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.

Links & Auctions

 - Some nice "Parting Words" from Mike Widener on the occasion of his retirement. Best wishes always, Mike!

- Coming up on Tuesday, 11 May, Rebecca Romney, Heather O'Donnell, and all former winners of the Honey & Wax Prize will be on a roundtable as part of the Swann Salon Series, "Owning It: A Roundtable for Young Collectors."

- I recommend keeping an eye on Adam Smyth's Text! newsletter: among his recent posts are "Directions to the binder" and "Bookshelves."

- On the N-YHS blog, "A Pioneering Woman, and a Bibliographic Mystery."

- From the Ransom Center magazine, Eric Colleary on ephemera associated with Henry "Box" Brown.

- Over on the Peter Harrington blog, "How to Handle and Store Rare Books."

- From Seth Kimmel, "What's in a Bookstore?"

- Now freely available, Lisa Fagin Davis' "How Many Glyphs and How Many Scribes? Digital Paleography and the Voynich Manuscript."

Upcoming Auctions

- Livres Rares et Manuscrits at Christie's Paris ends on 10 May. 

- Bibliothèque Littéraire Hubert Heilbronn at Sotheby's Paris on 11 May.

- Fine Books & Manuscripts, Including Americana at Leslie Hindman on 12 May.

- Selections from the Letterform Archive at Swann Galleries on 12 May.

- Printed Books, Maps & Documents, Numismatics: The Patricia Milne-Henderson Collection at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 12–13 May.

- Graphic Design at Swann Galleries on 13 May. 

- Fine Press Books at Leslie Hindman on 13 May.

- Fine Golf Books and Memorabilia at PBA Galleries on 13 May.

Links & Auctions

- May's Rare Book Monthly articles include Bruce McKinney's note on plans for an ABAA book fair in New York in September, Michael Stillman on rare books and NFTs.

- The London Library has posted some recent research into their mid-nineteenth-century charging records, revealing some titles borrowed by Charles Darwin.

- The Middle Temple Library has a new provenance mystery for us this month.

- Two pieces about the UCT fire: Shamil Jeppie's "Fire and the Sword" and Janine Dunlop's "'Hopefully, it's all been digitised ...'"

- On the Princeton Graphic Arts Collection blog, "Macy's Sells Birds of America."

- From Byrony Pillath on the NLS blog, "Bookplates in the National Library: Who owned books in 18th and 19th century Scotland?"

- Also on the NLS blog, "Henry Mackenzie and The Man of Feeling."

- On the Oak Knoll blog, a Q&A with Reid Byers about his new book The Private Library.

- From Keith Houston, a deep dive into the $*&#)$ grawlix.

- The trading app rally is going to try and sell 80,000 "shares" of a 1776 broadside Declaration of Independence for $25 each.

Reviews

- The Women's Print History Project; review by Leah Orr in SHARP News.

- Susan Stewart's The Ruins Lesson and Jessica Maier's The Eternal City; review by Anthony Grafton in the LRB.

Upcoming Auctions

- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 6 May. 

- From the Curious to the Extraordinary at Chiswick Auctions on 6 May.

- K2 Judaica Sale: Rare Printed Books, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, Graphic & Ceremonial Arts at Kestenbaum & Company on 6 May.