Library and literary miscellany from your pals at Library Journal.
(Maintained by Molly McArdle, Assistant Editor, LJ Reviews)
Tumblarians!
I am writing a rough draft of some of my thoughts on books (especially rare books) and libraries thinking about how the book as a special physical object is a bit lost in all the digital noise, and would love some collaboration on this around your (and my) ideas. If you’d like to contribute, or want more information, let me know!
Interested?
Signal boost.
The author becomes a text: pasted-in portrait, clipped from a newspaper.
From the front matter of The Purgatory of Suicides: A Prison-Rhyme by Thomas Cooper (1850). Original from the University of Michigan. Digitized March 6, 2006.
Look at that face!
I’ve been beavering away at work so not had much time to catch up with my RSS feeds from the real world (i.e. libraries which aren’t the one I work in!). Today’s favourite read was this gem titled“Theft, vandalism and hatred: 400 years of bad behaviour in the King James Library, part 1” from the University of St Andrews.
The blog post is such a great read! Go, now! And sign up to the RSS feed!
A collection of rare books, including an illustrated copy of Paradise Lost, has been discovered in a hidden cupboard in a Scottish library.
The literary haul was found in Greenock’s Watt Library by archivist Neil Dickson.
The collection includes a 1538 edition of letters by Roman philosopher Cicero and an 1827 illustrated
edition of John Milton’s Paradise Lost – one of only 50 copies.
— “Rare books discovered in hidden cupboard” in the Scotsman
“New York Public Library Rare Books Librarian Jessica Pigza’s HANDMADE AT THE LIBRARY, in which readers will learn how to use the riches of libraries, both online and off, to inspire all manner of craft/design/DIY endeavors…”
YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!
A few weeks ago, Ms. Malchodi opened yet another leather-bound book, one of more than 300,000 rare volumes in the hold of the John Hay Library. With surgical precision, she turned the pages of a medical text once owned by Solomon Drowne, Class of ’73 (1773, that is.). And there, in the back, she found a piece of paper depicting the baptism of Jesus. It was signed:
“P. Revere Sculp.”
Ye gods! Had Marie Malchodi, of Cranston, R.I., book conservation technician, just made contact with Paul Revere, of Boston, silversmith? Revere, who knew of the fiery need to share vital information, would have appreciated Ms. Malchodi’s galloping reaction, which was:
“I have to show this to somebody.”
» via The New York Times (Subscription may be required for some content)
