Joie du Livre: FABS Newsletter for December 2023

 

The Zodiac Man, from the Très Riches Heures of Jean, Duc de Berry. Early 15th century. Image: Wikimedia.

The years go by so fast
Like a snake going into his hiding place
Already most of the scales have disappeared
Who can obstruct time’s departure?

-End of the Year: Three Poems, No. 3, lines 1-4 by Su Dongpo.

Here is the news from FABS for December.

Bindings Terminology Database Seeks a Home

The Language of Bindings (LoB) thesaurus database needs a new host and may go offline by the end of December if none is identified. The database is in Drupal. If you have an idea for saving this important resource, please contact me at info@fabsocieties.org.

The American Society of Bookplate Collectors & Designers reminds you that their bookplate competition for 2024 is open (theme: Breakfast at Tiffany's) and invites you to view their online exhibition Ex Libris: The Art of Contemporary World Bookplates. Membership page is HERE.

FABS Member Society Online/Virtual Events for December: Free and Open to the Public

"Books that Shakespeare might have read" is the topic of collector Paul Chrzanowski's presentation, entitled A Collection of Early English Books: Reading in the Age of Shakespeare. Attendees will be treated to a wide range of books, now housed in UCLA's William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, that illustrate reader interests in 16th century England. (Dec 4, Book Club of California)

Chat about favorite manuscript memories from 2023, show a piece from your collection, or ask a question of the experts during the Manuscript Mondays: “Thanksgiving Leftovers” Open Discussion. All are welcome (Dec 4, The Manuscript Society)

Molly Guptill Manning leads a virtual tour of her Grolier Club exhibition "The Best-Read Army in the World" followed by a Q&A. The show displays printed materials distributed to members of the military in WWII: miniaturized versions of popular magazines and newspapers, propaganda leaflets, and the smallest mass-produced paperbacks in history, the “Armed Services Editions.” (Dec 5, The Grolier Club)

French writer Fanny Reybaud was as popular as George Sand in her time, but mostly forgotten until now. In her presentation, Barbara Basbanes Richter shares her research on Reybaud and her new translation of Reybaud's masterpiece, Madame Malepeire. (Dec 7, The Grolier Club)

 

The FABS Handpress Era Zoom group will meet on Monday Dec. 11 at 7:30pm Eastern, 4:30pm Pacific; topics TBA! Join us for an enjoyable hour of learning and conversation. For a link please contact Jennifer at info@fabsocieties.org.

How does one capture dance in writing? Throughout history, dance documentarians have devised intricate methods of notation and used varied material formats to represent movement practices. This presentation by Mara Frazier, Curator of Dance and Movement at Ohio State's Thompson Library Special Collections, will delve into resources from the Institute’s rich holdings on dance. (Dec 12, The Grolier Club)

Medical book collectors, this one's for you: "Five Centuries of Collecting Vesaliana." As the Caxton Club says, "You’ll want to join us in the operating theatre as Russell Johnson, Curator for History of Medicine and the Sciences at UCLA Special Collections peels back (so to speak) the story of this remarkable publication and introduces you to the John A. Benjamin collection. (Dec 15, The Caxton Club)

 

The FABS 19th Century Zoom Group will meet Thursday December 21 from 7:30-8:30 Eastern, 4:30-5:30 Pacific. Join us for convivial discussion of all things 1800's and bibliophilic! For a link contact Jennifer at info@fabsocieties.org.

And a sneak peak at January, when we will be treated to "The Newly Discovered Notebook of Isaac Newton." Scott Mandelbrote of Cambridge University will discuss the recently-purchased notebook, which provides valuable evidence of Newton's reading habits at a critical juncture in the development of his ideas. (Jan 17, The Book Club of California)

 

Contact: Jennifer Larson (info@fabsocieties.org)

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