On Collecting Books



Rare South African Book Discovered

By Susan Benne

Dr. David Culpin of St. Andrew's University came across a rare piece of travel literature while studying at the library of Sir George Grey, who was governor of Cape Colony (today's Capetown) between 1854 and 1861. The book was written in French by Charles-Etienne Boniface and published in South Africa in November 1829. The title has been paraphrased as Account Of The Wreck Of The French Ship The Eole In April 1829; as the title states, it tells the story of the Eole, a French merchant vessel that sank off Africa's coast, and of its eight survivors, who were forced to walk barefoot for three weeks in search of safety. After months of research, Dr. Culpin was able to confirm that the story was true and based on the survivors' accounts. The Eole was a French trading ship which sank during its return voyage from Calcutta. Eight of the 20 passengers and crew survived, and they spent three days with the Xhosa people before their long trek to the nearest European settlement. The book is considered rare for several reasons. It is believed to be the first book published in French and the first travel narrative published in South Africa. The description provided in the book is also of importance. Dr. Culpin notes that "the text offers an eyewitness account of contemporary Cape Town, and describes places like Grahamstown and Port Elizabeth just a few years after these settlements had been established." In addition, although travel literature was a popular genre in the early 19th century... [more Rare South African Book Discovered]



Curbed Presents Five Architecturally Impressive Libraries

By Susan Benne

Click here to view a photos of "five architecturally impressive libraries". I was especially intrigued by the fact that Yale's rare book collection is housed in a building built with "marble sliced so thin that it allows filtered light into the interior of the building, while protecting the stacks from harmful ultraviolet radiation." Pretty cool stuff! I would love to see it in person. Houses for Books: Five Architecturally Impressive Libraries [more Curbed Presents Five Architecturally Impressive Libraries]



Burns Library 'Finds' and Digitizes Unpublished Yeats Play

By Susan Benne

The Burns Library at Boston College has made a surprising discovery in their own Yeats archiveYeats' unpublished first play, Love and Death, written in 1884 when he was only 18 or 19 years of age. The play was hidden among boxes of journals, notebooks and correspondence that had been long overlooked. It was only last year when the play was re-discovered by the library as part of an in-house project to find "'high impact' candidates for digitization" in BC's archives. A team of more than 15 librarians, archivists, photographers, literary experts and a dedicated transcriber, began working on digitizing the play and taking extra precaution to "present the whole object as if you can hold it in your hands". To accomplish this, the team presents the transcribed text alongside of high-resolution photographs of the handwritten pages. Click here to view the Love and Death website. Regarding digitization, Jane Morris, BC's scholarly communication librarian who is also leading the school's digitization project, says, "It's more than a trend. This is the new work of libraries, to make these things digital and available and discoverable, instead of having them closed off to the lucky few who have the means to travel here.'' This viewpoint echos the idea of the "democratiz access to knowledge", which Robert Darnton spoke about in the Q&A that was previously posted. Boston College gives unpublished Yeats play new life online Love and Death Manuscript Archives [more Burns Library 'Finds' and Digitizes Unpublished Yeats Play]



Q & A with Robert Darnton on the Proposed Digital Public Library of America

By Susan Benne

Click here to read a Q & A with Robert Darnton, a cultural historian and the Director of Harvard University's library system, on the proposed Digital Public Library of America. Mr. Darnton made one comment in particular that speaks to worried murmurs in rare book trade: One thing we have learned from the new discipline known as “the history of the book” is that one means of communication does not displace another. Manuscript publishing actually expanded after the invention of printing by movable type, and it continued to flourish for three centuries after Gutenberg. Instead of lamenting “the death of the book,” I believe we should celebrate new possibilities of combining the printed codex with electronic technology … .The information ecology is getting richer, not thinner. Thoughts? A bookshelf the size of the world [more Q & A with Robert Darnton on the Proposed Digital Public Library of America]



Member in the News: Michael Hollander

By Susan Benne

The Hamilton Library at the University of Hawaii at Manoa is very grateful to Michael Hollander for the recovery of 218 booksand for alerting the Library of the books' absence in the first place. Michael was contacted by someone in Hawaii who was offering over 200 books for sale. The books were from the mid-1800s to the early 20th century and their total estimated value is between $50,000 to $100,000. Upon receiving six books to examine, Michael noted that they were all stamped as property of the University of Hawaii and had UH bar codes, and he immediately contacted the Hamilton Library to confirm that they were indeed offering these volumes for sale. Associate librarian Alan Grosenheider was alarmed by the call because the UH " sell books like other libraries." An internal investigation began and librarians discovered that the books were indeed missing from their shelves. Michael provided police with the seller's return address, and they in run raided a Waikiki apartment and recovered all the books. Police arrested and charged a former student of UH at Manoa with the thefts. Kudos to Michael for doing his due diligence and making the ABAA proud! Alert collector helps UH retrieve stolen rare books [more Member in the News: Michael Hollander]



Slide Show: Mark Twain’s ‘Advice to Little Girls’ by Vladimir Radunsky

By Susan Benne

Vladimir Radunsky is an author and illustrator of children's books, and has created illustrations for Mark Twain's Advice to Little Girls, a story originally published in The 30,000 Dollar Bequest and Other Stories. Of Twain's writing, Radunsky says, "He did not squat down to be heard and understood by children, but asked them to stand on their tiptoes—to absorb the kind of language and humor suitable for adults." Please click here to view the slideshow and Radunsky's accompanying post. Slide Show: Mark Twain's 'Advice to Little Girls' by Vladimir Radunsky [more Slide Show: Mark Twain’s ‘Advice to Little Girls’ by Vladimir Radunsky]