Lines from the Library

Time has run out for the pulling together of an entry on Sir Walter Scott this week. I have to pack and get myself to the train. I'm off to the World Fantasy Conference in beautiful Saratoga Springs, NY.

This year's theme is: GHOSTS AND REVENANTS: MEMORY, HISTORY, AND FOLKLORE

which should be a grand old time.

Here's a link to the program: http://www.lastsfa.org/wfc2007/

Next week: Sir Walter Scott and the Scott Industry

Welcome back and Happy New Year and all that.

I'm back in Fales trying to get a handle on all the bibliographical activities coming up this semester. Here's what's in store so far.

First up is

The Annual Meeting of the Bibliographical Society of America

on

Friday, January 25th

Papers from New Scholars will begin at 2:00. The BSA business meeting starts at 4:00 and will conclude with an address from John Bidwell, outgoing president of the Society. Don't be put off by the notion of the "business meeting" -- it's just some short reports on what the BSA has been up to over the past 12 months. I'm a huge fan of John Bidwell and urge everyone to come hear him talk. He is Curator of Printed Books at the Morgan Library & Museum and a very entertaining speaker.

Then there's a reception. This event is free and open to all and it's right here in Hemmerdinger Hall at NYU, so it's the perfect chance to meet your bibliographical heroes!

Full details are available at their web site: http://bibsocamer.org/

Next up, I'll be giving a talk at the

Guild of Book Workers' symposium on Publishers' Bindings
at the Grolier Club

on

Friday, February 22

I ought to find out if this one is open to the public before I go inviting everyone to it. Follow these links for more about the Guild of Bookworkers and Publishers Bindings.

So far I don't have any big events scheduled for March, but I'm sure something will turn up.

In April, Fales will host

Writing Women 1700-1800: Literary History at the Crossroads

on

April 10 & 11

This conference is organized by Paula McDowell and Bryan Waterman and is shaping up to be the event of the season. More details to come soon...

Lastly, I'm going to present a paper on comic books at

The Sixth Annual Meeting of the Cultural Studies Association

May 22-24

I'm not sure which day I'm presenting, but the conference is happening at NYU. Best of all, I've already written my paper. Full details will be available here sometime soon.

Coming soon: Gorilla Fight!

In case you can't make out the details in the image above, I will be leading a panel discussion about comics on Thursday, September 25 as part of the Book History Colloquium at Columbia University. 5:30 - 7:00 in 523 Butler Library.

The speakers are David Hajdu, author of The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America (2008) and David Beronä, author of Wordless Books: The Original Graphic Novels

These two books are part of a growing body of excellent secondary works on comic history/graphic narrative. Other recent favorites of mine include Men Of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book by Gerard Jones and Rebel Visions: The Underground Comix Revolution, 1963-1975 by Patrick Rosenkranz.

In addition to these works, there has been an explosion of quality re-printings of comics from an earlier era. Thanks in large part to the success of The Complete Peanuts published by Fantagraphics, it is possible for fans and researchers to get their hands on complete runs of classics such as Krazy Kat, Gasoline Alley, Dick Tracy, and many more. Add to these the availability of DC Archive Editions and Marvel MasterWorks editions PLUS the lesser-known super heroes being reissued by Dark Horse, and it's clear we're living in another golden age of comics.

A golden age of comics history, at any rate.

Excelsior!