Search results matching tags 'books' and 'History'

Constitution Day -- September 17th

Shh_ImReading@evpl — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:13:00 GMT

September 17th is the anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution. It's a great day to spend some time learning about this important document that affects all of us who live in the United States of America. If you click right here, you'll go to the National Archives page for the Constitution. You can read a transcript of the original and also look at images of the original document.

Here are some library resources for the Constitution:

The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation, written by Jonathan Hennessey with art by Aaron McConnell

The Annotated U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence, edited by Jack N. Rakove

The Complete Idiot's Guide to the U.S. Constitution, by Tim Harper

U.S. Constitution for Dummies by Michael Arnheim

And for little citizens:

We the People: The Constitution of the United States of America, by Peter Spier

We the Kids: The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States, with illustrations and forward by David Catrow

Ancient Gonzo Widsom: Interviews with Hunter S. Thompson

Bufkinite@evpl — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:56:00 GMT

I've been a Hunter S. Thompson fan since I read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas back in college in 1973. The completely drug-soaked, high speed narration of a trip to Las Vega in search of "the American Dream," was a breakthrough, a new style of writing that I found entertaining and entralling.

Thompson's fame grew as he began applying his unique style to his correspondant reportage, beoming in the process the "Father of Gonzo Journalism," a style of journalism which is written subjectively, often including the reporter as part of the story via a manic first-person narrative. His first book of such reportage was Feath and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail 1972, his take on the Nixon/McGovern race for the White House.

He kept at it for years, as political and sports correspondent to Rolling Stone magazine, and published a raft of books compiling these articles periodically, usually to coincide with a particular presidential term in office. He must of sensed at a very early age that his writings would be sought-after, for he kept most of his correspondence, and began, with Pround Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-67, to put most of these early letters between hard covers.

In the same vein Ancient Gozo Wisdom, compiled and edited by his widow, Anita Thompson, is a compilation of interviews, arranged chronologically from 1967 through May of 2005. The interviews range widely from the obscure (a 1972 interview on WBZ 1030 AM Radio in Boston) to the very well-known (an All Things Considered interview on NPR in 1997), and a host of magazine, radio, and television interviews in between. Topics covered include the publication of most of his books, correspondence he had with everyone from presidents to pop stars, his failed bid for sheriff of Woody Creek, Colorado, and his ruthlessly iconoclastic tendancies.

Anyone familiar with Thompson's life and writing will enjoy the reviews compiled here. Onward!

The Library: An Illustrated History by Stuart A. P. Murray

Bufkinite@evpl — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:01:00 GMT

This very readable and lavishly illustrated book is a survey of libraries, from the earliest gatherings of clay tablets in the library at Nineveh to the present grandeur of the Library of Congress. It is full of the characters of library history as well: from King Assurbanipal in 700 BCE, Mansa Musa, the sultan of Mali in Timbuktu in the 1300s, and the Mughal emperors Akbar in the late 1500s, to Thomas Bodley, Melvil Dewey, and Andrew Carnegie. All of themhave anecdotes attached to them which help to illustrate and flesh out the development and evolution of those institutions we call libraries today.

The Library: An Illustrated History tends to focus on Europe and the United States, but spends a chapter discussing Asia and Islam and their influence on the history of the book and libraries, and another, called "People of the Book," discussing the interplay between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the history of library development.

One of the themes running through this book is how the libraries of the victors are enlarged and enriched throughout history by the pillaging of the libraries of the vanquished. The Bibliotheque nationale de France, the Vatican Library, and the British Library have all broadened their substantial collections in this fashion. Another theme mentioned frequently was how war influenced which ideas were given currency in a given culture and time: "It was usually the sword that decided whose teachings would be supreme in any given land."

In this regard, this book compliments the message in Matthew Battles's book Library: An Unquiet History, but that book is only marginally illustrated, and does not bring the reader the wonderful survey of world libraries with which Murray's book ends. Anyone wanting a good overview of library history would find their time well spent reading this book.

The Book of William: How Shakespeare's First Folio Conquered the World

Bufkinite@evpl — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 21:34:00 GMT

Paul Collins writes in a convivial and breezy style, and is the kind of natural storyteller who brings history to life. Nevertheless, in The Book of William, his scholarship and authority are undeniable, and make this book an important entry point for those interested in learning more about Shakespeare.

This telling of the "life story" of what became known as the First Folio of Shakespeare (though the book's title, according to commonly accepted cataloging rules would be Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies) is, quite simply wonderfully done.

Written in five "Acts" subdivided into scenes, it takes the reader from the day in 1617 or 1618 that John Heminge and Henry Condell - two aging men who had actually worked with Shakespeare - approached the printer William Jaggard with the idea of publishing all the known works of the Bard, to 2006 in Meisei University in Tokyo, home of the largest university collection of First Folios in the world; 12 of them, "more than the British Library and the New York Public Library combined."

In between we are introduced to such well-known characters as Alexander Pope and Dr. Samuel Johnson, and a host of lesser-known but nevertheless interesting characters as: Dr. Anthony James West, who conducted a recent worldwide census of First Folios (locating a record 230 copies); Henry Clay Folger, collector extraordinaire and founder of the Folger Shakespeare Library (which owns an astounding 79 copies of the First Folio); Charlton Hinman, inventor of the Hinman collator; and Mitsuo Kodama, past president of Meisei University, and the only reason why Meisei University has so many First Folios.

Spanning three continents and nearly four centuries, this book is a delightful look at the one book that routinely sells for fifty-five times its weight in gold.

Link to the Shakespeare Folio Electronic Library at Meisei University.
Purchase a facsimile of the First Folio from Amazon, and benefit the Public Library Friends.