Appeal to Save the “Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani”
There have already been countless victims of this recession and, of course, the human cost is the aspect that quite rightly ought to (and does) attract most attention.  But as the ripples spread wider, the squeeze is starting to be felt in cultural terms as well. The latest potential victim is the Italian Dictionary of National Biography.  This ambitious project was started in 1960 and plans to include 105 volumes containing approximately 40,00

A Gude Cause: October 1909 – 10 October 2009
Just a quick post on this because it’s been written about by much better-qualified people elsewhere: here’s the website, and also this piece by Elspeth King. This afternoon about 2,500 women of all ages and a fair number of men, children and babies (plus a few dogs – including Tess who wasn’t at all happy about the drums at the end) processed from Bruntisfield to Calton Hill in Edinburgh.  Why?  To mark the centenary (or centenery as it was written on

At two ends of the publishing continuum: Harvill Secker’s celebrates its (cumulative) centenary an
‘International Writing with a Wayward Streak’ is the headline in Booktrade.info announcing Harvill Secker’s approaching centenary celebrations in 2010. From January through to December 2010, the Random House imprint Harvill Secker will be celebrating a centenary of publishing. Harvill Secker has published some of the most iconic and inspiring literary works of the last 100 years, bringing international writing from exceptional writers to the attention of British book buyers. Harvill Secker is part of the Random House Group – Dan Bro

Muggle and Quidditch in 67 languages, and counting…
At a unique event, summarising a 10-year translating phenomenon, all the translators of the Harry Potter books met in Paris to discuss “what was lost in translation” and to celebrate their shared experience. To mark international literacy day on 8th September, a Unesco-backed inititiative turned Paris’s Institut de France into a Hogwarth’s workshop as scores of wizards from the translating, publishing and academic world pondered the Potter phenomenon. According to the clips on the

Happy birthday, Samuel
I missed his birthday on 7 September, but there’s a chance for more cake and 300 candles on 18 September (apparently after the change of calendar in 1752 he celebrated his birthday on 18 September). There’s been so many wonderful Johnson features on radio and in the press, but I just wanted to comment on a couple. First, the excellent DNB entry which is available online.  Written by Pat Rogers, ‘Johnson, Samuel (1709–1784)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University P