Manuscript Digest –April 2018– 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

Carnegie Haul
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 19, 2018
At Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Library, 314 rare books, atlases, and maps have turned up missing. Their value: in the millions. And that isn’t the worst of it.
• See the Manuscript Society’s blog below for links to the watch list and police contacts.

The Rhode to Replevin
Providence Journal, March 16, 2018
A judge has halted the eBay sale of Rhode Island court records dating back to 1746. Where did they come from? The would-be seller isn’t saying. But they’re back in state custody.

AA Is for Auction
Washington Post, March 9, 2018
Lost for years. Caught in the courts for months. At last Bill W.’s original manuscript for the Alcoholics Anonymous bible is again up for auction. Grab a chair.

Cursed?
Esquire, March 27, 2018
The head of Aristophil amassed a mountain of manuscripts. A star attraction: the Marquis de Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom. Did the infamous scroll cause Aristophil’s fall?

Guardians of the Gospel
The Economist, March 22, 2018
The Garima Gospels may be the greatest manuscript treasures you’ll never see. Ancient. Isolated. Intact. Meet the monks who keep them safe from plunder — and from scholars.

Colorful Past
Smithsonian.com, March 21, 2018
How did early manuscripts get those rich colors? You don’t want to know. Or maybe you do. A new show looks at pigment sources from lapis lazuli to … cow urine?
• A miniature marvel at Dublin Castle

Shore Thing
The Guardian, March 6, 2018
It’s a record! The world’s oldest message in a bottle has turned up on an Australian beach. How old? Almost 132 years. Who sent it, who found it, and what it says.

Signature Achievement
New York Times, March 10, 2018
Brazil’s Corrêa do Lago has collected more than 100,000 autographs. What they tell us about the signers — and why Steve Jobs’ signature may be worth more than Lincoln’s.
• Mom on a mission collects for a cause

Trump’s Hand
The Sun, March 9, 2018
An expert from the British Institute of Graphologists tried her hand at analyzing Donald Trump’s signature: size … spacing … slant. Did she see the strokes of genius?

Cooking: The Book
Quartz, March 28, 2018
Move over, Martha Stewart. Let’s raise a glass to Hannah Glasse, whose 1747 Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy cast the mold for generations of cookbooks.
Netherlands Trip

Go Dutch!
The Manuscript Society has a Dutch treat in store: a special tour of libraries, museums and archives in The Hague, Amsterdam, and Utrecht. Mark your calendar for November 11–17, and save your space ASAP. Remaining spots are few and filling up fast.

Ex Libris
Fodor’s Travel finds 11 famous
manuscripts around the world.
> Take the tour

Think Ink
Go from cuneiform to Kindle at
the Cary Graphic Arts Collection.
> Write on!