Manuscript Digest – December 2016 – This complimentary e-digest, launched in 2012, covers significant acquisitions and sales, manuscripts lost and found, rare books and ephemera, document conservation, and more.

IN THE NEWS

Uncle Walt’s Archivist
Los Angeles Times, November 26, 2016
For 40 years, the Manuscript Society’s Dave Smith was keeper of the flame for the Disney archives. Read about this trailblazing Hollywood historian.

Photo ID
Texas Monthly, November 3, 2016
You’ll want to talk to me, the caller said. She could identify the “face of a man” on a Texas history website. And if she’s right, it’s a pioneering find.

‘America Is Lost!’
Smithsonian, November 10, 2016
History is written by the winners. So how did George III see the American Revolution? Finally, we get his take on “the world turned upside down.”

The Invisible Wells
NPR, November 27, 2016
So often, an “unknown” manuscript was known to scholars all along. Surprise! This never-seen H.G. Wells story apparently lives up to its billing.

Sweet Mystery
The New Yorker, November 30, 2016
It’s about 600 years old, but no one’s sure who wrote it. Or in what language. The Voynich Manuscript holds its secrets — and its siren call.

New House for Wodehouse
The Guardian, November 26, 2016
The British Library has picked up the papers of P.G. Wodehouse. They shed light on a dark chapter for the creator of Bertie Wooster and Jeeves.

Five Fun Facts About …
Fine Books & Collections, November 2, 2016
… Britain’s oldest university library: the bodacious Bodleian. Books in chains. The oath of fidelity. The Phi collection. Check it out!

Look, Up in the Sky
Forbes, November 30, 2016
The International Astronomical Union has a new catalog of star names. Look back at the long — long — line of heavenly guides.
• More “Bodleianalia” coming soon >>

Shakespeare’s Star Turn
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, November 4, 2016
Take a peek behind the curtain of the First Folio’s tour. Temperature. Humidity. Resting time. See what it takes to put on the show.

How the Cuneiform Crumbles
New York Times, November 14, 2016
Need a holiday confection for the manuscript lovers on your list? Try gingerbread clay tablets. A Penn Museum scholar shares the recipe.

EVENTS

Shakespeare by the Book
From Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections
Ends December 29; closed Sundays
University of Virginia Library, 160 McCormick Road, Charlottesville
Free

Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol
Original manuscript on view
Ends January 8, 2017; closed Mondays
Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Ave., New York
Adults $20, students and seniors $13, under 13 and members free
• In the spirit: manuscript facsimile, now in a trade edition >>

A Feast for the Senses: Art and Experience in Medieval Europe
Ends January 8, 2017; closed Mondays, Tuesdays, and December 24–25
Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles St., Baltimore
Free

The Art of Ownership: Bookplates and Book Collectors 1480–Present
Ends January 15, 2017; closed Mondays
Rosenbach Museum & Library, 2008–2010 Delancey Place, Philadelphia
Adults $10, seniors $8, students $5, under 5 and members free