Manuscript Digest – December 2017 – 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

Hey, Kid!
New York Times, November 16, 2017
What was a Wild West tintype doing in a North Carolina flea market? Worth $10 easy. Wait, the guy on the right. Is that Pat Garrett? And on the left … OMG.

Ciao, Italia
Il Globo, November 27, 2017
Break out the Asti, da Vinci’s Codex Leicester is coming home. Why the excitement? It hasn’t been in Italy since 1995, soon after Bill Gates bought it for a record $30 million.
• Florence sends the oldest Latin Bible packing

Big, Fat Harry Record
Robb Report, November 24, 2017
Another auction and — presto! — like magic, another record price for a Harry Potter first edition. What’s the rarest of them all, and why the run on Rowling may be coming to an end.

Edward and Will
Daily Mail, November 15, 2017
The Duke of Windsor’s will has been sealed up tight since his death in 1972. That’s about to change. The copyright question, and the drama series, behind the big reveal.
• The secret skill of Prince Harry’s fiancée (see No. 5)

Dead (Sea) Letters
BBC, November 30, 2017
In 1883 someone tried to sell the British Library a set of really old scrolls. Too bad they were fakes. Or were they? Scroll down for answers from the Dead Sea.

Before Coco
Los Angeles Times, November 27, 2017
As Pixar’s new movie makes headlines, a 16th-century manuscript is putting Mexican culture in the spotlight. See Mexico City as the worlds of Aztecs and Spain came together.

Old Files and Fire
Press Democrat, November 20, 2017
Fire a quarter mile away and no evacuation plan. A close call for Sonoma County’s archives sparked a discussion about disaster preparedness. But for some records, it came too late.

To Lilly with Bond
IndyStar, November 2, 2017
Venice. Cyprus. Gibraltar. Zimbabwe. Ian Fleming’s Agent 007 covered the globe. How did his papers end up in Indiana? It’s not a state secret. And no, Lilly is not the new Bond girl.

Museum Reboot
Illinois Times, November 9, 2017
In the Land of Lincoln, a pocket-size museum is making a comeback. Get a sneak peek at the Grand Army of the Republic Museum as its incoming curator lays out his plan of attack.
• Wars and remembrance

‘Play Ball’
Time, November 8, 2017
With those two words, Ike gave the green light for US troops to invade North Africa. Read the original message at a WWII museum and learn more about the Casablanca connection.

For the Books
Check it out: the oldest texts in 12 great libraries.
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Linkin’
Papers of Abraham Lincoln go online — honest.
> Click