Barbara Heritage on Charlotte Brontë's "Shirley"
2023-02-18 12:00 - 13:30 (America/New_York)
Sponsored by The Research Group on Manuscript Evidence
Saturday Feb 18, 12:00-1:30pm Eastern Time
In this talk for the series “The Research Group Speaks,” Barbara Heritage will consider the material evidence of Charlotte Brontë’s fair-copy manuscript for “Shirley” (1849). Barbara Heritage is Associate Director and Curator of Collections for Rare Book School at the University of Virginia.
On 8 September 1849, James Taylor traveled from London to Haworth, Yorkshire, to collect the manuscript of Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Shirley, for publication. His firm, Smith, Elder and Co., had been anxiously awaiting the completion of the book for nearly a year. Readers both in England and abroad were eager to read the next work by “Currer Bell”, whose first published novel, Jane Eyre (1847), had proved surprisingly popular.
The manuscript, which now resides in the British Library (Add MS 43479), includes numerous excisions to its 896 leaves. Its three volumes have been characterized by some as a confused “text of grief” written during the loss of Brontë’s siblings — and by another as proof of self-censorship and even “symptoms of a writing disorder or disease.” A close codicological study of the manuscript offers an alternative reading by drawing on the correlation of paper stocks and varying pagination, providing new material-based evidence for how Brontë strategically and deliberately revised — and even expanded — her manuscript after serving as the primary caregiver for her siblings.
This event is open to the public. Register on EventBrite here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-research-group-speaks-10-barbara-heritage-charlotte-brontes-shirley-tickets-462481192697?aff=odcleoeventsincollection
See also the page for this event on the website of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence: https://manuscriptevidence.org/wpme/barbara-heritage-on-stages-of-composition-in-charlotte-brontes-fair-copy-of-shirley/

Jennifer Larson: Miniature and Little Books in the Age of Early Printing
2023-02-22 19:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York)
Sponsored by Northern Ohio Bibliophilic Society
Wednesday, February 22, 7:30pm
online only
Join Jennifer Larson, FABS Chair and Professor of Classics at Kent State University, for an exploration of miniature and little books. In her presentation, Dr. Larson will use books from her own collection to explore how diminutive format was related to content in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Miniature and small formats were favored not only for devotionals, almanacs, and children’s literature, but also for inexpensive school books, forbidden or “obscene” works, and as samples of fine printing. With regard to literature, selection for publication in small format has always been a gauge of high popularity, and there is a “canon” of authors and works thus distinguished (Horace and Terence, but also Tasso and Guarini’s Il Pastor Fido). Publishers from Aldus and Paganini in the 16th century, to Plantin and the Elzevirs in the 17th century, to the Foulis brothers and the French Imprimerie Royale in the 18th century have experimented with small formats, much to the delight of collectors.
NOTE: This NOBS Forum will be held on Zoom ONLY and on Wednesday, instead of the usual Thursday.
Click here to join the meeting, or use:
Meeting ID: 856 4876 1238
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85648761238?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 856 4876 1238
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Book Collecting 101, Presented by David Gregor
2023-02-26 14:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Sponsored by The Book Club of Washington
Sunday, February 26, 2 pm
In Person and Online
Register for this event on The Book Club of Washington’s website:
www.bookclubofwashington.org
David Gregor founded Gregor Rare Books in Seattle in 1987, relocating to Langley on Whidbey Island in 2004. He co-produced the Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair for thirteen years and was a regular book reviewer for The Seattle Times for eight years. He has also been a frequent contributor to Firsts: A Magazine for Collectors.
He started offering how-to book collecting courses around the country in 1991, and in 2015, he turned the content he had been presenting for years in person into the book Into the Fold: A Primer for Beginning Book Collectors, available from Gregor Rare Books and Amazon.com.
David has ceased giving his live seminars, so we are especially fortunate that he has agreed to present “Book Collecting 101” for a maximum of twenty attendees at Dearborn House and simultaneously over Zoom, for those who wish to attend virtually. Signed copies of David’s book Into the Fold will be available for purchase at the event.
David’s activities in the rare book realm represent only one aspect of his many talents and accomplishments. His published works include three memoirs and a book of poetry. His prowess on acoustic and electric guitars and his love for the blues led to his forming the Deja Blooze Band in 2007, in which he is featured on guitar and vocals. He has also composed songs and three musicals which have been produced locally.

Cover Treasure — The Life and Art of Margaret Armstrong
2023-02-27 17:00 - 18:15 (America/New_York)
Sponsored by The Book Club of California
Lowell Thing, author of “Cover Treasure – The Life and Art of Margaret Armstrong,” describes how, beginning on the lawn of a library book sale, he began to discover and collect books from the “Golden Age” of American trade publishers’ decorated cloth bindings (1890-1915), especially those of one of its best-known artists. Over the next forty years, he was able to assemble almost all of Margaret Armstrong’s known designs and some that were unknown by the artist’s first discoverers, Charles Gullans and John Espey. In this talk, Lowell Thing shows highlights of his collection as well as previously unpublished photos of the artist and her family.
An illustrated talk by Lowell Thing, author and collector.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qQvdIyu-QkiaBaQmg4E0hQ?mc_cid=d3c3747292&mc_eid=55809a2ee8

Rich Dana: Virtual Lecture on Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry
2023-02-28 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York)
Sponsored by The Grolier Club
Feb 28, 6:00-7:30pm EST
University of Iowa staff member Rich Dana will give an in-person talk at the Grolier Club about the Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry. Marvin Sackner, M.D., was a Grolier Club member from 1991 until his death in 2020, and with his late wife Ruth amassed a world-renowned collection now housed at the University of Iowa Libraries. The vast number of resources held in the Sackner Archive range from artists’ books to reference works to large-scale works of visual poetry, demonstrating the remarkable artistry and diversity of some of the most significant poet-artists of the past century.
Rich Dana is Sackner Archive Project Coordinator Librarian. He holds an MFA from the University of Iowa Center for the Book and an MLS from the School of Library and Information Science. In addition to his work with the Sackner Archive, Rich is the author of Cheap Copies! The Obsolete Press Guide to DIY Mimeography, Hectography and Spirit Duplication.
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-lecture-on-sackner-archive-tickets-529479285797?aff=erelpanelorg

Mark Samuels Lasner: Aubrey Beardsley, 150 Years Young
2023-02-28 19:00 (America/New_York)
Sponsored by the Baltimore Bibliophiles
On Tuesday, February 28 our speaker will be Baltimore Bibliophiles member Mark Samuels Lasner, who will present a talk on his collecting of Beardsley material as well as the exhibition, “Aubrey Beardsley, 150 Years Young” at the Grolier Club.
To register, please contact Binnie Syril Braunstein, bsbgc@aol.com

Ticknor Society Announces Book Collecting Competition 2023 (deadline April 15)
2023-03-01 08:00 (America/New_York)
The Ticknor Society in Boston will begin accepting submissions on March 1, 2023 for the Fourth Annual George and Anna Eliot Ticknor Book and Book Culture Collecting Prize, which was created to encourage and recognize those in New England who have been inspired to compile, curate, and own a book collection. The Prize awards $1000 to a collector of books, manuscripts, and/or ephemera who resides in one of the six New England states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The award also includes an invitation to speak about the winning collection to The Ticknor Society and a complimentary one-year Ticknor Society membership. All other entrants will receive a complimentary year of membership in the Ticknor Society
The deadline for applications is April 15, and we encourage you to reapply with the same or a different submission if you have entered the competition previously. Learn more about our organization, the Prize, and how to enter at https://www.ticknor.org/collecting-prize/, and please share this invitation with anyone you know who might have an interest.
Many thanks and all best,
Ticknor Society Board

Manuscript Monday: Awards: Oscars, and Emmys, and Grammy’s, Oh my! And Nobel Prize medals too.
2023-03-06 20:00 (America/New_York)
Spoonsored by The Manuscript Society
Mon March 6, 8:00pm Eastern, 5:00pm Pacific
“And the Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, Tony goes to ………..”
“This year’s recipient of the Nobel Prize for ………… is…….”
These words are followed each year with anticipation…. Did your favorite actor, actress, film, Broadway musical, television show receive the award? Is a lifetime of seminal work recognized with a Nobel Prize?

When the owner decides to let it go have you ever wondered if it is legal to buy or sell an Oscar?
Do they have any value in and of themselves?
Are gold records really gold?
How do you win a Nobel Prize Medal?
How much are those awards worth?
How can you tell if they are genuine?
How important is provenance?
Do you really want to own one?

Brian Kathenes, Manuscript Monday’s host, and a Certified Appraiser, will answer all your questions about these well-known and collectible awards in this March Manuscript Monday.
Brian Kathenes is a Certified Appraiser of Personal Property, and CEO of Progressive Business Concepts. Brian’s clients include Nobel Prize scientists, Oscar and Grammy winners, and Gold Record recipients. He has authenticated and appraised all types of well-known awards for the IRS, US Customs, and Homeland Security Investigations.
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_fFT49JddQe6OcqFKcwYBrQ
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Plus you will receive reminders of the event the day before and one hour before.
For More Manuscript Mondays in the Archives.

Sara Schliep: Behind the Scenes – The Past and Future of the Folger Shakespeare Library
2023-03-10 12:00 (America/Chicago)
Sponsored by The Caxton Club
March 10, 12:00pm Central Time
Join us as Sara Schliep draws back the curtains to reveal the intriguing story of the Folger Shakespeare Library’s past and future. You may already know about its founders, Henry and Emily, but Sara will introduce you to more characters, talk about landmark acquisitions, unveil moments of joy and mourning, disclose the Library’s expanding institutional responsibilities and offerings, and even discuss the Folger’s present renovation project and divulge its plans for the future.
Sara probably weathers winters better than most, having studied or interned in Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Reykjavik, and even on Iceland’s Haskoli Islands. She’s been at the Folger since 2019, where she started as a rare materials resident and has swiftly become an archivist and cataloger. Equally at home with physical objects and with the latest in digitization, Sara brings a fresh perspective to the Folger’s iconic collection.
Please register if you’d like to see this program, even if you can’t attend at 12:00 pm on March 10. After the program, all registrants will receive an email offering an opportunity to request a link to a recording of the complete program.
Register here: https://caxtonclub.org/event-5171968
Zoom presentation is free and open to all. Zoom begins at 12:00PM CT/1:00 PM ET.

Before Baedeker: Travel Guidebooks to 1840
2023-03-13 18:00 - 19:15 (America/Los_Angeles)
Sponsored by The Book Club of California
6:00 PM – 7:15PM Pacific
In-person and virtual presentation
5:30 PM Pacific – Reception
6:00 PM Pacific – Program
The late 19th century has been labelled the “Baedeker Era” after the famous series of compact, bright-red travel guides published simultaneously in German, English, and French. The Baedeker guides’ trademark characteristics – systematic, impersonal, regularly updated, in a portable format packed with practical information and complementary maps – have served as a template for all subsequent guidebooks up to the present day.
But how did this specialty format develop? In a talk based on original research drawn from his personal collection spanning 1600 to 1840, Bill Newlin will trace the evolution of early travel guides, beginning with itineraries of Italy and France written by and for tutors escorting young noblemen on the Grand Tour.
Topics will include Lawrence Sterne’s beguiling satire of travel guidebooks in Tristram Shandy; a series aimed the emerging middle class launched by a British naval officer veteran of the Seven Years’ War; the 25-year interregnum under Napoleon when a German aristocrat publishing in French produced a masterwork that was blatantly plagiarized by two rapacious Parisian publishers in succession; the explosion of new travel guidebooks in English spurred by the return of British tourism to the continent after the Battle of Waterloo; and the emergence in the 1820s of arguably the first professional travel writer, the redoubtable Marianna Starke.
An illustrated talk by Bill Newlin, publisher and collector of travel guides.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_L4oMddW8RVarEPNnewe5Og?mc_cid=f9894ab4b7&mc_eid=55809a2ee8

Jeremy Norman: The Making of Sir William Osler's Bibliotheca Osleriana Catalogue and its Influence.
2023-03-15 18:00 (America/New_York)
March 15 @ 6:00 pm PDT
Sponsored by the Bay Area History of Medicine Society (BAHMS) and the Grolier Club
Annual Joint Dinner Meeting of BAHMS and Grolier Club
Time: Wednesday, March 15, 2023, 6:00 pm PT
Speaker: Jeremy Norman. NB: the previously announced speaker, Dr. Steven Lomazow, is unable to attend.
Location: Hong Kong Lounge, 5322 Geary Boulevard, San Francisco, CA
TO REGISTER and receive a link for livestreaming, contact Sally Kaufmann, M.D., at sallykaufmanncowan@gmail.com
Emphasizing the Biographical Approach to History and Bibliography: The Making of Sir William Osler’s Bibliotheca Osleriana Catalogue and its Influence.
Jeremy Norman is an antiquarian bookseller, appraiser, bibliographer, writer, collector, and publisher specializing in the history of medicine, science, and technology. He was introduced to the history of medicine about the age of ten, if not earlier, by his father, a physician book collector in the Oslerian tradition, Haskell Norman, who never believing that children should be limited to reading children’s books, put a copy of Osler’s The Evolution of Modern Medicine in his hand, and suggested that would be a good way to learn something about medical history. Jeremy recalls writing a paper on trephination among the Incas in Peru in the sixth grade.
Jeremy came under the spell of antiquarian bookselling when he took a year off from college, and took a job as the assistant to the packing clerk at Warren Howell’s John Howell-Books, a then-famous antiquarian shop in San Francisco that had been founded by Warren’s father in 1912. After graduating from the packing room to the sales floor, and working at Howell’s during the completion of his bachelor’s degree at UC Berkeley, Jeremy set off in business on his own. Since then, Jeremy has written or co-authored the following books: Morton’s Medical Bibliography (1991), The Haskell F. Norman Library of Science and Medicine (1991), Origins of Cyberspace (2002), From Gutenberg to the Internet (2005), Scientist, Scholar & Scoundrel (2013). His interactive database of over 5000 entries on the history of information and media from the beginning of records to the present is online at www.historyofinformation.com. His bibliography of the history of medicine and the life sciences that evolved from Fielding Garrison’s original listing in 1912, and currently includes around 15,800 entries, indexed to over 1900 subjects, is available at www.historyofmedicine.com. His commercial antiquarian bookselling site, which also contains many articles on the history of book-collecting and book-collectors, is www.historyofscience.com.
Currently Jeremy’s main collecting interests are The Discovery of Human Origins (the history of paleoanthropology around the world), and Book Production in the Industrial Revolution: The Beginnings of the Mechanization of Papermaking, Printing and Binding.

Oliver Darkshire "Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller"
2023-03-17 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York)
Sponsored by The Grolier Club
Fri March 17, 12:00-1:00pm EST
British antiquarian bookseller Oliver Darkshire will read from and discuss his book “Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller” in this virtual event. As a young man, Darkshire entered Henry Sotheran Ltd. to interview for what he thought would be a year-long apprenticeship, but turned into a career – and obsession. In his book, Darkshire divulges the secrets of the trade and the peculiarities of life in one of the world’s oldest bookstores – including its resident ghost, Henry Sotheran, who was killed by a tram. By turns unhinged and earnest, “Once Upon a Tome” is a funny coming-of-age story that is a love letter to the benign yet unruly world of antiquarian bookselling.
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-author-talk-once-upon-a-tome-tickets-537754246427?utm_source=eventbrite&utm_medium=email&utm_content=follow_notification&utm_campaign=following_published_event&utm_term=Virtual+Author+Talk%3A+Once+Upon+A+Tome&aff=ebemoffollowpublishemail

An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873
2023-03-20 18:00 - 19:15 (America/Los_Angeles)
Sponsored by The Book Club of California
6:00 PM – 7:15 PM Pacific
Virtual Presentation
An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873, by Benjamin Madley, is the first full account of the government sanctioned genocide of California Indians under United States rule. It has been widely praised as groundbreaking, raising fundamental questions about how Californians and Americans think of themselves and their history.
Between 1846 and 1873, California’s Indian population plunged from perhaps 150,000 to 30,000. Madley is the first to uncover the full extent of the slaughter, the involvement of state and federal officials, indigenous resistance, who did the killing, the taxpayer dollars that supported it, and why the killings ended. This deeply researched book is a comprehensive history of an American genocide.
Madley describes pre contact California and precursors to the genocide before explaining how the Gold Rush stirred vigilante violence against California Indians. He narrates the rise of a state sanctioned killing machine and the broad societal, judicial, and political support for genocide. Many participated: vigilantes, volunteer state militiamen, U.S. Army soldiers, U.S. congressmen, California governors, and others. The state and federal governments spent at least $1,700,000 on campaigns against California Indians. Besides evaluating government officials’ culpability, Madley considers why the slaughter constituted genocide and how other possible genocides within and beyond the Americas might be investigated using the methods presented in this groundbreaking book.
A virtual presentation by Benjamin Madley, author and Associate Professor, Department of History, University of California, Los Angeles.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_t-NocXNXQqiM9ikOVXiWFA?mc_cid=f9894ab4b7&mc_eid=55809a2ee8

The Collector's Corner with Tim Weiskel
2023-03-21 18:00 (America/New_York)
Sponsored by The Ticknor Society
March 21 6:00pm EST
For our March 21st meeting, all members and friends of The Ticknor Society are invited to join in an online, interactive conversation from “The Collector’s Corner.” Over fifty years ago, while in high school, Tim Weiskel began acquiring, reading and re-reading books to help him make sense of the world. While he did not start out as a “book collector” he has ended up decades later having accumulated numerous books, maps, postcards and other ephemera relating to Africa and the history of its interaction with the wider world.
By way of background for “The Collector’s Corner” online conversation on March 21st, Ticknor members and friends are urged to view and consider the video “Book Collecting at the End of Empire… & The Beginning of THE REVOLUTION”: https://environmentaljusticetv.wordpress.com/2023/02/21/from-the-ticknor-society-the-collectors-corner-book-collecting-at-the-end-of-empire/. Other videos and links listed on the webpage may be helpful as well to get a sense of the context, history, and evolution of this collection over the decades.
Although Tim’s collection focuses on specific aspects of European intrusions in African history and culture, his experiences as a “collector” may well strike a resonant chord with those you may have had in widely different realms or circumstances. “The Collector’s Corner” is intended for us all to share a conversation about the rewards and frustrations of becoming a book collector—or, for that matter, a librarian, a conservator, a bookseller, or any of the range of other interests that book lovers share in The Ticknor Society. For this reason, we hope that whatever your experience has been, you will all join us online for this “Collector’s Corner” conversation.
The Collector’s Corner with Tim Weiskel
Tuesday, March 21st, 6pm ET
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMtcu-qrzktHNAX961EZKizHWZZtXiBb7-Q

Three Brief But Spectacular Glimpses Into a Life in Books
2023-03-21 18:30 (America/Chicago)
Sponsored by The Caxton Club
When/Where: 3/21/2023 6:30 PM CT Zoom presentation is free and open to all. Preregistration required via website.
Would you like to attend? Click here to register.

EVENT DETAILS:
March Evening Program
Three Caxtonians will give short presentations of interest to bibliophiles, followed by live Q&A session.
Rudy Altergott: The Poetry of the Eclectic: Collecting Happiness. A newly-minted Caxtonian, Rudy Altergott’s interests are as eclectic as the volumes in his library. As we will see, his own serious book collecting was instigated by Sherlock Holmes and the example of an eminent Sherlockian and Caxtonian, Vincent Starrett.
Richard Bales: The Lost Literature of Nelson Algren. Richard is semi-retired after working more than forty years in the real estate title insurance profession. He is the author of The Short Writings of Nelson Algren: A Study of His Stories, Essays, Articles, Reviews, Poems and Other Literature.
Lou Pitschmann: Advancing Communist Party Agendas In the Former East Germany, 1959-1990: The Role of Miniature Books. Lou is a retired Dean of Libraries at The University of Alabama, and has researched and published on the History of the Book, and Building & Assessing Research Collections. His most recent publication is “Johann Bämler and the Making of Küchenmeisterei, 1485.” In: Gutenberg-Jahrbuch. vol. 98 (2023).
Registering for the program will allow you the opportunity to purchase signed copies of The Short Writings of Nelson Algren: A Study of His Stories, Essays, Articles, Reviews, Poems and Other Literature for $36.00 including tax and shipping.
Zoom begins promptly at 6:30 PM CT/7:30 PM ET.
Preregistration required via website. Zoom presentation is free and open to all.
Please forward this notice to anyone who may find it of interest.
Even if you can’t attend at the scheduled time, if you’re interested, please register. After the program, we’ll send an email to all registrants, asking if you’d like a link to the complete recording. That way you can see the program even if you couldn’t attend live, ran into technical issues, or simply wanted to watch it again.
Best regards,
Caxton Club

Arnie Sanders, "Measuring Worth: Surveying Goucher's Rare Book Collection"
2023-03-22 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Sponsored by the Baltimore Bibliophiles
March 22, 7:00pm EST
Professor emeritus at Goucher College Arnie Sanders will discuss the rare book collection there.
To register, please contact Binnie Syril Braunstein: bsbgc@aol.com

Documenting Doc With Ron Hill (Doc Savage and Fandom)
2023-03-23 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Sponsored by Northern Ohio Bibliophilic Society
Documenting Doc
with Ron Hill
Thursday, March 23rd, 7-8:30pm Eastern
Ron Hill has been a book lover his whole life. He read Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea in third grade and The War of the Worlds in fifth grade. But, it was his first Doc Savage book in 1975, at age 14, that sparked his imagination to pursue a career as a commercial artist and writer. In 2022, Ron started on a new adventure: documenting the “creators, collectors and characters” who keep the legacy of Doc Savage alive. Ron’s passion for a 1930s-era pulp hero has led him to dive into the wild world of pulp fandom. Ron will be sharing clips of his developing film, We Are Doc Savage: A Documentary on Fandom, as well as books from his 2,000-book collection of Doc Savage, science fiction and fantasy books; a library which dates back to his grandfather’s early edition hardcover of Tarzan of the Apes from 1911.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89009595786?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 890 0959 5786
Passcode: [REDACTED]
This is a hybrid event, we will be meeting in person at Loganberry Books as well as online via Zoom.
Hope to see you one way or the other.
NOBS Board Members

Pattern and Flow at the Grolier Club: Virtual Symposium
2023-03-24 09:00 - 17:30 (America/New_York)
Sponsored by The Grolier Club
March 24, 9:00am-5:30pm EST
Join us virtually for a full-day symposium in celebration of the “Pattern and Flow: A Golden Age of American Decorated Paper” exhibition, sponsored by the Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“Pattern and Flow” surveys for the first time the golden age of American decorated paper, telling the story of 53 imaginative and innovative artists who, working independently and together, revived the largely forgotten arts of marbled and paste paper design. The designs created by these pioneers and their followers take traditional art forms to new, expressive dimensions—some works are somber, with muted tones and subtle coloration, others are explosive in their use of color, hypnotizing ripples and wave patterns, or tessellated decorations. The colors and shapes allude to the seasons, the sea, geologic formations, and cosmic imaginings, or demonstrate pure and non-allusive abstraction.
Curated by Mindell Dubansky (Museum Librarian for Preservation at the Thomas J. Watson Library at The Metropolitan Museum of Art), “Pattern and Flow” features a decade-by-decade look at the field through 150 objects from the Watson Library collection. Decorated papers will be shown in context with rare books, objects, color recipe books, correspondence, photographs, and hand-tools used by Paper Legacy artists. Highlights include some of the earliest marbling treatises which inspired and instructed many of the artists, including Charles W. Woolnough’s The whole art of marbling (London: G. Bell, 1881); unexpected products made with the artists’ paper designs, such as Galen Berry’s printed marbled rodeo poster; and an iconic marbled object: the original Kleenex box and its matching paper, made by Faith Harrison. An accompanying monograph, published by the Thomas J. Watson Library, is distributed by Yale University Press.
This is a virtual symposium that will be live webcast.
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-symposium-pattern-flow-tickets-467849419207?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

Peter Hiller on artist Jo Mora (1876-1947)
2023-03-27 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Sponsored by The Book Club of California
MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2023
Contempo Jo Mora
6:00 PM – 7:15 PM Pacific
In-person and virtual Presentation; all are welcome.
The creative career of Joseph Jacinto “Jo” Mora (1876-1947) was both compelling and diverse. A painter, muralist, sculptor, building designer, cartographer, actor, set designer, cowboy, and husband and father, Mora’s art work sprang from his interests in numerous subjects including Native Americans and cowboys, the American landscape, California history and its missions, the classics of Chaucer, and Mora’s love of animals.
The artistic legacy of Jo Mora continues to evolve. Upon Mora’s passing in 1947, his son Jo Jr. lovingly worked to spread the word about his father’s creative accomplishments. That endeavor has been passed along to Peter Hiller, the Jo Mora Collection Curator.
Join Peter as he shares how Jo Mora’s art has, and continues to, find its way into popular culture and the wider world in both traditional and surprising ways.
In in-person and virtual presentation by Peter Hiller, author, historian, and Jo Mora Collection Curator for the Monterey History and Art Association
REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_efVHDBjjQ_C-tX94JYfftg?mc_cid=62a9e26e12&mc_eid=55809a2ee8

The Transatlantic Transformation of Poor Molly Goosey into La Gansa Amorosa
2023-03-27 18:30 (America/Chicago)
Sponsored by The Caxton Society and the American Antiquarian Society
Preregistration required via website.
Would you like to attend? Click here to register.

EVENT DETAILS:
March Evening Program
This presentation explores the appropriation, adaptation, and translation of the picture book Michaelmas Day or The Fate of Poor Molly Goosey. Originally issued by London publisher Dean & Co. ca. 1843, it was quickly reprinted in Philadelphia by George S. Appleton; in about 1850 the text was Americanized and issued by Boston publisher Wier & White under the title Thanksgiving Day. Ca. 1870, New York publisher D. Appleton & Company translated the picture book into Spanish and issued it as La Historia de La Gansa Amorosa for sale in the emerging Hispanic book market in North and South America, enlisting picture book manufacturer McLoughlin Brothers. Tracing the transnational, trans-lingual history of Molly, this study illuminates the use of recognized holidays to reach new markets.
Laura Wasowicz is Curator of Children’s Literature at the American Antiquarian Society. In this capacity, she oversees the growth, description, and use of the AAS Children’s Literature Collection comprised of 30,000 American children’s books issued between 1650 and 1899. She has written on various aspects of American children’s book publishing, picture book iconography, and children’s reading habits, including essays published in A de Grummond Primer: Highlights of the Children’s Literature Collection (University Press of Mississippi, 2021) and other publications.
Zoom begins promptly at 6:30 PM CT/7:30 PM ET.
Preregistration required via website. Zoom presentation is free and open to all.
Please forward this notice to anyone who may find it of interest.
Even if you can’t attend at the scheduled time, if you’re interested, please register. After the program, we’ll send an email to all registrants, asking if you’d like a link to the complete recording. That way you can see the program even if you couldn’t attend live, ran into technical issues, or simply wanted to watch it again.
Best regards,
Caxton Club

American Ingenuity & Innovation: Kitchen Appliance Manuals
2023-04-03 18:00 - 19:15 (America/Los_Angeles)
Sponsored by the Book Club of California.
In-person and virtual presentation
Exhibition opening: American Ingenuity & Innovation: Kitchen Appliance Manuals. From air conditioners to yogurt makers, kitchen appliance manuals—with step by step directions for achieving a desired outcome—are incredible examples of early technical writing. The instruction manuals on display reflect a wide range of American consumers and provide today’s bibliophiles and graphic artists the opportunity to study the typography, designs, and color combinations of product marketing from the past.
Exhibition opening and remarks by Liz Pollock, author, collector, and proprietor of the Cook’s Bookcase
Register here for the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ark9-Ue7R7-bm8gGFrALhQ?mc_cid=d6f309a549&mc_eid=55809a2ee8

Manuscript Society Digest for March-April 2023
2023-04-04 00:00 (America/New_York)
Sponsored by The Manuscript Society
Manuscript Digest: March – April 2023 – This complimentary e-digest, now published bi-monthly, covers significant acquisitions and sales, manuscripts lost and found, rare books and ephemera, document conservation, and more news
GET THE DIGEST IN YOUR EMAIL EVERY OTHER MONTH – SIGN UP HERE: https://oi.vresp.com/?fid=a84c0e0879
In the News
Unrolling History
Benzie County Record Patriot | Washington Post, March 19, 2023
A brief mention in the archives led to a big find: an oversized, overlooked mural of Washington crossing the Delaware, rolled up in a New Jersey basement.
Freedom Fighters
Philly Voices, February 13, 2023
A Philadelphia museum is opening a new tranche of documents from the American Revolution. All have one thing in common. They are the records of patriots of color.
Stellar Book Sale
Live Science, March 14, 2023
A rare first edition of Copernicus’s De revolutionibus orbium coelestium is up for sale. How high could the price go? In 2008 a similar copy fetched an astronomical $2.2 million.
Priceless? No …
Smithsonian Magazine, February 17, 2023
Created around 1,100 years ago. Vanished for centuries. Resurfaced in 1929. The Codex Sassoon has history. Its sale could shatter records.
Mania for Manuscripts
Forbes India, March 13, 2023
Newton, Mozart, Darwin, Picasso, Einstein — and Proust. Lots of Proust. Inside what may be the world’s largest private collection of manuscripts.
Definitive Collection
Chronicle of Higher Education, February 6, 2023
A New York woman spent decades collecting dictionaries, from books of slang to the Merriam brothers’ letters on snagging Noah Webster’s rights. How the Lilly Library got the last word.
Shakespeare’s First Fan Book
The Guardian, February 4, 2023
Imagine reading Shakespeare’s First Folio when it was hot off the press. One of the Bard’s fans did more than read, taking notes and jotting quotes. And not the ones we learn in school.
Genesis of Genius
Art Newspaper, March 16, 2023
Leonardo da Vinci’s father was a notable notary. His mother? A newly discovered document suggests she was an enslaved woman from the Caucuses. The evidence and what it means.
Cn U Rd Ths Manuscript?
The Guardian, March 15, 2023
The Herculaneum scrolls were charred in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Now scientists are offering $250,000 for deciphering four passages from the spirals’ inner layers.
Dust-up over Gloves
ArtDaily, March 9, 2023
The myth about white gloves in the archives just won’t die. Why it’s wrong, why it sticks, and how librarians are handling the bare-knuckle fight for “clean hands and caution.”
From Our Blog
Autographs and Manuscripts: A Collector’s Manual
This classic guide, now out of print, is again available, in limited numbers. The 1978 book, sponsored by the Manuscript Society, remains a valuable resource on the history and fundamentals of the field. Topics range from writing materials to the legal side of manuscript collecting to autographs of the American Civil War. It’s an essential reference for serious collectors and those just getting started.
Other Items of Interest
Last Lines Favorite posts from Fine Books & Collections’ outgoing blog editor > Read up

Child-Authored Texts in American Literature
2023-04-04 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York)
Sponsored by The Grolier Club
April 4, 6:00-7:30pm
Children’s voices – found in diaries, manuscript newspapers, and other child-authored texts – constitute essential evidence for a fuller history of the American past, illuminating how young people encountered and interpreted their worlds. While such texts are abundant, they are not easily discoverable in archives. American Antiquarian Society curators – including Grolier Club member Laura Wasowicz and manuscript curator Ashley Cataldo – will discuss the history of American children as authors, diarists, printers, and publishers, and introduce a new initiative to make them available. “Historic Children’s Voices, 1799-1899,” supported with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities, will provide intellectual access to child-authored texts via detailed cataloging and digitization. AAS will be making over 11,000 pages from these sources accessible to a wide variety of audiences via a web resource, a conference, a public program, and teaching support for K-12 classrooms. This talk will feature examples of recently digitized and cataloged materials.
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-lecture-child-authored-texts-tickets-532140726237?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

Pattern and Flow: Virtual Exhibition Tour
2023-04-05 06:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York)
Sponsored by The Grolier Club
April 5, 6:00-7:30pm EST
Join this Zoom event for a virtual pre-recorded tour of the “Pattern and Flow” exhibition followed by a live Q&A.
“Pattern and Flow” surveys for the first time the golden age of American decorated paper, telling the story of 53 imaginative and innovative artists who, working independently and together, revived the largely forgotten arts of marbled and paste paper design. The designs created by these pioneers and their followers take traditional art forms to new, expressive dimensions—some works are somber, with muted tones and subtle coloration, others are explosive in their use of color, hypnotizing ripples and wave patterns, or tessellated decorations. The colors and shapes allude to the seasons, the sea, geologic formations, and cosmic imaginings, or demonstrate pure and non-allusive abstraction.
Curated by Mindell Dubansky (Museum Librarian for Preservation at the Thomas J. Watson Library at The Metropolitan Museum of Art), “Pattern and Flow” features a decade-by-decade look at the field through 150 objects from the Watson Library collection. Decorated papers will be shown in context with rare books, objects, color recipe books, correspondence, photographs, and hand-tools used by Paper Legacy artists. Highlights include some of the earliest marbling treatises which inspired and instructed many of the artists, including Charles W. Woolnough’s The whole art of marbling (London: G. Bell, 1881); unexpected products made with the artists’ paper designs, such as Galen Berry’s printed marbled rodeo poster; and an iconic marbled object: the original Kleenex box and its matching paper, made by Faith Harrison. An accompanying monograph, published by the Thomas J. Watson Library, is distributed by Yale University Press.
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-exhibition-tour-pattern-and-flow-tickets-467850091217?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

AKRON ANTIQUARIAN BOOK AND PAPER SHOW - 2023
2023-04-07 00:00 - 2023-04-08 00:00 (America/New_York)
Sponsored by Northern Ohio Bibliophilic Society
April 7 and April 8 at the John S. Knight Center in Akron.
Friday: 3:00pm-8:30pm
Saturday: 10:00am-4:00pm

Mujeres Hispanas y Tipografía-Hispanic Women and Typography Exhibition
2023-04-12 18:00 - 19:15 (America/Los_Angeles)
Sponsored by The Book Club of California
Mujeres Hispanas y Tipografía (Hispanic Women and Typography) celebrates the talents and contributions of Hispanic women to design and typography. Showcasing four individual projects created by Laura Meseguer, Marina Garone, Sandra García, Dafne Martínez, and Jimena Gamio, this publication targets tangible topics, such as educational systems, endangered indigenous languages, and calligraphy.
Lavinia Lascaris and Ximena Amaya, graduates of ArtCenter Graphic Design, were chiefly responsible for the design and production of Mujeres Hispanas y Tipografía. They will be presenting their process in creating the catalog, as they endeavored to share the importance of Hispanic women’s voices and challenge the colonial and patriarchal narratives that have permeated contemporary typography and design.
An in-person and virtual presentation by Gloria Kondrup, professor, ArtCenter College of Design and director of Archetype Press, Lavinia Lascaris, exhibition and graphic designer at Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography, and Ximena Amaya, graphic designer and Typography Fellow at Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography.
Register to attend the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qT6UQ034QVm8CEFaghgn6Q?mc_cid=d6f309a549&mc_eid=55809a2ee8

Julia Bouwsma, Poet Laureate of Maine
2023-04-12 19:00 (America/New_York)
Sponsored by The Baxter Society
Open to all members of FABS societies
On Wednesday, April 12, at 7:00 pm, the Baxter Society will host Julia Bouwsma, the Poet Laureate of Maine, in an online meeting over Zoom.

Julia Bouwsma is a poet, a farmer, and a small-town librarian. She lives off-the-grid in the Blue Mountains of western Maine. The author of two poetry collections: Midden (Fordham University Press, 2018) and Work by Bloodlight (Cider Press Review, 2017), she is the Library Director for Webster Library in Kingfield, Maine.
Julia is the recipient of the 2019 and 2018 Maine Literary Awards for Poetry Book, the 2016-17 Poets Out Loud Prize, the 2015 Cider Press Review Book Award. She contributes poetry and reviews to Cutthroat, Poetry Daily, Poetry Northwest, RHINO, River Styx, and other journals. A former Managing Editor for Alice James Books, she currently serves as an instructor at University of Maine at Farmington and on the Community Advisory Board for Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance.
For a zoom link please contact Jennifer Larson at info@fabsocieties.org

The Photographic History of the Nineteenth-Century American West POSTPONED
2023-04-14 12:00 (America/Chicago)
Sponsored by The Caxton Club
POSTPONED: A scheduling conflict arose and we’re hopeful that we can deliver this program during our 2023–2024 season.
Online and open to all.
Quick. What are the two flattest U.S. states? Here’s a hint, neither correct response starts with “Kansas.” First place honors belong to Florida and second … to Illinois, where many folks like to say that, “On a clear day, you can see the back of your head.”
That’s one reason that people first encountering the American West as they ventured from the Midwest were awestruck. Some of those encounters were captured on film – in stunning black and white – and our speaker, Megan Friedel, will be sharing examples of that photographic history with us. She’ll be drawing on the Rare and Distinctive Collections (which includes books and maps) at the University of Colorado Library.
An Amherst graduate, Megan received an MLIS as well as a MA in history from Simmons College. She has served as president of the Society of Rocky Mountain Archivists and is on the editorial board of the Journal of Western Archives.
Western photographs from the nineteenth century often appear as small images clustered on a page in history books or as part of extraordinarily expensive set of collectible volumes. Here’s your chance to see them richly portrayed and in the company of an expert.
Register here: https://www.caxtonclub.org/event-5216101

Janice Katz on Japan Comes to Chicago: The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition
2023-04-14 12:00 (America/Chicago)
Sponsored by The Caxton Club
When/Where: 4/14/2023 12:00 PM CT
Zoom presentation is free and open to all. Preregistration required via website.
If specially equipped Deloreans like the one in Back to the Future were available at car dealerships, an awful lot of test drives would probably take potential buyers to 1893 … the White City … the Midway … the Columbian Exposition.
Here’s your chance to go, and you won’t have to worry about what 1.21 gigawatts will do to your utility bill. All it takes is in-person or Zoom registration.
Dr. Janice Katz, the Roger L. Weston Associate Curator of Japanese Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, will be at the controls, as she reveals the story of how the Exposition helped to lay the foundation for the Art Institute’s collection of Japanese art.
This generously illustrated program will transport you back 130 years to the Exposition and deliver you in modern time to the Art Institute as well. You’ll also hear about some Chicago folks whose names will ring a gong: Frank Lloyd Wright, the Buckinghams (no, not the band), and the Nickersons.
This fast-paced program (88 miles per hour!) features gorgeous art, behind the scenes stories, and one of events that’s a star on Chicago’s flag. Register today!
Register here: https://caxtonclub.org/event-5216101

Submission Deadline: George and Anna Eliot Ticknor Book and Book Culture Collecting Prize
2023-04-15 08:00 (America/New_York)
