Links & Auctions

- The fifth annual Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize is now open for applications (due 1 June). See the post for all details.

- Over at Early Modern Female Book Ownership, a copy of Sandys' Paraphrase Upon the Divine Poems.

- From Emily Spunaugle at SHARP News, "Introducing Early Editions: Conversations with Emerging Researchers."

- Erin Blake writes for The Collation about the 24,000 new "preliminary records" recently added to the Folger's online catalog, what they are, and how to use them.

- CLIR has received a $4.4 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for the Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives: Amplifying Unheard Voices program, which "will invite proposals to digitize materials that deepen public understanding of the histories of people of color and other communities and populations whose work, experiences, and perspectives have been insufficiently recognized or unattended."

- From the BL's Medieval Manuscripts blog, "Lady Jane Grey's Letters from the Tower of London."

- The Library of Congress has acquired the Aramont Library, along with a $1 million endowment for programming.

- Over at Book Historia, Alexandra Alvis on "No Mere Foppery: A Defense of Rainbow Bookshelves."

- Rebecca Rego Barry has a Q&A with the Biblio File's Nigel Beale for the FB&C blog.

- More than 500 volumes from the Johns Hopkins University Library's Women of the Book collection have now been made available via the Internet Archive. See this article for background about the collection.

Upcoming Auctions

- The Gentleman's Library Sale at Bonhams on 23–24 February.

- Highlights from the Medical Library of the Late James Tait Goodrich, Part II at Bonhams on 24 February.

- Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs at Lyon & Turnbull on 24–25 February.

- Fine Books & Autographs at Swann Galleries on 25 February.

- Comics at PBA Galleries ends on 25 February.

- Select Secrets: Rare & Important Magicana at Potter & Potter on 27 February.

Links & Auctions

 - The Greenwich Village Antiquarian Book & Ephemera Fair is running through Monday over on Getman's Virtual.

- From Peter Kidd at Medieval Manuscripts Provenance, "The Dispersal of the Collection of Rodolphe Kann."

- A beta version of the new viaLibri design is now available.

- From Rebecca Rego Barry on the FB&C blog, news that the Horsham Museum & Art Gallery has acquired a copy of the rare 1750 pamphlet The Life of Thomas Munn.

- Over at Boston 1775, J. L. Bell takes up the question of early English editions of the Bible printed in the American colonies.

- From Gerard McKeever at Books and Borrowing, "Books for Borrowing: Walter Scott."

- Coming up on 25–26 February, "'Resistance in the Materials': A Gathering of Printers Pressing for Change." Free, but registration is required.

- Rebecca Romney has started a #rarebookwords explainer thread over at @typepunchmatrix - will certainly be worth watching!

Upcoming Auctions

- Printed Books & Documents, Maps, Decorative Prints & Watercolours, Military & Aviation History at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 17 February.

- Modern Literature, Private Press & Illustrated Books at Forum Auctions on 18 February.

- Books & Manuscripts at Freeman's on 18 February.

- Vintage Posters at Swann Galleries on 18 February.

- PBA Platinum – Rare Books & Manuscripts at PBA Galleries on 18 February.

Links & Auctions

- The Firsts Canada virtual book fair is happening this weekend (5–7 February) and the Greenwich Village Antiquarian Book Fair will be held next weekend, 12–15 February.

- The Book/Print Artist/Scholar of Color Collective has a new website with a gallery and links to their events.

- The Free Library of Philadelphia's First Folio, with annotations believed to be those of John Milton, is now available in hi-res digital form.

- From Jill O'Neill at Scholarly Kitchen, "Revisiting Nicholson Baker and the Retention of Print."

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

- Over at Early Modern Female Book Ownership, a colorful 1699 Book of Common Prayer.

- The British Library will loan the Lindisfarne Gospels to the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle for an exhibition scheduled to open in 2022.

- From Lisa Fagin Davis at Manuscript Road Trip, "Reverse-Engineering the Codex."

- Emma Sibbald writes for the University of St Andrews special collections blog on "Miss Elizabeth Foulis, an Invisible Borrower."

- The Italian culture ministry has acquired the library and archives of Umberto Eco.

- From Erin McGuirl for the HRC's "What is Research?" series, "The women who made Selznick's screenplays."

- The Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds has acquired Charles II's copy of the 1647 Beaumont and Fletcher Comedies and Tragedies.

Upcoming Auctions

- Travel & Exploration at Bonhams London on 10 February.

- The Frank Graff Collection of Rare Valentines from the Victorian Age at PBA Galleries on 11 February.

- Niagara Falls Guinness World Record Museum Displays at Ripley Auctions on 12 February.

Links & Auctions

- If you missed any of the great programming as part of the BSA's Bibliography Week events, videos will be posted on their YouTube Channel this week.

- Over on the Smithsonian Libraries' Unbound blog, "The Staple of Libraries Past," which takes a close look at a library card catalog catalog.

- The first issue of SHARP in the Classroom launched this week.

- From William Hogeland for TNR, "Against the Consensus Approach to History."

- Madeline McMahon writes for Not Even Past on "An Archbishop's Lost Library Catalog."

- Over at Edmond Hoyle, Gent., David Levy asks "Who printed Piquet for Francis Cogan? Thank you Compositor!"

- The ABA will host three virtual "Firsts" book fairs in February and March.

- Information: A Historical Companion is now out from Princeton University Press, and the accompanying website is well worth a look.

Upcoming Auctions

- The Gaon of Vilna and his Disciples - Books and Manuscripts from the Yeshayahu Vinograd Collection at Kedem Auctions on 2 February.

- Paul Destribats: Une Bibliothèque des Avant-gardes, partie III at Christie's Paris on 2–4 February.

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

- The Artists of the WPA at Swann Galleries on 4 February.

- Detective Fiction Including the Alexis Galanos Collection at Sotheby's London ends on 4 February.

- Americana – Travel – Exploration – World History – Cartography at PBA Galleries on 4 February.

Links & Auctions

- The Rocky Mountain Book & Paper Fair is happening this weekend over on Getman's Virtual.

- The ABAA's Bibliography Week showcase will be held 27–28 January - watch the ABAA website for the link.

- The Jan/Feb issue of the Library of Congress magazine is devoted to "The Art of the Book."

- From Beth DeBold for the AHA's Perspectives, "Reconciling Professional Rifts."

- Submissions are open for the prestigious 18th ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography, to be awarded in May 2022 for new bibliographical publications printed between 2018–2021. The prize winner will receive $10,000 and an additional second and third prize of $5,000 and $3,000 will be awarded. Any aspect of bibliography (enumerative, textual, history of the book, design, binding, the book trade, etc.) is considered and only certain categories are not eligible, notably catalogues of books intended for sale and translations of works appearing in another language. Submissions are made by sending a copy of the publication to Fabrizio Govi, ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography Chair, Libreria Govi, via Bononcini 24, I-41124 Modena, Italy. The deadline is December 2021. For rules, past submissions and winners see: https://ilabprize.org/ and to discuss an entry, please contact secretariat@ilab.org.

- From Duke's Devil's Tale blog, "Guiding Principles for Description" and "A Code of Ethics for Rubenstein Library Instruction."

- A "Book of the Dead" scroll more than thirteen feet long is among the artifacts recently discovered in a tomb in the Saqqara necropolis, south of Cairo.

- An initial batch of Rhode Island newspapers from the collections of the Providence Public Library and the Rhode Island Historical Society are now available via the LC's Chronicling America site.

- If you missed Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff's visit to the Library of Congress, it's worth a watch!

- The BPL has uploaded more than 8,000 public domain images to Wikimedia Commons to mark the 20th anniversary of Wikipedia.

Upcoming Auctions

- Books and Manuscripts at Il Ponte Auctions on 26 January.

- Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 28 January.

- Livres Anciens et Modernes at Aguttes on 28 January.

- Manuscrits et Autographes at Aguttes on 28 January.

- Illustration Art at Swann Galleries on 28 January.

- Some (important!) books are included in various sales from the collection of Mr. & Mrs. John H. Gutfreund of 834 Fifth Avenue at Christie's New York: The Collection (ends 27 January) and Selections from the Library (ends 29 January).

Links & Auctions

- The BL's Medieval Manuscripts blog has a roundup of recently-digitized manuscripts.

- Submissions for the LHRT's Justin Winsor Prize are due by 1 February.

- A project to keep an eye on: Durham University and Durham Cathedral are working together to digitally recreate the medieval Durham Priory Library.

- From the LC blog, "Free to Use and Reuse: The Art of the Book."

- "More Ottley Identifications" from Peter Kidd at Medieval Manuscripts Provenance.

- From Erin Blake for The Collation, "Using Cardboard Spacers to Fill Gaps on the Shelf."

- Liz Broadwell writes for the Penn blog on "Two Unrecorded Woodcuts from Urs Graf's 'F.M.S.' Cycle."

- The catalog of the recent APS exhibit Dr. Franklin, Citizen Scientist is available free for download. And also from APS, Val Lutz on Benjamin Franklin's papers as "Survivors of the American Revolution."

- There's a call for papers for the second issue of Inscription, themed around "Holes."

- A new auction record for comic book art was set this week with the sale of a rejected Tintin cover for nearly €3.2 million.

Upcoming Auctions

- Lettres et Manuscrits Autographes at ALDE on 20 January.

- Livres Anciens et Modernes at De Baecque on 20 January.

- Books from the Library of the Late Brian Findlay at Forum Auctions on 21 January.

- Photography at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers on 21 January.

- Fine Prints and Photographs at Skinner, Inc. on 21 January.

- Fine Books at PBA Galleries on 21 January. 

- In Praise of America: Important American Furniture, Folk Art, Silver, Prints and Broadsides at Christie's ends on 22 January.

- Winter 2021 Auction at Arader Galleries on 23 January.

Links & Auctions

- The Royal College of Physicians has backed off plans to auction off its rare book collection.

- From the LC blog, "Citizen DJ, Noah Webster and the Value of Copyright."

- Over at Early Modern Female Book Ownership, a copy of Katherine Philips' Poems (1667) with two Gough family ownership inscriptions.

- Sarah Matthews writes for the State Library Victoria blog about "Melbourne's First Newspaper."

- Les Enluminures has published a new volume on the works of medieval scribe Joel ben Simeon by Sandra Hindman and Sharon Liberman Mintz.

Upcoming Auctions

- L'Univers du Créateur de Tintin and Bandes Dessinées at Artcurial on 14 January.

- Art & Illustration – Literature – Americana – Maps – Books in All Fields at PBA Galleries on 14 January.

Links & Auctions

Happy New Year, friends. May 2021 be better than the last.

- From the BBC, "Has Thomas Becket's treasured 'little book' been found?"

- Gerald Cloud is working on a census of Jose Figueroa's Manifesto a la Republican Mejicana (1835) and could use your help if you know of any copies.

- Peter Kidd has posted a three-part series about manuscript cuttings from an album previously sold in the Hoe sale: Frate Nebridio, More Cuttings Illuminated by Nebridio, and Payne.

- Rebecca Romney has listed her top fifteen favorite books sold in 2020.

- From Rare Book Monthly, Michael Stillman has his annual report on the top 500 book and manuscript lots at auction in 2020. Bruce McKinney has a look back at the year that was, statements from five auction professionals, and perspectives from the ABA, ABAA, ILAB, and Marvin Getman. I have to say I am particularly keen on Selby Kiffer's call if we continue down the road of fewer printed sale catalogs: "At the least, auction houses should make their past online catalogues fully available in an easily searchable archive, complete with unsold lots and any post-publication emendations." Absolutely (and please). Perhaps the most surprising news is Marvin Getman's: "I do not plan, at this time, to bring back my live fairs. I know that might be a disappointment to some who enjoy attending my satellite fairs during the ABAA fairs but the fact is that those fairs take a lot out of this old guy for their financial return. I will devote my time and attention to continuing to improve my virtual platform and to develop themes that will bring booksellers and their customers together." As someone who took great pleasure in attending Marvin's well-produced fairs, I will miss them terribly, though I certainly understand the reasons not to hold them. Marvin deserves great plaudits from all of us in the bibliosphere for stepping up and making the virtual fairs work smoothly and efficiently!

- Longtime Exlibris moderator and bibliographer Everett Wilkie died on 23 December, from complications related to COVID-19. 

Upcoming Auctions

- From the Antiquarian Library of the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St. Alban at Humbert & Ellis on 4 January.

- Rare Manuscripts, Autographs and Books at University Archives on 6 January.

- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 7 January.

- Fine Literature – Science Fiction & Mystery at PBA Galleries on 7 January.

Links & Review

- There will be a twelve-hour bookfair on Getman's Virtual on Wednesday, 6 January.

- From Heather Curtis for the St Andrews Special Collections blog, "Getting Muddy with Manuscripts."

- Elizabeth Harris and Nicole Perlroth report for the NYTimes about a mysterious phishing scam targeting unpublished book manuscripts.

- Over at Past is Present, a look back at "How Six-Year-Old Stephen Salisbury III Rescued One of the Rarest and Most Important Christmas Documents in American History."

- From the OUP blog, "Finding the Melford Hall Manuscript," by Daniel Starza Smith.

- Ted O'Reilly writes for the N-YHS blog on "A Christmas Gift from FDR, Collector, Historian, and President."

- On the BL's Medieval Manuscripts blog, "The Ox and Ass at the Nativity."

- Lisa Fagin Davis' Simmons class has completed a new virtual reconstruction of an Otto Ege manuscript - see her updated blog post for more details.

Review

- Martin Latham's The Bookseller's Tale; review by Katy Guest for the Guardian.

Links & Auctions

- In the University of Iowa magazine, "The Story of a Papermaker," in which Tim Barrett reflects on 30+ years at the University's Center for the Book.

- Coming up on 19 January, Heather O'Donnell and Rebecca Romney will present a Caxton Club evening program, "Building the Future of Rare Books: Two Booksellers' Experiences in Outreach." Register here.

- From the Peter Harrington blog, "Behind the books," an interview with Rosemary and Jasmin, two of the binders the The Chelsea Bindery.

- Over at Early Modern Female Book Ownership, a 1630 King James Bible. 

- Allie Alvis' recent Edinburgh Bibliographical Society talk, "Illumination of the Page and of the Spirit," is now available on YouTube.

- Also now available for viewing, the recent Princeton/Rutgers colloquium "The Virtual Materiality of Texts: Book History During a Pandemic."

- The University of Liverpool's medieval manuscripts are now available in a new online catalog with details and sample images.

- Elizabeth Pope notes a recent AAS acquisition of an 1874 birthday and autograph album, this copy with a letter from the publisher to author Benson Lossing.

- Brittany Nichole Adams from Northwestern is in the "Bright Young Librarians" spotlight this week.

- It's all about the fastenings in the third installment of the Polonsky Foundation Greek Manuscripts Conservation blog's series about constructing a medieval eastern Mediterranean binding model.

- The Middle Temple Library's December provenance mystery features some endleaf shorthand notes!

- A new dataset of material from the Franklin Ledgers is now available from the APS.

- Emily Spunaugle's work on the Marguerite Hicks Project at Oakland University is highlighted in Hour Detroit.

Upcoming Auctions

- Four Decades: In Celebration of AIPAD at Sotheby's New York ends on 21 December.

- Libros Raros y Valiosos at Soler y Llach on 22 December.

Links & Auctions

- Quite a good piece by Mark Wilding for the Guardian about the 2017 Feltham warehouse theft of rare books.

- The Cary Graphic Arts Collection at RIT has received a gift of printing equipment, rare books and ephemera from the collection of Stephen O. Saxe.

- Katarzyna Bator writes for the N-YHS blog, "Lab Notes: Preserving Rare Pamphlets."

- A video tour of Princeton University Library's 2019 Gutenberg & After exhibition is now available.

- Here's the BL's announcement of their acquisition of the Melford Hall Donne manuscript, which is also now available digitally.

- Rebecca Rego Barry has a recap of the ILAB webinar "Wrapping up 2020," held this week.

- Alison Flood writes for the Guardian about the Isaac Newton mss. notes about the Great Pyramid that sold for £380,000 this week.

- Over on the BL's Medieval Manuscripts blog, "New Prophecies of the Ancient Sibyls," an update on their effort to provide new descriptions of the Harley Collection manuscripts.

- Dave Gary points out the newly digitized American Philosophical Society Curator's Record of Donations for 1769 to 1898.

Review

- Stephen K. Galbraith's A Brief History of the Book; review by Sebastian Modrow for Bonefolder Extras.

Upcoming Auctions

- A Grand Vision: The David H. Arrington Collection of Ansel Adams Masterpieces at Sotheby's on 14 December.

- Livres et Manuscrits at Sotheby's Paris ends on 15 December.

- Éditions Originales du XIXe au XXIe Siècle at ALDE on 15 December.

- Reliures originales – Estampes & dessins – Livres illustrés modernes at ALDE on 15 December.

- La Bibliothèque de Pierre Bergé – 5e Vente at Pierre Bergé & Associés on 16 December. 

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

- One Upon a Time: Rare Children's Literature from Justin G. Schiller, Ltd. at Heritage Auctions on 16 December.

- Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Selections from the Collection of Barbara and Ira Lipman at Sotheby's New York ends on 16 December.

- Livres Anciens du XVe au XIXe Siècle at ALDE on 17 December.

- Fine Books, Atlases, Manuscripts & Historical Photographs at Bonhams London on 17 December.

- Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books at Swann Galleries on 17 December.

- Americana – Travel & Exploration – World History – Cartography at PBA Galleries on 17 December.

Links & Auctions

- Getman's Virtual Bibliophilic Holiday Gift Fair is open through tomorrow, 7 December, with new items to be added tomorrow morning.

- The manuscript volume of Donne poems identified at Melford Hall in 2018 has been acquired by the British Library, Dalya Alberge reports for the Guardian.

- Rebecca Romney's recent University of Delaware talk, "Building Bridges: Expanding the Reach of Rare Books in the Next Generation" is now available to watch, as is her Hollyer Lecture for the Toronto Public Library, "Sherlockian Collecting: A Tour of Creative, Clever, and Weird Pursuits."

- Michelle Taylor writes for the New Yorker on "The Secret History of T.S. Eliot's Muse."

- The ABAA has posted a "Missing in Transit" notice of books gone astray in Kentfield, CA.

- Jamie Cumby is in the "Bright Young Librarians" spotlight this week.

- The ABAA Women's Initiative has launched an ABAA Mentorship Program.

- From Books and Borrowing, Alex Deans on "The World in Print: Borrowings of Voyages and Travels."

- Over at Medieval Manuscripts Provenance, "Sotheby Manuscripts at Sotheby's."

- Nikki Tompkins writes for the Jesus College Libraries blog about a recent conservation project undertaken on a 1674 Bodleian Library catalogue used as a working copy to compare the Bodleian's holdings with those of Jesus College.

Upcoming Auctions

- The Otto Penzler Collection of Mystery Fiction, Part IV at Heritage Auctions ends on 7 December.

- Printed Books, Maps and Manuscripts including Fine Bindings and Science Books from the Collection of Peter and Margarethe Braune part II at Bellmans on 8 December.

- English Literature, History, Science, Children's Books and Illustrations at Sotheby's ends on 8 December.

- Valuable Books and Manuscripts at Christie's London on 9 December.

- Christmas Rare Book Sale at Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers on 9 December.

- Highlights from the Medical Library of the Late James Tait Goodrich at Bonhams New York on 10 December.

- Comics at PBA Galleries on 10 December.

- Fine Books and Manuscripts at Bonhams New York on 11 December.

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.

Links & Auctions

On the weekend when the schedule as originally planned for 2020 would have seen many of us gathering in Boston, we must instead look forward to the ABAA Virtual Boston Book Fair on 12–14 November, and hope that by next year, circumstances will permit us to gather in person again. I'm very much feeling the loss of not being able to see so many friends this weekend, browsing the shelves at the Brattle and Commonwealth, and enjoying the main fair, the shadow show, and the associated delights of chatting with booksellers from around the world and viewing the biblio-delights they've brought with them to Boston. Next year!

- Not unrelatedly, a reminder to support your local or favorite independent new/used/rare bookshop as you think about your holiday shopping (and allow plenty of time for shipping).

- Christina Faraday covers the Royal College of Physicians' plan to sell rare books for Apollo. There is also a Change.org petition opposing the sale, started by two former curators of the RCP collection.

- Daniel Boffey writes for the Guardian about a recent series of thefts of Nazi artifacts from Dutch war museums, prompting new security measures, &c.

- The lineup for Princeton's "The Virtual Materiality of Texts: Book History during a Pandemic" symposium on 20 November looks really excellent (registration at the link).

- From Timothy Gress for the NYPL blog, "A Manuscript Mystery: The Fragment Within Browning's 'Columbe's Birthday.'"

- Over at the Met, they've started up a Museum of Obsolete Library Science (I love this idea).

- The BL's Untold Lives blog continues their look at the colonial legacy of the Mayflower voyage with a fifth installment in the series by Maddy Smith.

Review

- Megan Rosenbloom's Dark Archives; review by Connor Goodwin for NPR.

Upcoming Auctions

- Books and Manuscripts at Tajan on 3 November.

- Livres rares et Manuscrits at Christie's Paris on 3 November.

- Bibliothèque Guy Gaulard - Deuxième Partie at Rossini on 4 November.

- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 5 November.

- History of Science and Technology, including Air and Space at Bonhams Los Angeles on 5 November.

- Americana – Travel, Exploration, Space – World History – Cartography at PBA Galleries on 5 November.

- Bibliothèque du Docteur Poirier II at Pierre Bergé & Associés on 6 November.

Links & Auctions

- An excellent and important acquisitions story from Vince Golden for Past is Present. 

- Over on the Grolier Club blog, a compilation of "Research Resources on Black American Book Collectors and Book Collecting."

- From the BL's Medieval Manuscripts blog, "Angels in Manuscripts."

- Some success stories from the LC's Mystery Photo Contest (with many still left to solve!)

- Over on the APHA blog, "A Golden Hind Artifact."

- It's all "Ottley-Simes-Murray" at Medieval Manuscripts Provenance this week.

- Articles from the first issue of Inscription are now available - and I highly recommend getting a physical copy while they're still available - it's a stunning production!

- New to me (and via Beth DeBold on Twitter), the great WPI Digital Archives site of pre-1945 auction catalogs (including quite a few book sales).

- Richard Ovenden will do a virtual book talk for Princeton about his new book Burning the Books on 16 November.

- From the Princeton Graphic Arts Collection blog, "Don't Touch the Money."

- Very surprising not to see more coverage of the proposed sale of books from the Royal College of Physicians library, mentioned here last week. There was one followup piece in the Times on Friday about a letter from more than 400 RCP members protesting the sale, at least. Let's shine some more sunshine on this, reporters!

Upcoming Auctions

- Early Printed Books at Swann Galleries on 27 October.

- Literature, Science Fiction, Americana, Books in All Fields on PBA Galleries ends on 29 October.

Links & Auctions

- Rare Books LA continues today over on Getman's Virtual platform - don't miss that!

- I was very sorry to hear of the death of antiquarian bookseller Bob Rubin of Brookline, MA (see his Boston Globe obituary as posted on the Bowdoin College website, forwarded to ExLibris with added remembrances by Garrett Scott). I met Bob years ago when I was living in Boston, and always enjoyed learning from him when we ran into each other at book fairs. I regret that I never had the chance to buy a book from him: I tried for one back in 2007, but it had already sold (and showed up later in a UK dealer's catalog for triple the price). I will miss impromptu breakfasts at the Au Bon Pain on Boylston Street before the Boston shadow show, his great stories, and his thoroughly interesting catalogs.

- The Mills College First Folio sold at Christie's this week for $9,978,000 (including premiums), to Stephan Lowentheil.

- From The Collation, "Introducing the Folger Reference Image Collection" (2,600+ images!).

- Aaron Pratt has a post in the HRC Magazine's "What is Research?" series: "Learning how to read again."

- The ARCA blog has a report on the recovery of the London warehouse theft books.

- Coming up this week, RBS' panel discussion "Race and the Boundaries of the Book" - click the link to watch the seven pre-circulated presentations prior to the live event on 20 October.

- Many congratulations to Lindsay DiCuirci, winner of the 2020 Library Company of Philadelphia First Book Award for Colonial Revivals.

- Over at Medieval Manuscripts Provenance, a two-parter on Felix Joubert: Forger and Collector?

- Hilary Mantel's in the Guardian's "You Ask the Questions" column.

- From UC Davis, "Historians to Digitize Endangered Peruvian Archive."

- The Princeton Graphic Arts collection blog highlights some of their Mame et Compagnie "chocolate box" bindings.

- Mostly paywalled, but there's a report in the Times that the Royal College of Physicians is planning an auction of "non-medical" rare books from the collection bequeathed by the Marquess of Dorchester in 1680.

- Conservator Barbara Adams Hebard takes a look at some wooden bindings in the John J. Burns Library.

- Don't miss the @RareUVA Twitter thread honoring Gayle Cooper on the occasion of her fiftieth year as UVA's Rare Book Cataloger. Huzzah, Gayle!

- Over on the BL's Medieval Manuscripts blog, "Early medieval interlace."

- This month's Middle Temple Library provenance mystery is another good puzzler!

- On the SHARP blog, "On Decolonising Book History."

- From Books & Borrowing, "Broughton House Visit."

- The Bibliographical Society (UK) has announced a couple of upcoming Zoom talks, with more to follow in the spring.

- From Carolien Stolte for the Leiden University Special Collections blog, "The Esperanto textbooks that never were."

Reviews

- Susanna Clarke's Piranesi; review by Alex Preston in the Guardian.

- Ariel Sabar's Veritas; review by David Conrads in the CSM.

Upcoming Auctions

- Livres anciens du XVe au XIXe siècle at ALDE on 20 October.

- Americana, Travel, and Natural History at Bonhams New York on 21 October.

- Books and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 22 October.

- Fine Photographs at Swann Galleries on 22 October.

- Fine Books – Fine Press – Fine Bindings at PBA Galleries on 22 October.

Links & Auctions

- The October Getman's Virtual fair starts on 6 October at noon.

- Everything on Oak Knoll's website is 20–50% off through 5 October.

- Twelve Romanians held responsible for the January 2017 London warehouse theft of rare books were each sentenced to 3–5 years in prison this week.

- Submissions are now being accepted for the 2020 SHARP DeLong Book Prize.

- Rebecca Rego Barry notes that two Audubon letters about his books are coming up for auction this week at Hindman.

- Over on the Leiden Special Collections blog, Doris Jedamski posts about a recent donation of several letters written during an 18th-century voyage to the Dutch East Indies.

- From the BL's Medieval Manuscripts blog, "The Bamberg Book of Relics."

- Among the Rare Book Monthly articles this month, Clarence Wolf offers a "personal history and perspective" of his decades in the book trade, and Michael Stillman has an obituary note for map collector and scholar Dr. Seymour Schwartz.

Upcoming Auctions

- Printed Books, Maps & Documents, Travel, Science & Engineering at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 7 October.

- Maps & Atlases at Forum Auctions on 8 October.

- Selections from the Library of Gerald and Barbara Weiner at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers on 8 October.

- Fine Literature – Science Fiction – Illustrated Books at PBA Galleries on 8 October.

- October Sale at Arader Galleries on 10 October.