Links & Auctions

- The London rare book fair, Firsts, will hold a virtual fair on 10–14 September, and of course don't forget the (virtual) Brooklyn Antiquarian Book Fair, 11–13 September.

- Alison Flood reports for the Guardian on the Herzog August Bibliothek's recent purchase for £2.5 million of the Das Große Stammbuch of Philipp Hainhofer, which Duke Augustus first attempted to acquire for the library in 1647! 

- In the "Bright Young Librarians" spotlight, it's Amelia Hugill-Fontanel, Associate Curator of the Cary Graphic Arts Collection at RIT.

- Over at Early Modern Female Book Ownership, Sarah Lindenbaum and Tara Lyons examine a 1693 volume of Dryden's Satires owned by Anne Wolfreston, the granddaughter of famed book collector Frances Wolfreston.

- "Radiolab" had an excellent episode recently on Chinese keyboarding history, "The Wubi Effect."

- From the Books and Borrowing project, a guest post by Kelsey Jackson Williams on buying vs. borrowing vs. reading.

- Manicules were the order of the week over at Bite-Sized Book History.

- The NYTimes ran an obituary for Buenos Aires bookseller Alfredo Breitfield this week.

- The first part of an interview with Travis McDade about the Pittsburgh Carnegie Library heist is up at Legal Talk Network.

Upcoming Auctions

- A Partial Gentleman's Library: Important Books from Around the World at Stair on 2 September. [what happened to the other part of the gentleman?]

- Modern Literature, Private Press & Illustrated Books, Original Artwork at Forum Auctions on 3 September.

Links & Auctions

- New and excellent: Book Owners Online, a directory of English book owners, 1610–1715 (with plans to expand). Spearheaded by David Pearson with support from CELL and the Bibliographical Society.

- Registration is now open for the Brooklyn Antiquarian Book Fair (virtual) on 11–13 September, which will include a series of webinars and an exhibition.

- The Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair will also be held online, 12–14 November. Some details are now available.

- Travis McDade has a piece on the Pittsburgh Carnegie Library thefts in the September Smithsonian.

- There were many stories this week about the recent discoveries of books and manuscripts beneath the attic floorboards at Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk (most but not entirely having been used as rodent nesting material). See also Matthew Champion's fascinating and well-illustrated Twitter thread on the finds.

- Meanwhile, the National Trust's "restructuring" plans, which would eliminate many curatorial positions, are coming in for much justified derision.

- From Peter Kidd, "Another Hachette-Lehman-Yale Cutting."

- Garrett Scott has launched Antiquarian Bookseller Wiki, beginning with a series of biographical sketches of women active in the antiquarian book trades.

- Over on the Princeton Graphic Arts Collection blog, "Frances Mary Richardson Currer, Important Early Bibliophile."

- William Harris writes for the FDR Library's blog: "Unpretentious History: Alma Van Curan and the FDR Library Logbooks."

- The AAS' PHBAC has release their fall schedule of virtual events (plus videos of their spring/summer talks, all of which were excellent).

- From the BL's Medieval Manuscripts blog, "How did the Cotton Library grow?"

- Jeffrey Hamburger writes for the Houghton blog, "An 'Old Prayer Book,' Yet not a 'Dull' one: The Liber Ordinarius of Nivelles."

- Many congratulations to the Grosvenor Rare Book Room at the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, which recently completed its collection of Kelmscott Press publications!

- From Elizabeth Gettins on the LC blog, a post highlighting the recent digitization of historical title pages submitted for copyright purposes.

- J.L. Bell has begun a series of posts on John Adams' library, including comments from the current Quincy mayor who is apparently going to try and bring the books back to Quincy from Boston ... see "When John Adams Gave Away His Library," "'The most appropriate and useful place for the collection'," and "Looking at John Adams's Things Today," with more to come.

Upcoming Auctions

- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 27 August.

- Vintage Posters at Swann Galleries on 27 August.

- Fine Books with Americana, Travel & Arthur H. Clark Publications at PBA Galleries ends on 27 August.

- Rare Books, Art & Ephemera at Addison & Sarova on 29 August.

Links & Auctions

- Over on the Bodleian blog, a look at E.F. Benson's Mapp & Lucia, on the occasion of the book's 100th anniversary.

- Seth James is in the "Bright Young Librarians" spotlight.

- Heritage Auctions will sell books from Justin G. Schiller's collection on 16 December.

- The Philadelphia Print Shop has been acquired by David Mackey and will relocate to Wayne, PA from Chestnut Hill, with a grand reopening in October.

- The Penn Libraries have digitized selections from their Marian Anderson collection.

- Peter Kidd notes that Ariel Sabar's book on the fake Gospel of the Wife of Jesus papyrus, Veritas, has been published.

Upcoming Auctions

- Fine Books, Atlases, Manuscripts & Historical Photographs at Bonhams on 19 August.

- Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books at University Archives on 19 August.

Links & Auctions

- Melissa Tedone and her colleagues at Wintherthur have posted more information about the Poison Book Project, which seeks to identify and create safe handling guidelines for books whose bindings may contain toxic pigments. 

- Ken Sanders Rare Books has launched a GoFundMe to help stay afloat through the pandemic. Please help if you can.

- From the BL's Medieval Manuscripts blog, "Ludicrous figures in the margin" (you want fighting snails? They've got fighting snails!)

- There's a new provenance mystery from the Middle Temple Library blog.

- Barbara Basbanes Richter notes the publication of the catalogue covering pre-1801 titles in the Cotsen Children's Library at Princeton.

- Haylie Swenson has a post about early modern cats for Shakespeare & Beyond.

- M.L. Stapleton writes about a 1740s Shakespeare set with female provenance at Early Modern Female Book Ownership.

- Do have a look at Books and Borrowing 1750–1830, an analysis of Scottish library borrowers' registers.

- From the University of Iowa's Center for the Book, "Tim Barrett: The Story of a Papermaker."

- Two deaths from the world of books to note: Hendrik D.L. Vervliet, and Bernard Bailyn.

Review

- Christopher de Hamel's The Book in the Cathedral; review by Dennis Duncan in the Guardian.

Upcoming Auctions

- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 13 August.

- LGTBQ+ Art, Material Culture & History at Swann Galleries on 13 August.

- Publications of the Limited Editions Club at PBA Galleries on 13 August.

Links & Auctions

- Houghton Library's digitization efforts for the 2020–2021 academic year will be focused on a new online collection, "Slavery, Abolition, Emancipation, and Freedom: Primary Sources from Houghton Library." Digital Collections Program Manager Dorothy Berry will lead the project.

- From Simon Beattie, "The first 'blank bookplate'?"

- Rebecca Rego Barry notes a Renaissance-era reliquary pendant made to look like a tiny book, currently offered by Les Enluminures.

- Over on the N-YHS blog, "Clues to the Past: The Taylor-Robert Plan."

- Nate Pedersen talks to Tamar Evangelistia-Dougherty for the FB&C "Bright Young Librarians" series.

- The prayerbook which belonged to Mary, Queen of Scots sold for £311,250.

- Elizabeth Winkler writes for the New Yorker "How Phillis Wheatley Was Recovered Through History."

- Cornell University Press received an NEH grant to upgrade and enhance its open-access monograph program, in collaboration with Cornell's libraries.

- UVA Press has a 40%-off sale through 1 September.

- The Spencer Museum of Art has mounted a virtual version of their exhibition "Audubon in the Anthropocene."

- Richard S. Newman talks to History New Network about his biography of Richard Allen, Freedom's Prophet.

- Annette Gordon-Reed has been named a University Professor, Harvard's highest faculty honor.

- Mark Royden has been sentenced to four years in prison for attempting to steal a copy of Magna Carta from Salisbury Cathedral in October 2018.

- From Lapham's Quarterly, "How Books Became Cheap."

Upcoming Auctions

- Books and Manuscripts: A Summer Miscellany at Sotheby's ends on 4 August.

- William R. Bronson Collection of Ornithological Books at Heritage Auctions on 6 August.

- Americana – Travel & Exploration – World History – Cartography at PBA Galleries on 6 August.