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January 31, 2007

China to Preserve Antiquarian Books

"China will take every possible step to preserve its old and rare books and retrieve those scattered overseas, an official document has said."

"These books and documents, an indispensable part of Chinese civilization, lack proper preservation and management, says a State Council document posted on the government website yesterday."

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Henry Owen Collection goes to the National Library of Wales

"A collection of books which were once owned by a member of the Pembrokeshire gentry is to be given to the National Library of Wales.

The 5,000-strong Henry Owen Collection will be handed over to ensure that the books, which include rare editions, stay in public ownership."

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Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibition in Kansas City

"A trio of items from the Department of Special Collections in KU's Kenneth Spencer Research Library will be featured alongside 10 scrolls, some of which have never been seen before in the United States."

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January 30, 2007

Saudi Arabia to Help Kazakhstan Preserve Rare Manuscripts

"ASTANA. Saudi Arabia is going to help Kazakhstan to restore 1,500 rare manuscripts, preserved in the stock of the National Library of Kazakhstan. A corresponding agreement has been signed in Er-Riyadh between the National Library of RK and the King Feysal Centre of Islamic Studies, MFA of RK reports. "

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India: PT Nair: Historian / Book Collector

" Nair, who is known as much for his published books on Kolkata as for his private collection of rare books, documents and articles on the city, considers Kolkata as an enduring passion. While news of his recent move away from the city had saddened many, Nair admits that he is once again back in business in Kolkata."

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Texas' Harry Ransom Center Celebrates 50th Anniversary

"Founded in 1957 by its namesake, then-UT Vice President and Provost Harry Huntt Ransom, the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center is a wide, creamy-walled building tucked in the lush green area just behind the Calhoun and Homer Rainey halls, between 21st and Guadalupe Streets. From Graham Greene's archives to the Gutenberg Bible, the center rests its solid reputation as one of the country's most notable archival, conservation and research institutions on its vastly ranged and highly notable stock. It is currently home to millions of literary manuscripts, rare books, photographs and works of art."

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January 29, 2007

Philadelphia Free Library Video on ABC News

"Some of the books at the Philadelphia Free Library's Rare Book Collection are as old as civilization itself."

"And for the next 3 months many of them will be put on special display in the department's 3rd floor facilities... everything from clay cuniform tablets and an Egyptian Book of the Dead dating from thousands of years BC"

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Kathleen Manning: Former Bookstore Owner now TV Producer

"Manning, 68, jumped at the chance to work on the show when host and co-producer Frank Winston first proposed the concept on Sept. 26. Winston had formerly worked as a radio host, but Manning said her career as the owner of a rare- book-and-print shop did not prepare her for the vicissitudes of being an executive producer. Now she writes the script for each half-hour episode (they tape two a month), handles the guest lineups and crew retention, and brings a dinner buffet before every show. "

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The Great Sacramento Rare Book Show and Sale

"Rare books are just one segment of the nation's intricate, multibillion-dollar collectibles industry. For a taste, try the 25th annual Great Sacramento Rare Book Show and Sale. Thirty dealers will offer thousands of books, including modern first editions, Western Americana, classics, sci-fi, cookbooks, World War II books and more..."

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January 26, 2007

Morse Museum of American Art to Exhibit their Rare Books

"The Morse Museum of American Art, 445 N. Park Ave., in Winter Park, will open the first comprehensive exhibition of its seldom-seen collection of rare books and works on paper, beginning Tuesday. Pieces presented in the show include many by notable artists, such as Hopper, Whistler, Cassatt, Cezanne, Renoir, Gauguin, etc"

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Books Describe their Owners

"Despite the onslaught of know-everything cell phones, iPods and the 24/7 Internet threatening to make old-fashioned reading extinct, some South Floridians are not detoured from their devotion to books."

"Their home libraries are maintained with specially designed bookshelves, thoughtful organization, constant air conditioning, comfortable reading spots and good lighting."

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American Bookbindings on Exhibit in Bryn Mawr Library

"A new exhibition titled Bound and Determined: Identifying American Bookbindings, will open Tuesday, Jan. 30, in the Rare Book Room in Canaday Library. Preceding the opening will be a lecture by Daniel Traister, curator of research services at the Annenberg Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Pennsylvania, and a prolific writer and speaker about the history of books and English and American literature. His talk, You Can't Tell a Book by Its Cover; or Bindings? – Why Bindings?, will be at 4:30 p.m. in Carpenter Library 21."

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January 25, 2007

Buddhism Books and Manuscripts in India

"Namgyal Institute: A must visit in Gangtok, the Namgyal Institute was built in the year 1958 to promote research in Mahayan Buddhism and Tibetan language and traditions. Built in a traditional style, this institute has world's largest collections of books and rare manuscripts on Mahayan Buddhism, in addition to the works of art and silk embroidered Tankhas."

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American Founding Documents on Exhibit in Massachusetts Library

"But there's more: original printings of the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation are encased in glass, and the library boasts that it's the only institution other than the National Archives to possess all four of the country's so-called founding documents."

"'Seeing them together puts you right in that moment of history,' said Wayne Hammond, the Chapin's assistant librarian and one of its three staff members since 1976."

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40th California International Book Fair

"Over 200 rare booksellers from the US and around the world will congregate in California to participate in the country's largest rare book fair."

"This fair is full of antiquarian books of all varieties, from first-edition poetry collections to rare versions of cult novels."

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January 24, 2007

Dutton's Books Featured in the "L. A. Times"

"Arguably Los Angeles' signature independent bookshop, the store is a beacon for both prominent authors and passionate readers. A move would indelibly alter the store's identity, many feel. Dutton's, with its irregular layout, ripped carpet and books overflowing their shelves onto old flagstone floors, is considered by many to be not just a city institution but one of the nation's great idiosyncratic bookstores. "

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Paul Laurence Dunbar Collection on Exhibit in North Carolina

"GREENSBORO, NC – Greensboro book collector Richard Levy has loaned his Paul Laurence Dunbar collection to The University of North Carolina at Greensboro for an exhibit in Jackson Library during Black History Month."

"Dunbar (1872-1906) was one of the first African-American poets to garner national critical acclaim. The exhibit – “‘Sunshine and Shadow:’ Poems and Fiction of Paul Laurence Dunbar from the Collection of Richard Levy” – will be on display Feb. 1-March 7 in the Hodges Reading Room."

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Australia's Senator Brandis: Collector of Rare Books

"Senator Brandis brings to the post experience as a member of the board of the National Library of Australia and a love of collecting rare books."

"He is an active member of Peregian Beach Surf Life Saving Club."

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January 23, 2007

Taipei Bookstore Launches Charity Drive

"A Taipei bookstore is running a program that donates funds from book purchases to a charity for the second year.

"'Many people throw away books when they clean up their houses at the end of the lunar year,' said Mollie Tai owner of Mollie Used Books in Taipei, referring to the tradition of cleaning out one's house ahead of the start of a Lunar New Year."

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Butterflies on Exhibit in Connecticut Library

"Also part of the exhibit is "Feeding on the Everlasting," a collection of rare books from the 18th century illustrating butterflies and moths. The historical illustrations are on display at the Dodd Research Center Gallery."

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World's Fairs on Exhibit in Yale's Beinecke Library

"The opening reception for the exhibition “World’s Fairs and the Landscapes of the Modern Metropolis” featured Alfred Heller, the editor of World’s Fair magazine and the author of “World’s Fairs and the End of Progress.” Heller attended his first World’s Fair in 1939, and subsequently devoted his life to studying World’s Fairs and expanding his collection. The core of the exhibition is Heller’s collection of World’s Fair paraphernalia, including posters, photographs, pamphlets, government reports and vintage ephemera from 1851 to 1939."

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January 22, 2007

University of Montana Dean Cracks Mystery of Coleridge and "Faust"

"Montana plays an unlikely starring role in a major literary discovery that promises to electrify 19th-century Romantic scholars around the globe and profoundly change the course of Romantic literature studies."

"At the heart of the excitement is James McKusick, dean of the University of Montana's Davidson Honors College, who after a 36-year hunt has helped sleuth out what is believed to be a previously unknown work of the great British poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge."

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Google to Digitize Books from the University of Texas

"The one million books from the University of Texas library, considered the fifth largest academic library in the United States, will now be digitized and made available to researchers and academics all over the world. The collections at the university include a set of rare books and manuscripts relating to Mexico. The university said these volumes will be made available to readers free of cost."

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Reading and Rare Books in the Soviet Union

"A couple of decades ago Soviet people were regarded as the most reading all over the world. Inexorable statistics confirmed this fact. Frankly speaking, that was true: in parks, underground stations or buses one could come across people reading newspapers, books and magazines. The book used to be a precious object providing information and cherishing imagination and thoughts of wonderful future or past. Surely, not all works of art were sold in Soviet bookshops; many didn’t happen to pass the censor and were distributed secretly and illegally. To own a rare book meant much then, that is why almost every family tried to collect a home library (classic literature prevailed on shelves). "

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January 17, 2007

The Raab Brothers: In Search of Historical Documents

"Among the treasure trove of historical papers that adorns the walls of the Raab Collection's new Center City office are: a letter from King George IV to Czar Alexander I; another from General George Washington to one of his spies; and the executive order signed by President William McKinley appointing Jacob Trieber to the federal bench, the first Jew to achieve the position. And that's just the beginning."

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A Play about the Bookseller Rosenbach



"Produced by the Rosenbach Museum & Library to commemorate the museum's 50th anniversary, The Rosenbach Company: A Tragicomedy is a rousing interpretation of the eccentric and passionate lives of the museum's founders, created by Obie award-winning artist Ben Katchor and singer/songwriter Mark Mulcahy. "

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Forbes: The 10 Most Expensive Books of 2006

"Auction houses and collectors did brisk business in rare books in 2006, setting records in several categories. A 15th-century edition of maps by the second-century Greek mathematician Ptolemy brought in $4 million, the highest price ever paid for an atlas. An 1873 signed edition of Une saison en enfer (A Season in Hell) by the poet Arthur Rimbaud brought in a record price for a work of French literature, $644,000."

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January 16, 2007

New York: Five New Bookstores Open

"It seems like every few weeks another venerated New York bookstore waves the white flag: Coliseum Books, near Bryant Park, filed for bankruptcy in September and closed its doors January 6, after 32 years. Murder Ink, on the Upper West Side, finally met its maker in December, after 34 years. And now the Gotham Book Mart, on East 46th Street, faces eviction. Publishers Weekly recently reported that New York ranked dead last nationally in "bookselling stores per resident." The state has just one store for every 43,000 residents."

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Rare Books at Daytona Beach, Florida

"And then there's the house the Stetson University education professor bought in Twain's Missouri hometown, on the same street as the 19th-century author's childhood home near the Mississippi River. One room in that Hannibal, Mo., home is devoted to Tom Sawyer, another to Becky Thatcher. Sort of a private Twain museum."

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Unknown Work by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Discovered

"At the heart of the excitement is James McKusick, dean of the University of Montana's Davidson Honors College, who after a 36-year hunt has helped sleuth out what is believed to be a previously unknown work of the great British poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Even more tantalizing, the work is a substantial partial verse translation of Goethe's landmark tragic play, “Faust,” written in 1808."

Read this article.


January 12, 2007

University of Penn to Received Deux Cheminees Cookbooks

"Some people who visit the acclaimed restaurant Deux Cheminees come for more than chef Fritz Blank's cuisine. They come for his books. "

"The Philadelphia mainstay that offers some of the city's finest dining also houses an impressive culinary collection that includes about 15,000 volumes: cookbooks, periodicals, menus and memorabilia."

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St. Louis' Subterranean Books Featured Online

"So it's natural that bookstores also show art. In San Francisco, Adobe Books was the center for both the artists of the Mission School (Barry McGee, Chris Johanson) and musicians of the neo-hippie or "freak-folk" movement (Devendra Banhart). In Boston, the rare book dealer Ars Libri is the latest home of legendary art dealer Mario Diacono. "

"And in St. Louis, Subterranean Books has been showing art for about two years in a mezzanine space."

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Christopher Stern: Printer / Letterpress Artist

"In the last five years, Stern had just begun exploring other forms of letterpress art, stretching his talent and testing his artistic grit. 'His latest work shows him beginning to explore the brilliance of his talent," says Sandra Kroupa, a friend of Stern's and Book Arts and Rare Book curator at the University of Washington. "In that type of printing, he was at the top of the game.'"

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January 09, 2007

"New York Times" Features the City's Independent Bookstores

"NEW YORK has always been known as a city capable of sating any desire: for money, for high fashion, for companionship. But if you're just a bespectacled out-of-towner who suffers from simple book lust, its eclectic collection of independent bookstores can scratch your itch, too."

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Austin, Texas: Harry Ransom Center Celebrates 50th Anniversary in 2007


"In its 50-year history, the Ransom Center has evolved into a world-renowned cultural institution, known for its collections of literary manuscripts, rare books, photographs and art, and its holdings in the performing arts and film. The Center houses more than 36 million manuscripts, 1 million rare books, 5 million photographs and 100,000 works of art and design."

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Emory Library Buys Ted Hughes' Love Letters

"ATLANTA -- Emory University's Robert W. Woodruff Library is now home to love letters between a former British poet laureate and his mistress."

"The letters have been added to the Ted Hughes literary archive at Emory, which the library acquired in 1997."

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January 05, 2007

"Purging the Classics from the Local Library"

"The top 25 books checked out in December, from Fairfax County libraries, were best-sellers by John Grisham, David Baldacci, James Patterson, Nelson DeMille, Stephen King and Alice McDermott, among others. Most are entertaining, but only a few will be considered classics in 25 years."

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Rare Books in Chiyoda, Tokyo

"East of Kitanomaru lies Kanda district, divided into distinctive subdivisions such as Kanda-Jinbocho, packed with rare books dealers, literary agencies and publishers, and Kanda-Surugadai, near Ochanomizu Station, the place to shop for musical instruments."

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Florida Library Looks at Roots of Author Alex Haley

"''The Voyage of Alex Haley: Notebooks and Memoirs of an African-American Writer'' marks the 30th anniversary of the blockbuster miniseries about Haley's enslaved ancestors."

"The January 1977 debut of Roots drew 130 million Americans -- nearly half the nation's population at the time and about 85 percent of the television viewing audience."

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January 04, 2007

"Quest for Rare Quran Uncovers Minnesota Tie"

"Rep.-elect Keith Ellison wanted a Quran upon which to swear his oath to national office today. So he left a message with the head of the Library of Congress' Rare Books and Special Collections division.

A man who, it turned out, happened to be born and raised in the district Ellison will represent in Congress."

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Bookbinding Craft "Binds Couple Together"

"That's book binding, the avocation of husband-and-wife team Monique Lallier and Don Etherington. They live in Summerfield, and they're known worldwide for their handiwork."

"The books they help create are downright beautiful. Matter of fact, you can see their work on exhibit through Sunday at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem."

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Congress' First Elected Muslim To Use Thomas Jefferson's Quran During Oath Of Office

"Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Congress' first elected Muslim, Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, D-Minn., will be taking the oath of office on Thursday and will be using a Quran once owned by Thomas Jefferson. His taking of the oath is poignant as he's sending a message that 'religious differences are nothing to be afraid of.'"

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January 02, 2007

The End of New York's Coliseum Bookstore

"The store has been a name among New York bibliophiles for more than 32 years, and a mirror for their ethics, hygiene and larceny, at least according to George S. Leibson, a founding partner and the principal executive of Coliseum Books."

“'Running a bookstore is like running an insane asylum,' he said on Thursday."

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Blogcritcs.org does Literary Dublin

"The Dublin Writers' Museum is one of the legacies from the Irish capital's year as European City of Culture in 1991. Inside the splendidly restored Georgian townhouse are books, letters, photographs, and memorabilia that bring Dublin's literary heroes to life. At times, it's a bit like exploring the Irish national attic. "

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West Virginia University Seeks $2 Million to House Rare Books

"The $12 million estimate appears in the university's 10-year master plan, which also includes $60 million for a new student-services center, $10 million for upgrades to the Personal Rapid Transit monorail system and a $2 million building for rare books. "

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January 01, 2007

The Huntington Library Featured on NCTimes.com

"In this era of travel specialization, San Marino hosts a site that is culturally and aesthetically diverse. Part Chinese landscape, part European art museum and part archival library, the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens are a 120-acre paradise 12 miles east of Los Angeles."

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Joan of Arc on Exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery

"The Corcoran Gallery of Art presents Joan of Arc, an exhibition that celebrates the cultural legacy of the French medieval heroine Joan of Arc (c. 1412-1431). Her extraordinary life has inspired generations of writers and artists, and her image has been used for centuries to promote a variety of political, cultural and religious views."

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Rare Book Helps Create "New" Drug

"And in a report in the British Medical Journal this month, they explain how a 300-year-old text by a Dutch naturalist named Rumphius could help scientists in their search for new and better drugs."

"'It was lost traditional knowledge,' Buenz said."

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