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Georgia Brady Barnhill's book, "Gems of Art on Paper: Illustrated American Fiction and Poetry, 1765–1885," provides a comprehensive and detailed account of the growth of illustrated American fiction and poetry. Barnhill explores the development of the illustration industry, from early experiments to technological advancements, and the evolution of illustrators and craftspeople. The book focuses on a neglected period of book illustration and offers a holistic view of mainstream literary illustration, discussing specific editions, illustration technologies, and important creators. Barnhill's work is a valuable resource for scholars and researchers interested in the history of book illustration in America. [Extracted from the article]

Da Rold likewise addresses the preference for parchment among the Italian humanists, who used paper as a disposable surface suitable for copying texts I in situ i , ultimately to be committed to parchment. In keeping with the interdisciplinary nature of her subject, Da Rold brings to bear a wide range of approaches, paleographical, codicological, as well as economic and literary analysis, and the result will be of interest to medievalists and media historians as well as curators and manuscript catalogers. In the epilogue, Da Rold states that the reception of paper in Medieval England depended on its multiple and diverse "affordances, not its affordability" (210), and that phrase neatly summarizes the central intervention of the book. [Extracted from the article]

The book "Women's Labour and the History of the Book in Early Modern England" edited by Valerie Wayne explores the question of whether women have a book history in early modern England. The book utilizes a range of new original sources and analysis to provide a resounding answer that women did indeed have a significant role in the book trade and cultural life during this period. The book is praised for its successes but also acknowledges its limitations, particularly in terms of its focus on English borders and its definition of "woman." Despite these constraints, the book is considered an essential piece of women's history and book history for future scholars and students. [Extracted from the article]

There were "affective" swings against color's allure, with the great architect-printmaker Giovanni Battista Piranesi achieving dramatic compositions in black and white, as did the French architect Étienne-Louis Boullée in his monochromatic wash drawings. No substantial work on color in architectural drawing existed until his own, and architectural drawings were notably absent from general studies of color and artworks. The conclusion, "The Anxiety of the Architect", summarizes the book's ideas, underscoring architecture's assertion of a professional identity through drawing, caught as architects were between science and art. [Extracted from the article]

New Light on the Early Tudor Book Trade", 409-81 New Bibliography: Taylor, Gary, "Play Manuscripts, Vectors of Transmission, and Shakespeare's I Henry the fifth i ", 343-78 I Nineteenth Century Collections Online i : Spires, Derrick R., "Order and Access: Dorothy Porter and the Mission of Black Bibliography", 255-75 Nishikawa, Kinohi, " I Mumbo Jumbo i 's Paratextual Condition", 215-54 Notary, Julian: Gwara, Joseph J., "Who Printed I Huon i ? New Light on the Early Tudor Book Trade", 409-81 Black Bibliography Project: Goldsby, Jacqueline, and Meredith L. McGill, "What is "Black" about Black Bibliography?" 161-89; Lee, Jeong Yeon, "Compiling 'A Selected Bibliography of Bibliographies of African American Writing,'" 305-07; Spires, Derrick R., "On Liberation Bibliography: The 2021 BSA Annual Meeting Keynote", 1-20; "Order and Access: Dorothy Porter and the Mission of Black Bibliography", 255-75 Black Book Interactive Project: Goldsby, Jacqueline, and Meredith L. McGill, "What is "Black" about Black Bibliography?" I Morris & Company: Essays on Fine Printing i , 142-45 20th century: Goldsby, Jacqueline, and Meredith L. McGill, "What is "Black" about Black Bibliography?". [Extracted from the article]

IX & X, Plays 2 & 3 i , 248-51 wilde, oscar: Hamby, James, review of Donohue, I The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde, Vols. IX & X, Plays 2 & 3 i , 248-51 I Early English Books Online i , reviewed, 114-17 edgar, eleazar: Mansky, Joseph, "The Case of Eleazar Edgar: I Leicester's Commonwealth i and the Book Trade in 1604", 233-41 editing: Bouchard, Mathieu D. S., "A Revised Account of the 1714 I Works of Mr. William Shakespear i ", 419-461; Hamby, James, review of Donohue, I The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde, Vols. IX & X, Plays 2 & 3 i , reviewed, 248-51 drama: Hamby, James, review of Donohue, I The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde, Vols. [Extracted from the article]

Just as we can hardly find references on how traditional I hanji i making has weathered the transformation of South Korea into a hypermodern society during the last century, Lee had to start from scratch to identify artisans who continued handmade papermaking using authentic old methods. However, Lee's engagement in traditional papermaking led her to immerse herself in the exciting versatility of I hanji i and the community of artisan-teachers using I hanji i for various crafts. [Extracted from the article]

Queer history and queer bibliography have taught us that names matter. This paper uses queer history and methodology to rethink nomenclature related to the early modern conception of the family printing dynasty and to show how heteronormative assumptions manifest in metadata and other forms of bibliographic description. It asserts that classification and the creation of metadata have never been neutral acts. Drawing on radical challenges to systems of knowledge organization made by librarians from the 1970s onwards, it suggests that such systems can and should restructure around new ideas of family that take into account queer lives, histories, and language. For the early modern period, this means acknowledging dynastic structures that were frequently nonnormative, deviating from the traditional business inheritance from father to son. To demonstrate the shortcomings of current metadata practices and the potential for reassessment, this paper utilizes three case studies related to the vague use of the terms "widow" and "heir" in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century French, Flemish, and Dutch imprints. It presents practical solutions in making metadata more accurate, including a new perspective on the print workshop as a space of collaboration, an expansion in roles expressed within a record, and increased emphasis on interoperability and open linked data. Rethinking systems of power—and acknowledging the labor that cataloging and metadata creation entail—allow for a queer bibliography that acknowledges the messiness of identity and legacy but is also precise and accurate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America has announced the recipients of the 2024 BSA Fellowship Awards. The fellowship program supports research in books and textual artifacts in both traditional and emerging formats. The recipients include scholars from various disciplines, such as history, art, literature, and more. Additionally, the Mitchell Prize for Research on British Serials was awarded to Dr. Kelly Plante for her dissertation on death writing in the Atlantic World. The Society is also calling for volunteers for various committees and working groups, emphasizing the importance of diversity and inclusion in their selection process. They are also reviewing their Equity Action Plan and organizing events that align with their mission. [Extracted from the article]

This paper initiates a watermark database that authenticates dates and origins for paper at the Cape Colony during the period of Dutch administration (1652–1795). Since surveys of watermarks used in mainland Europe do not adequately correspond to those used at the Cape, it is important to examine paper from the Cape. This article presents the first survey of such watermarks by studying the paper used by the Dutch East India Company (the VOC) to minute the Resolusies (Resolutions) of the Council of Policy meetings, connecting those watermarks with the dates of specific governors, commissioners, and chambers. The survey accomplishes three tasks: it allows for the tracing of paper routes and knowledge networks in the early modern world, it reinforces the reliability of historical records for this period of Cape and South African history, and it improves accuracy for establishing sources for the paper and its watermarks, wherever they ultimately end up. Since the Cape did not have a printing press until after the period of Dutch administration, the weight of handwritten tradition was important in the communication and dissemination of ideas, more so than elsewhere in the colonial world. A watermark database based on VOC archives would therefore be a valuable aid to the study of the manuscript culture of this region, which is still too little known. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Albums assembled from fragmentary materials present a special set of problems for bibliographic research. Inaccurately described in catalogs and often caught between different fields, these hybrid objects can be tricky to find within collections and even more difficult to place historically in terms of genre. Yet understanding these seemingly idiosyncratic albums has become more important to book history than ever, as the field pushes to tell deeper histories of the material text. This essay begins from the premise that the modern library catalog is, as an ordering technology, incapable of accurately describing these unique books. In order to dispel the fog of naïve wonderment that often persists around them, I proceed to develop a taxonomy of what fragments are (whether remnants , snippets , or pieces , with the related notion of scraps) and a spectrum of their use within collections (as specimens of something or as raw stuff to create something new). Finally, I draw on the terms laid out in this essay to survey some major genres of assembled albums, including Romantic albums, scrapbooks, paper doll houses, chromolithographic albums, Victorian photocollage, design portfolios, sample books, leaf books, and extra-illustrated volumes. By beginning to trace connections across time, this essay shows how a more sensitive reading of fragments might transform book history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This talk asks what a bibliography of birch bark books might entail and how such research might challenge understandings of paper, print production and circulation, and readership. I take up these questions by examining an array of birch bark books and objects that informed the making and circulation of the Potawatomi writer Simon Pokagon's birch bark booklet titled The Red Man's Rebuke (alternately titled The Red Man's Greeting). Although they are thought by many scholars to have been printed for the Columbian Exposition and World's Fair in 1893, I illuminate a longer history of the booklets' printing and circulation, including multiple editions and evidence of several readers. I ask what methods a bibliography of birch bark requires by reflecting on recent collaborative research with Pokagon Band of Potawatomi archivists and linguists. Attempting a bibliography of the birch bark booklets offers new insights on how Indigenous people acted as readers of periodicals and other printed objects as well as evidence of strategic circulation and archiving, from the nineteenth century to the present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the development of printing technologies and paper making, specifically focusing on the invention of a rotary press for printing newspapers. The patent model for this press is showcased in the cover image, which can be found in the National Museum of American History. The inventor, Luther Crowell, made several mechanical improvements to newspaper printing while working for R. Hoe & Co. The article highlights the connection between the increase in paper production and the demand for faster and easier printing methods. [Extracted from the article]

This article discusses the design of a special issue cover for the journal "Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America." The typeface used on the cover was created by Erin Moore in 2002 as part of their BFA thesis. Moore was inspired by early lesbian and feminist publications and developed a set of typefaces based on hand lettering found in those publications. The article highlights the importance of preserving the spirit of these community-driven newspapers in the digital age. The typeface used on the cover is based on the second issue of Lavender Woman, a Chicago-based lesbian publication from the 1970s. The full run of Lavender Woman can be accessed in JSTOR's Independent Voices collection. [Extracted from the article]

Papers presented by the BSA New Scholars are submitted to the editor of the I Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America i ( I PBSA i ) for publication, subject to peer review, and are published in the December issue as part of the proceedings of the annual meeting. The 2021 BSA New Scholars are Mathieu D. S. Bouchard (Pantzer New Scholar), Dr. Sophia Brown (Malkin New Scholar), and Ryan Low (BSA New Scholar). BSA's intent in founding the Margaret B. Stillwell Legacy Society was to recognize the long tradition of giving at BSA and to ensure a vibrant future for tomorrow's bibliographical scholars. Contributions and legacy gifts from BSA members have provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote the study of books and manuscripts as textual artifacts and have furnished important financial support to early-career bibliographers and scholars. [Extracted from the article]

For more than a century, I The Chronicle History of Henry the fift i has been almost universally regarded as a "bad quarto."[2] In fact, it was a charter member of that category, included in the 1909 initial articulation of the distinction between "good" and "bad" quartos by A. W. Pollard.[3] The five original "bad quartos" were I Romeo and Juliet i (1597), I Henry the fift i (1600), I Sir Iohn Falstaff and the Merry Wiues of Windsor i (1602), I Hamlet i (1603), and I Pericles i (1609). However, as we have already noted, the speech prefixes for the princess herself most closely link the quarto (" I Kate i ") to Shakespeare's source for the wooing scene, I The Famous Victories of Henry the fifth i (" I Kate i "), which never uses as a speech prefix the folio's " I Kath i ." or " I Kathe i ." Such marginal additions could be found in an authorial draft or a playhouse manuscript, but the fact that the material is not present in the quarto suggests that the vector of transmission was from something like the quarto to something like the folio: something apparently I added i in the margin of the pre-folio manuscript corresponds to something that the quarto does not contain, and which thus might have been I added i after the pre-quarto manuscript was composed. I The Chronicle History i is not a "bad quarto" (however defined), and I The Life i was not printed from Shakespeare's "foul papers" (or from his literary first draft). [Extracted from the article]

According to Snyder, "The parchment repair is older, as seen by the layering of the paper on top of the parchment, but both have been in place for many years (possibly centuries). I Cover image i The verso of a late thirteenth-century French parchment scroll, I Compendium historiae i (MS M.367), showing attachment and repair. Conservation work on MS M.367 was done in 2017 by Reba Fishman Snyder, the Morgan's paper conservator, in preparation for the 2018 exhibition, I Now and Forever: The Art of Medieval Time i . [Extracted from the article]

The 2021 BSA New Scholars are Mathieu D. S. Bouchard (Pantzer New Scholar), Dr. Sophia Brown (Malkin New Scholar), and Ryan Low (BSA New Scholar). Dr. Jesse R. Erickson & Dr. Sarah Werner Appointed Editors of PBSA We are delighted to announce that the new editors of I Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America i will be Dr. Jesse R. Erickson and Dr. Sarah Werner. Calls for Materials Call for Society Archives Materials Should you have BSA historical material that may be suitable for the BSA Archives in formation, kindly get in touch with BSA Executive Director, Erin McGuirl (erin.mcguirl@bibsocamer.org) to make arrangements for sending your material to the Grolier Club Library, which is the repository for the BSA records. Both have strong editorial experience: Werner was a guest editor at I Shakespeare Quarterly i , textual editor of Norton Shakespeare's I The Taming of the Shrew i and founding editor of The Collation; Erickson serves on the editorial board of the University of Delaware Press and I Publishing History i . [Extracted from the article]

At the bottom of the invoice, the paper merchants Gerrit Verduyn and Levinus Vincent detail the charge for the 5,162 reams of paper at 30,107 guilders - more than Moretus's estimated value of the entire printing house and its equipment. This invoice records the sale of 114 bales of paper to Balthasar Moretus, specifying that Moretus is responsible for acquiring and conveying the cargo of paper from France to the printing house in Antwerp at his own expense and risk. I Cover image i Detail from "Factuur voor de levering van 114 balen papier", February 2, 1666, tg:mpmak:374, Collectie Stad Antwerpen, Museum Plantin-Moretus. [Extracted from the article]

Field uses "movable" in the subtitle of her book as an umbrella term that includes novelty books. (Why Field chose this particular diagram is unclear, but a satisfying link can be made to the White Rabbit in the first of the Alice books that Field mentions on page 1.). [Extracted from the article]

To think through the tools, methods, and practices for a queer approach to bibliography, I consider my role as an assistant at BookLab, the University of Maryland's English department makerspace, and how the letterpress printing we do there informs new pedagogies of bibliographical work. I conceptualize this method of bibliographical instruction through queer theory to think through the value that makerspaces bring to bibliographical instruction and the book arts, broadly conceived, especially when organized around concepts such as creativity, experimentation, and failure. Queer makerspace bibliography not only de-essentializes books in a way that contributes to a deeper bibliographical understanding of them, but also allows students to produce material objects that matter to them and resituates affect as a core component of bibliographical work. Furthermore, I argue that BookLab's identity as a queer counterpublic space invites further examination of the relationship between queerness, makerspaces, and the book arts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Reading Mathematics in Early Modern Europe: Studies in the Production, Collection, and Use of Mathematical Books" is a collection of eleven essays that examine the intellectual and physical practices of mathematical writing, publishing, and reception in early modern Europe. The book focuses on the figure of Henry Savile, a patron of mathematical teaching, and explores topics such as the use of diagrams, the history of mathematical libraries, the challenges of publishing scholarly editions, and the analysis of marginalia. The essays provide valuable insights into the history of mathematics as a part of human culture and will be of interest to researchers studying the intellectual and social aspects of mathematics. [Extracted from the article]

This article examines the recovery of a Romantic-era, gender-nonconforming writer—known variously as David Lyndsay, Mary Diana Dods, and Walter Sholto Douglas—in relation to the methods of textual editing and bibliographical categorization involved in their work's recuperation. In doing so, it builds on recent work in queer, feminist, and trans bibliographies, attending in particular to questions of forgery and pseudonymity as they bear on Lyndsay, Dods, and Douglas's published works. I first attend to how Lyndsay, Dods, and Douglas's pseudonymous writing has itself been framed as a forgery, suggesting that this framing represents a troubling entanglement of key concepts in bibliography and textual studies with certain strands of anti-trans rhetoric. Specifically, I consider Betty T. Bennett's initial uncovering of Lyndsay, Dods, and Douglas's shared identity alongside both her articulation of her own editorial method and work in trans studies addressing issues of deception and fraud. Turning to focus more closely on questions of gender and pseudonymity, this article then proposes that pseudonymous publication itself be read as a site of trans possibility. Extending this reading of pseudonymity as potentially trans, I conclude by tracing other aspects of books and their histories that might illuminate a broader understanding of the book's role in both enabling movements away from genders assigned to bodies and communicating the possibilities of trans lives and works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advent of critical bibliography has seen critical theory put to work to reappraise the field's foundations, methods, and practices in response, in part, to categories of oppression. Recent advances in feminist, Black, trans, and Indigenous bibliographies are changing our conceptions of what bibliography is and should be. In this article we make the case for queer approaches to bibliography. Drawing on the intertwined relationship between sexuality and textuality, and between queer theory and literature, we survey the vernacular bibliographical practices of "ordinary" queer readers. We then consider the scope for a critical queer bibliography which intersects with other critical bibliographies, discuss the depth, range, and potential of the field in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and outline the prospects for a rapidly emerging subdiscipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Libros e imprenta en México en el siglo XVI" by Marina Garone Gravier is a concise and informative book that provides foundational knowledge on the history of printed books in Mexico during the 16th century. The book explores the introduction of printing with movable types in Mexico, the key figures involved, and the social and economic conditions that enabled the production and circulation of printed works. It also examines the technical aspects of bookmaking, the content and form of early Mexican editions, and the role of Indigenous peoples in the production and translation of written culture. The book concludes with a reflection on the collectability of early Mexican printed books and the importance of collaborative projects in preserving and studying them. Overall, the book offers a factual analysis of the historical, cultural, and social circumstances surrounding the printing of books in 16th century Mexico. [Extracted from the article]

This article explores the concept of queer bibliography and its relationship with other critical bibliographical traditions. It emphasizes the need for an intersectional approach, considering factors such as race, class, dis/ability, and gender alongside non-normative sexualities. The article examines the overlap between queer and Black bibliography, highlighting the value of recognizing marginalized voices and the transmission of texts. It also discusses the work of Ann Allen Shockley, a Black lesbian writer and librarian, as an example of how Black bibliography can be queer in practice. The authors argue that a new form of bibliographical studies is emerging, challenging exclusionary practices and embracing liberatory futures. Another text discussed in this summary focuses on the intersection of queer bibliography and feminist theory. It emphasizes the importance of including lived experiences and embodiment in bibliographic work, particularly through the creation of enumerative bibliographies of lesbian media by lesbian activists in the late twentieth century United States. The text also advocates for expanding the definition of bibliography to include diverse perspectives and marginalized voices. The author reflects on the role of biobibliography in preserving queer history in Latin America and shares their personal collection of books on queer personal writings. Overall, both texts stress the significance of recognizing and honoring the intersectionality of identities in bibliographic work. [Extracted from the article]

Molly G. Yarn's book, "Shakespeare's 'Lady Editors': A New History of the Shakespearean Text," sheds light on the overlooked contributions of women editors to the critical history of Shakespeare. Yarn argues that women editors played a significant role in producing and marketing popular editions of Shakespeare's works, influencing generations of readers. The book provides detailed biographical research on these women editors and their editions, drawing on material from university and library archives. Yarn's work challenges the myth that women had little involvement in Shakespeare editing until recently and calls for a reevaluation of the value of women's editorial labor. [Extracted from the article]

"Star Territory: Printing the Universe in Nineteenth-Century America" by Gordon Fraser explores the role of astronomy in early American attempts to seize territory and consolidate global power. Fraser examines how print technology, specifically newspapers and almanacs, mediated Americans' diverse approaches to astronomical study. The book highlights the ways in which marginalized groups, such as Black Americans and Cherokee Nation, used astronomy to imagine freedom, resist settler-colonial erasure, and assert sovereignty. Fraser also discusses the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac, which played a crucial role in enhancing America's global influence. The book concludes by reflecting on the continued relevance of early American engagements with space and the need to approach the universe with wonder and respect. [Extracted from the article]

This essay is occupied with attempts to provide alternative bibliographic infrastructures for marginalized communities and discusses the possibilities of queer metadata. First, I provide a definitional and literature review focused on the principles and purposes of the field of knowledge organization. Next, I introduce the Homosaurus as an example of a queer alternative to standard cataloging and classification structures. I draw from discussions on imagined records and impossible archival imaginaries in the archival studies field in order to propose the concepts of "metadatic imaginaries" and "impossible metadatic imaginaries." The essay closes with considerations about the implications for queer bibliography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the growth of liberationist LGBTQ and feminist community-based, collectively run newspapers, journals, and small presses in the United States during the 1970s, looking at three distinct, interrelated points of cultural and political tension that these publications and presses faced. The first was the need for publications to define a specific community of readers at a time when stable definitions of community were fluid and often highly contested. The second tension concerned these groups' grappling with the interplay between the radical politics of these publications and their collectives and the more assimilationist, often conservative, groups and journals that came before them, and to which they were, in some ways, indebted—a tension that led to a desire to uncover a history of same-sex and feminist activities as an affirmation of their identity, leading to a plethora of sloppy historical conjecture and misinformation that created a "feel good" sense of the past that was often at odds with the groups' usually more rigorous sense of historical analysis. The third tension was how these groups could maintain their liberationist political identities as discussion of same-sex themes were becoming more prevalent—even marketable—in mainstream media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The document provides information about the Bibliographical Society of America (BSA) and its various programs and opportunities. The BSA invites individuals interested in the study of material texts to become members and offers annual memberships with benefits such as access to the journal, discounts, and online archives. The society also has calls for proposals, volunteers, and applications for programs like the New Scholars Program and fellowships. Additionally, the document mentions the BSA's efforts to reduce its exposure to fossil fuel investments and promote inclusivity within the society. [Extracted from the article]

The book review discusses "Códice Maya de México: Understanding the Oldest Surviving Book of the Americas," which is a volume published to accompany an exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum. The book explores the authenticity and significance of the Mesoamerican pictorial document, which is believed to be the oldest of the four pre-Hispanic Maya codices. It provides insights into the historical context, iconography, and content of the codex, as well as the Maya culture, bookmaking, scribal practice, and astronomy. The volume includes contributions from scholars and archaeologists, synthesizing previous investigations and offering new insights into the codex. It is a concise and accessible resource that sheds light on the importance of the codex to contemporary Maya communities. [Extracted from the article]

Marcy J. Dinius's book, "The Textual Effects of David Walker's 'Appeal': Print-Based Activism against Slavery, Racism, and Discrimination, 1829–1851," explores the impact of David Walker's pamphlet, "An Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World," which called for Black liberation. Dinius examines five adaptations of the pamphlet over a twenty-year period, analyzing the materiality of the text and its influence on Black and Indigenous rhetorical and print cultures. The book highlights the interconnectedness of these texts and their role in advocating against slavery and racial discrimination. Dinius's work contributes to the field of Black bibliography and emphasizes the importance of preserving and studying these texts in the face of censorship and the erasure of marginalized voices. [Extracted from the article]

This article considers the fugitive slave narrative as an important episode in the history of the book. It notes the multiple editions to which many of these books ran, and the difficulty of determining a comprehensive bibliographic record of publication. We establish this bibliographic record for Moses Roper's autobiography, Narrative of the Adventures and Escape of Moses Roper from American Slavery , whose sixteen editions were published between 1837 and 1849 in English and Welsh, in what the article identifies as six phases of publication. The article argues for the documentary importance of the paratextual material and visual imagery folded into each edition as extensions of the autobiographical record and, therefore, moments of historical redefinition that respond to the material, economic, social, and cultural conditions of production. This includes the capacity of Black writing to establish spheres of Atlantic print culture other than Anglophone. The article shows that the bibliographic surfeit of nineteenth-century Black writing exemplified by Roper's work provides an untapped biographical resource in which important clues to the biographies of their authors, and of their families in slavery and in freedom, lie hidden in plain sight. Bibliographic attention to Roper's work therefore reveals the novel ways in which the book was systematized as a form of archival practice at a time when it was necessary to travel light, and the public sphere provided one of the few hopes of establishing a durable record of the author's personal and family history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Giancarlo Petrella's book, "Scrivere sui libri: Breve guida al libro a stampa postillato," serves as a guide to annotated early printed books, known as postillati. The book is divided into three chapters that explore the history of annotated books, ownership traces and provenance, and reading evidence. Petrella provides numerous examples and a solid methodological approach to understanding the material history of books and reading. While the book may have some flaws, it is an important and indispensable work in the field of marginalia studies, particularly in Italy. [Extracted from the article]

This article describes four types of historical shelf mark—a letter, number, or other symbol in or on a book that signals the book-press, -case, or -shelf to which that book belonged—that survive from the University of Virginia's first library, a collection of approximately eight thousand volumes that first opened to students in 1826. While shelf marks can serve as evidence of ownership and provenance, they can also facilitate efforts to reconstruct a historical library's architecture and arrangement. From the evidence of the University of Virginia's early shelf marks, we propose a timeline dating each mark to a particular period in the library's history, establish that significantly more books survive from the university's first library than previously accepted, and show how these shelf marks inform our work to reconstruct the layout, size, and location of the university's earliest bookshelves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Object of Jewish Literature: A Material History" by Barbara E. Mann explores the concept of materiality in Jewish literature. Mann argues that the materiality of text, defined as the meaningful affective qualities of haptic or sensory experience, is an important aspect of twentieth-century modernist Jewish literature. She examines various genres, including poetry, novels, graphic novels, and artist's books, to demonstrate how the materiality of text functions across different forms of Jewish literature. However, the book has limitations, such as a lack of clarity regarding the conveyance of materiality and a reliance on translation that blurs distinctions between languages. Additionally, the connection between the physical book and the text itself is not well-established in Mann's analysis. [Extracted from the article]

"The Private Library: Being a More or Less Compendious Disquisition on the History of the Architecture and Furnishing of the Domestic Bookroom" by Reid Byers is a comprehensive exploration of the evolution of private libraries from ancient times to the present. Byers examines the different types of libraries and their architectural designs throughout history, highlighting the connection between the storage and reading of books. The book focuses primarily on Western libraries, but also briefly touches on libraries in other regions. While the text provides valuable insights, it could benefit from further contextualization and exploration of topics such as accessibility and organization. [Extracted from the article]