Links & Auctions

This'll likely be the last post for 2021 - my very best wishes to each and every one of you for a restful and healthy holiday season. May 2022 be better for us all.

- The biggest biblio-news of the week is the acquisition of the Honresfield Library en bloc for a consortium of British libraries. The £15 million purchase price was funded by grants and donations, with half the cost given by Sir Leonard Blavatnik. More from Charlotte Higgins for the Guardian and from the BBC.

- There was far less coverage of it, but a $7 million default judgment against Dirk Obbink in federal court is also a very important story. Obbink failed to respond to allegations he had defrauded Hobby Lobby by selling $7 million worth of stolen papyrus fragments.

- From Karin Wulf at Scholarly Kitchen, "Reading About Libraries and Librarians."

- The Middle Temple Library has one last provenance mystery for us this year.

- The National Archives announced its plans for the release of the 1950 census, coming in April 2022.

- The Books and Borrowing team had a tour of Edinburgh's Signet Library.

Reviews

- David Pearson's Book Ownership in Stuart England; review by Adam Smyth in the LRB.

- Gary Goodman's The Last Bookseller; review by Timothy Francis Barry at the arts fuse.

Upcoming Auctions

- De Chateaubriand à Cioran – Raymond Queneau at Aguttes (Aristophil 45) on 20 December.

- Holy Family College Rare Book Collection (Part 1) at Eaton Hudson ends on 21 December.

- Fine Books and Ephemera at New England Book Auctions ends on 21 December.

Links & Auctions

- At The Collation, Heather Wolfe has a wonderful post on a 1602 book theft and its aftermath.

- Jennifer Schuessler writes for the NYTimes on the recent donation of the production archive, props, costumes, &c. used in the Apple TV+ series "Dickinson" to Harvard's Houghton Library.

- Over on the Ransom Center blog, Aaron Pratt on a recent donation of rare books from the Vaughn Foundation Fund, including a first edition of Newton's Principia with an early presentation inscription and early annotations.

- Ken Sanders Rare Books will reopen in 2022 in The Leonardo, a Salt Lake City science and technology museum.

Upcoming Auctions

- Books and Manuscripts: 19th and 20th Century at Sotheby's London ends on 14 December.

- Early Printing, Americana & Rare Books at New England Book Auctions ends on 14 December.

- Printing & Bookbinding Equipment and Supplies at New England Book Auctions ends on 14 December.

- Valuable Books and Manuscripts at Christie's London on 15 December.

- Printed Books, Maps, Historical Documents & Ephemera, Bookbinding Tools & Materials, Vinyl Records at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 15 December.

- Fine Books and Manuscripts at Bonhams New York on 15 December.

- Children's Books & Illustrations, Playing Cards, Modern First Editions & Autographs at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 16 December.

- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 16 December.

- Books and Manuscripts Online at Bonhams New York ends on 16 December.

- Americana – Travel & Exploration – Maps & Views at PBA Galleries on 16 December.

Links & Auctions

- A new collection edited by Michelle Levy and Betty Schellenberg, "How and Why to Do Things with Eighteenth-Century Manuscripts," is currently open-access from Cambridge University Press.

- Public Domain Review is doing an advent-calendar style countdown to highlight various pieces of culture which will enter the public domain in 2022.

- Video of the 18 November Archival Silence Working Group event "Language In/Of the Archive" is now available.

- From Peter Kidd, part the second of "Celotti or Ottley? The Source of the Lomax-Wade Collection."

- The Clements Library has acquired a 1761 manuscript plan of the fort at Detroit, and has launched a crowdfunding campaign to cover the costs.

Upcoming Auctions

- The History of Western Script: A further selection from The Schøyen Collection at Bloomsbury on 7 December.

- Livres d'Heures – Manuscrits – Archives followed by Collection d'un Amateur at Binoche et Giquello on 7 December.

- Livres et Manuscrits at Sotheby's Paris ends on 8 December.

- Printed Books, Manuscripts and Maps at Bellmans on 9 December.

- Rare Books, Autographs & Maps at Doyle on 9 December.

- Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books at Bonhams on 9 December.

- December Auction at Arader Galleries on 11 December.

Links & Auctions

- Coming up on 2–4 December, Getman's Virtual Bibliophilic Holiday Gift Fair.

- Cynthia Brokaw's Panizzi Lectures begin on 30 November; register here. Thanks to the sponsorship of Johnathan A. Hill, Bookseller, Inc., the livestreams of these lectures will now be freely available.

- Kurt Zimmerman has posted the video of a talk he gave recently to the Florida Bibliophile Society about the late Dorothy Sloan.

- From the Leiden special collections blog, André Bouwan on "Medieval manuscripts in the classroom: on site or online?"

- Over on the Cambridge special collections blog, a post on the "conservation of felted paper in a bound iron-gall ink manuscript."

- Jordan Pearson and Jason Koebler write for Vice about the chaotic aftermath of that attempt to buy the first printing of the Constitution using cryptocurrency.

- The Book of Deer, Scotland's oldest surviving manuscript, will return to Scotland next year for display at the Aberdeen Art Gallery during the summer.

Upcoming Auctions

- Music and Antiquarian Books and Manuscripts at Sotheby's London ends on 30 November.

- Bibliothèque d’un château du Sud-Ouest de la France - Bibliothèque cynégétique Jean Lebaudy et à divers at Pierre Bergé & Associés on 30 November.

- Soviet Political & Propaganda Posters: The Sergo Grigorian Collection at Bonhams London on 30 November.

- Fine Books & Ephemera at New England Book Auctions ends on 30 November.

- Fine Books and Manuscripts at Bonhams London on 1 December.

- The Fantasy World of Arthur Rackham: Rare Original Illustrations from the Collection of Shirley Carter Burden at Sotheby's London ends on 1 December.

- Exiles and Idealists: A Private Collection of Russian Literary Manuscripts at Christie's London ends on 1 December.

- Modern Literature at Forum Auctions on 2 December.

- Antiquarian Books at PBA Galleries on 2 December.

- Making our Nation: Constitutions and Related Documents, Part 2 at Sotheby's New York ends on 2 December.

- Fall Books & Ephemera on 4 December and Bookworm Sale on 5 December on Addison & Sarova.

Links & Auctions

- The auction records were shattered on Thursday evening at Sotheby's when a copy of the first printed edition of the U.S. Constitution sold for $43.2 million. The buyer was Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, who plans to put the copy on exhibit; it will be displayed first at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AR. The underbidders were a new cryptocurrency crowdfund group ConstitutionDAO.

- Alison Flood writes for the Guardian on another recent fragment identification, this time in a 1528 volume at the Bodleian Library. Keep looking at those fragments, folks!

- From Kim Beil at LitHub, "What I Learned While Cataloguing an Entire Library of 19th-Century Schoolbooks."

- Over on the Oak Knoll blog, "My Friend's Library, A Story of Association Copies."

- At Medieval Manuscripts Provenance, the first installment in a new series, "Celotti or Ottley? The Source of the Lomax-Wade Collection."

- Josh Smith writes for Books & Borrowing on "The Records of the Bristol Library Society."

- Recordings of all of Paul Needham's Lyell Lectures on the Gutenberg Bible are now available.

Upcoming Auctions

- Livres Rares et Manuscrits at Christie's Paris on 22 November.

- The Exceptional Sale at Christie's Paris on 23 November.

- Making our Nation: Constitutions and Related Documents. Sold to Benefit the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation. Part I at Sotheby's New York on 23 November.

- Rare & Important Travel Posters at Swann Galleries on 23 November.

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

- Bibliothèque Pierre Collin at Pierre Bergé & Associés on 25 November.

Links & Auctions

- Don't forget the (virtual) Boston Book Fair, 18–20 November.

- Over at TEXT!, Adam Smyth on "Thinking."

- Ward Library at Peterhouse, Cambridge hosts "Thomas Gray: An Anniversary Exhibition through 13 December." There is also an online version.

- From the BL Medieval Manuscripts blog, "The Floreffe Bible on exhibition."

- Kurt Zimmerman has posted a memorial to Bill Barlow, who died on 21 October. See also Terry Belanger's tribute, which is on the RBS site.

- The 42nd Annual Conference on Book Trade History, "The Humours of Book Collecting," will be held 26–27 November.

- The new issue of Parenthesis contained interviews with the first four winners of the Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize.

- Coming up on 18 November, the University of Kentucky's King Library Press hosts, "Print/Reprint: A Roundtable Discussion of Print Technologies as Material Evidence." Free on Zoom, but registration is required.

- Pardon the logrolling, but I am quite excited to report that Binghamton University Libraries Special Collections has acquired an 1859 third octavo edition of Audubon's Birds of America.

Upcoming Auctions

- The Henry Fitz Jr. Archive of Photographic History and American Historical Ephemera & Photography at Hindman on 15 November.

- The Lewis Gilbert Film Script and Production Archive at Bellmans on 16 November.

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

- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 18 November.

- Rare Books with Science, Medicine & Natural History at PBA Galleries on 18 November.

- The Constitution of the United States at Sotheby's New York on 18 November.

- The World of Hergé at Artcurial on 20 November.

Links & Auctions

- The (virtual) Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair will be held 18–20 November.

- The Library of Congress has acquired the M.C. Migel Rare Book Collection from the American Foundation for the Blind.

- From the Bodleian blog, "Congratulations, have a fish."

- Over at Books and Borrowing, "COP26 – Part 1: Glasgow, Birthplace of the Anthropocene."

- Abbie Weinberg writes for The Collation on "Small Latin and Less Greek," explaining this month's Crocodile mystery.

- From the Mudd Manuscript Library blog, Iliyah Coles on "Secret Societies at Princeton in the 19th Century."

- The BL Medieval Manuscripts blog highlights the new exhibition on Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots in "'Not lawful nor tolerable.'"

- Peter Kidd has the second installment of his series on the Lombard Cutting.

- From The Conveyor, "Printing matters: Inspiration at the Bodleian Bibliographical Press."

- Carson Koepke writes for the Beinecke blog on "Digitally Reconstructing the Acts of Appian Papyrus."

Upcoming Auctions

- Fine Books & Works on Paper and Autographs & Memorabilia at Chiswick Auctions on 9 November.

- Contemporary Artists' Books: The Property of a Texas Collector at Swann Galleries on 9 November.

- Fine Printed Books & Manuscripts, Including Americana at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers on 9–10 November.

- Books, Maps & Prints at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 10 November.

- Rare Autographs, Photographs & Books at University Archives on 10 November.

- Modern Firsts at Skinner ends on 10 November.

- Shelf Sale: Literature, Early Printing, Books on Books at New England Auctions on 11 November.

- Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts, Rabbinic Letters, Ceremonial & Graphic Art at Kestenbaum & Company on 11 November.

- The Civil War Collection of James C. Frasca at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers on 12 November.

Links & Auctions

- Oak Knoll's sitewide sale is happening now, until 6 November (everything 20–50% off).

- Much of the material in the New England Book Auctions sale of Printing & Bookbinding Equipment and Supplies (ending 14 December) comes from the collection of our friend Vince Golden - there's some really excellent wood type and border material in this sale.

- Emory University has acquired Irish bibliophile John Moore's impressive collection of Bram Stoker material.

- The ABAA blog has an update on some stolen books recently returned to the National Library of Sweden.

- A copy of Shakespeare's Henry IV Part One extracted from the First Folio sold this week for $35,000.

- Over on The Conveyor, "Medieval Cookbooks: A Student Collection," and "Copper Plates in the Bodleian Libraries."

- The Middle Temple Libraries blog has posted a new provenance mystery for us this month.

- The Clements Library has digitized the William Howe Orderly Book, covering the period 1776 to 1778.

- From the BL's Medieval Manuscripts blogs, "Afterlives and Otherworlds: Three Ghost Stories from Medieval Ireland."

- Over at Medieval Manuscripts Provenance, "The Provenance of a Lombard Cutting [I]."

Upcoming Auctions

- History of Science and Technology at Bonhams Los Angeles on 3 November 2021.

- Livres Anciens du XVe au XIXe Siècle (Part I, Part II) at ALDE ends on 4 November.

- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 4 November.

- Art, Illustration & Dr. Seuss – British Prime Ministers – Antiquarian Books at PBA Galleries on 4 November.

- Historical Manuscripts at Heritage Auctions on 6 November.

Links & Auctions

- Don't forget Oak Knoll Fest (virtual), coming up on 28–30 October.

- Derrick Spires will deliver the 2021 Lieberman Lecture for APHA on 2 December, "Nineteenth-Century Black Printing and the Matter of Black Life." Register here.

- On the Columbia Rare Books blog, Celeste Brewer "On Oudated and Harmful Language in Library of Congress Subject Headings."

- Over on the Bodleian's Archives and Manuscripts blog, "The First Black Student at Oxford University."

- From the Cambridge University Special Collections blog, "The Pilgrims' Tale: The Box that Moved the Library."

- The University of Pennsylvania has received a gift of 151 interpositive glass photographic plates by Edward S. Curtis. 

- The Lazarus Project's technique for photographing books and manuscripts without opening them more than 30 degrees is highlighted in the University of Rochester news. 

Upcoming Auctions

- The Alexander Hamilton Collection of John E. Herzog at Freeman's on 25 October.

- The Ricky Jay Collection at Sotheby's New York on 27–28 October.

- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 28 October.

- Fine Books & Autographs at Swann Galleries on 28 October.

- Comic Books: Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age, Silver Age & Undergrounds at PBA Galleries on 28 October.

Links & Auctions

- The Lilly Library has acquired the marvelous dictionary collection of Madeline Kripke.

- Paul Needham's Lyell Lectures continue, and are viewable here as they are delivered.

- The ABAA's Diversity Initiative is hosting a panel, "Everyone is Welcome Here: Building Better Relationships in Book Communities" on 26 October. 

- Over at Medieval Manuscripts Provenance, "Otto Ege's Armenian Lectionary Dated '1121.'"

- Heather Wolfe will be the Munby Fellow at Cambridge University Libraries for 2021–22, working on a project titled "Decoding early modern writing paper."

- On the Swann Galleries blog, Devon Eastland writes about Harvard librarian George Parker Winship.

- Carla Cevasco writes for the Collation on "Picturing Children's Food in Early Modern Europe."

- There is still time to register for the APHA conference on 22–23 October, "Impresos: Printing Across Latin American and Caribbean Cultures."

- The bat signal has gone out for a number of Mark Twain legal documents which are believed to have been acquired by the Detroit Public Library in 1966 but were not found when a researcher looked for them in 2010. Barbara Schmidt has a feature on this over on Twain Quotes.

- A First Circuit panel has ruled that a 1780 Alexander Hamilton letter to Lafayette is the clear property of the Massachusetts Archives, and the letter has now been returned. It was stolen by employee Harold Perry sometime between 1938 and 1946 and later sold. Read the full decision here.

Upcoming Auctions

- The Luzzatto High Holidays Mahzor: A Magnificent Ashkenazic Prayer Book at Sotheby's New York on 19 October.

- Travel including a single owner collection of books on mountaineering at Bloomsbury Auctions (Dreweatts) ends on 20 October.

- A third selection of 16th and 17th English Books from the Fox Pointe Manor Library at Forum Auctions on 21 October.

- Fine Literature – Bukowski, Beats & the Counterculture at PBA Galleries on 21 October.

- Literature, Social Activism, Counterculture at Second Story Books on 23 October.

Links & Auctions

- New from AAS, "Reclaiming Heritage: Digitizing Early Nipmuc Histories from Colonial Documents."

- LC and the Copyright Office have announced a new crowdsourced transcription campaign for the Library's collection of early copyright title pages.

- The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library has launched a new open-access authority file database.

- There is a memorial post for Albert H. Small at Notes from Under Grounds.

- From Patricia Akhimie at The Collation, "Extra-Illustrating Othello."

- Elaine Treharne writes for the OUP blog on "Fragmentology: bits of books and the medieval manuscript."

- Paul Needham will deliver the 2021 Lyell Lectures beginning on 11 October, "The Genesis, Life, and Afterlife of the Gutenberg Bible."

- From Books & Borrowing, "A First Look at the Aberdeen Theological Library."

- Oak Knoll Fest (virtual) is coming up on 28–30 October.

Upcoming Auctions

- Lettres & Manuscrits Autographes – Musique at Ader on 12 October.

- Travel Books, Maps and Atlases at Forum Auctions on 14 October.

- Early Printed Books at Swann Galleries on 14 October.

- The Gary Munson Collection of Horror and Fantasy Rare Books at Heritage Auctions on 14 October.

- The Robin Satinsky Collection of Illustrated Books at Bonhams New York on 15 October.

- Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts including Americana at Christie's New York ends on 15 October.

Links & Auctions

- Rare Books Santa Monica continues through 3 October over on Getman's Virtual.

- A number of stolen manuscripts have been returned to the National Archives of Mexico.

- Over on Medieval Manuscripts Provenance, "Manuscripts Written at Rome in 1465, now at the V&A and Houghton."

- October's Rare Book Monthly articles include Joe Fay's "The Luckiest Bookseller Alive."

- The Modern Endangered Archives Program now includes "Independence and Beyond: Ephemera from the Barbados Department of Archives."

- In the Guardian, Stephen Fry writes on the enduring appeal of Georgette Heyer.

Upcoming Auctions

- Illustration Art Signature Auction at Heritage Auctions on 4 October.

- Printed Books, Maps & Documents at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 6 October.

- Americana – Travel & Exploration – World History – Cartography at PBA Galleries on 7 October.

Links & Auctions

- Another missing books alert from the ABAA, of some volumes currently missing in transit. See their post for a list and some images.

- Some new material from SHARP: a Special Topics Bibliography on Africa, Shef Rogers on "SHARP, BSA, BSANZ and the Place of Book History," and a new tranche of posts in the "SHARP in the Classroom" series.

- Over on the Clements Library blog, "A nesting doll of copies."

- A really fascinating provenance mystery post from the Middle Temple Library blog, featuring a 1485 volume of Arabic astronomy with what appears to be something like a bookseller's inventory bound in as front endpapers.

- The Gilgamesh Dream Tablet was formally handed back to Iraq on Thursday. And there is an update on the Dirk Obbink story in the NYTimes.

- From TEXT!, "Books annotations and loose papers."

- Registration for this year's Schoenberg Symposium, focused on "Loss," is now open; it will be held from 17–19 November.

Upcoming Auctions

- Poètes & Écrivains des XIXe–XXe Siècles at Aguttes (Aristophil 44) at Aguttes on 27 September.

- Autographs & Art, from Van Gogh to Hendrix at University Archives on 29 September.

- Fine Gold Books, Clubs & Memorabilia at PBA Galleries on 29 September.

- Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 30 September.

- Printed & Manuscript Americana at Swann Galleries on 30 September.

- Miniature Books with Books to Benefit the Miniature Book Society on 30 September.

Links & Auctions

- A major theft from the Robert M. Ervin Jr. Collection at Florida State University's Special Collections & Archives was announced this week. Some 4,996 items are believed to have been stolen between 17 March 2020 and 10 February 2021. See the ABAA post for a notice and a spreadsheet of the items known to be missing, and for relevant contact information.

- Next up on Getman's Virtual, the Virtual Brooklyn Antiquarian Book Fair, 23–26 September and Rare Books LA, 30 September–3 October.

- From Julie Swierczek at The Collation, "The Folger G.K. Hall Catalogs, or How to fit an entire card catalog on your bookshelf."

 - Brewster Kahle is profiled in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Upcoming Auctions

- Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs at Lyon & Turnbull on 22 September.

- The Library at Howth Castle at Fonsie Mealy's on 22–23 September.

- De Cranach à Picasso (Aristophil 43) at Aguttes on 23 September.

- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 23 September.

- Rare Books, Autographs & Maps at Doyle on 23 September.

- Books and Manuscripts at Freeman's on 23 September.

- September Auction at Arader Galleries on 25 September.

Links & Auctions

- Continuing through 12 September, the ABAA Virtual Book Fair: New York Edition.

- The Virtual Brooklyn Antiquarian Book Fair is next on Getman's Virtual, 23–26 September.

- Thanks to Anthony Tedeschi for sending along a fascinating story from Stuff about the peregrinations of the typescript of Janet Frame's Owls Do Cry.

- Over on Early Modern Female Book Ownership, V.M. Braganza looks at a copy of the Shakespeare Fourth Folio bearing the signature of Charlotte Rowe, daughter of editor Nicholas Rowe.

- From Adam Smyth at TEXT!, "Inventories."

- John Levy writes on the LC's blog, "Of Pemmican and Polariscopes: the 1860 Eclipse Expeditions."

- At The Collation, "Paper Trades," by Caroline Duroselle-Melish, and "Unsung Travelers: A History of Global Mobility from Below" by Ananya Chakravarti.

- Eric Ensley is in the "Bright Young Librarians" spotlight this week.

Upcoming Auctions

- The Exceptional Literature Collection of Theodore B. Baum: Part One at Christie's New York on 14 September.

- Travel & Exploration at Bonhams London on 14 September.

- Early Music: Rare Music Manuscripts, Printed Music and Books from the Library of Arnold Dolmetsch (1858–1940) at Sotheby's London ends on 14 September.

- Fine Books & Ephemera at New England Book Auctions ends on 14 September.

- Fine Books and Manuscripts at Bonhams London on 15 September.

- Fine Books – Fine Press – Fine Bindings – With a Taste of Golf at PBA Galleries on 16 September.

- The Exceptional Literature Collection of Theodore B. Baum: Part Two at Christie's New York ends on 17 September.

Links & Auctions

- The ABAA Virtual Book Fair: New York Edition is coming up 9–12 September.

- Oak Knoll Fest XXI will now be held virtually, 28–30 October.

- The Beinecke Library has released results of new scientific analysis of the Vinland Map, and surprise surprise, it's a fake! 

- In Apollo magazine, Michael Prodger on the new addition to the Lambeth Palace Library building.

- Alison Flood has an update in the Guardian on recent research into the Merlin manuscript fragments identified in 2019 in the Bristol central library's collections.

- Julian Harrison writes for the BL's Medieval Manuscripts blog on "Richard III: Fact and Fiction."

- Over on the Princeton Graphic Arts Collection blog, "Color separation for Scribner's Magazine 1905," "Perry's 'Narrative' and the battle between its printers," and the news that the blog is being retired.

- The University of St Andrews blog has the fourth and final installment in their series on the USTC: Gender and the Book Trades conference.

- From the Conveyor, a look at the Bodleian Bibliographical Press, and "Locating material for the material history of the book."

- Congratulations to John Y. Cole, who retires from the Library of Congress this month. The LOC blog has a Q&A with John.

Upcoming Auctions

- 19th & 20th Century Photographs at Chiswick Auctions on 7 September.

- Literature, Graphics, Ephemera at New England Auctions on 7 September.

- Original Film Posters at Sotheby's London on 7 September.

- Printed Books, Maps & Autographs, 20th Century Photography at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 8–9 September.

- Modern Illustrated Books and Private Press at Forum Auctions on 9 September.

- Rare Books, Manuscripts & Ephemera on 11 September and the Bookworm Sale on 12 September at Addison & Sarova.

Links & Auctions

- The Cotsen Children's Library has acquired a large cache of woodblocks used to illustrate books published by John Newbery and several successors. An online searchable database of the blocks is planned.

- From Keith Houston, "Interrobang Archaeology."

- Over on the Morgan Library blog, John Bidwell on "A Fine Binding for the Prince of Books."

- Adam Smyth's excellent TEXT! dispatch this week is "Paper, wasps, dandelion roots."

- Bodleian Library Publishing has made nearly 550 publications, exhibit catalogs, &c. available through HathiTrust.

- Salt Lake City bookseller Curt Bench, who some readers may recognize from the Netflix documentary "Murder Among the Mormons," has died aged 68.

- In Smithsonian, V.M. Braganza on the cipher monogram of Lady Mary Wroth.

- Steven Lubar sent along a post about a course he taught this summer at Brown, "Books, Material & Digital," which looks like it worked very well!

Upcoming Auctions

- Summer Historical Auction at Alexander Historical Auctions on 24–26 August.

- Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books at University Archives on 25 August.

- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 26 August.

- 100 Items of Judaica, Rare Autographs at University Archives on 26 August.

- Books in All Fields with Fine Press Books, Americana & Maps at PBA Galleries on 26 August.

- Fine Books & Manuscripts at Potter & Potter Auctions on 28 August.

Links & Auctions

- The Virtual Ephemera Fair runs through 8 p.m. EDT today (15 August). Coming up next on 1–2 September is the New York City Virtual Book and Ephemera Fair.

- The planned in-person New York fair for September has been cancelled, with a new planned date of April 2022.

- I missed this Atlas Obscura piece last November, looks like: Jeffrey Arlo Brown on "How German Librarians Finally Caught an Elusive Book Thief."

- Over at Penn Today, a look at the Penn Libraries' participation in a multi-institution project to digitize materials documenting early medical education.

- A very happy tenth birthday to The Collation, the excellent Folger blog. They've got a neat "by the numbers" post to celebrate. And also from them this week "Book History, Manuscript Studies, and Navigating Special Collections During COVID-19."

- On the University of Glasgow archives and special collections blog, "The Foulis Brothers Book Receipts Project: how much can an invoice tell us?"

- The St Andrews special collections blog continues their series on the recent USTC conference on gender and the book trades.

- From the Columbia University rare books blog, "Two ancient papyrus fragments and their very modern reunion." 

- Madison Rootenberg Schwartz is in the "Bright Young Booksellers" spotlight this week.

- The NYPL has acquired a collection of Russian zines.

- Newly published by Quaritch, Arthur Freeman's Historical Forgery in Romanophobe Britain: Robert Ware's Irish Fictions Revisited.

- CNBC will be airing an episode of "Super Heists" this week focusing on the 2004 Transylvania University Library thefts.

Upcoming Auctions

- LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History at Swann Galleries on 19 August.

- Apple and Steve Jobs at RR Auction on 19 August.

- Americana – Travel & Exploration – Space – World History – Cartography at PBA Galleries on 19 August.

- American Historical Ephemera & Photography at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers on 20 August.

Links & Auctions

- The Virtual Ephemera Fair (summer edition) will be held on 14–15 August over on Getman's Virtual.

- Karin Wulf has been appointed the new Beatrice and Julio Mario Santo Domingo Director and Librarian of the John Carter Brown Library. Congratulations!

- Cambridge University Library has acquired a new book from Gabriel Harvey's library for their collections.

- From the BL Medieval Manuscripts blog, "A mariner's handbook from the library of Sir Walter Raleigh."

- Over on the Peter Harrington blog, "Why do we use catalogues in the rare book world?"

- From Adam Smyth at TEXT!, "Book ownership, Paul McCartney and Napoleon Bonaparte."

- On the Morgan Library's blog, "Collecting Bibiena."

- From the N-YHS, "Art in Early Republic New York City."

- Over at Books and Borrowing, "Labouring-Class Borrowing at Innerpeffray Library, 1815–1833."

- On the St Andrews special collections blog, summer intern Megan Briers reports on her efforts to identify some items from the library sales of Rev. John Lee.

Upcoming Auction

- Printed Books, Maps & Documents, Vinyl Records & CDs at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 11 August.

Links & Auctions

- Coming up on 14–15 August, the Virtual Ephemera Fair (summer edition).

- Christie's will sell the private collection of the late and much-missed Bill Reese in a series of four sales beginning in May 2022.

- A 3,600-year-old tablet containing a portion of the Gilgamesh epic was seized from Hobby Lobby's Museum of the Bible by the Department of Justice in 2019, and a court ordered its forfeiture this week based on the tablet's illegal importation into the United States (first in 2003 and then with false provenance in 2014).

- Over on the Notre Dame Special Collections blog, "Preparing a Parchment Fragment for Posterity."

- The lineup for the 42nd Annual Conference on Book Trade History, "The Humours of Collecting," was announced this week.

Upcoming Auctions

- Modern Literature at Forum Auctions on 5 August.

- Vintage Posters at Swann Galleries on 5 August.

- Fine Literature – Beats & the Counterculture at PBA Galleries on 5 August.

Links & Auctions

- Anne Bromley has a writeup of an extensive Mormon studies collection recently acquired by UVA.

- A digital version of the tenth-century Exeter Book is now available. 

- Over on the BL's Medieval Manuscripts blog, "Murder most foul in the Cotswolds" and "The lost miracles of Wulfsige of Evesham."

- Alicia Petersen writes for The Collation on "Decoding Early Modern Gossip."

- Scott Ellwood has a post on the Grolier Club blog on "Tuskegee's Printing Office."

- The French government has acquired the manuscript of the Marquis de Sade's 120 Days of Sodom for €4.55 million.

- A copy of Roger L'Estrange's edition of Seneca is featured on Early Modern Female Book Ownership, as is a 1676 Book of Common Prayer.

- Over on the JHI Blog, Alexandra Montgomery on "Imagining Nova Scotia: The Limits of an Eighteenth-Century Imperial Fantasy."

- At Books & Borrowing, "Robert Chambers' Circulating Library Borrowing Register, 1828–1829" and "In Memoriam William St Clair."

- Adam Dalva writes for the New Yorker, "On the Trail of a Mysterious, Pseudonymous Author."

- The St Andrews special collections blog has begun a four-part series highlighting the recent USTC conference on gender and the book trades.

- From the Princeton Graphic Arts Collection blog, a look at the largest Government Printing Office job undertaken in the nineteenth century.

- Peter Steinberg has a rundown of the Plath sale at Sotheby's.

Upcoming Auctions

- Early Printing, Americana, Science, Prints & Ephemera at New England Book Auctions on 27 July.

- Books, Maps & Manuscripts at Tennants Auctioneers on 28 July.

- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 29 July.

- Disneyana and Pop Culture at Potter & Potter Auctions on 30 July.

Links, Reviews & Auctions

- More than 1,600 pieces of metal moveable type preliminarily dated to the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries have been found during an excavation in Seoul; the sorts contain both Chinese and Hangeul characters.

- One of Charles Carroll's copies of the Stone facsimile Declaration of Independence sold at Freeman's this week for $4.42 million, setting a new record for a Stone facsimile and for an American nineteenth-century printed document.

- Jesse R. Erickson and Sarah Werner have been announced as the new editors of PBSA. Congratulations and best wishes to the new team!

- Over at Books and Borrowing, "Return from Orkney," by Katie Halsey about her trip to Orkney to photograph early library records.

- The Royal Horticultural Society is seeking help finding more information about an Isabella A. Allen who annotated a copy of The English Flora (1830).

- From the Mondays at Beinecke video series available on YouTube, Kristen Herdman on "Ethiopic Manuscripts and Global Books."

- Among the Rare Book Monthly articles for July, Michael Stillman's report on the sale of the Hofmann forged Oath of a Freeman, and Bruce McKinney on "Shifting Gears." And Susan Halas has an update on how Sotheran's has fared during Pandemic Times.

- Scott Ellwood writes for the Grolier Club blog on "Sir Thomas Phillipps's Earliest Catalogue."

- The UK government has placed a temporary export ban on two volumes of process drawings, watercolors, and proofs by John and Elizabeth Gould and Henry Constantine Richter. More from Rebecca Rego Barry on the Fine Books Blog. The albums are valued at £1,287,500.

- Keith Houston has a new "field trip" for Shady Characters, "Roman all over the place."

- Now also available on YouTube, an event from May to mark the 700th anniversary of Dante's death, in which seventeen copies of the 1481 Florence Landino edition of the Divina Commedia were compared in a "large-scale, live, online comparative bibliography" session. Fascinating! There will be a followup discussion on 6 July, for which you can register here. See also the Bodleian's Conveyor blog for more info and background on this project.

- Zubairul Islam is in the "Bright Young Booksellers" spotlight.

- The Middle Temple Library's provenance mystery for June features some very extensive notes in their copy of an early printed history of Scandinavia.

- From me, a new post in the "Changing Hands" provenance blog series, this time about some volumes from Longfellow's library newly transferred to Special Collections from the stacks.

Reviews

- Jewish Treasures from Oxford Libraries, edited by Rebecca Abrams and César Merchán-Hamann; review by Philip Getz for the Jewish Review of Books.

- The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray; review by Heller McAlpin in the CSM.

Upcoming Auctions

- The Roger Martin Collection of Western Manuscripts and Miniatures and other properties at Bloomsbury Auctions on 6 July. 

- Livres Anciens du XVe au XIXe Siècle at ALDE on 7 July.

- Signed and Inscribed: A Gentleman's Library of Modern Literature at Forum Auctions on 7 July.

- Autographs & Memorabilia at Chiswick Auctions on 7 July.

- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 8 July.

- The Exceptional Sale at Christie's London on 8 July.

- Lettres & Manuscrits Autographes – Dessins – Aquarelles – Photographies (Aristophil 42) at Aguttes on 8 July. 

- Elite Americana & Rare Cartography at PBA Galleries on 8 July.

- Bibliothèque Angelo Mariani – Illustrateurs russes – Reliures originales at ALDE on 9 July.

- Valuable Books and Manuscripts at Christie's London on 14 July.

- Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 15 July.

- Focus on Women at Swann Galleries on 15 July.

- Fine Books and Manuscripts at Sotheby's New York on 16 July.

- Americana Rare Books, Maps, Prints and Photos at Donald Heald Auctions on 17 July.

Links & Auctions

- The American Philosophical Society has identified a paper copy of the Stone Declaration of Independence facsimile among their holdings.

- Nick Dall writes for the Guardian with more about losses at the University of Cape Town in the April fires, including a collection of rare historical photographs housed in the Department of Biological Sciences. 

- Over at Medieval Manuscripts Provenance, "The St. Albans Bible," with a brief followup post.

- And from the BL's Medieval Manuscripts blog, "Prefacing the Psalms," and a caption competition!

- On the Peter Harrington blog, "Behind the Books: Collecting Chinese books with Matt Wills."

- If ever wondered how the Daily Mail would cover the T.J. Wise forgeries, wonder no more.

- Rare Book School's summer lecture series is underway.

Upcoming Auctions

- Books and Decorative Graphics at Dorotheum on 28 June.

- American Historical Ephemera and Photography at Cowan's Auctions ends on 28 June.

- Lettres et Manuscrits Autographes (1-288) at Ader on 29 June.

- Lettres et Manuscrits & Bibliothèque Victor Segalen at ALDE on 29 June.

- Highlights from the Medical Library of the late James Tait Goodrich, Part III at Bonhams New York ends on 29 June.

- Fine Books & Ephemera at New England Book Auctions on 29 June.

- Lettres et Manuscrits Autographes (289-494) at Ader on 30 June.

- Fine Books & Works on Paper at Chiswick Auctions on 30 June.

- Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books at University Archives on 30 June.

- The Curtis Studio at Bonhams Los Angeles on 30 June.

- Céline, 1961-2021 at ALDE on 1 July.

- Charles Carroll's copy of the Stone facsimile Declaration of Independence at Freeman's on 1 July.

- Manuscrits & Livres Anciens et Modernes at Ader on 2 July.

Links & Auctions

- The forged Oath of a Freeman sold at Heritage Auctions last week was acquired by Kenneth and Shirley Rendell for donation to the Grolier Club as part of the Collection on the Detection of Forged Handwriting. Excellent news for the future study and research potential of this piece.

- A UK consortium of libraries and museums will try to raise £15 million to keep the Honresfield Library from auction, and the first sale at Sotheby's scheduled for next month has already been postponed. See Alison Flood's report in the Guardian, and Jennifer Schuessler's in the NYTimes.

- The Letterlocking research group gets a nicely-illustrated writeup in BBC Future by Richard Fisher.

- Anna Burgess writes for the Harvard Gazette on the recently-completed Colonial North America at Harvard Library digitization project, which now includes more than 700,000 pages of material.

- On the digitization front, the Clements Library has recently digitized three collections relating to slavery and abolition.

- Over on the BL's Medieval Manuscripts blog, "Medieval Killer Rabbits: When Bunnies Strike Back."

- Coming up next month, "500 Years of Mexican Books: Colonial Book Bibliography in Indigenous Languages."

- Anna Willi's Manual of Roman Everyday Writing: Writing Equipment is available open-access via LatinNow. There's also a PDF.

- Elaine Treharne's recent talk "Uncertainty in Manuscript Technologies and the Potential of Computational Tools" is now available on YouTube, as is Alex Hidalgo's RBS lecture "The Book as Archive."

Upcoming Auctions

- Fine Literature at Doyle on 22 June.

- Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs at Lyon & Turnbull on 23 June.

- Éditions Originales Littéraires du XIXe au XXIe Siècle at ALDE on 24 June.

- Fine Books, Manuscripts and Photographs at Bonhams London on 24 June.

- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 24 June.

 - Illustration Art at Swann Galleries on 24 June.

- Antiquarian Books with Manuscripts and Food & Drink at PBA Galleries on 24 June.

- Livres et Manuscrits de Cervantès à Houllebecq at Sotheby's Paris ends on 25 June.

- American Historical Ephemera & Photography at Cowan's on 25 June.

- The Gentleman's Library & Bindery at Addison & Sarova on 26 June.

- Rare Books, Antiquarian Maps, and Manuscripts at Second Story Books on 26 June.

- Bookworm Auction at Addison & Sarova on 27 June.

Links & Auctions (and an Update)

Update, of particular relevance to the many of you who get these posts via email: Feedburner, which has managed the email subscriptions for this blog for I don't know how long, is going away next month (don't get me started, I'm still mad that Google Reader went away and that happened in 2013). Anyway, I've transitioned the email subscriptions over to follow.it, so you should just keep getting emails as usual (though they may start looking slightly different). You can also set up different bells and whistles, if you prefer. With any luck at all, the transition will be relatively seamless.

-Coming up on 22 June, the Bookplate Society hosts a Zoom talk by Anthony Pincott, "Ex-Libris Art & Provenance: The Fascination of Bookplates." Register at the link.

- Over at Bijzondere Collecties, "Gauffering the Edges," an excellent look at gauffering.

- Heritage Auctions had a very interesting roundtable discussion prior to the sale of the forged Oath of a Freeman last week. I learned some things about the Hofmann forgeries I hadn't known before. The forged oath sold for $52,500 last week (and I'd be very interested to know the buyer if they wish to reveal themselves!).

- From Swann Galleries, the first part of "For Love of the King: the Wild Story of a Forged Wilde Story."

- Rebecca Rego Barry has the summer 2021 books on books roundup over at the Fine Books Blog.

Upcoming Auctions

- Guerre de 1870–1871 (Aristophil 41) at Aguttes on 14 June.

- Antiquarian Books and Manuscripts at Sotheby's London ends on 15 June.

- Printed Books, Maps & Documents at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 16 June.

- Private Press, Children's & Illustrated Books and Modern First Editions at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 17 June.

- Fine Books and Manuscripts at Bonhams New York on 17 June.

- Fine Books & Autographs at Swann Galleries on 17 June.

- Books in All Fields – Americana – Maps at PBA Galleries on 17 June.

- Rare Antiquarian and Illustrated Books at Donald Heald Auctions on 19 June.

Links & Auctions

- Mary Hamilton French writes for the NEDCC blog about her recent work to conserve a fifteenth-century manuscript Vitae Augustini from the BPL collections. A really excellent and beautifully illustrated walk through the process.

- News that the Honresfield Library will be sold at Sotheby's across three auctions (see the introduction to the first part, scheduled to be sold in July) prompted much coverage: see Alison Flood's piece in the Guardian and Jennifer Schuessler's in the NYT. A followup piece by Alison Flood for the Guardian reports on the immediate calls from the Brontë Society and others for the collection to be kept intact and made publicly available for research. See also Francesca Collins' post for the Museums Association.

- Stephen Hawking's Cambridge papers and personal memorabilia have been acquired for the British nation, and will be housed at the Cambridge University Library and the Science Museum.

- Hobby Lobby has sued Dirk Obbink to recover some of the $7 million reportedly paid for ancient gospel fragments which Obbink allegedly had stolen. See also the official complaint.

- The National Library of Scotland has acquired a sixteenth-century Perthshire manuscript, the "Chronicle of Foringall."

- Candida Moss has a roundup of some recent book thefts from libraries in the Daily Beast.

- Chiara Betti writes for the St John's College blog about the collection of some 750 copper plates given by Richard Rawlinson to the Bodleian Library. This is an introductory post about a new project to really study this collection for the first time, which promises to be extremely useful!

- From Aaron Pratt, "Paper Pitfalls."

- Notre Dame's Hesburgh Library has acquired a rare early Civil War lithograph of Jefferson Davis metamorphosed into a donkey.

- The Princeton Graphic Arts Collection blog has a roundup of their Pandemic-Times webinars, and also a new post on "Typographic Necrology."

- From Medieval Manuscripts Provenance, "A New Leaf from the Pontigny Copy of Florus & Didymus" and "Otto Ege's 12th-Century Italian Gospel Lectionary."

- Heather Wolfe writes for The Collation, "Malicious Teaseling: Or, how a simple reference question got complicated."

- Over on the Bodleian blog, "A Pirate's Life?"

- The Franz Kafka collection held by the National Library of Israel is now online in digital form.

- From Adam Smyth at TEXT!, "Family Bibles."

- The Middle Temple Library has another provenance mystery for this month.

Upcoming Auctions

- Music: Books & Manuscripts at Sotheby's London ends on 8 June.

- Early Printing, Americana (Printed and Manuscript) at New England Book Auctions on 8 June.

- TCM Presents ... Mavericks at Bonhams Los Angeles on 8 June.

- Travel Books, Maps & Atlases at Forum Auctions on 9 June.

- Rare Books Signature Auction at Heritage Auctions on 9–10 June.

- Americana – Zamorano 80 – Travel – World History – Cartography at PBA Galleries on 10 June.

- Bibliothèque Théâtrale du Comte Emmanuel D'André – Livres at Manuscrits at Binoche et Giquello on 11 June.

- Summer Auction at Arader Galleries on 12 June.

Links & Auctions

- Heritage Auctions will sell Mark Hofmann's forgery of the Freeman's Oath in their 9–10 June Rare Books Signature Auction.

- Some good coverage this week of Kate McCaffrey's recent research on Anne Boleyn's prayerbook: see the Hever Castle announcement, McCaffrey's research overview, and stories in artnet and Smithsonian.

- From Peter Kidd at Medieval Manuscripts Provenance, "Otto Ege's Copy of Thomas Aquinas on Peter Lombard's Sentences."

- Over on Books and Borrowing, "A First Look at the University of Edinburgh Library Borrowers' Receipt Books."

- On the BL's Medieval Manuscripts blog, "Thomas Becket: Manuscripts Showing the Making of a Saint."

- Oliver B. Pollak writes for the Oak Knoll blog on "Becoming a Bibliophile, 1950–1970."

- Sarah Lindenbaum has a look at a 1633 copy of Henry Isaacson's Saturni Ephemerides for Early Modern Female Book Ownership.

- Jim Green will be on the History of Libraries seminar on 1 June to discuss "Memory, Reason, Imagination: Subject Classification in the 1789 Catalogue of the Library Company of Philadelphia." Free registration here.

- Alex Shepard writes for the New Republic about the ongoing controversy over Philip Roth's literary estate and personal papers.

Upcoming Auctions

- Science: Books & Manuscripts at Sotheby's London ends on 25 May.

- Historic Manuscripts & Rare Books at Skinner ends on 25 May.

- Bibliothèque Cynégétique Jean-Pierre Lemanissier at ALDE ends on 26–27 May.

- Rare Autographs, Manuscripts, Artwork, Comic Art at University Archives on 26 May.

- Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 27 May.

- Fine Photographs at Swann Galleries on 27 May.

- Literature – Beats & the Counterculture – Illustrated Books at PBA Galleries on 28 May.

Links & Auctions

- There will be a 24 Hour Book and Paper Fair on Getman's Virtual beginning at noon EDT on Wednesday, 19 May. 

- The Grolier Club's new exhibition "100 Books Famous in Typography" has opened for in-person viewing and with an online version.

- Over on the State Library of Victoria blog, "King George's Donation."

- From Mark Dimunation for the LC blog, "Not Gutenberg's Book: Wild Innovations in Handcrafted and Art Books."

- Lucy Kelsall writes on "A Sombre Binding" for the Paul Mellon Centre magazine.

- Coming up from UCLA, a three-part webinar series on "The History of the Chinese Book."

Upcoming Auctions

- Bibliothèque J.-L. et C. Pierron at Binoche et Giquello ends on 18 May.

- 19th & 20th Century Photography, Cameras and Accessories at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 19 May.

- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 19 May.

- Manuscripts at Heritage Auctions on 19 May.

- Books and Manuscripts at Freeman's on 20 May.

- The Einstein Archives of Ludwik Silberstein at RR Auctions on 20 May.

- Rare Pulps and Collectibles at Heritage Auctions on 20 May.

- Important Numismatic Books at Kolbe & Fanning ends on 22 May.