Modern Books and Manuscripts

The online auction of The Herman Melville Collection of William S. Reese, September 1-14, 2022, was eagerly anticipated in American Literature research circles, library special collections circle...

https://archive.blogs.harvard.edu/houghtonmodern/2023/03/08/modern-books-and-manuscripts-and-the-reese-sale/

The Houghton library recently acquired the manuscript of a novel by Georges Bataille (1897-1962), the French surrealist and existentialist writer whose work spans genres from pornography to econo...

https://archive.blogs.harvard.edu/houghtonmodern/2023/01/24/houghtons-acquisition-of-batailles-histoire-de-rats/

Houghton Library’s incomparable Melville collection holds priceless literary manuscripts, important original letters, his and his father’s travel journals, Melville family documents and corre...

https://archive.blogs.harvard.edu/houghtonmodern/2021/11/22/wilson-walker-cowens-pioneering-harvard-dissertation-on-herman-melvilles-marginalia-has-now-been-digitized-and-made-available-to-all-through-hollis/

Cataloging work continues on Harvard College Library’s recently acquired collection of over 20,000 zines. Zines are non-commercial, non-professional and small-circulation publications that the...

https://archive.blogs.harvard.edu/houghtonmodern/2020/09/08/the-theologies-of-zines-part-2/

Cataloging work continues on Harvard College Library’s recently acquired collection of over 20,000 zines. Zines are non-commercial, non-professional and small-circulation publications that the...

https://archive.blogs.harvard.edu/houghtonmodern/2020/08/19/the-theologies-of-zines-part-1/

Houghton recently acquired a nineteenth-century bilingual manuscript of Ukrainian and Russian folk songs and verse. At first glance, the work seems unremarkable. At 370 pages, it contains over 12...

https://archive.blogs.harvard.edu/houghtonmodern/2019/05/20/a-mysterious-manuscript-in-a-banned-language/

A magnificent gift from the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) in March celebrates its 76-year-long association with Harvard University. The Roosevelt Memorial Association (now the TRA) present...

https://archive.blogs.harvard.edu/houghtonmodern/2019/04/18/the-theodore-roosevelt-collection-at-harvard-and-the-theodore-roosevelt-association-renew-and-celebrate-their-long-relationship/

Among the Nabokov family volumes recently added to Houghton Library’s catalog are several owned and annotated by Véra Nabokov. Vladimir’s wife of 52 years, Véra was indissolubly his literar...

https://archive.blogs.harvard.edu/houghtonmodern/2018/10/22/against-biography-nabokov-versus-field/

Among recent gifts to Harvard Library, the papers and books of the Nabokov family—Vladimir Nabokov, his wife Véra, and his son Dmitri—take pride of place. Jointly stewarded by Houghton Libra...

https://archive.blogs.harvard.edu/houghtonmodern/2018/10/03/professor-nabokov/

Cataloging work continues on Harvard College Library’s recently acquired collection of over 20,000 zines. Zines are non-commercial, non-professional and small-circulation publications that the...

https://archive.blogs.harvard.edu/houghtonmodern/2018/09/25/how-zines-take-on-the-classics/

This post is part of an ongoing series featuring recently cataloged items from the Ludlow-Santo Domingo Library. Thanks to Rachel Parker, Archival Assistant, for contributing this post. In my fir...

https://archive.blogs.harvard.edu/houghtonmodern/2018/08/01/name-that-poster-its-harder-than-it-looks-part-ii/

This post is part of an ongoing series featuring recently cataloged items from the Ludlow-Santo Domingo Library. Thanks to Rachel Parker, Archival Assistant, for contributing this post. In May I ...

https://archive.blogs.harvard.edu/houghtonmodern/2018/07/31/name-that-poster-its-harder-than-it-looks-part-i/

The archive of Greek poet and lyricist Nikos Gatsos has found a permanent home at Harvard Library. The acquisition is a key addition to the Library’s collections in Greek literature and civiliz...

https://archive.blogs.harvard.edu/houghtonmodern/2018/06/28/nikos-gatsos-papers-acquired-by-harvard/

This post is part of an ongoing series featuring recently cataloged items from the Ludlow-Santo Domingo Library.  Size matters! was the motto that Wilhelm Moser and David Culby took quite seriou...

https://archive.blogs.harvard.edu/houghtonmodern/2017/04/20/pipe-top-hat-and-tails/

This post is part of an ongoing series featuring recently cataloged items from the Ludlow-Santo Domingo Library.  Pulps are so called because of the low quality of paper, coarse untreated paper ...

https://archive.blogs.harvard.edu/houghtonmodern/2017/03/23/a-postcard-for-every-occasion/