Manuscript Digest – September 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

Decoding the Civil War
Los Angeles Times, August 19, 2016
After the war, 15,971 Union telegrams were stashed in a trunk for more than a century. Now an army of volunteers is seeing what history missed.
• Try your hand at transcribing. 

Returning History to Virginia
Roanoke Times, August 3, 2016
In 1862 Union troops swept away countless Charles City County records. How an autograph dealer helped bring hundreds of the documents home.

True Tales of Rare-Book Theft
American Libraries, August 17, 2016
The Catholic University case. The National Library of Sweden case. Shhh! Get the inside story on high-profile heists and tips for recovery.

The Voynich Lifts the Veil
The Guardian, August 21, 2016
Soon a tiny Spanish publisher will let a lucky few own a copy of the mysterious manuscript. If only they could read it.

Secret Images in a Mexican Manuscript
Live Science, August 19, 2016
Of the codices made in the Americas before the Europeans came, only 20 survive. One of them was holding its secrets, until now.

Nixon’s New Image
Los Angeles Times, August 16, 2016
What’s the official story of the Nixon presidency? History is taking another shot as the Nixon library gets a makeover.
• What’s up with Obama’s library 

Hidden Libraries, Lost and Found
BBC, August 19, 2016
Put on your spelunking gear and explore the Dunhuang caves, the Cairo Genizah, and secret libraries that could be hiding on your bookshelf.
• Get the lowdown on NYPL’s underground movement.

The New Age of Old Records
Federal Times, August 19, 2016
The tipping point is coming up fast. What happens when most of the historical record is born digital? A talk with a NARA official in the know.
• The challenges of Germaine Greer’s era-spanning archive

Artists, in Their Own Hand
Smithsonian, August 12, 2016
The Smithsonian has been transcribing letters by artists, Grandma Moses to Jackson Pollock. See what happens when art meets pen.

About Those 11 Herbs and Spices
Chicago Tribune, August 19, 2016
A family album … A handwritten note … A double take … Did someone just spill the beans on the Colonel’s secret recipe?

EVENTS

Brooklyn Antiquarian Book Fair
September 9–11
Brooklyn Expo Center, 79 Franklin St., Brooklyn
Friday–Sunday $25, weekend $15, Saturday $10, Sunday $7

Charlotte Brontë: An Independent Will
September 9–January 2, 2017, closed Mondays
Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Ave., New York
Adults $20, seniors and students $13, under 13 and members free

Grand Opening Weekend
National Museum of African American History and Culture
September 24–25
Additional timed passes available September 6, 9 a.m. EDT
1400 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC
Free
• Meet the man behind the Smithsonian’s new museum. 

These are the Voyages: Celebrating 50 Years of Star Trek
Ends October 7
Lilly Library, 1200 E. Seventh St., Bloomington, IN
Free