Links & Auctions

- The Cambridge University Libraries have now reported the apparent theft of two Charles Darwin notebooks ("B" and "C") to the police, two decades after the notebooks were last seen (until a recent review, it was apparently thought that the notebooks had been misshelved). See the CUL public appeal for more information and images, as well as links to the digitized versions of the notebooks.

- Alea Henle writes for the NCPH blog, "Road Not Taken: Record-Making in Historical Perspective."

- Bookseller Shaun Bythell asks in the Guardian "what's the worst kind of book thief?"

- From Rebecca Rego Barry for the Fine Books Blog, "Collecting & Repatriation."

- A collection of Bob Dylan documents and manuscripts were sold at auction last week, with the individual lots realizing about $495,000.

- Alexandra Sampson has another provenance mystery from the Middle Temple Library.

- APHA is accepting applications for the 2021 Mark Samuels Lasner Fellowship in Printing History.

- From Adam Clulow for Not Even Past (as part of their Primary Source series with the HRC), "Pamphlets, Propaganda, and the Amboina Conspiracy Trial in the Classroom."

Upcoming Auctions

- Zwiggelaar Auctions will hold a three-part sale this week: Part I (Children's books, Literature, Old books, Manuscripts, Cookbooks, Amsterdam, Topography) on 30 November; Part II (Topography, Atlases, Comics, Asian arts, Fine arts) on 1 December; Part III (Photography, Sports, Chess books, Picture postcards, Erotica, Various) on 2 December.

- Music, Continental Books and Medieval Manuscripts at Sotheby's London ends on 1 December.

- Books & Works on Paper at Chiswick Auctions on 2 December.

- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 3 December.

- Fine Art – Photography & Prints at PBA Galleries on 3 December.

- December Sale at Arader Galleries on 5 December.

Links & Auctions

- The IOBA Virtual Book Fair continues through the weekend! And get ready for the Getman's Virtual Bibliophilic Holiday Gift Fair, coming up 4–7 December.

- Dorothy Berry is in the "Bright Young Librarians" spotlight this week.

- From Valerie-Anne Lutz for the APS blog, a look back at Laura E. Hanson, the APS librarian from 1926 to 1941.

- There's a 37-minute documentary up about the making of the first issue of Inscription.

- The British Library has acquired the Lucas Psalter, a late-15th-century illuminated psalter made in Bruges for an English patron. The volume features the work of the Master of Edward IV, and is in a roughly contemporary red velvet binding.

- Jay Moschella has been updating and generally sprucing up the BPL's guide to their collection of incunabula.

- Mitch Fraas documents a busy acquisitions week for the Penn Libraries.

- There's a new book out on art provenance (edited by Arthur Tompkins) from Lund Humphries.

- Yet another volume of previously unpublished Tolkien essays on Middle Earth will be released in June.

- From April Armstrong for Princeton's Mudd Manuscript Library blog, a post about how Princeton got its colors.

- And over on the Princeton Graphic Arts collection blog, a profile of the Hours Press.

- Erin Blake writes for The Collation, "Creating John Gregory's Bas Reliefs at the Folger."

- From the BL's Medieval Manuscripts blog, "Parchment in prison: imprisoned medieval writers."

Upcoming Auctions

- Histoire Postale: Guerre de 1870–1871 (Aristophil 40) at Aguttes on 24 November.

- Rare and Important Items at Kedem Auctions on 24 November.

- Rare Books, Autographs & Maps at Doyle on 24 November.

- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 25 November.

Links & Auctions

- The ABAA Boston Virtual Book Fair continues through the end of the day today: don't miss either the books or the associated events.

- Swann Galleries' autographs specialist Marco Tomaschett takes a deep dive into "The Voice & Hand of Frederick Douglass."

- From James Tarmy at Bloomberg, "Retail Might be Struggling, But the Rich Are Buying Rare Books."

- Cushing Memorial Library & Archives at TAMU have launched a new blog, The Cushing Collective.

- Some of the books stolen from a London warehouse in 2017 and recovered recently in Romania were returned to their owners this week.

- Eric White writes for Princeton's Notabilia blog "Mystery Solved: A Long-Lost Spanish Vocabulario (ca. 1492–93) Comes to Light at Princeton."

- Alex Johnson highlights a new crowdfunding effort to preserve the St. Bride Library for the Fine Books Blog.

- In the NYT, William J. Broad reports on a new census of Newton's Principia. As you all know I am a huge fan of book censuses, so I am delighted to see another out in the world (and if you have an uncounted copy, please do contact the researchers). See also the Caltech press release.

- A neat offering from Peter Harrington: an illustrated script for the second theatrical adaptation of The Hobbit, a 1967 school production.

- Over at Early Modern Female Book Ownership, a fascinating-looking 1655 volume of Dickson's explications of the psalms, with lots of usage marks.

- Another interesting new blog to keep an eye on, The Fate of Books, which will focus on book history in Slovenia and central Europe. 

- Books & Borrowing has a very good breakdown of the different sorts of eighteenth-century libraries.

- The British Library has managed to secure funding to keep the 15th-century Lewis of Caerleon manuscript in the UK, and the BL has digitized the manuscript.

- It's all about the asterisk over at Shady Characters.

- A WWI carrier pigeon message has been found in France.

- Rugby School is selling off some of its rare books this week. More from the BBC.

- And from the Royal College of Physicians, after the recent outcry over their proposed plan to auction off rare books from their library, word that "no firm decision" has yet been made about the potential sale.

Upcoming Auctions

- Dada Data: Books and Boîtes by Marcel Duchamp and Others at Sotheby's New York ends on 16 November.

- Littérature: Boris Vian et les Maudits (Aristophil 33) at Aguttes on 17 November.

- Travel, Atlases, Maps & Natural History at Sotheby's London ends on 17 November.

- Fine Books & Manuscripts at Swann Galleries on 17 November.

- Histoire Postale: Guerre de 1870–1871 & Aviation (Aristophil 34) at Artcurial on 18 November.

- Littérature: Fonds Romain Gary & Littérature du XVIIe au XXe Siècle (Aristophil 35) at Artcurial on 18 November.

- Selected Books from Rugby School Library at Forum Auctions on 18 November.

- Livres, Lettres et Manuscrits Autographes (Aristophil 36) at Druout on 19 November.

- Histoire (Aristophil 37) at Aguttes on 19 November.

- Fine Books, Manuscripts, and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 19 November.

- Comics and Comic Art at Heritage Auctions on 19–22 November.

- Rare Books & Manuscripts at PBA Galleries on 19 November.

- Musique (Aristophil 38) at Ader on 20 November.

- Musique (Aristophil 39) at Aguttes on 20 November.

- Rare Books & Ephemera at Addison & Sarova on 21 November.

- Histoire Postale: Guerre de 1870–1871 (Aristophil 40) at Aguttes on 24 November.

Links & Auctions

Apologies if I missed any tweets, &c. this week - it's been a busy one!

- Coming soon, the ABAA Boston Virtual Book Fair (12–14 November) and the IOBA Virtual Book Fair (20–22 November). The ABAA has announced that their fair will feature a Virtual Book Fair Scavenger Hunt, too, so do have fun with that if you're so inclined!

- Coming up on Tuesday, 17 November: Heather Cole and David Gessner will hold a "Researchers in Conversation" discussion sponsored by Houghton Library: Theodore Roosevelt: Writer and Conservationist. Register at the link.

- As the debate of the proposed sale of books from the Royal College of Physicians continues (petition here opposing the scheme) another institutional sale is even closer to happening: on 18 November Rugby School is selling a selection of its rare books at Forum Auctions. 

- From Medieval Manuscripts Provenance, "The Value of the V&A's Cutting of St Giustina disputing with Maximian" and "Another Holford Cutting, Now in Lisbon."

- Over at Rare Book Digest, "The Trade in the Middle of the Pandemic."

- Rebecca Rego Barry notes for the FB&C blog the completion of the BL's seven-year project to digitize more than 40,000 maps and views from the Topographical Collection of King George III ("K. Top.")

- From Sue Donovan for the UVA Libraries blog, a mucky look at what happens to a time capsule when water gets in (spoiler alert: it ain't pretty).

- Another one to sign up for (or watch later on YouTube): Hannah Marcus and Nick Wilding will talk on 18 November about Hannah's new book Forbidden Knowledge: Medicine, Science, and Censorship in Early Modern Italy.

- Over at Not Even Pratt, Aaron Pratt on "An Elizabeth Exorcist's (very weird) Secret Press."

- The Book of Lismore, a 15th-century Irish manuscript seized by the British in the 1640s, will return to Ireland: the trustees of the Chatsworth Settlement have donated it to University College Cork.

- Kathleen Monahan writes for the John J. Burns Library blog about "Cable Code: Technology Shorthand from Another Era."

- In the Harvard Independent, Cade Williams on "A Book Made From Humans."

Upcoming Auctions

- Printed Books, Maps & Autographs, Lord Nelson, Scottish Topography, The David Smith Print Collection at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 11–12 November.

- James Bond: A Collection of Books and Manuscripts, The Property of a Gentleman at Sotheby's London ends on 11 November.

- Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books at University Archives on 11 November.

- Lettres et Manuscrits Autographes at ALDE on 12 November.

- Books and Manuscripts at Freeman's on 12 November.

- Fine Books & Manuscripts at Skinner ends on 12 November.

- Fine Books and Manuscripts at Leslie Hindman on 12–13 November.

- Historical Manuscripts Signature Auction at Heritage Auctions on 12 November.

- Vintage Photography, with Books and Monographs at PBA Galleries on 12 November.

- Livres & Manuscrits at Tessier & Sarrou on 13 November.