Bygone Books Blog

“Happy Christmas to All ~ And to All a Good Night!”

Janeite Deb — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 22:38:52 +0000

[Image: Postcard - illustration from
Thomas Nast Christmas Postcards. Dover, 1985.]

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas!

Exhibition Notes: “From Pen to Print” ~ Boston Public Library

Janeite Deb — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:08:07 +0000

From Pen to Print: The Handwriting Behind the Book is an exhibition that features handwritten letters, notes, postcards, and other manuscripts that reveal personal, private, and otherwise veiled aspects of the production of books. Putting authors’ manuscript materials on display alongside their print books, the exhibition reveals the passions, obsessions, lofty dreams, and gritty realizations triggered by the writing and publishing process. These materials capture the relationships between 19th- and 20th-century American authors, editors, and readers, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Alice Cary, Rufus Griswold, Walt Whitman, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Anne Warren Weston, Sarah Grimke, Angelina Grimke, Charles Folsom, and Robert Frost. These writers’ correspondence and notes, paired with rare, early editions of the books discussed therein, bring many fascinating facets of composition and publishing to light, notably the working relationships between authors and their editors and the interactions between authors and their readers. The exhibit also offers such curiosities as digitally enlarged signatures and passages from autographs, cross-hatched letters, and a selection of author portraits.

This exhibition is the result of an innovative, ongoing partnership between UMass-Boston’s English M.A. Program and the Boston Public Library. UMass-Boston students take a semester-long course in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Room, engaging in hands-on research that generates a student-curated exhibit. This exhibition presents the results of a seminar that focused on the scholarly transcription and annotating of handwritten texts. Previous years’ topics have included books from colonial Boston, Shakespeare, public poetry, and the origins of the British novel.

The exhibition is free and open to the general public. It is located in the Rare Books Exhibition Room on the third floor of the Boston Public Library’s McKim Building, and is open M, T, W, F – 9am – 5pm; Th – 11am – 7pm. The exhibition runs through March 30, 2012.

[Image and text from the BPL Website]

Travel Thoughts ~ Visiting Libraries

Janeite Deb — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 13:27:09 +0000

If you still like to look at and hold books or visit libraries when you are traveling, here is a great article at msnbc.com about five spectacular libraries to visit on your worldly travels: “Leaf Through a Library on Your Next Trip,” by Harriet Baskas…

Stuttgart Central Library, Stuttgart, Germany

Happy Halloween!

Janeite Deb — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:08:01 +0000

[Raphael Tuck & Sons "Hallowe'en" Post Cards Series No. 150]

Happy Trick or Treatin’!

Happy Fourth of July!

Janeite Deb — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 17:56:08 +0000

Have a great holiday weekend one and all!

Happy Easter!

Janeite Deb — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 14:26:13 +0000

[Vintage postcard from my collection]

Hope your day is filled with Love, Books, and Chocolate!

Who’s Buying What & Where!

Janeite Deb — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 19:34:10 +0000

This is cool! – you can go into Book Depository and “Watch People Shop” – pop-ups on a world map show you who just bought what from anywhere in the world. Take a few minutes to watch – delightful to see Buying and Reading! Here is the link: http://www.bookdepository.com/live

[Map image: mapsofworld.com]

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

Janeite Deb — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:43:24 +0000

Wishing you all a day filled with Love & Chocolate!

A Winter Reading List ~ Penguin Style

Janeite Deb — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 17:36:55 +0000

Wondering what to read for the next few months of winter [despite what Punxsutawney Phil has to say about it!] – Penguin has just released their New 10 Essential Penguin Classics, the follow-up to last year’s 10 Essential Classics compiled by Penguin. This year’s list is compiled by readers, a.k.a. you, the reading masses.

Good to know that Pride & Prejudice made both lists: number 1 by readers, number 3 by Penguin…. just sorry to see Steinbeck off the list – anyway, it is a great reading list, or re-read list – this latest winter storm is the best excuse to hunker down and enjoy a great read after a hefty snow shoveling adventure!

The Results are…

Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice
William Shakespeare. Hamlet
Mark Twain. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Homer. The Odysssey
Charlotte Brontë. Jane Eyre
William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet
Charles Dickens. Great Expectations
Louisa May Alcott. Little Women
Emily Brontë. Wuthering Heights
Geoffrey Chaucer. The Canterbury Tales

Visit the Penguin site for an 8-minute video conversation by Laura and Dave…

A Jane Austen Day!

Janeite Deb — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 14:57:39 +0000

Visit my Jane Austen in Vermont blog for a post on Austen’ s birthday, today, December 16, 1775.

See also the latest Persuasions On-Line, Vol. 31, No 1, released today on the JASNA.org website.