Charles Dickens' Manuscript On Display At The Morgan Library. (Photo By Angel Franco for The New York Times.)The Morgan Library and Museum in Manhattan is offering modern readers a chance to see the creative process behind Victorian literature's most enduring holiday tale, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The library, housed in an Italian renaissance style palazzo in Murray Hill, holds the original manuscript of the story, written and rewritten in Dickens' own hand. According to Alison Leigh Cowan of The New York Times, the manuscript goes on display each year at the Morgan, but under glass, with only a single...
Jonathan Littell Wins 2009 Bad Sex in Fiction Award
U.S. writer Jonathan Littell has now added Literary Review's Bad Sex in Fiction award to the honors bestowed upon his 900-page novel, The Kindly Ones, an international best-seller and recent winner of the Goncourt prize, France's highest honor to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year." The winner was announced last night in London.The awards were established by the editors to “gently dissuade authors and publishers from including unconvincing, perfunctory, embarrassing or redundant passages of a sexual nature in otherwise sound literary novels.” They are annually awarded to the author who produces the worst,...
Reading Is No Bed of Roses On This Bed
If you thought the Tempurpedic™ mattress was the last word on healthy and comfortable rest, the Swedish have produced a sharp alternative based upon an old, tried and true style of torturous relaxation.Welcome back the bed of nails, 21st century-style.Power-napping at the office. Note that books can be propped upfor reading by carefully inserting them within the spikes.Caution: Always take care when turning pages.Those who enjoy reading while reclining, particularly at bedtime, may find that the new nail beds require a period of adjustment before curling up with a good book can begin. Words on the page assaulting the eyes...
Waldo Hunt and Pop-Up Books: A Brief Overview
Meggendorfer, Lothar. Travels of Little Lord Thumb and His Man Damian. London: H. Grevel, n.d. [1890s]. The pop-up or moveable book has come a long way since the groundbreaking work of Lothar Meggendorfer (1847-1925), the gifted Munich-based illustrator who brought visual sophistication, innovative paper engineering with complex mechanics, and humor to movable books. The Genius of Lothar Meggendorfer: A Movable Toy Book. New York: Random House , 1985. After Meggendorfer, the form declined amongst artists and faded from the general public’s consciousness. The skills were at risk of becoming lost. Much, if not most, of the credit for the revival...
African American Archivist’s Dream Must Not Be Deferred
Avery Clayton (1947-2009)Avery Clayton lived long enough to find a home for the largest collection of African American artifacts on the West Coast. But not long enough to see the treasure trove of rare books, manuscripts, photographs, feature films and ephemera, his mother's life's work, made available to the public. Mr. Clayton died suddenly on Thursday, while hosting a Thanksgiving dinner. He was 62 years old.Mayme A. Clayton (1923-2006)Clayton's mother, Mayme, spent 40 years amassing materials on African American history from every source imaginable: garage sales, flea markets, attics, used-book stores, and even dumps. She rescued thousands of rare books,...