Great new site for stolen and missing books...

MissingMaterial.org has gone live and is on track to be a tremendous resource. From their site:

The loss of materials held in libraries and archives worldwide is a concern not only for owning institutions, but also for the international antiquarian book trade and global law enforcement. In order to deter thieves, prevent inadvertent purchases and recover valuable stolen cultural materials, OCLC Research, the RLG Partnership and the RBMS Security Committee convened members of the cultural heritage collecting community to explore strategies for sharing reliable information about missing rare books and other materials.

The Missing Materials project has evolved to develop a "beta" procedure for cultural heritage institutions to demonstrate their commitment to transparency about stolen and missing materials. This blog-list, the fruits of this work, is under construction. Please send us comments and recommend improvements.

The Naming of Cats (and other wastes of time...)

We share a "house cat" with our tenant (and slow library shelf builder) on the first floor. When he is "down there" he is Katsu...when he is up he is Morpheus. He, of course, could care less. He answers to basically anything...if he chooses to do so...perhaps ignores anything more is more apt.

Talking about this earlier this weekend brought about a reading of T.S. Eliot's The Naming of Cats. It really is great fun and I offer it here for your amusement:

The Naming of Cats.

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.

First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey -
All of them sensible everyday names.

There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter -
But all of them sensible everyday names.

But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?

Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum -
Names that never belong to more than one cat.

But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover -
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.

When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

- T.S. Eliot (from "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats")

Good day on the PR front-and a great list of biblio-blogs

We were included in two "best of book blogs" lists yesterday and are flattered and honored by both.

The first was part of blog.com's ongoing program of providing internal and external "10 Best List"s. In this case, Larry Mitchell (collector, occasional dealer and special collections library) and author of the brilliant blog The Private Library was asked to compile his Top 10 list. Our blathering notwithstanding, it is a wonderful short list. I am pleased to say, it only added 4 that I was not already following...they have been added. Each site is described briefly so you can get a touch of flavor.

The only problem is that he was only allowed to include 10 blogs. Apparently, Larry heard about this shortcoming from a number of humans as he subsequently posted an apology. Such lists are obviously subjective...We are very pleased to be included in Larry's best of...

[N.B. As I have said before, The Private Library should be on everyone's blog roll...in addition to this regular and cogent posts, his navigation links provide a clearinghouse to nearly every substantive rare/used book resource available. It is the benchmark against which data-rich biblio-sites should be measured.]

OnlineSchool also included us in their "100 Best Book Blogs for History Buffs" under the "Rare" section. They have created a much longer list, broken up into sections (e.g. Reference, Librarian, Rare, Review, etc.) and, again, most have short bios. Obviously, there is a lot of crossover, but they try reasonably hard to group things properly and the result is a good list.

It is always nice to be recognized...more so by those you respect. Enjoy the various suggestions...I'm going to have to start posting more cogent missives.

Michael Suarez's Response at the homage to Terry Belenger

At the end of the RBMS weekend in June there was a "Farewell Reception and Dinner" for Terry Belenger, the founder and driving force behind Rare Book School. A professor at UVA and Honarary Curator of Special Collections (and 2005 MacArthur fellow), Terry is force of nature...and we are all better for it. I had only met Terry once or twice prior to taking my RBS class last week, but had heard many stories from many people...to a one with love and perhaps a touch of awe.

Many people spoke at the reception, all have known and loved Terry for years and it showed in their words. The one that struck me, however, was the last. Michael Suarez will be the new Director of Rare Book School when Terry hands over the reigns. His was one of the best such I've heard in a very long time. I emailed him to ask if I could have a copy of his speech and was told that he had no written text for them...I think you'll agree that they were not bad for extemporaneous comments. He told me that they were recorded and would be transcribed...I received a copy of the proceedings as a Keepsake. I have included the full text of his words below, because I think they are wonderful. I look forward to seeing how RBS evolves and grows during his tenure.

Please note, in honor of Terry's "retirement", RBS has created the "Directors Scholarship Fund", its goal being to raise $30,000...to date, contributions exceed $113,000. This fund will be exclusively used to fund scholarships for students who might not otherwise be able to attend. If you have not already done so, I strongly encourage you to contribute (see the link above)...if you have already given, you might consider giving again, just on principle. Also, "In Praise of Rare Book School, including the full text off all the speakers at Terry's event and a nice history of RBS, can be had at the RBS Store (you'll have to ask for it, as it does not appear to be listed online...$5/copy).

The following is the full text of Michael Suarez's comments. Enjoy.

Thank you very much indeed. I can't tell you what a privilege and pleasure it is to be here. I'm very moved by the testimonials we've all be listening to.

Tonight we've heard many memories: important memories of relationships built over many years. And as I was sitting here, I was thinking about a moment a long, long time ago, when a noble king had a true humanist teacher. And Charlemangne one day asked Alcuin, "What is memory really like? To what could memory be compared? How can I as the leader of a great nation, train and understand the art of my own mind?"

Great humanist that he was, Alcuin took a deep breath and thought, and then he said to the king, "You must understand this. Memory is not like anything at all except for a great library, and everyone has this great library in his mind, in her mind. A great nation has this library even more so. And as leader of the people, you must know that even as memory is a library, so too are libraries memory. They are the precious repository of the past."

Sitting there tonight in the front row - as I was told to do! - I asked myself, to what book in the great world library might we compare this night? To what book is the great world library might we compare Rare Book School and Terry Belanger himself? It seems to me that the most appropriate book of all would be that classic by Erasmus of Rotterdam, In Praise of Folly.

Mr. Belanger, I accuse you - as many doubtless have before - of tremendous and unbridled folly. The folly of founding the Book Arts Press. The folly of starting Rare Book School. The folly, after being crushed by an uncomprehending administration, of starting everything all over again. The folly of collecting 200 lithographic stones and copper plates. The folly of sending out those Valentines! What are they for? Can someone explain? The folly of producing the biggest library address book in the entire world. The folly of evening after evening "Terrorizing!"

Terry Belenger: I accuse you - and I praise you for your folly. You are a fool for books. You are a fool for libraries. You are a fool for collectors and collecting. Terry Belenger is a fool for the enterprise that has been his life. But much more, more than all this, the man who sits before you is a fool for you.

I am a poetry teacher, and I love to teach my students figurae verborum, the classic figures of rhetoric. And when I get to the figure of oxymoron, I explain by saying, "Well, come on, you know, jumbo shrimp! military intelligence! humble Jesuit!"

Yet, I stand before you this evening deeply honored and deeply, deeply humbled to receive this great commission - to carry on, to deepen, and to extend the work of the Rare Book School at the University of Virginia, that has already been so supportive and so generous.

Ladies and gentlemen, the wisdom of the wise is pure folly, but the foolishness of the foolish man turns out to be true wisdom and grace.

A random selection of Terry Belanger quotations from class

One of the many pleasing elements of RBS was Terry's occasional quotations (his and others). Here are a smattering:

"The more you know, the less you say."

"If you can't figure it out, the trolls did it."

"The difference between the original and a reproduction is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."

"The good is the enemy of the best."

"What I know is knowledge, what I don't know is not knowledge." (quoting an Oxford don).

"I've been rich and I've been poor, rich is better." (quoting Sophie Tucker)

MEGO - "My Eyes Glaze Over"

"You can read it, can't you."

"Those who do not read put themselves at the same competitive disadvantage as those who cannot read." (quoting Mark Twain)

"I do not have time to debate whether William Shakespeare wrote the plays accredited to him or whether they were written by another man named William Shakespeare." (quoting another)

"Bibliography is not for sissies."

"The world's best woodcuts printed side to side with the world's worst halftones." (re mechanical digest (title tbd))

"One chorus girl is 100 times more interesting than 100 chorus girls." (quoting Peter Ustinov (quoting another))

"Anyone who would letterspace blackletter would steal sheep." (quoting Goudy)

"When the clock strikes 13, it casts doubt on the other 12."

I look forward to collecting more in future classes.

Rare Book School 2009 Day 6 in C'ville and the Return Roadtrip

Final day of RBS...a sad thing, indeed. We made our last morning trip to Para Coffee with Chris and made it to our classes on time. We finished up photographic processes and reviewed our various soft-spots in the morning. After a quick lunch (Bodo Bagels, very good), we tood our Print Identification Humiliation...sorry...Test again. I did considerably better on Friday than I did on Monday. That said, what I really learned is a good sense of the depth and breadth of what I *do not know*. In the end, this is probably a very good take-away (that, and how grateful I am to know people who *really* know prints).

In the late afternoon, they opened the Notions Store and we picked up some interesting/fun things. Picked up an apron, some books and the like...the most fun was a full page of "A Study in Bibliography" in linotype (the last trade edition to be printed in linotype). Our various printing projects were hung during the wee wine & cheese gathering at the end of the day. Fun was had by all.

Following the wrap-up, we when to Heartwood Books. I tried to sate my sense of loss by buying books...as usual, it worked quite well. We picked up a number of interesting things...the most interesting one one being an early Time Magazine advertising "book" (double elephant folio...the "history of Time as told through heraldry"). Though the 18th century book on handwriting was a treat, too.

We left C'ville around at 730pm or so and made our way to Suzanne's parents' place in Annapolis. We left this morning with an arrival ETA (per Eva, our GPS) of 6pm...but traffic and two quick stops for gas brought us home at 930pm. A very long and painful drive is over. We are home safe and sound.

I can not recommend RBS highly enough. It was a remarkably great experience. I can't wait to go back. That said, if you do go, make certain you take it seriously and embrace it in all its elements. The "seriously" part is...er...serious, we had a student "expelled" for failing to attend class (having been warned that not attending would have consequences). The issue, of course, being that each space at RBS is competitive...there are always other students who *would be* in your place if you were not. Show up and learn.

I just attended one of Terry's classes in his last year as Director. I'm hoping to be able to return next year to take a class during Michael Suarez's first year as Director. Hope springs eternal.