Book News - June 2016

HWÆT, WE GAR-DEna in geardagum,

þeodcyninga þrym gefrunon,

hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon!

Great news! Beowulf is now online.

Both the Old English text and various Modern English translations have been online for years, but now, thanks to the British Library, budding medievalists can read straight from the original manuscript without ever leaving home. This is an excellent resource for enthusiasts who don't have access to a facsimile.

The Beowulf poem appears in Cotton MS Vitellius A XV. This manuscript, one of the four manuscripts that compromises the majority of Old English poetry, contains other Old English works, such as Judith (a poetic retelling of the Book of Judith, in which Judith beheads Holofernes to save the Israelites). The entire volume is available on the British Library's website. 

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A bookstore in Paris is bringing print-on-demand to brick-and-mortar. La Librairie des PUF (quick French note: Librairie means bookstore, not library.) stocks 3 million titles in a bookshop of only 80 square meters. Customers select the title they want, and in five or so minutes, their selection is printed and bound on the spot. Read more about this innovative bookstore in an article by Publishing Perspectives.

Less is More by A Cup of Creativity (used with permission)

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 Russell Mann, a retired professor, has generously donated his collection of Sherlock Holmes stories (including parodies and pastiches), scholarly texts, and memorabilia to Louisiana State University's Libraries. This donation forms one of the largest Sherlock Holmes collections in the southern United States. You can read more about this donation and the upcoming exhibition on the LSU Libraries website.