|
28.04.10.
Tintin's
adventures in Congo goes on trial
A Congolese man
living in Belgium is trying to have Tintin in the Congo banned in
the boy reporter's native country, almost 80 years after Tintin
first donned his pith helmet and headed for Africa to patronise
its people, slaughter its animals, and spark an undying controversy
... more
Add
a comment
Eadweard
Muybridge's motion towards Tate Britain
The Tate hosts
the biggest ever exhibition of the photography pioneer, whose life
was as intriguing as his moving images ... more
Add
a comment
26.04.10.
Alan
Sillitoe: Who are you calling angry?
Cultural history
is never fair. Alan Sillitoe, the novelist who died yesterday, will
best be remembered not just for his books, but for being one of
the original Angry Young Men of the late 1950s. Ironically enough,
this was a role that he never auditioned for, a label that he never
wore, and a movement that he didn't sign up to. Yet the appellation
stuck and Sillitoe was remembered for being an Angry Young Man for
the rest of his life. So who were these youthful angries, and what
did they achieve? ... more
Add
a comment
Letters reveal
Iris Murdoch's frustrated passion
Iris Murdoch's
passion for Raymond Queneau, and the way in which the experimental
French writer inspired the Booker-winning British novelist, are
revealed in newly-released letters which tell the story of a relationship
that spanned almost 30 years ... more
Add
a comment
Conan Doyle’s
lost ‘afterlife’ painting found
A painting of
the ghosts of dead soldiers, bought by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in
his quest to make contact with his dead son, has surfaced in Australia
after 80 years ... more
Add
a comment
22.04.10.
The
10 Oldest Books Known to Man
Due to the ever-changing
nature of archaeology and dating technology, the literature currently
considered the oldest in the world may shift in line with newer,
more exciting technologies. Regardless, however, these ancient texts
will always remain amongst the oldest known to humanity. Typically
of Egyptian, Sumerian, or Akkadian origin, the world’s first works
of literature provide an integral glimpse into how the peoples who
initially recorded their histories, stories, and religious beliefs
lived out their daily lives. By educating oneself in humanity’s
past, one does nothing but forge a deep understanding and awareness
of the present ... more
Add
a comment
Unpublished
Twain family sketch set for NY auction
Mark Twain, known
for his curmudgeonly wit and storytelling, is shown as a family
man and loving father in "A Family Sketch," a never published tribute
to a daughter who inspired two of his stories and died at 24 after
contracting spinal meningitis ... more
Add
a comment
20.04.10.
Penguin
cookbook calls for 'freshly ground black people'
A recipe for
tagliatelle with sardines and prosciutto has proved a little too
spicy for Penguin Australia, after a misprint suggesting that the
dish required "salt and freshly ground black people" has left the
publisher reaching for the pulping machine, rather than the pepper
grinder ... more
Add
a comment
19.04.10.
Library
buys 14th-century book by Catholic rebels
The handwritten
texts of Peter John Olivi, bought last month jointly with the University
of Notre Dame, could shed light on theological disputes during the
early Inquisition. Scholars have hailed them as a remarkable legacy
of the order of Spiritual Franciscans, who dared to criticize the
Roman Catholic Church for amassing vast wealth ... more
Add
a comment
George Washington's
$300,000 Library fine
Founder of a
nation, trouncer of the English, God-fearing family man: all in
all, George Washington has enjoyed a pretty decent reputation. Until
now, that is. The hero who crossed the Delaware river may not have
been quite so squeaky clean when it came to borrowing library books
... more
Add
a comment
16.04.10.
French
booksellers discover first adult Rimbaud picture
Two French booksellers
have discovered the only clear image of the 19th century French
poet Arthur Rimbaud as an adult, after stumbling across it at a
flea market ... more
Add
a comment
100 convictions,
2 poetry awards
A court was told
yesterday that a criminal with more than one hundred convictions
won two prestigious national literary awards while he was in jail.
Glen Smith, 36, from Cornshell Fields in Derry, won the Kessler
Award as well as the Listowel Writers' Award for prose and poetry
while in custody in Maghaberry Prison awaiting sentencing for further
criminal offences ... more
Add
a comment
15.04.10.
Mop-top
cartoon to clean up at auction
A cartoon self-portrait
of John Lennon is one item of Beatles memorabilia up for auction
at the end of the month ... more
Add
a comment
Yoko Ono
collects rare books
Stephen J. Gertz
had lunch with Yoko Ono during the 2010 New York Antiquarian Book
Fair ... more
Add
a comment
Stephenie
Meyer joins ranks of 'most challenged' authors
Queen of teen
vampire romance Stephenie Meyer has topped every bestseller chart
going but she has now made it onto a less coveted chart, after her
Twilight books joined the ranks of those most frequently requested
to be banned from US libraries ... more
Add
a comment
14.04.10.
Rare
Beano book found in charity shop
A rare Beano
annual is expected to raise thousands of pounds for charity when
it is auctioned in June. The Beano Annual No. 1 from 1939 was donated
to the Cancer Research UK shop at St Andrews ... more
Add
a comment
Artist creates
book of nudes for the blind
A Toronto artist
is selling nude photographs for the blind as tactile, touchable
handmade books ... more
Add
a comment
08.04.10.
Photographers
sue Google over book images
Google's plan
to create an online library of the world's books faces new delays
after photographers and illustrators filed a class-action lawsuit
against the project ... more
Add
a comment
The private
life of books
A cache of letters
I found in a set of secondhand Asimov tales sketches an intriguing
true story ... more
Add
a comment
Is the mobile
library dead?
In the age of
eBooks, its demise wouldn't be a surprise – and yet in some places
the mobile library is thriving ... more
Add
a comment
06.04.10.
200
rabbit holes await at Canadian library
The release of
Tim Burton's feature film version of Alice In Wonderland in March,
2010 has returned media focus to Lewis Carroll's 1865 classic tale
once again. And this means that all eyes are also back on the many
previous visualizations of the piece, including Sir John Tenniel's
nonpareil original illustrations ... more
Add
a comment
It’s only
books ’n’ shelves but I like it
Shhh! Keith Richards,
the grizzled veteran of rock’n’roll excess, has confessed to a secret
longing: to be a librarian. After decades spent partying in a haze
of alcohol and drugs, Richards will tell in his forthcoming autobiography
that he has been quietly nurturing his inner bookworm ... more
Add
a comment
In Shakespeare’s
back garden
Archaeologists
in Stratford-upon-Avon have made a sensational discovery: Shakespeare's
broken beer jug. Possibly ... more
Add
a comment
02.04.10.
Library
book festival declared a tasty treat
Witty puns, literary
themes and lots of delicious food were showcased at the Edible Book
Festival in the Knight Library Browsing Room on April Fool’s Day
... more
Add
a comment
The Shakespeare
whodunit
Doubts about
who really wrote the works of William Shakespeare only emerged 200
years after his death in 1616, many scholars say. But today the
controversy seems more alive than ever. A Hollywood feature about
how the Earl of Oxford secretly wrote Shakespeare's plays went into
production last month, and scholar James Shapiro tackles the authorship
question in his new book "Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare?"
... more
Add
a comment
300-year-old
stash of erotica found hidden in Lake District
A secret hoard
of lewd pamphlets written to titillate the common man more than
300 years ago have been discovered in a manor house ... more
Add
a comment
Original
manuscript of York Mystery Plays on show
Jenny Alexander,
assistant curator of fine art at York Art Gallery, views the only
surviving copy of the original manuscript of the York Mystery Plays,
which has gone on show at York Art Gallery ... more
Add
a comment
Thomas Hardy's
manuscripts are coming 'home' to Dorset
A series of rare
play scripts and stage set models by Thomas Hardy are coming "home"
to Dorset, thanks to the Dorset County Museum in Dorchester. With
the help of the local community it has raised almost £60,000 to
keep the manuscripts by the famous author in the UK ... more
Add
a comment
01.04.10.
Signed
Jane Austen novel sells for £325,000
The book is a
first edition copy of Emma which Austen presented to her friend
Anne Sharp, the inspiration for Mrs Weston in the novel. Jonkers
Rare Books in Oxfordshire paid £180,000 for it at auction in 2008
... more
Add
a comment
|
