For those lucky enough to be in Melbourne or unlucky enough not to be able to hear her speak in Dunedin, you will have a chance to hear Rosamond McKitterick on “Roman Authority in Early Medieval Europe” when she delivers the Foxcroft lecture on Tuesday, 7 February at 6 pm at the State Library of Victoria.

Cambridge scholar Rosamond McKitterick will examine the role books played in creating a cultural link between ancient Rome and its medieval inheritors.  She is Professor Emerita of Medieval History at the University of Cambridge, formerly Director of Research in the Faculty of History, a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College and, since 2011, Chair of the Faculty of Archaeology, History and Letters of the British School at Rome.

And for those of us who are in Dunedin, we hope you can join us as Prof. McKitterick kicks off the Centre’s 2017 public lectures at 5:30 on Wednesday, 1 February in Archway 2.  Her talk has also been notified to the University of Otago Classics Association and will be a highlight of the 2017 Rare Book School week.

Just a quick post to say thank you to all our loyal Centre for the Book supporters.  2016 has been a bit of a distracted year for both co-directors, but we are eagerly planning activities for 2017, starting with a public lecture on Wednesday 1 February by Professor Rosamond McKitterick of Cambridge University on “The Authority of Rome in the Manuscripts of Early Medieval Europe.”  We’ll also have the annual World Book Day lecture and dinner on Thursday 2 March, and our usual symposium later in the year, on the theme of “Books and Users.”  That event is likely to dovetail with a City of Literature UNESCO-sponsored symposium, so stay tuned.  In the meantime, enjoy John Grisham’s “10 Reasons for Giving Books as Gifts.”  We wish you all a very festive and relaxing holiday season, with plenty of time to read and talk about books.