All of us who were unable to attend Donald Kerr’s Foxcroft Lecture during Melbourne Rare Book Week in August can now view the talk via the wonders of the ether.  The full lecture has been posted by the State Library of Victoria (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxKMKkLAOFA), so feel free to have a look and learn about three New Zealand Collectors, Grey, Hocken and F. W. Reed.

Although not sponsored by the Centre, an upcoming talk on 3 September is likely to interest many of us who care about books.  So at 5:15 on Thursday 3 September in Archway 2 Theology and Religion is hosting a public lecture by Professor David Bebbington, Professor of History, University of Stirling, Scotland, on the topic, “The King James Bible in Britain from the Late 18th Century.”  Hard to imagine how a talk on the greatest translation of the Bible, with a historical focus beginning in the greatest century of European history, could be anything but great.  And its lovely to see book history creeping into other disciplines, a trend definitely to be supported.

For a fond account of Donald Kerr’s new biography of Hocken, see this review by Trevor Agnew on Stuff.

For a nice glimpse into Brendan O’Brien’s project to print a selection of Greek epigrams translated by Vincent O’Sullivan, see the TV9 clip here.

The Centre for the Book is pleased to welcome to campus Professors Linda Troost and Sayre Greenfield, both well-known scholars of eighteenth-century literature.  Prof. Troost has kindly agreed to deliver a lecture entitled, “Jane Austen, Sea Anemones, and Digital Archives” on Monday, 13 July at 5:30 pm in Archway 2.

Co-authors of Jane Austen in Hollywood, now in its second edition, Professors Troost and Greenfield have also both served as presidents of the East-Central American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies.  Prof. Greenfield will be delivering a talk to the Department of English and Linguistics Seminar on Friday, 10 July at 4 pm.

Prof. Troost is also the editor of the AMS Press journal, Eighteenth-Century Women, numerous essays on literature and gender, and the guiding light behind her blog, Jane Austen in the Machine: Explorations in the Digital Humanities.  She is also Chair of the Department of English at Washington & Jefferson College in Pennsylvania.

Please join us for what promises to be a most engaging talk.

Following the very successful launch of Donald Kerr’s bio-bibliography of Dr. Hocken last night at Hocken Collections, he provides a very nice overview of the book in his interview with the Otago Bulletin.  Of course, you’ve probably already bought your own copy by now, but in case you are still wondering what it is about, this story gives you an excellent insight.

In case you missed the end of this week’s episode of Sounds Historical, here’s your opportunity to hear two great enthusiasts celebrate Dr. Hocken’s energy and acquisitiveness.  Click here to download the interview.

The University Library and Special Collections are proud to offer an enticing display of printed and decorated works by two great twentieth-century book artists, Robert Gibbings and Eric Gill.  Come and enjoy elegantly designed publications showing their deep love of art and typography, all on display in the warm and welcoming environment of Special Collections.  Black and white looks better on the page than outside. Enjoy.  Click here to download the handlist of all items on display.

The Centre for the Book is delighted to welcome Elizabeth Denlinger, Curator, Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle, New York Public Library to campus.  She will speak at 5:30 pm on Wednesday 15 July in Archway 2 on “A Portion of the Loveliness: Emotional Experiences of Collecting Romantic Manuscripts from the 19th to the 21st Centuries.”

Image of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s draft of Queen of the Universe, a revision of Queen Mab, ca. 1815, in a published copy of Queen Mab (London: P. B. Shelley, 1813). Pforzheimer Collection.

Listen to Donald’s Radio Live interview discussing his forthcoming biography.Click here..