Featured book: The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Ben Jonson

Once again I'm featuring a recently added scholarly edition of the collected works of an author, this time the great English playwright Ben Jonson.  This set is a hallmark of scholarship, complete with editorial essays, notes on editions and texts and complete indexing.  The Kelvin Smith Library is fortunate to own a copy for anyone on campus who is interested in studying the works of Jonson.

Featured Book: British It-Narratives: 1750-1830

My featured title this time around is another brilliant collection from the fine folks at Pickering & Chatto publishers.  This time their editors have collected and published a set of 18th century British it-narratives in four volumes.

I first became aware of it-narratives when I spoke to CWRU's Christopher Flint last December, about his new book "The Appearance of Print in Eighteenth-Century Fiction."  In it, he describes some of these it-narratives, which have as their central characters personified inanimate objects such as coins, watches, or in one case, an atom.  These objects then have their own narrative point of view, oftentimes using their proximity to their human owner to provide intimate and often humorous observations.

Want to read the History and Adventures of a Lady's Slippers and Shoes?  Come check it out!

Featured book: Dying for Victorian Medicine

I'm highlighting this book purely because I know a few people who might be interested in the topic.  And because of the image on the cover.  So if you are interested in Victorian history, human dissection, medical history, or public health history, have a look at this book!  You can even preview the book online here.

Featured book: The Works of Elizabeth Gaskell

I am delighted to announce the recent addition of this new edition of the complete works of Elizabeth Gaskell .

The library already owns all of her published works, of course, but this particular edition, like most scholarly editions, provides something more than just the text of her works.

Published by Pickering & Chatto and under the general editorship of Joanne Shattock, this set provides the text of Gaskell's novels, novellas, journalism and celebrated Life of Charlotte Bronte, but does so with full academic additions by way of scholarly introductions, comprehensive footnotes to the texts, bibliographies and appendices with additional materials such as illustrations from original printings. The journal Choice awarded the set with their highest distinction: a review grade of Essential, and listed it as an Outstanding title.

For anyone studying the works of Gaskell, this set represents the best possible text from which to work.

Featured new book: Handbook of Medieval Studies

We're big fans of monumental works of scholarship here at the Kelvin Smith Library, so when a title like the Handbook of Medieval Studies: Terms, Methods, Trends arrives, we can't help but be excited.

This three volume, 2,736 page reference work edited by Albrecht Classen, provides summary articles on all aspects of medieval studies in several categories: first are articles on "main topics and debates" within the field; then a section on important terms and textual genres; finally is a biographical section of key figures in medieval studies from 1650 to 1950.  For anyone with an interest in the field, this handbook will prove invaluable for providing context related to all aspects within medieval studies.

The set has connections to CWRU: Professors Elina Gertsman (Art History) and Florin Berindeanu (Classics) are both contributors to the Handbook.

The volumes reside in the Kelvin Smith Library's Core Reference collection, on the first floor of the library.  For those on the CWRU campus or using an authenticated connection to our network, the publisher also provides electronic access to the essays in the volume.

Happy Birthday, Charles Dickens

February 7, 2012 is the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens.

Dickens was a gregarious man and loved the company of friends.  One gets the sense that he would enjoy a big party on his birthday, as indeed he enjoyed frequently throughout his life.

The passage of time and the marking of annual events features largely in his work.  We see Scrooge decrying the celebration of Christmas as a time to find another year has passed and us not a penny richer.  We see Pip on his birthday, visiting Miss Havisham for his birthday coin, and coming into his own great expectations as he becomes an adult and the wards of Chancery Richard and Ada sneaking off to marry privately on her twenty-first birthday.

This quote from Barnaby Rudge shows one side of how Dickens felt about growing older:

Many happy returns to The Inimitable!

And now a few links to but a sampling of the many celebratory features debuting in this his bicentenary year:

• Google Doodle for the day, with cartoon versions of characters from his works.
• The British Library's Dickens in Context site.  The "context" material is fascinating, but also watch the readings by Simon Callow in each section, like this one of him reading the scene of the death of Nancy from Oliver Twist.
• How about a "fiendishly difficulty birthday quiz"?  Have at it!
• And here, another video featuring the great Simon Callow, taking us on a tour of Dickens' London.