"Nearly 30 percent of the nation's libraries serve communities of fewer than 2,500 people, including almost 3,000 libraries in towns where the population is measured in the hundreds."
"Nearly 30 percent of the nation's libraries serve communities of fewer than 2,500 people, including almost 3,000 libraries in towns where the population is measured in the hundreds."
"Although it is to still to be finalised, consternation has been caused with the omission of internationally acclaimed Scottish authors Robbie Burns, Liz Lochhead and James Clerk Maxwell."
"Zurich's index also released a series of predictions for the alternative investment market. It found that vintage Bordeaux wine, contemporary Chinese painting, contemporary Indian painting and modern first editions, including JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit and Ernest Hemingway's Death in the Afternoon, are set for growth over the next five years."
"Everyone knows that writers love books, but mystery writer John Dunning loves them more than most. He’s a famed rare book collector who also deals in rare books — as does his fictional detective, Cliff Janeway, the hero of his latest novel, The Sign of the Book.
"A sampling of the shelves reveals a signed first edition of William S. Burroughs's "Naked Lunch" for $1,750. A lavishly illustrated 16th-century book of hours is $60,000. An inscribed presentation copy of Winston Churchill's "World Crisis" costs $15,000 - vanquishing the $10,000 for a copy of "Mein Kampf" signed by Hitler, which the shop recently sold."
"Letters from the famous British poet Shelley found in a dusty trunk at a Norbury home are expected to fetch up to £30,000 at auction."
"Residents have blasted library bosses for chucking out hundreds of books."
"A rare military collection was thrown in a skip along with education books and novels during the revamp of Maida Vale Library in Sutherland Avenue."
"In all, about half the 254 lots in Novato book dealer Jeremy Norman's collection sold for a grand total of $714,060."
"Sales of Hunter S. Thompson's books, new and old, have surged since his death Sunday reports USA today."
"A large and tasty slice of Americana has found a home in the Longone Center for American Culinary Research, at the University of Michigan's William Clements Library."
"A donated collection of artifacts and literature on gastronomy forms the core of the center's holdings, telling the history of food in America before the mid-20th century. The collection includes more than 100 manuscript cookbooks dating from 1698, menus, diaries and advertisements, catalogs, magazines and graphics."
"'Bavaria applies those rights very restrictively to prevent the spread of Nazi ideology,'state Finance Minister Kurt Faltlhauser said."
"The history of computing is largely written on paper and plastic that gets thrown away. Technical papers, manuals, business plans, magnetic data storage tapes. Why save 'em?"
"Because one day you may be able to sell them for a million bucks. At least that's the theory behind Christie's February 23 auction, called The Origins of Cyberspace"
"Ninety percent of all books are spiraling down in price," noted Bill Leone, a bookseller from Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. "The other 10 percent -- the high spots -- are doing just the opposite. That's because the Internet has determined which books are truly scarce."
"Columbia [South Carolina] once had eight Christian retail stores and now only half of those remain."
"Polish experts excavating in the southern Egyptian city of Luxor have discovered three ancient Coptic manuscripts in a pharaonic tomb."
"Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities said the find was the single most important Coptic discovery since 1945, when a pair of Bedouins stumbled onto the Coptic codices in Nag Hammadi in Egypt's western desert."
"Starring the current darling of Hollywood - and well-deserved at that - Johnny Depp as a rare books dealer and the marvelous Frank Langella as a client who is looking to verify the authenticity of a particularly unusual volume."
"Over the years Price amassed a substantial collection of materials that dealt with slavery. His collection grew to include thousands of rare and out-of-print books, books on CDs, LP recordings, videos and microfilm. For the last eight years, the Abilene resident has given 900 volumes to Hale Library's Rare Books Collection at Kansas State University."
"Dr. Scott was also instrumental in putting together one of the world's most complete and prominent collections of Bibles and related manuscripts. Part of the collection, which includes many milestone editions of the Bible, is on display at the Los Angeles University Cathedral and has been viewed by more than 100,000 people."
"Some school administrators in Ohio say tight budgets are forcing them to choose between classroom teachers and library staff when cuts must be made. More than 200 librarian jobs have been eliminated in the past two years, said Suellyn Stotts, past president of the Ohio Educational Library Media Association."
"The oldest of the 1,000 or so items gathered into 255 sale lots is a 1613 edition of a treatise by the Italian Lorenzo Pignoria on slavery in Roman times which includes an illustration of a Roman table abacus, or reckoning table."
"Australia's only Nobel laureate for literature [Patrick White] died in 1990 after 26 years in the house"
"Satpathy's library has ancient manuscripts like "Manu Samhita" and centuries-old palm leaf manuscripts."
"My great grandfather was the custodian of these manuscripts," Satpathy told IANS in an interview."
"A brazen plot doomed to fail. How four friends went from college classrooms to a federal courtroom."
"Google's browser toolbar for Internet Explorer is raising eyebrows over a feature that inserts new hyperlinks in web pages, giving the internet search provider a powerful tool to funnel traffic to destinations of its choice."
"From fine leather covers to embossed gold leaf titles to sharply cut page edges, a binding by LoGatto's East Rutherford-based company, LoGatto Bookbinding, adds a dimension of quality not found in regular, mass-produced volumes."
"Lisa Johnson of Nashville, Tenn., paid $10,000 for three collections of books - a set of volumes about World War II, another set of books about African social history, and a group of books about cooking and gardening."
"We would not be where we are had it not been for the Kennedys," she said. "The Civil Rights Act would never have happened."
"Government officials have removed several documents from the archives of the late Sen. Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson housed at the University of Washington’s Allen Library in Seattle."
"All 100 U.S. senators have signed a letter urging the Russian government to return a collection of religious books to an orthodox Jewish group."
"The books were seized more than 80 years ago from Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson as part of a Soviet crackdown on religion. In December 2002, the Russian government returned some of the books to the Chabad-Lubavitch movement."
"Yesterday, nearly 80 years later, proofs of the 42-page guide annotated in the teacher's handwriting went on sale for £75,000. For it is rare and famous among collectors as Ludwig Wittgenstein's "other book" - only the second work published between hard covers in his lifetime by the thinker acknowledged as the pre-eminent genius of 20th century philosophy."
"I used to spend three weeks in London every year and I would spend at least a week going round all the antique shops, the print dealers and antiquarian book shops."
"A Sacked bookshop worker has been headhunted by an independent bookseller attracted by the weblog entries that cost him his last job."
"Joe Gordon was dismissed from his job at the Waterstone’s store at the east end of Prince’s Street for complaints made on his blog website, which referred to his employer as Bastardstone’s and spoke about his evil boss."
"Lasting Impressions: The Private Presses of New Mexico, which opens today, Feb. 18, at the Palace of the Governors, celebrates some 200 years of work by scores of writers, artists, and artisans — people who happily and doughtily hatched books, pamphlets, and artworks from their own presses."
"France's national library has raised a "warcry" over plans by Google to put books from some of the world's great libraries on the Internet and wants to ensure the project does not lead a domination of American ideas."
"Jean-Noel Jeanneney, who heads France's national library and is a noted historian, says Google's choice of works is likely to favour Anglo-Saxon ideas and the English language."
American Philosophical Society: "On display: a 19th-century book bound in human skin, which, in Chinese, contains the first books of the Old Testament. Also see the patent models of the first paddle boat; Gilbert Stuart's 1797 portrait of George Washington, the same image that's on the $1 bill."
Use this site if you do not want to register to read the skin story.
Or see the society's press release of "Treasures Revealed" here.
"The dilapidated birthplace of Robert Burns was saved for the nation yesterday and could now become the centrepiece of a pilgrimage trail celebrating the bard's life and literature."
"The National Museum of Taiwanese Literature is inviting the public to flip through pages of Taiwan's literary past and find their cultural roots by launching an exhibition on the development of Taiwanese literature."
"'It's a balance,' he [Luis Herrera] said. One of his goals is to 'build a community of readers.' At the same time, he added, "technology is a tool to enhance information. I think it's a tremendous ally.'"
"The online book media have grown so much that Publishers Weekly, the book industry's primary trade magazine, recently replaced its editor in chief of 12 years, citing the need to revamp the magazine in light of such competition and to tap into the public's interest in reading about books online."
"It's a book lover's paradise this Presidents' Day weekend in San Francisco. The 38th California International Antiquarian Book Fair is Friday through Sunday at the Concourse Exhibition Center."
"Literary treasures include antique law books, illustrated books, early American literature, maps, children's books and fine bindings. Prices range from several dollars to thousands."
"Mingana brought back mainly Arabic and Syriac Middle Eastern manuscripts but the collection also includes some Hebrew works as well as coins and stone tablets. The Mingana collection is the third largest of its kind in the UK."
"The Eckert-Mauchly business plan is being sold as a part of a collection called "The Origins of Cyberspace." The collection, viewable online at christies.com, consists of about 1,000 books, papers, brochures and other artifacts from the history of computing."
"Bloomsbury Auctions is known for Modern First Editions and over the last few years has become the place to buy and sell Ian Fleming. The highlight of the Continental and English Literature and Modern First Editions sale at Bloomsbury Auctions on 24th February 2005 is the sale of the second major group of books and letters from Ian Fleming to come onto the market in the last year. The items are from the private collection of his great friend, bookseller and business partner at the Book Collector magazine, Percy Muir."
"Archer City is home to the nation's largest used bookstore. Archer City is the hometown of best-selling author Larry McMurtry, and it's his store."
"Lauren Willig could once be found combing the basement stacks at Harvard Book Store for hard-to-find historical novels from the 1940s and 1950s. On Friday, look for her upstairs, reading from her first book."
"Now, as the Ink and Blood curator, he [Dr. William Noah]has helped put together the largest and most comprehensive exhibit ever on the history of the Bible. The exhibit, which begins with proto-cuneiform tablets and ends with the first American editions of the Bible, follows the evolution of writing and suggests that Biblical study is imperative for a complete understanding of the history of the Western world."
"Bangor University is proposing to sack eight of its 12 librarians because students can find the information they need on the internet."
"Bangor, which is part of the University of Wales, has become the focus of a national campaign to save the "Bangor eight" as unions fear the cuts could be replicated in university libraries elsewhere."
"One million books, 10 million documents and 14,000 archaeological artifacts have been lost in the US-led invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq - the biggest cultural disaster since the descendants of Genghis Khan destroyed Baghdad in 1258, Venezuelan writer Fernando Baez told Inter Press Service."
"Despite myriad efforts to encourage reading and thus increase book buying, more publishers are shutting down."
"If by chance you are looking for a copy of a handmade, high-end food art book called "La Conversation" and are willing to shell out $600, you should step into Le Sanctuaire, the culinary shop in Santa Monica."
"The legend behind the writing of Jack Kerouac's On the Road is well known, if not entirely accurate. Fueled by inspiration, coffee and Benzedrine, Kerouac sat down at his typewriter and -- in one burst of creative energy -- wrote the novel that would make him the voice of his generation in just 20 days, typing it out on a single, 120-foot-long scroll."
"It is now regarded as the most important English illuminated manuscript to be discovered in living memory and is to go on display at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge."
"Fine Books & Collections magazine has released its annual ranking of the top-selling rare books and manuscripts of 2004 at auction houses worldwide."
"Seven million documents throwing light on UAE’s history from 1507 to 1971, when the federation was formed, will be made available on the Internet, an official has said."
"Foyles, Britain's most famous bookshop, is planning to open new stores in cities across the world as part of its first expansion drive since the 1930s."
"More than 100,000 ancient Indian manuscripts and 15 million historic documents in Urdu, Persian and Arabic and 5 million English manuscripts are being digitised by the Juma Al Majid Centre for Culture and Heritage in Dubai."
"A magnificently illustrated 700-year-old manuscript describing the history of the monarchy is to go on public sale for the first time since it was produced by one of the greatest artists of 15th century England."
"The Chaworth Roll, named after the aristocratic family that commissioned it, possibly to educate their children, will go on show in London on March 3 at the gallery of one of Britain's leading dealers in historic manuscripts."
"Author Chris Crutcher is banned temporarily from Grand Rapids Public Schools, but at local libraries, his book "Athletic Shorts" is flying off shelves."
"I haven't had a chance to re-read it because all our copies are checked out," said Mary Robinson, young adult librarian at Herrick District Library in Holland."
"In his last decade while he put his life on paper, Casanova lived and worked as a castle librarian in Bohemia, a far cry from the volatile days of his youth"
"Jeanette Winter is the author and illustrator of The Librarian of Basra, a story based on the real life heroism of an Iraqi librarian named Alia Muhammad Baker. With the help of others in her community, she managed to save 70% of the books in the central library of the Iraqi port city of Basra."
"The Margaret B. Stillwell Prize for outstanding student collections of rare, interesting or unique books, established in 1984 by the bibliophilic John Russell Bartlett Society, will award three undergraduates with up to $750 this semester."
"A bookseller is taking on Hamilton's mayor over corporate donations to his November 2003 election campaign."
"Joanna Chapman wants Mayor Larry Di Ianni to open up his campaign records to public scrutiny."
"Oxfam is opening a second store in Highgate High Street that will sell only books."
"The Highgate Society is concerned that the new store will threaten the future of independent shops in the street."
"John Adams has long been known as a president, lawyer, founding father and patriot. Now, another side of Adams is being revealed -- defender of British soldiers charged with murdering American colonists in the Boston Massacre."
"In addition to all Fritz Scholder 's arcana and his collection of incunabula and mummies, there is a 25-foot-tall Egyptian-style obelisk in his front yard."
"When, as a young man, he started a book collection, he asked his friend, the rare book seller Percy Muir, to buy him first editions not of Keats or Shelley but of books which 'made things happen'".
"Mr Armitage said: "I'm a book addict in terms of ownership. When we moved house I had 80 tea chests full of books. I have more books than I could ever read in my lifetime."
"The collection was assembled by Martin M. (Mike) Horvat of Stayton, Ore., a longtime science fiction fan and collector of fanzines, or zines. Rob Latham, a UI professor of English and American Studies who researches science fiction literature and its fan base, said the collection is one of the most impressive he's ever seen, with titles from the U.S., Canada, Britain and Australia"
"Philanthropist David W. Packard has stepped forward to fund excavations at the ancient city of Herculaneum in Italy, where scholars believe a Roman library lies buried beneath 90ft of lava from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79."
"One must note the extensive collection of illustrations by Arthur Rackham in such works of fiction as William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, or in a rare book Peter Pan Portfolio."
"A new library for St. Norbert College received a huge boost Tuesday with the announcement of a $7 million gift - the largest in the school's 106-year history."
"The donation comes from Miriam B. and James J. Mulva. She is a 1969 St. Norbert graduate and is on the college's board of trustees; he is a De Pere native whose mother, Phyllis Mulva Martine, worked for several years on the library staff. James Mulva is chairman and CEO of Houston-based ConocoPhillips."
"Jeffrey Norman, a book collector and antiquarian based in the United States, may have at least one of the answers. The author of a reference books called “The Origins or Cyberspace,” Norman recently gathered a trove of dusty technical papers from the early days of computing which will be auctioned off at Christie’s in New York."
"Goodbye frayed carpet and dated fixtures. Hello coffee shop and wireless Internet."
"Booktastic! is a new literary board game designed for readers, book lovers, families and educators. Players move around a quaint town square of bookstores to buy, sell and trade books with money earned from correctly answering questions or sharing opinions prior to each turn."
"It was an old Malay manuscript once owned by Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore, in a London library that led Raimy Che-Ross to the existence of the lost city in Johor."
"Dubbed as one of the most ancient libraries in India - the 400-year-old Sarasvati Mahal Library in this south Indian town in Tamil Nadu state is badly in need of patronage. "
"One of the country’s finest private collections of rare illustrated books is the subject of a special exhibition at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas"
"New York can famously kill the bohemian spirit, and moving to New York from Europe has turned many a bohemian to respectability."
"The 21 historic California missions are slowly falling apart. From San Diego to Sonoma, along a dusty chain of way-stations that tell the story of the state's beginnings, things are dire. Roofs are leaking, adobe walls are crumbling, rodents and insects are destroying rare books and maps that are peepholes into California's rich and storied past."
"A confident and happy man engaging in witty banter replaces the macho hunter image of Ernest Hemingway in one of the author's last manuscripts, to be published as a novel this fall by Kent State University Press."
"“It’s a small independent bookstore, and I like to patronize those kinds of establishments,” said Ralph Bauer, an associate English professor who directed the 100 students in his American literature class to Vertigo Books to purchase 15 paperback books for the class."
"A group of private dealers in rare Bibles has opened an exhibit in High Point. The exhibit includes antique biblical texts, sections from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls. A mock biblical market featuring books, videos and jewelry for sale sits alongside."
"Japan is hardly unique in having made off with treasures from a former colony. The best European museums would be empty without looted art. But the size of the haul is astounding. Eighty percent of all Korean Buddhist paintings are believed to be in Japan. And, says Seoul art historian Kwon Cheeyun, "35,000 Korean art objects and 30,000 rare books have been confirmed to be there, too." That's only the tip of the iceberg: much more is believed to be hidden away in private collections."
Larry McMurty, author of The Last Picture Show: "He brought Archer City one of the best bookstores in the world," Clark said. "We have to keep it open."
""I can't believe that a collector would ever consider a 'virtual' signed book as truly a signed book anyway . . . and if it is difficult to distinguish between the two, the value of the signed-in-person books might be compromised. For myself, I think the whole idea is idiotic. . . . I'd rather have the book blank than stand in line for a computer to sign it."
"Jones began her training in book selling by volunteering to run the book booth at Goucher’s May Fair for 18 years. She also volunteered to catalog rare children’s books at a library and began buying and selling old books from antique shops, flea markets and estate sales."
"The Faces of Lincoln is installed on the fourth floor of the Indiana History Center in Downtown Indianapolis."
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"Customers have also had him rescue cookbooks, photo albums and even favorite children's works. "Muggins Mouse" by Marjorie Barrows was among the books awaiting repair. "And I have a customer in Polynesia who sends us old encyclopedias."
"This is a hard exhibit to do. For a dinky little museum with just 15 staff, you've got to be either desperate or crazy to go after this."
"Steve Williams has spent his adult life assembling his collection, which surpasses that of many public libraries. He said when the collection outgrew his residence, he and his wife, Rosemary, decided he had to find a place for it."
"The tome emerged when the Hamlet of Alhama organised a Quixote exhibition, calling on local children to bring a copy from their parents' collection."
"One child brought along an edition explaining it was a family heirloom which had belonged to an ancestor who lived in Cuba."
"The Vermillion Public Library is now sending books to its sister independent library in Havana. The first two shipments included Spanish-language editions of George Orwell's 1984 and a collection of the works of that formidable freethinker Mark Twain."
(Foyles, Strand, Shakespeare & Co., Eslite Taipei, Heritage Book Shop and Bindery)
"Dealers of old books complain that they are having a hard time finding good books these days. The underlying problem is that, in general, prices of antiquarian books are falling."
"In celebration of the life of Mary Hyde Eccles, collector and bibliophile, the British Library is exhibiting a selection of books, manuscripts, works of art and memorabilia relating to Oscar Wilde and his circle from her renowned collection which forms an important part of her legacy to the British Library. The Hyde Eccles collection contains over 1,500 items and has been valued at over $7 million dollars."
"The collection was previously owned by Charles Gould, a book collector from Pasadena, Calif., who spent some 70 years collecting books, ephemera and materials used in the printing process by several major English and American private presses."