Ever wonder which library has the most expensive budget or what the names of the first three books to contain photographs are?or what about:-The name of the first book to have page numbers-The title of the largest and smallest and most expensive books ever published-or the tallest bookstore and library buildings in the worldWell, wonder no more. The second of edition of Library World Records by Godfrey Oswald has just been published by McFarland. This updated and expanded edition contains more than 380 entries providing answers to hundreds of new questions about libraries, periodicals, books, and reference databases.Here's the table...
Library of the Left Behind
The Conde Duque hotel in downtown Madrid has added a new library to its mix of guest services. The library consists exclusively of books left behind by hotel guests.The library currently houses 250 books in a variety of languages.According to the story "one of the titles that attracts the most attention of visitors to this unusual library is a Spanish translation of Book of Mormon"Other books include "a cookbook with traditional Roman recipes, a title about Michael Jackson's dance steps, the memoirs of Spanish bullfighter Jose Ortega Cano and handbooks of natural remedies."There are also plenty of travel related books...
Fortified Book
Here is a copy of Thomas a Kempis's Works printed in Nuremburg in 1494 and bound around the same time.Not one for the beach but clearly built to last.The book now lives at the Folger Shakespeare Library.And for those who revel in the details - the Folger Shakespeare Library's full catalog description of the binding:"Bound in a German chained binding, c. 1495, of alum tawed pigskin over wooden boards with blind decoration and adorned with brass corner bosses, title plaque, clasps, and several links of iron chain. Both covers blind tooled with three-line fillet border. Upper cover decorated with a...
History Through Food : Eating in Toronto, 1830-1955
Local Flavour: Eating in Toronto, 1830-1955 is currently on view at The Toronto Public Library's TD Gallery . The exhibition features highlights from the library's Special Collections and looks at "Toronto’s history through cooking and dining" The exhibit includes cookbooks, advertisements and photographs."The exhibition traces 125 years of culinary history in Toronto from the publication of early cookbooks to the development of household appliances; the rise of manufactured and convenience foods; grocery stores; victory gardens and rationing during the war years; dining out and the growing sophistication of an urban palate."The exhibit is curated by librarian Sheila Carleton of the...
Handle This Book!
From Thursday's New York Times on university librarians incorporating their rare book collections into undergraduate coursework:“These objects are a link to the past, and they have a power that is undeniable,” Mr. Pollack says after class. “But these materials also are wonderful teaching tools that pose questions about how we know what we know.”This represents a new way of thinking: rare books should be a hands-on experience.“We’re not running a museum,” Mr. Pollack says.Rare books and manuscripts, once restricted to scholars and graduate students in white gloves, are being incorporated into undergraduate courses at institutions like the University of Iowa,...