Archive for April, 2010

Join Readex to Hear James McGrath Morris and Steven Daniel at the 2010 American Library Association Annual Conference

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

Will you be attending the American Library Association conference this summer?  If so, make a date with Readex to attend a special breakfast event focusing on the use of digital resources for historical research.

Photo by Michael Mudd

Featured speakers will include James McGrath Morris, author of the acclaimed new biography Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print, and Power (2010), and Steven Daniel, internationally known authority on American government documents.

Acclaimed biographer Morris will present A Light on Past Lives: The Illuminating Effects of Electronic Resources on Biographical Research, and celebrated speaker Daniel will offer Dredges, Gunboats, and Mosquitoes: The U.S. Congressional Serial Set and the Building of the Panama Canal.
 
To be held on Sunday, June 27 from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., this event will take place at the Grand Hyatt Washington (ALA headquarters hotel ) in the Independence D/E Room. A complimentary breakfast will be offered, and time will be devoted to your comments and questions. (more…)
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Hocus Pocus: An Example of Bibliographic Legerdemain

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

Page 3

For many years people have probably thought that the following entry from the catalog of the American Antiquarian Society, which describes an item in the Readex digital edition of Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, was the last word on the first, the earliest Hocus Pocus or conjuring book printed in the United States. Here is the entry in full:

Title: Hocus pocus; or The whole art of legerdemain, in perfection. By which the meanest capacity may perform the whole without the help of a teacher. Together with the use of all the instruments belonging thereto. To which is now added, abundance of rare and new inventions. By Henry Dean.

Date of Publication: 1795

Early American Imprints, 1st series, no. 28540

Author: Dean, Henry.

Subjects: Magic tricks.

(more…)

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The More Things Change: Selected U.S. Congressional Serial Set Documents, 1983

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Twenty-seven years ago, the government publications listed below were published in the U.S. Congressional Serial Set. They came from the 1st Session of the 98th Congress, 1983.

When I scan the titles of these publications, I have to wonder whether they really were published that long ago because the issues are just as relevant today, if not more.

Here are a half dozen that strike me as particularly timely:

What changes are most needed in the procedures used in the United States justice system? (Serial Set II Vol. No. 13497 98th Congress, 1st Session S.Doc. 5 945 p. 1983)

Should producers of hazardous waste be legally responsible for injuries caused by the waste? (Serial Set II Vol. No. 13527 98th Congress, 1st Session H.Doc. 93 594 p. 1983)

Emergency mathematics and science education act. (Serial Set II Vol. No. 13533 98th Congress, 1st Session H.Rpt. 6 121 p. February 17, 1983)

Calling for a mutual and verifiable freeze on and reductions in nuclear weapons. (Serial Set II Vol. No. 13534 98th Congress, 1st Session H.Rpt. 31 15 p. March 14, 1983)

The consequences of nuclear war on the global environment. (Serial Set II Vol. No. 13541 98th Congress, 1st Session H.Rpt. 344 92 p. August 3, 1983)

The interrelationship of funding for the arts at the federal, state, and local levels. (Serial Set II Vol. No. 13545 98th Congress, 1st Session H.Rpt. 547 65 p. November 15, 1983).

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

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Instant Access to our Award-Winning Civil War Collection Still Available

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

From The Daily Picayune; 04-15-1865; New Orleans

One hundred and forty-five years ago this month, two of the most critical events in American history occurred within five days of one another.

On April 9, General R. E. Lee surrendered the battered Army of Northern Virginia to Union forces under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant.

Five days later, President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth and died the next day.

Learn about these events and many more in The Civil War: Antebellum Period to Reconstruction—a Choice 2010 Outstanding Academic Title. (more…)

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Take a Sneak Peek at The Civil War, a 2010 Choice Outstanding Academic Title

Monday, April 12th, 2010

Readex’s first thematic Archive of Americana collection, The Civil War: Antebellum Period to Reconstruction, was recently ranked among the “Best of the Best” electronic resources reviewed by Choice Magazine last year.

In the May 2009 issue, Arkansas State University’s James Foreman wrote:

A comprehensive database of Americana covering the antebellum period through the Civil War and Reconstruction …. allows users to fully research this important era of American history …. excellent coverage of the social, political, and cultural aspects of this momentous time period. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers; general readers. (more…)

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Electronic Resources that Help Illuminate Past Lives

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Increasingly, a writer attempting to produce the definitive biography of a 19th or 20th-century American will find that essential tools include searchable databases of government documents and newspapers.

T.J. Stiles, author of The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt (2009, Alfred A. Knopf), which recently won the National Book Award, was able to utilize the digital edition of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set to uncover vindicating facts about the patriotism of his often maligned subject. In his article “Commodore Vanderbilt: Patriot or War Profiteer?,” Stiles writes:

I was ready to indict and convict Vanderbilt of war profiteering, if that’s where the evidence led me. Instead, it convinced me that the Commodore deserved his gold medal. Vanderbilt has often been treated with cynicism by historians, who are ready to believe the worst of a staggeringly rich, secretive, and combative man. Certainly I did not set out to rehabilitate his reputation. But I couldn’t ignore the evidence—evidence provided in breathtaking abundance by Congress in its Serial Set, now more accessible than ever thanks to digitization.

William Fox, Founder of 20th Century Fox

(more…)

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