The venerable Library of Congress can't locate a whopping thirteen percent of its collection. (The number was originally 17%, but a subsequent review found that four percent of the collection was checked out, misshelved, or otherwise unavailable.) With 130 million volumes in the institution, that means that 16.9 million of them are AWOL. Read the … Continue reading 87% There
To Get Rich Is Glorious
The syndicated radio program "The Engines of Our Ingenuity" (think Mr Wizard in audio format) recently ran a fascinating episode about the Gutenberg Bible. Among the gems about Gutenberg's design (the proportions of the page and the type block both follow the Golden Section) and late medieval reading habits (reading silently to oneself was considered … Continue reading To Get Rich Is Glorious
Happy Trails
Penguin has come out with another series of old books made new. The "Great Travels" series includes classic works by authors including Anton Chekov, Olaudah Equiano, Mark Twain, and Nunez Cabeza de Vaca. There's a nice display near our section of travel writing.Just as nice are the covers. They're pretty little matte designs in jewel … Continue reading Happy Trails
