Yale's Free Introductory Guide to Handling & Photographing Rare Books

By Susan Benne

Bibliofile, Yale's dedicated site for Book History, has announced the publication of “Rare Book Photography: An Introduction”. This free guide “explains the handling and photographic practices that support libraries' preservation aims and the needs of researchers in clear language accompanied by many illustrations from Yale's Medical Historical and Law Libraries.” Click here to view or download the guide. Bibliofile notes that a larger pdf version is available if anyone would like to have copies printed professionally; email photo.design@yale.edu with your request. Training Manual: Rare Book Photography [more Yale's Free Introductory Guide to Handling & Photographing Rare Books]



Rare South African Book Discovered

By Susan Benne

Dr. David Culpin of St. Andrew's University came across a rare piece of travel literature while studying at the library of Sir George Grey, who was governor of Cape Colony (today's Capetown) between 1854 and 1861. The book was written in French by Charles-Etienne Boniface and published in South Africa in November 1829. The title has been paraphrased as Account Of The Wreck Of The French Ship The Eole In April 1829; as the title states, it tells the story of the Eole, a French merchant vessel that sank off Africa's coast, and of its eight survivors, who were forced to walk barefoot for three weeks in search of safety. After months of research, Dr. Culpin was able to confirm that the story was true and based on the survivors' accounts. The Eole was a French trading ship which sank during its return voyage from Calcutta. Eight of the 20 passengers and crew survived, and they spent three days with the Xhosa people before their long trek to the nearest European settlement. The book is considered rare for several reasons. It is believed to be the first book published in French and the first travel narrative published in South Africa. The description provided in the book is also of importance. Dr. Culpin notes that "the text offers an eyewitness account of contemporary Cape Town, and describes places like Grahamstown and Port Elizabeth just a few years after these settlements had been established." In addition, although travel literature was a popular genre in the early 19th century... [more Rare South African Book Discovered]



New England Chapter “Unseminar” on New Tools: Marketing Approaches, Platforms, & Technology

By Susan Benne

The New-England chapter of the ABAA is pleased to invite members of the ABAA, the trade in general, and all interested observers to a special one-day "unseminar" entitled "New Tools: Marketing Approaches, Platforms, & Technologies for Antiquarian Booksellers," to be held Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. We plan a full day of presentations, speakers, and open discussion. Since all of our distinguished panelists are either active book dealers or people serving the larger community of antiquarian booksellers, we are calling "New Tools" an "unseminar" to emphasize the participatory and "bottom-up" character of the event. Participants include Dan Gregory of Between the Covers, who will deliver two full presentations during the morning session. First up is "Rare Book Photography for the Busy Professional Bookseller" which is very similar to the same talk Dan gives every August at the famed Colorado Antiquarian Rare Book Seminar in Colorado Springs. Following a short break Dan's second presentation will be "The Printed Rare Book Catalog in the Digital Age - New Tech Tools for an Old Sales Channel," a highly-praised talk that he delivered last year at the ILAB Congress in Bologna, Italy. Following lunch on your own at any of our local restaurants, our afternoon session will feature three highly successful and innovative booksellers, and a web designer known to many in the ABAA: 1. Greg Gibson of Ten Pound Island (and "Bookman's Log") on b... [more New England Chapter “Unseminar” on New Tools: Marketing Approaches, Platforms, & Technology]



Curbed Presents Five Architecturally Impressive Libraries

By Susan Benne

Click here to view a photos of "five architecturally impressive libraries". I was especially intrigued by the fact that Yale's rare book collection is housed in a building built with "marble sliced so thin that it allows filtered light into the interior of the building, while protecting the stacks from harmful ultraviolet radiation." Pretty cool stuff! I would love to see it in person. Houses for Books: Five Architecturally Impressive Libraries [more Curbed Presents Five Architecturally Impressive Libraries]



Burns Library 'Finds' and Digitizes Unpublished Yeats Play

By Susan Benne

The Burns Library at Boston College has made a surprising discovery in their own Yeats archiveYeats' unpublished first play, Love and Death, written in 1884 when he was only 18 or 19 years of age. The play was hidden among boxes of journals, notebooks and correspondence that had been long overlooked. It was only last year when the play was re-discovered by the library as part of an in-house project to find "'high impact' candidates for digitization" in BC's archives. A team of more than 15 librarians, archivists, photographers, literary experts and a dedicated transcriber, began working on digitizing the play and taking extra precaution to "present the whole object as if you can hold it in your hands". To accomplish this, the team presents the transcribed text alongside of high-resolution photographs of the handwritten pages. Click here to view the Love and Death website. Regarding digitization, Jane Morris, BC's scholarly communication librarian who is also leading the school's digitization project, says, "It's more than a trend. This is the new work of libraries, to make these things digital and available and discoverable, instead of having them closed off to the lucky few who have the means to travel here.'' This viewpoint echos the idea of the "democratiz access to knowledge", which Robert Darnton spoke about in the Q&A that was previously posted. Boston College gives unpublished Yeats play new life online Love and Death Manuscript Archives [more Burns Library 'Finds' and Digitizes Unpublished Yeats Play]



UPDATED: Theft From R.A. Gekoski Booksellers

By Susan Benne

UPDATE: These items have been recovered. Over the weekend of July 24/25 the following items were stolen from the premises of R.A. Gekoski Booksellers, 13 Bathurst Mews, London W2 2SB. Anyone with information about any of the items, which may be offered for sale by the thieves, may contact us on 0207-706-2735, or by email at rick@gekoski.com. The individual items are listed below: AMIS, KINGSLEY. Typed letter signed, Lemmons , 1974. One side of a single page of headed notepaper, small quarto; 'Dear Mr. Austin', 'Yours sincerely', and signed 'Kingsley Amis'. A brief note, responding to a request to speak at a conference. Amis queries the breakdown of speaking and question time at the upcoming event, requests transport, and thanks Mr Austin - an editor at Cape- for what, presumably, were laudatory remarks made earlier in the correspondence: 'It is very kind of you to say that you have enjoyed my work. Believe me, such tributes come all too rarely and are warmly appreciated.' AMIS, KINGSLEY. Typed letter signed, 1 page, Barnet, 1 May, 1974. To a Miss Johnsen, confirming that a poem she inquires about "must be by my friend Philip Larkin" and has the holograph emendation: " ... at least I intended to , but can't find the book concerned. Its title is `The Less Deceived.'" Folded twice - in excellent condition. AMIS, KINGSLEY. Typed letter signed, to Miss Gale, Prince Albert Road , 1987. One side of a single page, small quarto, of headed notepaper (marked 'file' in pen), 'Dear Miss G... [more UPDATED: Theft From R.A. Gekoski Booksellers]



Q & A with Robert Darnton on the Proposed Digital Public Library of America

By Susan Benne

Click here to read a Q & A with Robert Darnton, a cultural historian and the Director of Harvard University's library system, on the proposed Digital Public Library of America. Mr. Darnton made one comment in particular that speaks to worried murmurs in rare book trade: One thing we have learned from the new discipline known as “the history of the book” is that one means of communication does not displace another. Manuscript publishing actually expanded after the invention of printing by movable type, and it continued to flourish for three centuries after Gutenberg. Instead of lamenting “the death of the book,” I believe we should celebrate new possibilities of combining the printed codex with electronic technology … .The information ecology is getting richer, not thinner. Thoughts? A bookshelf the size of the world [more Q & A with Robert Darnton on the Proposed Digital Public Library of America]