April 24, 2012, Filed Under: Books + Manuscripts, Research + TeachingScholar reads between the lines in new Lillian Hellman biography Alice Kessler-Harris, R. Gordon Hoxie Professor of History at Columbia University, made several trips to the Ransom Center between 2003 and 2011. Her biography, A Difficult Woman: The Challenging Life and Times of Lillian Hellman, will be published by Bloomsbury Press on April 24. She has written many books,… read more
April 23, 2012, Filed Under: Books + Manuscripts, Exhibitions + EventsScholar explores the making of the King James Bible Helen Moore, a fellow and Tutor in English at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford, speaks Thursday night at the Ransom Center about the history of the King James Bible translation. Moore’s interdisciplinary research has been founded on bringing neglected texts back to academic attention. She was lead curator of… read more
April 20, 2012, Filed Under: Film"What you are about to see is unrehearsed and uncensored" “Whether you agree or disagree with what you will hear, we feel that none will deny the right of these views to be broadcast.” -Mike Wallace Mike Wallace rose to prominence in 1956 with the New York City television interview program Night Beat, which soon developed into the nationally televised… read more
April 19, 2012, Filed Under: ConservationBugs, Mold, and Conservation Mary Baughman, a Harry Ransom Center book conservator, hunts bugs. When she discovers them in materials at the Center, she destroys them, typically with a 72-hour stint in a freezer at 20 degrees centigrade or below. But don’t ask Baughman which of the cellulose-munching bugs she wishes didn’t exist at… read more
April 17, 2012, Filed Under: Books + ManuscriptsEarly printed book contains rare evidence of medieval spectacles Many scholars rank the invention of eyeglasses among the most important contributions to humankind in the last 2,000 years. Yet, the inventor of this now thoroughly quotidian piece of technology remains anonymous. Indeed the inventor (or inventors) will almost certainly never be known, given the numerous conflicting claims, lack of… read more
April 16, 2012, Filed Under: Books + ManuscriptsChristine Brooke-Rose, experimental fiction writer “With news of the death of Christine Brooke-Rose, the world of letters has lost a significant and courageous writer,” said Karen Lawrence, President of Sarah Lawrence College and author of Techniques for Living: Fiction and Theory in the Work of Christine Brooke-Rose. A writer known for her unorthodox and experimental… read more
