The book fairs are coming!
- Marvin Getman's first Virtual Fair opens at noon EDT on Tuesday, 2 June and runs through 6 p.m. EDT on Thursday, 4 June. He's planning a fair for the first Tuesday of each month.
- The ABAA Virtual Book Fair kicks off at 10 a.m. EDT on Thursday, 4 June, and will run through 7 June.
- Firsts London's virtual Firsts Online will open at 9 a.m. EDT on Friday, 5 June.
- Haylie Swenson has a great post for the Folger's Shakespeare & Beyond blog on "Owls in the Early Modern Imagination." See also "Meet Cornelius," about the c.1625 owl-based image that's been my online avatar apparently since 2007(!).
- Aristophil sales 29–32 will be held on 16–19 June.
- From Kurt Zimmerman at American Book Collecting, a very poignant post "A Book I Shouldn't Have Yet."
- Jason Scott-Warren talked about his new book Shakespeare's First Reader with Natale Vacalebre (English starts at about 2:50).
- Arvid Nelsen has a memorial post to Colin Franklin on the Bridwell Library's site.
- Kate Ozment's article "Rationale for Feminist Bibliography" was published in Textual Cultures.
- From Chris Burgess for the Cambridge University Special Collections blog, "'I dared not dream that this dream had come true': musings on special collections in lockdown."
- New video from two BSA webinars this week: Karen Sánchez-Eppler's on juvenile marginalia, and Elaine Treharne's on medieval mise-en-page (see also the accompanying bibliography for the latter).
- Rebecca Rego Barry recaps the Christie's "Book Collecting in the Digital Age" webinar, a video of which is coming.
- Over on the N-YHS blog, "A bibliographic mystery, courtesy of Milton Halsey Thomas."
- At Early Modern Female Book Ownership, "Books owned by the Canonesses of the Holy Sepulchre."
- Jackie Penny writes for the AAS blog about the process of designing the exhibition catalog for the Paul Revere show Beyond Midnight.
- John Garth's The Worlds of JRR Tolkien is highlighted in the Guardian. Garth seeks to identify many of the buildings and areas that may have inspired settings in Tolkien's writings.
Upcoming Auctions
- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 3 June.
- Comic Books: Pre-Code Horror, Silver Age Marvel and Undergrounds at PBA Galleries on 4 June.
- Worlds Beyond: Fine Books and Manuscripts at Christie's ends on 4 June.
- Bibliothèque Robert Beauvillain at Binoche et Giquello on 5 June.
Sunday, May 31, 2020
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Links & Auctions
- A new short film by D.W. Young focuses on the jargon of the antiquarian book trade; Susannah Kemple has a short introduction for the New Yorker (the film is embedded at the top of the page).
- Tony Grafton did a talk for Labyrinth Books and the Princeton Humanities Council about his new book Inky Fingers: The Making of Books in Early Modern Europe, published by Harvard University Press. Watch on YouTube.
- I was able to tune into Marina Rustow's excellent talk this week on "The Cairo Geniza in the Digital Age," which is now available on YouTube.
- A former University of Illinois employee was sentenced to two years of "second-chance probation" after he pleaded guilty to the theft of two rare books from the University of Illinois Music Library.
- There's a virtual book launch for Nick Basbanes' new biography of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on 2 June. Free, but registration is required.
- The submission deadline for this year's Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize is 1 June.
- From the Bodleian's Conveyor blog, the medieval manuscripts team talks about how they're able to work remotely during the pandemic.
- Biblio listings for used books are now available through the Bookshop.org platform (where new copies of a title are not available).
- The University of Buffalo has received a 30,000-edition collection of pulp fiction from alumnus George Kelley.
- Kevin Wisniewski has some updates on the AAS Program in the History of the Book, including that the program's newsletter from 1983 to 2008 is now available digitally, and that they'll be hosting their first virtual book talk on 28 May, with Derrick Spires talking about his book The Practice of Citizenship: Black Politics and Print Culture in the Early United States (which I hope will be recorded, since I have to be in another meeting at the time).
- Speaking of AAS, they are selling one of their two copies of the first newspaper printing of the Star-Spangled Banner, with proceeds to benefit the collections fund. The auction ends on 18 June, and the newspaper issue is estimated at $300,000–500,000.
- From Sara Schliep at The Collation, "Inside the Folger Archives: Uncle Henry's Pipers."
- The BL's medieval manuscripts blog looks back at the 2018 Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition.
- Eric White writes for Notabilia about comparing multiple Princeton copies of 15th-century books.
- Aaron Pratt is in the "Bright Young Librarians" spotlight this week.
- UVA posted some last pictures of the now-empty Alderman Library before the renovations begin in earnest.
- Another provenance mystery from the Middle Temple Library.
- The Council of State Archivists have released a series of new emergency preparedness documents.
- Biblio-human Colin Franklin died this week. Peter Kraus has a memorial post on the ABAA blog.
Upcoming Auctions
- Books and Manuscripts: A Spring Miscellany at Sotheby's now ends on 27 May.
- Livres Rares et Manuscrits at Christie's on 27 May.
- Printed Books, Maps & Autographs at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 27–28 May.
- Art & Archaeology of Asia – Travel & Exploration – Cartography at PBA Galleries on 28 May.
- The Martin Magovsky Collection of Children's Books and Books & Manuscripts at Freeman's on 28 May.
- Tony Grafton did a talk for Labyrinth Books and the Princeton Humanities Council about his new book Inky Fingers: The Making of Books in Early Modern Europe, published by Harvard University Press. Watch on YouTube.
- I was able to tune into Marina Rustow's excellent talk this week on "The Cairo Geniza in the Digital Age," which is now available on YouTube.
- A former University of Illinois employee was sentenced to two years of "second-chance probation" after he pleaded guilty to the theft of two rare books from the University of Illinois Music Library.
- There's a virtual book launch for Nick Basbanes' new biography of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on 2 June. Free, but registration is required.
- The submission deadline for this year's Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize is 1 June.
- From the Bodleian's Conveyor blog, the medieval manuscripts team talks about how they're able to work remotely during the pandemic.
- Biblio listings for used books are now available through the Bookshop.org platform (where new copies of a title are not available).
- The University of Buffalo has received a 30,000-edition collection of pulp fiction from alumnus George Kelley.
- Kevin Wisniewski has some updates on the AAS Program in the History of the Book, including that the program's newsletter from 1983 to 2008 is now available digitally, and that they'll be hosting their first virtual book talk on 28 May, with Derrick Spires talking about his book The Practice of Citizenship: Black Politics and Print Culture in the Early United States (which I hope will be recorded, since I have to be in another meeting at the time).
- Speaking of AAS, they are selling one of their two copies of the first newspaper printing of the Star-Spangled Banner, with proceeds to benefit the collections fund. The auction ends on 18 June, and the newspaper issue is estimated at $300,000–500,000.
- From Sara Schliep at The Collation, "Inside the Folger Archives: Uncle Henry's Pipers."
- The BL's medieval manuscripts blog looks back at the 2018 Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition.
- Eric White writes for Notabilia about comparing multiple Princeton copies of 15th-century books.
- Aaron Pratt is in the "Bright Young Librarians" spotlight this week.
- UVA posted some last pictures of the now-empty Alderman Library before the renovations begin in earnest.
- Another provenance mystery from the Middle Temple Library.
- The Council of State Archivists have released a series of new emergency preparedness documents.
- Biblio-human Colin Franklin died this week. Peter Kraus has a memorial post on the ABAA blog.
Upcoming Auctions
- Books and Manuscripts: A Spring Miscellany at Sotheby's now ends on 27 May.
- Livres Rares et Manuscrits at Christie's on 27 May.
- Printed Books, Maps & Autographs at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 27–28 May.
- Art & Archaeology of Asia – Travel & Exploration – Cartography at PBA Galleries on 28 May.
- The Martin Magovsky Collection of Children's Books and Books & Manuscripts at Freeman's on 28 May.
Sunday, May 17, 2020
Links, Reviews & Auctions
- The IOBA Virtual Rare Book Fair continues through the end of the weekend - well worth having a look through the many and varied offerings, though I confess, I miss chatting with the booksellers. Much looking forward to when we can all be in the same place again!
- Dan Cohen posted this piece on guidance for reopening library facilities, put together by IFLA. See also WebJunction's information hub.
- Great biblio-human Robin Myers, 94, is walking in her garden to raise money for World Jewish Relief.
- Princeton's fabulous Shakespeare and Company Project is highlighted in the Guardian.
- New from AAS, Black Self-Publishing.
- Ariel Sabar has a piece in the April Atlantic about the Dirk Obbink scandal.
- Michael Vinson is interviewed on the AbeBooks podcast about his new biography of Johnny Jenkins.
- From Simon Beattie, a look at the second issue (1733) of The Catch Club, a collection of humorous songs by English Baroque composers.
- At Early Modern Female Book Ownership, a copy of Hannah Woolley's The Queene-like Closet.
- Over on the University of Glasgow's Special Collections blog, the first installment of a series about the conservation of a 14th-century manuscript of Higden's Polychronicon.
- Distraction reading has increased in the UK, the Guardian reports.
- Research has revealed text on four Dead Sea Scroll parchments in the John Rylands Library previously believed to be blank.
- Sarah McMillan writes for Swann about the mixographia printing process. Hadn't heard of it? Me neither.
- Karin Wulf talked to Whitney Martinko for Smithsonian about "How Historic Preservation Shaped the Early United States."
- UC Berkeley has released a set of responsible access workflows for digitization projects.
- From A Bookhunter on Safari, "A Cambridge Binding – John Bird Hawes."
- Boston Athenaeum programming for the spring has gone virtual.
- The University of Liverpool library has started a blog series taking readers on an A–Z tour of the historic counties of Britain.
- The National Archives has awarded $2.9 million in grants for historical papers publication projects.
- Stephen Grant has posted the third part of his profile of first Folger director William Adams Slade.
- Famed collector Peter Spang has died. He was on the MHS board when I worked there years ago, and was unfailingly kind and interested in what we were up to. Donald Friary has a nice memorial post on Antiques and the Arts Weekly.
Book Reviews
- Nick Gadd's Death of a Typographer; review by Alex Johnson for the Fine Books Blog.
- Kevin Hayes' The Road to Monticello; review by Breck Baumann for the Colonial Review.
Upcoming Auctions
- Churchill in Charge at Sotheby's ends on 20 May.
- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 21 May.
- Americana from the George M. Steinmetz Collection – Literature – Miscellaneous Books at PBA Galleries ends on 21 May.
- Books and Manuscripts: A Spring Miscellany at Sotheby's ends on 21 May.
- Livres Rares et Manuscrits at Christie's on 27 May.
- Printed Books, Maps & Autographs at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 27–28 May.
- Art & Archaeology of Asia – Travel & Exploration – Cartography at PBA Galleries on 28 May.
- The Martin Magovsky Collection of Children's Books and Books & Manuscripts at Freeman's on 28 May.
- Dan Cohen posted this piece on guidance for reopening library facilities, put together by IFLA. See also WebJunction's information hub.
- Great biblio-human Robin Myers, 94, is walking in her garden to raise money for World Jewish Relief.
- Princeton's fabulous Shakespeare and Company Project is highlighted in the Guardian.
- New from AAS, Black Self-Publishing.
- Ariel Sabar has a piece in the April Atlantic about the Dirk Obbink scandal.
- Michael Vinson is interviewed on the AbeBooks podcast about his new biography of Johnny Jenkins.
- From Simon Beattie, a look at the second issue (1733) of The Catch Club, a collection of humorous songs by English Baroque composers.
- At Early Modern Female Book Ownership, a copy of Hannah Woolley's The Queene-like Closet.
- Over on the University of Glasgow's Special Collections blog, the first installment of a series about the conservation of a 14th-century manuscript of Higden's Polychronicon.
- Distraction reading has increased in the UK, the Guardian reports.
- Research has revealed text on four Dead Sea Scroll parchments in the John Rylands Library previously believed to be blank.
- Sarah McMillan writes for Swann about the mixographia printing process. Hadn't heard of it? Me neither.
- Karin Wulf talked to Whitney Martinko for Smithsonian about "How Historic Preservation Shaped the Early United States."
- UC Berkeley has released a set of responsible access workflows for digitization projects.
- From A Bookhunter on Safari, "A Cambridge Binding – John Bird Hawes."
- Boston Athenaeum programming for the spring has gone virtual.
- The University of Liverpool library has started a blog series taking readers on an A–Z tour of the historic counties of Britain.
- The National Archives has awarded $2.9 million in grants for historical papers publication projects.
- Stephen Grant has posted the third part of his profile of first Folger director William Adams Slade.
- Famed collector Peter Spang has died. He was on the MHS board when I worked there years ago, and was unfailingly kind and interested in what we were up to. Donald Friary has a nice memorial post on Antiques and the Arts Weekly.
Book Reviews
- Nick Gadd's Death of a Typographer; review by Alex Johnson for the Fine Books Blog.
- Kevin Hayes' The Road to Monticello; review by Breck Baumann for the Colonial Review.
Upcoming Auctions
- Churchill in Charge at Sotheby's ends on 20 May.
- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 21 May.
- Americana from the George M. Steinmetz Collection – Literature – Miscellaneous Books at PBA Galleries ends on 21 May.
- Books and Manuscripts: A Spring Miscellany at Sotheby's ends on 21 May.
- Livres Rares et Manuscrits at Christie's on 27 May.
- Printed Books, Maps & Autographs at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 27–28 May.
- Art & Archaeology of Asia – Travel & Exploration – Cartography at PBA Galleries on 28 May.
- The Martin Magovsky Collection of Children's Books and Books & Manuscripts at Freeman's on 28 May.
Sunday, May 10, 2020
Links & Auctions
- IOBA, the Independent Online Booksellers Association, has announced a Virtual Book Fair for 15–17 May, with "doors opening" at 1 p.m. ET on Friday.
- The ABAA will also hold a virtual book fair, from 4–7 June, and London's Firsts fair will be held virtually on 5 June starting at 2 p.m. UK time.
- Over on the NLS blog, "Delivering a Bestseller: Culpeper and Midwifery."
- From the Cambridge University Special Collections blog, Francis Young writes about a thirteenth-century poem marking the construction of Salisbury Cathedral. And their conservation department highlights some treatments being undertaken on some parchment deeds.
- At the Junto, "Early American Women Unmasked."
- Devon Eastland writes for Swann on "Introduction to Bookbinding: Folding & Sewing."
- From Caroline Duroselle-Melish for The Collation, "A Red Proof Sheet Used as Printer's Waste."
- Over on the Grolier Club blog, "Finding Our Marbles."
- Also at The Collation, Drew Thomas on "Following the Trail of Counterfeits in the Folger's Reformation Collection." False imprint detective work!
- The Middle Temple Library is trying to identify the annotator of their 1566 Copernicus.
- The Open University's History of Books and Reading Seminar has started a blog series on "Reading and Wellbeing."
Upcoming Auctions
- English Literature, History, Children's Books, and Illustrations at Sotheby's ends on 12 May.
- Rare Golf Books, Memorabilia & Ephemera at PBA Galleries on 14 May.
- The ABAA will also hold a virtual book fair, from 4–7 June, and London's Firsts fair will be held virtually on 5 June starting at 2 p.m. UK time.
- Over on the NLS blog, "Delivering a Bestseller: Culpeper and Midwifery."
- From the Cambridge University Special Collections blog, Francis Young writes about a thirteenth-century poem marking the construction of Salisbury Cathedral. And their conservation department highlights some treatments being undertaken on some parchment deeds.
- At the Junto, "Early American Women Unmasked."
- Devon Eastland writes for Swann on "Introduction to Bookbinding: Folding & Sewing."
- From Caroline Duroselle-Melish for The Collation, "A Red Proof Sheet Used as Printer's Waste."
- Over on the Grolier Club blog, "Finding Our Marbles."
- Also at The Collation, Drew Thomas on "Following the Trail of Counterfeits in the Folger's Reformation Collection." False imprint detective work!
- The Middle Temple Library is trying to identify the annotator of their 1566 Copernicus.
- The Open University's History of Books and Reading Seminar has started a blog series on "Reading and Wellbeing."
Upcoming Auctions
- English Literature, History, Children's Books, and Illustrations at Sotheby's ends on 12 May.
- Rare Golf Books, Memorabilia & Ephemera at PBA Galleries on 14 May.
Sunday, May 03, 2020
Links & Auctions
- Over at Sammelband, Cait Coker on "The Special Collections Classroom in the Time of COVID-19."
- From Aaron Pratt for the HRC blog, "Gutenberg's Blanks."
- Newly online from the Library of Congress, digitized collections of the papers of Andrew Johnson, Chester Arthur, and William McKinley.
- Jane Mainley-Piddock is editing a volume of M.R. James' letters: you can support it via Unbound (I have!)
- Over at Teaching the Codex, "Goatskin in the garden: how does it feel to prepare your own parchment?"
- Now online from the Yale Law Library, Mike Widener's exhibition "Precedents So Scrawl'd and Blurr'd: Readers' Marks in Law Books."
- Among the May Rare Book Monthly articles are Susan Halas' "Bookselling in a Time of Coronavirus" (rounding up responses from various booksellers about how they're dealing with the craziness); Michael Stillman's report on the Dirk Obbink happenings; and Bruce McKinney's check-in with Marvin Getman about the potential of holding some virtual book fairs.
- From Medieval Manuscripts Provenance, "Missing Initials from the Murano Gradual."
- In Atlas Obscura, Rebecca Rego Barry writes about a recently-sold "chocolate museum in a box."
- A large collection of Civil War photographs from the Medford History Society are now being stored at Tufts University (and are available digitally through Digital Commonwealth).
- From Jerry Morris at My Sentimental Library, "Ventures in Book Collecting During This Coronavirus Pandemic."
- Over on the Cambridge Libraries Special Collections blog, "Rare Caribbean Pamphlets."
- Cynthia Smith writes for the LC's Worlds Revealed blog about "Ortelius: A Legendary Mapmaker."
- Rebecca Rego Barry notes the upcoming Freeman's sale of William Toplis' Wodehouse collection.
- From the BL's Medieval Manuscripts blog, "Designing the Arnstein Bible."
- On the Bodleian blog, a look at a 17th-century book of magical charms from their collections.
Upcoming Auctions
- Rare Books, Manuscripts & Relics, Forbes Collection Part II, Kerouac Estate Part III at University Archives on 6 May.
- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 7 May.
- Printed & Manuscript African-Americana at Swann Galleries on 7 May.
- The P.G. Wodehouse Collection of William Toplis at Freeman's on 7 May.
- Americana – Travel & Exploration – World History – Cartography at PBA Galleries on 7 May.
- From Aaron Pratt for the HRC blog, "Gutenberg's Blanks."
- Newly online from the Library of Congress, digitized collections of the papers of Andrew Johnson, Chester Arthur, and William McKinley.
- Jane Mainley-Piddock is editing a volume of M.R. James' letters: you can support it via Unbound (I have!)
- Over at Teaching the Codex, "Goatskin in the garden: how does it feel to prepare your own parchment?"
- Now online from the Yale Law Library, Mike Widener's exhibition "Precedents So Scrawl'd and Blurr'd: Readers' Marks in Law Books."
- Among the May Rare Book Monthly articles are Susan Halas' "Bookselling in a Time of Coronavirus" (rounding up responses from various booksellers about how they're dealing with the craziness); Michael Stillman's report on the Dirk Obbink happenings; and Bruce McKinney's check-in with Marvin Getman about the potential of holding some virtual book fairs.
- From Medieval Manuscripts Provenance, "Missing Initials from the Murano Gradual."
- In Atlas Obscura, Rebecca Rego Barry writes about a recently-sold "chocolate museum in a box."
- A large collection of Civil War photographs from the Medford History Society are now being stored at Tufts University (and are available digitally through Digital Commonwealth).
- From Jerry Morris at My Sentimental Library, "Ventures in Book Collecting During This Coronavirus Pandemic."
- Over on the Cambridge Libraries Special Collections blog, "Rare Caribbean Pamphlets."
- Cynthia Smith writes for the LC's Worlds Revealed blog about "Ortelius: A Legendary Mapmaker."
- Rebecca Rego Barry notes the upcoming Freeman's sale of William Toplis' Wodehouse collection.
- From the BL's Medieval Manuscripts blog, "Designing the Arnstein Bible."
- On the Bodleian blog, a look at a 17th-century book of magical charms from their collections.
Upcoming Auctions
- Rare Books, Manuscripts & Relics, Forbes Collection Part II, Kerouac Estate Part III at University Archives on 6 May.
- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 7 May.
- Printed & Manuscript African-Americana at Swann Galleries on 7 May.
- The P.G. Wodehouse Collection of William Toplis at Freeman's on 7 May.
- Americana – Travel & Exploration – World History – Cartography at PBA Galleries on 7 May.
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