An international organization of persons and institutions devoted to the collection, preservation, use, and enjoyment of autographs and manuscripts.
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Books with paintings on the edge of their pages are treasured by collectors. But even they may not know about documentation that can be hiding in the books themselves. Learn their secrets in tonight’s free Manuscript Mondays webinar, 8 PM EDT. Register at manuscript.org/2026/08/manus…
In New York? Mark your calendar for September 19 and head for the Strand Bookstore, celebrating its 99th birthday with a sale. Third floor, rare books. Here’s to 100! secretnyc.co/strand-bookstor…
Before Fast Company was a business magazine, it was a 1938 crime novel set in the rare-book world. In a new edition, an introduction by Nicholas A. Basbanes dives into the 1929 auction of Jerome Kern’s collection. IYKYK. Read it here. crimereads.com/how-harry-kur…
What is that old book on your shelf worth — to you and on the rare book market? The gift of a vintage copy of “All the President’s Men” raised the question. And a few calls to experts yielded a short list of clues. msn.com/en-us/news/us/six-wa…
Spring into fall with the new edition of the Manuscript Society Digest. You'll find news to peruse of a Declaration of Independence sale, discovery, and mystery. Plus rare book thievery, the original Odyssey, and a striker's gift to his hometown library. p0.vresp.com/aQGJax
St Mary's church in Chediston, Suffolk, UK, had a rare intact copy of the Paraphrases of Erasmus from 1548. “Rare” because many were destroyed in the time of Mary I. “Had” because it’s been stolen from its locked case. Rare book dealers, keep an eye out. bbc.com/news/articles/cn8ej6…
How do you handle a papyrus manuscript — and clean it and store it? Ask the experts at the University of Michigan’s Papyrus Conservation Summer Seminar. It’s keeping the craft alive. Now another generation can read the Odyssey text in its original form. cbsnews.com/detroit/news/uni…
So much medieval material is digitized and online. But a look at the physical object can reveal another layer of meaning. Case in point: manuscript fragments found inside the cover of a rebound book from the 14th century. One thing led to another, and … theguardian.com/uk-news/2026…
A 1482 first edition of Euclid’s Elements. An 1871 handwritten Japanese Gospel of Matthew. A 1983 copy of Electronic Games, the first joint cover appearance of Mario and Donkey Kong. Book collectors are eclectic. So was the Dallas Antiquarian Book Fair. dmagazine.com/arts-entertain…
Nosing around the International Antiquarian Book Fair in Manhattan, an erstwhile New York Times reporter came across a piece of history: the Hiroshima bombing diary of the Ebola Gay copilot. He smelled a story. What he found went far beyond the bombing. nytimes.com/2026/08/06/insid…
“The Antiquities of Athens” was the 506th title in the Kiama Public Library of New South Wales. Then in the 1870s, someone checked it out. And out it stayed, until this year. Where had it been all that time? For a good while, it seems, inside a fireplace. smithsonianmag.com/smart-new…
In 2022 a box landed at a USO office in New York. In it were more than 300 letters from Speedy to Frances. Where did they come from? And how could the USO get them back to the family? For answers, they turned to a reporter, an archivist, and an actor. smithsonianmag.com/history/t…
Is a restored T206 Honus Wagner baseball card a home run — or a blooper? We’re about to find out. sportscollectorsdigest.com/s…
The Morgan Library & Museum has a collection of more than 1,300 medieval and Renaissance manuscripts spanning 10 centuries. Not near the Morgan? A $2.5 million grant from the Lilly Endowment will help put some of them in reach — virtually at least. finebooksmagazine.com/fine-b…
Soak an animal pelt in lye and remove the fur. Scrape it thin. Stretch it on a frame. Rule it with a stylus. Then dip a quill in ink and write. Illuminate with gold leaf and colors. How to make a medieval manuscript, focus of a new exhibition at the Getty. finebooksmagazine.com/fine-b…
What’s the oldest book in Australia? A 10th-century manuscript of Saint Jerome’s commentary on Isaiah — as soon as it lands. It’s flying in for the 2026 Melbourne Rare Book Fair, July 30-August 1. Who’s offering it and where it’s coming from. finebooksmagazine.com/fine-b…
The Chinese manuscripts taken from the University of California, LA were just the latest examples of pilfering and pillaging from libraries and archives. A history of thefts from the Beinecke, Carnegie, LOC… Why theft isn’t an easy problem to hack. pressreader.com/usa/usa-toda…
Chicago 7 trial transcripts. Great Lakes maritime records. Documents on tribal nations. Just a few of the items that will no longer be available for local research when the National Archives and Records Administration closes its Chicago facility. blockclubchicago.org/2026/07…
Only two ceremonial parchment copies of the Declaration of Independence are known to exist. One is at the US National Archives. The other? At the West Sussex Record Office in Chichester, England. How it got there and how it was found. uk.news.yahoo.com/rare-manus…
“When they arrived … it was like Christmas.” The excitement of adding newly acquired medieval manuscripts to the Université de Montreal Rare Books and Special Collections Library. Is old paper the ultimate counterbalance to the digital age? ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/…
