Manuscript Digest – November 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

Law of Unintended Consequences
Los Angeles Times, October 14, 2016
A California law aimed at fake autographs could cause collateral damage for book and comics stores. How it passed and who’s behind it.
• How the LA Times responded

What Happened to John Hancock’s John Hancock
Washington Post, October 21, 2016
The damage to the Declaration of Independence isn’t just natural aging, experts say. More like a facelift gone awry — and not so long ago.

Who Wrote Shakespeare?
BBC News, October 24, 2016
It’s not a trick question. A new edition gives coauthor credit for Henry VI to one of the Bard’s rivals. Some scholars aren’t convinced.

The Hand that Held the Psalter
The Guardian, October 1, 2016
The author of Remarkable Manuscripts thinks he knows who first owned the Canterbury Psalter. If he’s right, it’s spine-chilling.
• A Guardian cartoon on the “fiddly bits” of illuminated manuscripts

Biblical Revelation
Pioneer Log, October 14, 2016
An archiving assistant at Lewis & Clark College came across a box marked “Bibles.” Popped it open. Then he saw the date. 1599? Holy moley!

The Scientist and the ‘Swiss Agent’
STAT, October 12, 2016
Could the culprit behind Lyme disease have been lurking in a researcher’s garage? Long-lost files point to the mysterious “Swiss Agent.”

Goodbye, Columbus. Hello … Newark?
New York Times, October 25, 2016
Philip Roth set much of Goodbye, Columbus in the Newark Public Library. So where is he leaving his 4,000-volume book collection?

The True Value of Rare Manuscripts
The Spectator, October 1, 2016
Land. Gold. Old paper. Their value traditionally trends up. How does collecting translate to investing? Hear from some voices in the field.

Delving Into Digital Archaeology
Forbes, October 28, 2016
Bibles and sundials and shipwrecks. Oh, my. Explore the the University of Chicago’s Goodspeed Manuscript Collection and more.

Witch on a Stick
Hyperallergic, October 23, 2016
While the Halloween candy is still fresh, take a minute to ponder: Why broomsticks? How did that get started? Presto! Mystery solved.
• Scottish ancestors? Find the witches in your family tree.

EVENTS

The Alchemy of Color in Medieval Manuscripts
Ends December 31; closed Thanksgiving, December 25
Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles
Free

Charlotte Great and Small
Ends January 1, 2017; closed December 24–27, 2016
Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth, Keighley, West Yorkshire, UK
Adults £7.50, students £6.50, children £3.75, under 5 free
• Can’t make it to the parsonage? Read about Brontë’s New York show.

Edgar Allan Poe in Baltimore
Selections from the Susan Jaffe Tane Collection
Ends February 5, 2017; closed Mondays and December 18–January 2
George Peabody Library, 17 E. Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore
Free
• Learn more in the Baltimore Sun.

It’s Hell But Here We Are Again
Art Young political cartoons from the Collection of Anthony J. Mourek
Ends March 31, 2017; closed weekends and holidays
Loyola University Chicago, Cudahy Library, 1032 W. Sheridan Road, Chicago
Free