Now Available!
Essays on Slavic Collections,
Bibliography & Bookculture,
1984-2008
By Edward Kasinec and Robert H. Davis,
Jr.
With a Preface By
Ekaterina Genieva, Director General,
Library for Foreign Literature, Moscow
54 Essays for Slavicists,
Students of Russian Culture and Bibliophiles
Edward
Kasinec served as Curator of the Slavic and Baltic Division of The New York
Public Library for a quarter of a century (from 1984-2009), the second longest
tenure (after Avrahm Yarmolinsky) in the history of the Division. Over most
of those years Robert H. Davis, Jr., now Slavic Librarian at Columbia University,
served as Assistant Curator. During their joint tenure they oversaw an enormous
expansion of the collection, while creating a notable body of professional
literature in the Slavic field.
The
present volume (the second of two), is a selection of 54 of their contributions
to Slavic book culture originally published over a period of nearly 24 years
in diverse venues and formats. Unlike the first volume, Slavic and Russian
Books and Libraries, which appeared in 2007, in which all of the essays were
authored by Kasinec and Davis individually or together, the second volume
includes some essays that Edward Kasinec co-authored with other colleagues
and friends, including Robert Karlowich (Pratt Institute, Emeritus), Robert
Whittaker (Lehman College, CUNY), Richard Wortman (Columbia University, Emeritus)
and J. Robert Wright (General Theological Seminary), to name but a few. While
>volume one= contained principally interpretative historical essays, this
volume reprints several other genres, including extended commentaries, brief
introductions to reference volumes, and reports on grants that were developed
by the authors. In addition, the authors have reprinted several historical
essays that have appeared since publication of Slavic and Russian Books.
"In
their latest contribution to Slavic book studies and culture, covering 1984-
2008, Kasinec and Davis once again present the reader with a fascinating array
of essays that reflect not only the unique collections which came under their
curatorship at the New York Public Library, but also the wide world beyond,
documenting the fate of important, but often little-known libraries and special
collections, and librarians and bookmen of the Slavic world in the turmoil
of the 20th century. As always, whether it be an introduction to a reference
work, an article in an art journal or a chapter in a scholarly tome, each
essay is a gem of conciseness and meticulous documentation, with the topic
carefully put into historical context. The authors are particularly skillful
in highlighting the importance of a given collection or body of work, and
in suggesting areas for further research. Overarching all of these essays,
written for disparate audiences and purposes, is the passion Kasinec and Davis
show for their subjects, coupled with a determination to have hidden collections
made accessible, and to acknowledge the achievements of the men and women
who have devoted their lives to preserving the intellectual and creative fruits
of their history and culture."
June
Pachuta Farris
Bibliographer
for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies
University
of Chicago Library
The
book is divided into three sections: Libraries, Librarians, Museums and
Books; Grantsmanship; and Prefaces, Forewords and Introductions,
which are preceded by an Introduction and a Preface and followed
by an Authors' Bibliography (Kasinec and Davis's works of 2008 and
2009), and a Personal Name Index.
Publication Date: August 2010
Essays on Slavic Collections, Bibliography
& Bookculture, 1984-2008,
Library binding, acid-free paper, 8 3/8" x 11 3/4", xiii, 241 p., 978-088354-0459..............$75.00
Also Available:
Slavic and Russian Books and Libraries:
Occasional Essays and Notes
By Edward Kasinec and Robert H. Davis, Jr.
This
book contains 20 of the authors' contributions to Slavic book culture originally
published over a period of nearly 25 years in diverse journals and formats.
This volume introduces the reader to little-known aspects of Russian intellectual
life and contributes to the broader field of cultural studies. In fact, this
convenient compilation of essays draws from disparate and not always widely-available
sources, saving the reader's time."
---John V. Richardson Jr., University of California, Los Angeles
Library binding, acid-free paper, 214 p.,
978-088354-0442...$75.00
.....................$60.00
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