The Newberry Library's Book Fair is a Chicago institution. For 26 summers, the library has sold good books at a great price to help fund the Newberry's activities. Listen as Dan Crawford, the Newberry's Book Fair manager, lets us in on some of the Book Fair's secrets and leads us through a sunny afternoon at the Fair.

The 2010 Book Fair will be held at the Newberry on Thursday, July 29 through Sunday, August 1. For more information, visit the Book Fair page or follow the progress of the Book Fair with the Book Fair blog.

The music in this podcast was provided by Michael Yun.

The Jews are commonly known as "the people of the book," and Jewish culture is often associated with bookishness, according to David Stern, Ruth Meltzer Professor of Classical Hebrew at University of Pennsylvania. In this first episode in a series on the Future of the Book, Stern discusses his ideas about the history of the Jewish book and theorizes on the future of Jewish texts.

David Stern came to the Newberry as part of the Center for Renaissance Studies' History of the Book Lectures, co-sponsored by the Spertus Institute.

The music in this podcast was provided by Fred Thomas and Flashpapr.

John Sellers curated the Library of Congress' exhibit With Malice Towards None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition, on display at the Newberry through December 19, 2009. Listen as he discusses the rationale behind the exhibit and highlights the items on display.

You might also be interested in:

Honest Abe of the West
A Newberry Library Exhibition
October 10, 2009 xndash; February 15, 2010
Donnelley Gallery

Lincoln at 200
An online collaborative project of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, the Chicago History Museum, and the Newberry Library.

Jill Gage, reference librarian at the Newberry Library, shares a striking example of a medieval book of hours--a collection of prayers to be recited throughout the day. During Henry the VIII's reign, the family that owned this book struck out and altered parts of it after a royal decree banned references to the saint, Thomas Becket. On the 500th anniversay of Henry's coronation, this book poses interesting questions about royal authority and its reach into daily life.

Title: Book of Hours (Use of Salisbury)
Date: ca. 1485
Catalog Record: Case MS 35
URL: http://bit.ly/BookOfHours

In the first episode of the Newberry Library Podcast, Curator Paul Gehl tells us about an early example of a graphic novel from the 15th century, the Apocalypsis Sancti Johannis, a visual retelling of St. John's apocalyptic visions from the Book of Revelations in the Bible. This rare book tries to make St. John's vision accessible to those that can't read and poses interesting questions about print and media that still resonate today. Special guest appearance by comic artist Jeffrey Brown.

Author: Unknown
Title: Apocalypsis Sancti Johannis (Block-book)
Date: 1470
Call Number: VAULT folio Inc. 15
http://bit.ly/ApocalypsisSanctiJohannis