The blog will be silent until after Labor Day as I will be enjoying a little vacation. In the meantime, please visit our Facebook page to get your bookish fix. Enjoy the last days of summer! [more Vacation!]

A photo of the book, '1938-1941: Vier Jahre, Hermann-Göring-Werke', courtesy of La Grange Park Public Library Like many libraries, the La Grange Park Public Library in Illinois happily accepts donations. Last spring they received a rare Nazi artifact that may have been trashed had it not been for a sharp librarian. Circulation Services Director Ursula Stanek grew up in Germany, so any donated German books end up on her desk. A few months ago a book marked "Geheim!", German for 'secret', caught her eye. Upon further examination Stanek realized the library had a rare Nazi text in its possession. Entitled 1938-1941: Vier Jahre, Hermann-Göring-Werke, the book detailed the Nazi's four-year economic blueprint for{cke_protected_1} a steel-producing industrial site in Salzgitter, Germany. The book was given to workers in the steel mill as a Christmas gift. Stanek also made an exciting discovery within the book. Inserted in the book's pages was letterhead and an envelope from the desk of Hermann Göring, who was commander in chief of the Luftwaffe from 1935 until the end of the war. Stanek contacted the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. and curators recognized the book right away. The museum had actually purchased a reproduction some time ago, but they were elated to have an original in their possession as it is now the only known copy in a U.S. library or museum. (There are several copies of the text in Europe.) Lenore Bell, Library Director at the USHMM,... [more Rare Nazi Artifact Found at Illinois Library]

Paper Passion Here's a way to take your bibliophilia to a whole other level. Fashion icon Karl Lagerfield, publisher Gerhard Steidl, Wallpaper* magazine, and perfumer Geza Schoen have collaborated to produce a perfume that smells like a book. (On its website, Steidl says the perfume allows you to "celebrate all the glorious sensuality of books".) The idea for the perfume arose last year at a Wallpaper* party in Milan. Lagerfield commented that "the smell of a freshly printed book is the best smell in the world". No argument there (although I always balk when something is touted to be the "best"), but Schoen quickly realized that reproducing the scent would be a little tricky. “It was hard,” says Schoen. “The smell of printed paper is dry and fatty; they are not notes you often work with.” In the end, Schoen only needed five "woody" ingredients to recreate the aroma dubbed Paper Passion. The packaging for Paper Passion is perfection, as one would expect considering it was designed by Lagerfield; the perfume comes in a white bound book in which the pages are cut out to house the bottle. Inside the pages of the book are texts from Karl Lagerfeld, Günter Grass, Geza Schoen and Tony Chambers. You can purchase Paper Passion at the Steidl website; it retails for $98. So what do you thinkwould you wear it or buy it for your favorite bibliophile? [more You, Too, Can Smell Like a Book]

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, 1964 A rare 1960 interview with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was recently discovered in an attic in Nashville, TN. Stephon Tull was going through boxes in his father's attic when he came across an audio reel labeled: "Dr. King Interview, Dec. 21, 1960". Tull borrowed a friend's reel-to-reel player and was amazed to hear his father conducting an interview with Dr. King. His father, who is now in hospice care, was an insurance salesman and intended to write a book during the civil rights movement about the racism he had encountered throughout his life in the South. The book was finished, however, and the elder Tull's conversation with Dr. King, as well as other interviews conducted for the book, ended up in his attic. In the recording Dr. King talks about the significance of the civil rights movement, his views on nonviolence, and the impact a recent trip to Africa had on him. Dr. King defines nonviolence and "a method which seeks to secure a moral end through moral means" and goes on to say that it "grows ou of the whole concept of love, because if one is truly nonviolent that person has a loving spirit, he refuses to inflict injury upon the opponent because he loves the opponent." In addition to the historic value of a previously unheard interview, a historian notes that there is little audio of Dr. King talking about his activities in Africa. Tull will be offering the recording at a private sale later this month. UPDATE: Magician David Copperfield ... [more Martin Luther King Jr. Rare Audio Interview Found in Attic]

These items were still reported missing as of June 11, 2019. The following seven rare cookbooks were stolen in the past 24 hours: Almanach des Gourmands, 1805 The Honours of the Table, 1791 The American Frugal Housewife, 1836 The Cook's and Housewife's Manual, 1826 The Cook's Oracle, 1827 A Complete System of Cookery, 1816 The London Art of Cookery, 1804 Note: Most of the volumes are in clamshell cloth boxes (earth tones). If you have any information on these items please contact Celia Sack at (415) 282-4712 or info@omnivorebooks.com. [more Rare Cookbooks Stolen]

Margaret Mitchell holding her book, circa 1938 (Image via Library of Congress) The estate of Margaret Mitchell has made a multimillion dollar donation to the Archdiocese of Atlanta that includes a 50% share of the trademark and literary rights to Gone With the Wind, Mitchell's Pulitzer prize-winning novel. The donation was the result of a bequest made by Joseph Mitchell, Margaret Mitchell's nephew and last direct descendant. He passed away last October. Along with his late brother, Joseph had inherited a trust that a share of the literary and trademark rights to Gone With the Wind. (The remainder of the rights are held in trust for Joseph's late brother.) Also included in Joseph's inheritance, and his subsequent gift to the Archdiocese, are a collection of signed first editions of the bestseller published in various languages{cke_protected_1} from around the globe; a number of Margaret Mitchell's personal effects, including her wallet in which her press and library card can be found; and a collection of books that contains histories and signed first editions of novels and short stories by Flannery O'Connor. Mitchell penned Gone With the Wind after quitting her job as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal and while she was at home recovering from an injury ("In a weak moment I have written a book."). The novel was published in 1936, ten years after Mitchell had begun writing. It immediately broke all sales records and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction the following year. By 193... [more Margaret Mitchell's Estate Gifts Literary Rights to the Archdiocese of Atlanta]

A copy of Ling Shu published during the Song dynasty. (Not the recently discovered text.) Image via Bejing Digital Museum A very rare Chinese medical text published during the Southern Song Dynasty period (1127-1279)was recently found in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Historians believe the three volume, 38 page book was originally written by a Chinese doctor in the seventh century. It contains prescriptions for the treatment of 30 different ailments and includes precautions about each remedy. The covers of the book are missing but officials at the Tateyama Municipal Museum report that the text is clearly legible and the pages of the book are devoid of damage. The book was referred to in a 14th century Chinese bibliography, but this is the first time a copy of the text has been found. No originals are known to exist in China. The book was discovered in a storehouse owned by a well-known samurai family and it contains the ex-libris stamp of Kanazawa Bunko, the library of another samurai family that was established circa 1275. Rare China medical book discovered [more Rare Chinese Medical Book Published During the Song Dynasty Discovered in Japan]

My apologies for the lack of recent posts. I spent a week at the amazing Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar and have been catching up since then. CABS was a ton of fun and provided an abundance of information, but more on that later. Now back to rare book and literary news and items of interest! [more ...And I'm back!]

This item was still reported missing as of June 11, 2019. On Monday, July 30th, staff at the San Francisco Public Library discovered that the screenplay Largo: a Story Out of the Life of George Friederich Handel was missing. The typescript piece had been on exhibition since April 2012 as part of a celebration of the birth of Harry Hay who co-authored the screenplay in 1938 with Reginald Le Borg. Photographs of the case indicate that the item was stolen between Monday July 23rd and Friday July 27th. The missing item is approximately 150 pages (8-1/2 x 11-inches), secured with two brass report clasps. The text of the title page reads: “ 'Largo' / A story out of the life of George Friederich Handel / Original Story by Reginald Le Borg / Screenplay by Reginald Le Borg and Harry Hay.” The Gay & Lesbian Center, San Francisco Public Library would appreciate any help in recovering this item. If you have information or questions concerning this incident or these items, please contact: Susan Goldstein at sgoldstein@sfpl.org or 415-557-4563 (reference desk: 415-557-4567). [more Screenplay Stolen from the San Francisco Public Library]

In a nod to ancient Greece, where poetry was considered as much of a sport in the Olympics as wrestling, NPR has been hosting the 'Poetry Games'. Poets from all over the world were invited to write an original piece celebrating athletes and athletics and submit the poem into the games. Each morning on Morning Edition a poem is selected and read, and then posted on the Poetry Games site. It is then up to NPR's audience to vote for their favorite poem. Love this! Here's a link to today's poem, Once More by Ales Steger, and you can cast your vote here. Be sure to check back at the Poetry Games section of the NPR site for a new poem each day! [more NPR Holds 'Poetry Games']