Library Geekery

[kippurbird]

So, apparently, we - the library I work at - owns a book that was printed within ten years of Guttenberg's press being made.

Ten years.

:O

Wow

Comments

[albijuli]

Neat! What's the title of that book?

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Haven't a clue! It's in Hebrew from Italy, I think.

[emily-goddess.livejournal.com]

Old books are so cool, aren't they? I got to hold some medieval books once - they were illuminated and everything! - and man, just having something that old in your hands is pretty awesome.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

We have some of those too! We got a donation of bibles and old books from some guy and there are all sorts of books from the mid-1500s and up. It's insane!

One person apparently had a spiritual experience when she went and looked at them. I can tell you that personally, I get shivers every time I go to the "cage" where we keep them.

[corinnlon.livejournal.com]

That so cool! It's always been my dream to work in a library one day and spend time surrounded by books! ^_^

[nenya_kanadka]

Awesome awesome! :D

[hekateras.livejournal.com]

What proof do they have that it was printed at that time and not later? Carbon isotope dating doesn't offer THAT much precision.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

There's the title of the book. And the condition of the book. What it's made out of, the book covering, paper type. How it's printed. We have a professional archivist who comes in twice a week to catalog our rare book and bible collection.

She knows where to look for similar kinds of books. And other libraries/museums might have the same copy or records of the book, when it was printed or when it first showed up. Stuff like that. I'm not sure of the details as I don't do that stuff.