at Princeton.
- A long-missing volume of autobiographical writings by Alice Wandesford Thornton has been identified in the collections of Durham Cathedral.
- A Bible presented to Lincoln in 1864 and given by his widow to a Springfield minister in 1872 will soon go on display at the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum after being donated by descendants of the minister.
- From Siel Agugliaro on the Penn SCPC blog, "The 'Theatricals in Philadelphia' Scrapbooks: Or, How Yesterday's Old Stuff Became the Treasure Trove of Today."
- Another update on that dismembered Book of Hours over at Medieval Manuscripts Provenance.
- The BL's Medieval Manuscripts blog has an updated list of recently-digitized manuscripts.
- The presentation copy of Darwin's Origin sold at Bonhams last week for $500,075, setting a new auction record for the book.
- Over at the Princeton Graphic Arts blog, a post about Audubon's request of Havell to re-engrave several of the Lizars plates of his birds.
- Russ Davidson has donated his extensive collection of George Orwell to the University of New Mexico Libraries.
- In the LARB, the first chapter of Ilan Stavens' The Return of Carvajal: A Mystery, forthcoming in October from Penn State University Press. Looks like a book to watch for!
- Kurt Zimmerman has a second installment of his Book Hunter's Bibliocatechism.
Upcoming Auctions
- Dans la Bibliothèque de Jacques Attali at ALDE on 25 June.
- Fine Books, Manuscripts, Atlases & Historical Photographs at Bonhams London on 26 June.
- The Library & Picture Collection of the late Martin Woolf Orskey at Dominic Winter on 26 June.
- Autographed Documents, Manuscripts, Photos & Books at University Archives on 26 June.
- Books & Works on Paper at Chiswick Auctions on 27 June.
- Fine Literature with Mystery & Detective Fiction at PBA Galleries on 27 June.
- Livres & Manuscrits at Aguttes on 28 June.
- Don Skemer has a checklist of Middle English manuscripts at Princeton.
- A long-missing volume of autobiographical writings by Alice Wandesford Thornton has been identified in the collections of Durham Cathedral.
- A Bible presented to Lincoln in 1864 and given by his widow to a Springfield minister in 1872 will soon go on display at the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum after being donated by descendants of the minister.
- From Siel Agugliaro on the Penn SCPC blog, "The 'Theatricals in Philadelphia' Scrapbooks: Or, How Yesterday's Old Stuff Became the Treasure Trove of Today."
- Another update on that dismembered Book of Hours over at Medieval Manuscripts Provenance.
- The BL's Medieval Manuscripts blog has an updated list of recently-digitized manuscripts.
- The presentation copy of Darwin's Origin sold at Bonhams last week for $500,075, setting a new auction record for the book.
- Over at the Princeton Graphic Arts blog, a post about Audubon's request of Havell to re-engrave several of the Lizars plates of his birds.
- Russ Davidson has donated his extensive collection of George Orwell to the University of New Mexico Libraries.
- In the LARB, the first chapter of Ilan Stavens' The Return of Carvajal: A Mystery, forthcoming in October from Penn State University Press. Looks like a book to watch for!
- Kurt Zimmerman has a second installment of his Book Hunter's Bibliocatechism.
Upcoming Auctions
- Dans la Bibliothèque de Jacques Attali at ALDE on 25 June.
- Fine Books, Manuscripts, Atlases & Historical Photographs at Bonhams London on 26 June.
- The Library & Picture Collection of the late Martin Woolf Orskey at Dominic Winter on 26 June.
- Autographed Documents, Manuscripts, Photos & Books at University Archives on 26 June.
- Books & Works on Paper at Chiswick Auctions on 27 June.
- Fine Literature with Mystery & Detective Fiction at PBA Galleries on 27 June.
- Livres & Manuscrits at Aguttes on 28 June.
Saturday, June 15, 2019
Links & Reviews
- Many congratulations to Richard Ovenden, Bodley's Librarian, appointed OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list for services to libraries and archives.
- At the MHS blog, Rakashi Chand writes about "Strawberry Fun at the MHS."
- Biblio hosted an interesting roundtable discussion at Firsts: London on "The Evolving State of Internet Bookselling" - audio and a transcript are now available.
- Over at Medieval Manuscripts Provenance, "A Cryptic Book Label Identified."
- On the Royal Society's blog, "Cash in the archive," about early Chinese printed money in the Society's collections.
- Rebecca Rego Barry posts on the FB&C blog about the range of Whitman exhibitions this summer. I commented to somebody this week that collecting a poster for each of the various Whitman bicentennial exhibitions would make for a pretty interesting little project ...
- Videos from the Grolier Club's 1 June Whitman symposium are also now available on their Vimeo channel.
- New York's Strand Bookstore has been designated a historic landmark, over the objections of the owners.
- Michelle Light has been named director of the Special Collections Directorate at the Library of Congress.
- From the Princeton Graphic Arts blog, a new index to the job work of the Pynson Press (1922–40).
- Katie Wolf writes for the NYPL blog "An Introduction to Mass Digitization and the Brown Brothers Collection."
- From the University of Chicago Library News page, "Discovering Chicago's Rare Books with Elizabeth Frengel."
- The Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry has been acquired by the University of Iowa.
- New from Kari Kraus and the UMD Booklab, GotSort, a Python script that will give you a character count for your letterpress printing project. Pretty nifty!
Review
- Mark Purcell's The Country House Library; review by Jeremy Musson in The Art Newspaper.
Upcoming Auctions
- Livres Anciens et du XIXe Siècle at ALDE on 17 June.
- Travel & Sport in Africa from the Library of Arnold 'Jake' Johnson at Doyle (online), ending 18 June.
- Livres et Manuscrits at Sotheby's Paris on 18 June.
- Rare Books, Maps, Manuscripts & Photographs at Lyon & Turnbull on 19 June.
- Printed Books, Maps & Documents, Early Bibles & The Ladwell Collection of Fine Bird Books: Part II at Dominic Winter on 19 June.
- Modern Literature & First Editions, Children's, Fine Press & Illustrated Books at Dominic Winter on 20 June.
- The Pride Sale at Swann Galleries on 20 June.
- Books, Maps & Manuscripts at Freeman's on 20 June.
- At the MHS blog, Rakashi Chand writes about "Strawberry Fun at the MHS."
- Biblio hosted an interesting roundtable discussion at Firsts: London on "The Evolving State of Internet Bookselling" - audio and a transcript are now available.
- Over at Medieval Manuscripts Provenance, "A Cryptic Book Label Identified."
- On the Royal Society's blog, "Cash in the archive," about early Chinese printed money in the Society's collections.
- Rebecca Rego Barry posts on the FB&C blog about the range of Whitman exhibitions this summer. I commented to somebody this week that collecting a poster for each of the various Whitman bicentennial exhibitions would make for a pretty interesting little project ...
- Videos from the Grolier Club's 1 June Whitman symposium are also now available on their Vimeo channel.
- New York's Strand Bookstore has been designated a historic landmark, over the objections of the owners.
- Michelle Light has been named director of the Special Collections Directorate at the Library of Congress.
- From the Princeton Graphic Arts blog, a new index to the job work of the Pynson Press (1922–40).
- Katie Wolf writes for the NYPL blog "An Introduction to Mass Digitization and the Brown Brothers Collection."
- From the University of Chicago Library News page, "Discovering Chicago's Rare Books with Elizabeth Frengel."
- The Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry has been acquired by the University of Iowa.
- New from Kari Kraus and the UMD Booklab, GotSort, a Python script that will give you a character count for your letterpress printing project. Pretty nifty!
Review
- Mark Purcell's The Country House Library; review by Jeremy Musson in The Art Newspaper.
Upcoming Auctions
- Livres Anciens et du XIXe Siècle at ALDE on 17 June.
- Travel & Sport in Africa from the Library of Arnold 'Jake' Johnson at Doyle (online), ending 18 June.
- Livres et Manuscrits at Sotheby's Paris on 18 June.
- Rare Books, Maps, Manuscripts & Photographs at Lyon & Turnbull on 19 June.
- Printed Books, Maps & Documents, Early Bibles & The Ladwell Collection of Fine Bird Books: Part II at Dominic Winter on 19 June.
- Modern Literature & First Editions, Children's, Fine Press & Illustrated Books at Dominic Winter on 20 June.
- The Pride Sale at Swann Galleries on 20 June.
- Books, Maps & Manuscripts at Freeman's on 20 June.
Saturday, June 08, 2019
Links & Auctions
I'm sure I missed some things this week, since it was the first RBS session of the summer. Feel free to pass along things that slipped by!
- In the "Bright Young Booksellers" series, Anke Timmerman of Type & Forme.
- From Christine Jacobson at Houghton, "A Mysterious Manuscript in a Banned Language."
- Quite an amusing post from the State Library Victoria blog: "The Chief Librarian and the soap thieves."
- One of the missing Lewis Chessman has been identified and will be sold at Sotheby's on 2 July.
Upcoming Auctions
- Important Manuscripts, Continental Books and Music at Sotheby's London on 11 June.
- Summa de Arithmetica at Christie's New York on 12 June.
- Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts Including Americana at Christie's New York on 12 June.
- Fine Books and Manuscripts at Bonhams New York on 13 June.
- In the "Bright Young Booksellers" series, Anke Timmerman of Type & Forme.
- From Christine Jacobson at Houghton, "A Mysterious Manuscript in a Banned Language."
- Quite an amusing post from the State Library Victoria blog: "The Chief Librarian and the soap thieves."
- One of the missing Lewis Chessman has been identified and will be sold at Sotheby's on 2 July.
Upcoming Auctions
- Important Manuscripts, Continental Books and Music at Sotheby's London on 11 June.
- Summa de Arithmetica at Christie's New York on 12 June.
- Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts Including Americana at Christie's New York on 12 June.
- Fine Books and Manuscripts at Bonhams New York on 13 June.
Saturday, June 01, 2019
Links & Reviews
- The seventeenth-century manuscript of Donne's poetry identified last year at Melford Hall in Suffolk has been placed under a temporary export ban to allow a UK buyer to match the £466,000 price.
- Two excellent posts on the Grolier Club blog recently: Scott Ellwood's "One dynasty, three names" and Meghan Constantinou's "Aristocratic Identity Erasure in the Private Library Catalogue of Madame la duchesse de La Vallière, ca. 1787."
- Collector Farley Katz has donated a fourteenth-century manuscript fragment in medieval Dutch to the University of Antwerp.
- In the Atlantic, Dan Cohen writes "The Books of College Libraries are Turning Into Wallpaper."
- From Colin Harris for Listology, "A List-maker in the Stacks: Photographically illustrated books in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, 1844–1900."
- The ABAA passed along reports of the theft of a copy of The Maltese Falcon.
- Don't miss Cait Coker's post at Sammelband on "Building a Letterpress Reference Library."
- Simon Beattie's turned up an Italian manuscript from the library of Edmund Burke, which Annie Rowlenson highlights.
- In the TLS, Hazel Wilkinson on "The water American," about Benjamin Franklin and Richard Castelman.
- Reporter and historian Tony Horwitz died suddenly this week while on tour for his new book. Jill Lepore has a nice remembrance post for the New Yorker.
- The David Library of the American Revolution is going to close its Washingtons Crossing, PA facility and relocate operations to the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia.
Reviews
- Edward Wilson-Lee's The Catalogue of Shipwrecked Books; review by Irina Dumitrescu in the NYTimes.
- Karen Russell's Orange World; review by Bethanne Patrick in the WaPo.
- Robert Morrison's The Regency Years; review by Michael Dirda in the WaPo.
Upcoming Auctions
- Illustration Art at Swann Galleries on 4 June.
- Beyond the Horizon: The Mopelia Collection of Fine Atlases and Travel Books at Christie's London on 5 June.
- Important Judaica at Sotheby's New York on 5 June.
- Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books at Swann Galleries on 6 June.
- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions (online) on 6 June.
- Lettres et Manuscrits Autographes at ALDE on 7 June.
- June Auction at Arader Galleries on 8 June.
- Two excellent posts on the Grolier Club blog recently: Scott Ellwood's "One dynasty, three names" and Meghan Constantinou's "Aristocratic Identity Erasure in the Private Library Catalogue of Madame la duchesse de La Vallière, ca. 1787."
- Collector Farley Katz has donated a fourteenth-century manuscript fragment in medieval Dutch to the University of Antwerp.
- In the Atlantic, Dan Cohen writes "The Books of College Libraries are Turning Into Wallpaper."
- From Colin Harris for Listology, "A List-maker in the Stacks: Photographically illustrated books in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, 1844–1900."
- The ABAA passed along reports of the theft of a copy of The Maltese Falcon.
- Don't miss Cait Coker's post at Sammelband on "Building a Letterpress Reference Library."
- Simon Beattie's turned up an Italian manuscript from the library of Edmund Burke, which Annie Rowlenson highlights.
- In the TLS, Hazel Wilkinson on "The water American," about Benjamin Franklin and Richard Castelman.
- Reporter and historian Tony Horwitz died suddenly this week while on tour for his new book. Jill Lepore has a nice remembrance post for the New Yorker.
- The David Library of the American Revolution is going to close its Washingtons Crossing, PA facility and relocate operations to the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia.
Reviews
- Edward Wilson-Lee's The Catalogue of Shipwrecked Books; review by Irina Dumitrescu in the NYTimes.
- Karen Russell's Orange World; review by Bethanne Patrick in the WaPo.
- Robert Morrison's The Regency Years; review by Michael Dirda in the WaPo.
Upcoming Auctions
- Illustration Art at Swann Galleries on 4 June.
- Beyond the Horizon: The Mopelia Collection of Fine Atlases and Travel Books at Christie's London on 5 June.
- Important Judaica at Sotheby's New York on 5 June.
- Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books at Swann Galleries on 6 June.
- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions (online) on 6 June.
- Lettres et Manuscrits Autographes at ALDE on 7 June.
- June Auction at Arader Galleries on 8 June.
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