If every book tells a story, every book has a story, bibliography tells the story of the book, and cataloging a rare book tells the story of that particular copy.But there is a fundamental difference between cataloging for the trade and cataloging for an institution: rare book dealers have to sell the books they catalogue. How you tell the story of your copy can be the difference between a sale and a shelf-puppy.Presuming that you know the fundamentals of collation, including collation by signature if you have an antiquarian book before you, physical description, and have marshaled your reference citations,...
Books Banned, Author Imprisoned
The human rights organization, Amnesty International, marks Banned Books Week (September 26- October 3, 2009) by reminding us that in some parts of the world, the price for freedom of expression is the loss of personal freedom. Librarians generally note the week with displays of books targeted for removal from school and public libraries by would-be censors. While this is a serious matter, it in no way compares to the restrictions placed on controversial books and authors worldwide.Amnesty International's website highlights the cases of writers, journalists, and documentarians who have literally risked their lives in theattempt to uphold civil liberties....
Happy Anniversary Billy Bookcase. OK, Maybe Not so Happy
Designer Gillis Lundgren and his progenyIn 1979 Ikea introduced the Billy bookcase. In 2009, there are over 40 million Billy bookcases sprinkled throughout the world. It is the best selling bookcase in the history of mankind. They're still producing over 3 million a year. Bloomberg has even begun an index tracking the cost of Ikea’s standard Billy bookshelf in 38 countries (in case you're wondering, it is currently cheapest in the United Arab Emirates and the most expensive in Israel.)In the UK, to celebrate Billy's 30th anniversary Ikea released some rather cool limited edition bookcases and other goodies that cater...
Erotika Biblia At The Colophon Club
Colophons will be swollen and printer slugs tumescent when Bruce Whiteman, Head Librarian at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library of U.C.L.A. in Los Angeles, presents an address to The Colophon Club of San Francisco on October 13, 2009 titled Erotika Biblia or, Collecting Naughty Books at a Distinguished Institutional Library (Not at the Public’s Expense, I Assure You).Bruce has been kind to share in advance with me the text of his lecture. In it, he discusses William Clark’s personal interest in erotica, erotica esoterica, and the kind of material in this area that Bruce has been acquiring for the...
Beware Of Bibliophiles Bearing Bedbugs
To avoid what amounts to a modern day version of the Trojan Horse, Denver Public Library has banned one of its most avid borrowers due to his continued introduction of vermin into the book collection.The borrower in question, Roger Goffeney, is actually uninterested in reading the books he takes out. Rather he reviews the books, comparing them to online versions scanned into the Project Gutenberg database of archived materials. Unfortunately, this review process takes place in Goffeney 's home, an apartment in downtown Denver owned by the Catholic Archdiocese. This apartment is infested with bedbugs, and therein the rub, or...