Category Archives: Libraries

La Biblioteca del Mondo

Posted on May 8, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Umberto Eco: A Library of the World is a wonderful new documentary about the bestselling Italian author with perhaps the greatest intellectual appetite of any writer of his time. Directed by Davide Ferrario, the documentary will launch in the U.S. beginning … Continue reading →

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How to deal with book banners

Posted on May 5, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

 

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How to organize a home library

Posted on April 7, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

 

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Decoding the Heavens

Posted on April 1, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

“The Astronomicum Caesareum (1540) by the German mathematician, astronomer and cartographer Petrus Apianus was used by the privileged – including the Holy Roman emperor Charles V, who commissioned it, and the Tudor king Henry VIII – to find guidance, knowledge and fate in the stars. … Continue reading →

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Fat-Headed Censors

Posted on March 14, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

You would have to have been living under a basket to avoid the recent brouhaha over the re-editing of classic books by so-called sensitivity readers and editors. Here in the Colonies we’ve been through this with the books of Dr. … Continue reading →

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Slightly bigger than my home library

Posted on March 4, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

I have been waiting for my personal invitation to visit the extraordinary Walker Library of the Human Imagination in Ridgefield, Connecticut, but alas it does not seem to be forthcoming. However, I have discovered that it’s possible to take a virtual … Continue reading →

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How to act around books (according to the NYPL)

Posted on February 21, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

How to act around books.  

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A Brief History of Vampires

Posted on February 14, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

What could be more romantic on Valentine’s Day than the debonair modern vampire who was born with the publication of the gothic horror novel Dracula (1897) by the Irish author Bram Stoker. In the video below from the Victoria and … Continue reading →

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Just Another Sundry Sunday

Posted on February 12, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Old internet hands may recollect the early days of the web when it all seemed so clever and exciting. One of those interesting 1990s projects has just been relaunched and is worth a look on a lazy Sunday afternoon. The … Continue reading →

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Only in the Netherlands

Posted on February 11, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

Utrecht is one of my favorite cities in the Netherlands. Fortunately it is over looked by the hordes of tourist who mob Amsterdam. Like most folks in the country, the residents of the beautiful city love bikes and books. Now … Continue reading →

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