Manuscript Digest: September– October 2024 – This complimentary e-digest, now published bi-monthly, covers significant acquisitions and sales, manuscripts lost and found, rare books and ephemera, document conservation, and more news in this digest.

In the News

Long-Lost Constitution Hits the Block
USA Today, September 11, 2024
In 1787, Secretary of Congress Charles Thomson ordered 100 copies of the US Constitution. He signed only a few. Eight are known to survive. One is up for auction.

A Treasure Shows Its Worth
The Guardian, September 12, 2024
Since 1312, the Shem Tov Bible has survived one brush with destruction after another. When the treasured manuscript came up for auction, its history spoke volumes.

Sharp Eyes Pay Off
Manchester Evening News, September 21, 2024
A few years back, a boy spotted a black-and-white print headed for the dump. It looked cool, so he kept it. Good call. Turns out it was by Albrecht Dürer. Meaning … valuable.

New View Reveals New Clues to the Voynich
Ars Technica, September 9, 2024
Generations of scholars have taken a crack at the Voynich manuscript. Now multispectral imaging casts a new light on its mysteries.

Sketchbook Captures Hawaii’s Lost History
Civil Beat, August 18, 2024
When Captain Cook and crew landed in Hawaii, they swept up some spectacular antiquities. What happened to them afterward? An 18th-century teenager’s sketchbook traces the trail.

Sports Cards Collection Goes for the Gold
Seattle Times | New York Times, September 15, 2024
An Idaho man told a local newspaper he had the largest private baseball card collection, with 2.8 million cards. A record? Check out this trove of sports cards in Virginia.

Score One More for Mozart
Artnet News, September 20, 2024
Mozart wrote 600-some musical works. But string trios? Just a couple. Well, add one more. A manuscript by the then-teen phenom just turned up the Leipzig Municipal Libraries.

The Morgan Celebrates Its Founding Librarian
Fine Books & Collections, September 6, 2024
Belle da Costa Greene built the Morgan Library & Museum’s collections from the ground up. A centenary exhibition explores her role — and how she came to play it.

Leaf Through Lincoln’s Legacy
Smithsonian Magazine, September 27, 2024
Want more presidential perspectives this election year? Take a look inside Abraham Lincoln: His Life in Print, on show at the Grolier Club in New York.

Mail-in Ballots? Thank the Civil War
Smithsonian Magazine, September 3, 2024
In 1864, a sizable piece of the electorate — white men over 21 — was off to war. How could they vote? Enter the mail-in ballot. The National Postal Museum tracks its history.

FROM OUR BLOG

Manuscript Mondays: Six Steps of Digital Preservation That Every Collector Should Know · October 7, 8 p.m. ET

Many of us do some form of digital preservation. Tools and procedures abound, but do we know which ones to use? Join Lauren Goodley, a digital archivist at Texas State University, as she shares six steps developed by the Library of Congress. Beginners, seasoned preservationists, and everyone in between will come away with a deeper understanding of when and h0w to digitize.

OTHER POINTS OF INTEREST

Hungry? Explore food culture in the Islamic world > Sample

Lovely Find romance at Indiana U’s Lilly Library >Swoon