Category Archives: History

Second City History

Guest post courtesy of Lindsey Washington.   The Chicago Postcard Museum is a privately endowed, independent organization devoted to collecting and presenting Chicago history through picture postcard imagery and correspondence. The Museum displays collections of Rare, Antique, vintage and contemporary … Continue reading

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Attention Map Geeks

The amazing new exhibition, Strait Through: Magellan to Cook & the Pacific at the Main Gallery of the Firestone Library, Princeton University runs until January 2, 2011 The fascinating exhibition documents the drama of the unfolding European exploration of the Pacific … Continue reading

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The End of An Era

Thanks to Nicky Gardner for this story. When Tobias Smollett left England for France in 1763 he was in no particular rush to get anywhere. The famously ill-tempered Smollett made his way to Dover, complaining about the cold and comfortless … Continue reading

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It’s…European Heritage Days

European Heritage Days is a joint action of the Council of Europe and the European Commission.The 49 signatory states of the European Cultural Convention participate in the European Heritage Days in September each year. This joint action of the Council … Continue reading

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I’m Not Waiting For The Paperback, This Time

The first dictionary of slang, out of print for 300 years, is being published by the Bodleian Library, Oxford from a rare copy unearthed in its collections.Originally entitled A New Dictionary of Terms, Ancient and Modern, of the Canting Crew, its … Continue reading

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The Battle of the Century ?

The Battle of the Century — Newsweek magazine created this amusing “boxing poster-style” graphic heralding the world championship bout between traditional books and the e-book challenger.

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Dublin Has The Write Stuff

This week Dublin has become only the fourth city to be designated an “UNESCO City of Literature”. Joining Edinburgh, Melbourne and Iowa City, Dublin now shares the coveted distinction and honor. Mary Hanafin, Ireland’s Minister of Tourism, said that the … Continue reading

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Library Redux

 A few European library favorites from our readers.    

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World Heritage Sites…update

Yesterday, the World Heritage Committee began its annual meeting to consider requests for the inscription of new sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The session is being held at Brasilia, Brazil, and runs until August 3rd. During this year’s session,35 … Continue reading

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How Kafkaesque

Franz Kafka instructed that all his manuscripts were to be burned after his death, but his friend Max Brod chose to disregarded the request, setting-up a complicated legal tussle over thousands of pages of manuscripts that has the literary world in a … Continue reading

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