- Guilty pleas were filed this week in the Pittsburgh Carnegie Library thefts. Former archivist Greg Priore pleaded to theft and receiving stolen property, while bookseller John Schulman pleaded to receiving stolen property, theft by deception, and forgery. Prosecutors agreed to drop the remaining counts against both men. Sentencing is scheduled for 17 April. See Paula Reed Ward's report for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette for more. Coverage also from Smithsonian, CNN, the WaPo, and Book Patrol.
- And if you thought that was going to be the main archives/rare books-related news story of the week, it was until Friday night, when Joe Heim reported for the Washington Post that the National Archives had altered an image of the 2017 Women's March displayed at the entry to an exhibition on the centennial of women's suffrage, blurring signs that were critical of Donald Trump or which referenced women's anatomy. An entirely-justified torrent of criticism ensued nearly immediately, and by Saturday afternoon the Archives had reversed both course and the altered photograph. In a statement which began "We made a mistake," the Archives said they would "immediately start a thorough review of our exhibit policies and procedures so that this does not happen again." More from the NYTimes and a followup from the WaPo. Also worth reading is Joe Heim's Twitter thread on how he turned this story up.
- Registration is now open for CABS–Minnesota 2020, to be held 12–17 July at St. Olaf College.
- Oberlin College Libraries and the RBS SoFCB are hosting a symposium on Teaching and Learning with Objects for Colleges on 13–14 March. See the link for schedule and registration info.
- This month's Free to Use and Reuse collection of images from the Library of Congress focuses on Maps of Discovery and Exploration.
- James Raven did a Q&A for the British Academy about his career as a book historian.
- Stephen Marche writes in the NYTimes on his collecting obsession with Thomas Browne first editions. Yep, been there, done that.
- From The Collation, "Sizing Shakespeare's Sonnets," by Faith Acker.
- Randi Ragsdale writes for the HRC blog on "Seeing stars in the Blaeu World Map."
- "Swann in Profile" highlights Devon Eastland, the auction house's new senior specialist for early printed books.
- Aaron Pratt writes for the HRC on "Revealing an English Schoolmaster's Piers Plowman."
- From Ed Simon for The Millions, "Annotate This: On Marginalia."
- Christopher Tolkien died this week at the age of 95. See his obituary in the Guardian.
- Over on the NYPL blog, "Ben Franklin: The Ultimate Bibliophile."
- The UK has placed a temporary export bar on an early 16th-century manuscript guide for hermits and anchorites.
Upcoming Auctions
- Editions & Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 21 January.
- Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 22 January.
- Fine Literature – Fine Press – Fine Bindings at PBA Galleries on 23 January.
