The Zs

I found out several months ago that it was possible to use my public library card at the university libraries in the province, and this weekend I finally wandered over to the Killam Library at Dalhousie University to fill out the necessary paperwork. Then I braved the hoards of Ugg boots and withering undergrad stares until I located my favourite section: the Zs – Bibliography and Library Science.

I was looking for the first volume of the mammoth The History of the Book in Canada, a major research project that (I think) wound up a few years ago and resulted in three large volumes of essays and an online database. I have been doing some very amateurish research into early book publishing in BC and a librarian acquaintance suggested I check this out. He also recommended Ocean Paper Stone by Robert Bringhurst (1984), and while I was in the neighbourhood I found Influences on California Printing by James D. Hart and Ward Ritchie (1970). I mentioned Ward Ritchie in another post, as a printer I'd been interested in. The whole California printing and publishing scene fascinates me, as it seems to be, or at one time have been, surrounded by a fairly vibrant community of librarians (including Lawrence Clark Powell) and enthusiast societies who held talks and published various ephemeral items of their own.

Three more days at the office and then I can dig into all my new finds (and the baking and the brie and the antipasto).