Here’s a fun Video Friday that speaks not only to the services libraries are providing to the community during the pandemic but what they have to do to promote themselves. Meet ‘Curbside Larry,’ aka John Schaffer, a senior library program specialist at the Barbara Bush Branch Library of the Harris County Public Library in
Rebecca Rego Barry
Coming soon to a theater near you — if it’s open, that is — is a new film adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novel, David Copperfield, directed by Armando Iannucci and starring Dev Patel as the titular character. The cast also includes Hugh Laurie and Tilda Swinton.
Originally published as a serial beginning in May 1849, David Copperfield is a rags-to-riches story set in
A collection of antiquarian cookery books heads to auction at Bonhams in London tomorrow, almost all with a British bent. It is, after all, a collection built by Ruth Watson, who ran a country house hotel in Suffolk, England, for many years and is now the owner of the newly opened Watson and Walpole restaurant in Framlingham. She is also known for hosting the television programs, The Hotel
Earlier this summer, we posted about a virtual exhibition and catalogue celebrating the 250th anniversary of a journey during which Joseph Banks discovered and documented 1,300 previously unknown botanical species, a project that would in time become the famous Florilegium.
What was Oscar Wilde’s favorite amusement? “Writing sonnets and reading.” Favorite occupation? “Reading my own sonnets.” Aim in life? “Success: fame or even notoriety.”
In 1877, while still a student at Oxford, Wilde penned these revealing responses within the pages of a Mental Photographs album, a bound journal that one would hand around to friends to elicit their “
Ken Sanders has been buying and selling rare books for more than fifty years, but the COVID-19 pandemic has put his Salt Lake City book shop in jeopardy and so he is reaching out to his supporters for financial help. A GoFundMe page that launched last week has already surpassed $100,000 of its $250,000 goal. It’s
Second in our series of “Video Fridays” is one of ABAA bookseller Adam Weinberger’s videos, “How to Value Old & Rare Books — Secrets from a Rare Book Dealer.”
Weinberger set up a YouTube channel last year and posts regularly; to give you a sense of his output, his latest is “
Yesterday, at Christie’s in London, a sixteenth-century prayer book that once belonged to the doomed Mary Queen of Scots sold for £311,250 ($400,000). The lavishly illuminated manuscript had been given to Mary by
There are no words in this tiny book, but the engraved spine gives it an unmistakable codex shape. Made in Southern Germany c. 1550, this fascinating and unique pendant in the form of a book instead showcases devotional artwork and likely harbored a relic as well.
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We’re beginning a new series called “Video Fridays” in order to share and signal-boost some great videos from the rare book world. (Have a suggestion? Add in comments below, or email me directly.)
First up is the inaugural episode of Allie Alvis’ new series, “Bite-Sized Book History.” Alvis, aka
