Adopt-a-Book Program

Adopt a Box: Conservator's Choice! With this option, we will choose an item in need of an enclosure and put your name on the electronic bookplate. The staff in the conservation lab make on average 5,000 custom enclosures a year. There is always something in the lab that needs a box. Candidates may come from any part of our collections including Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University Archives, Music Library locked stacks, or Lilly Library locked stacks. 

NEW!

Old New York by Edith Wharton (4 volumes, library copy 3) First published in 1924, Wharton's collection of four short novels reveals the customs and social orders of mid-19th-century New York--Novelist.These sweet volumes are part of the Lisa Unger Baskin Collection. They need custom enclosures to protect the beautiful dust jackets.

Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (London, 1996). This is book one of Martin's fantasy story of treachery, greed, and war that threatens the unity of the Seven Kingdoms of south of the Wall. This edition is inscribed to Charles N. Brown from the author. Original dust jacket.

The Left Hand of Darkness   by Ursula Le Guin (New York, 1969). Le Guin's Hainish series begins with the assumption that centuries ago humanoids from the planet Hain ventured through the solar system establishing colonies on various planets including Earth. This is the first hardcover edition. Original dust jacket.

The Citadel of the Autarch by Gene Wolfe (New York, 1983). This title i s the fourth and final volume in the four-volume series The Book of the New Sun. What makes this edition interesting is that it has three dust jackets. The original as issued, and an additional two identical dust jackets.

These three volumes were acquired as part of the Locus Science Fiction Foundation Collection. We are adopting these as a set of three individually made custom corrugated boxes . 

(Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library)

Adopt for $150

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (c.2) by Robert A. Heinlein (New York, 1966). Widely considered one of the best science fiction novelists, Robert Heinlein won four Hugo Awards for best novel including one for The Moon is a Harsh Mistress . This tale of revolution and rebellion needs a protective enclosure to protect its as-issued publisher's dust jacket. This volume is inscribed to Charles N. and Dena Brown from the author. Original dust jacket.

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein (New York, 1959). This military science fiction novel won Heinlein a Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1960. Not without its critics, this novel was influential on many writing genres. Original dust jacket. Signed by the author with inscription.

The Green Hills of Earth by Robert A. Heinlein (Chicago, 1951). This novel was one of Heinlein's Future History stories that was first published in The Saturday Evening Post. Original dust jacket.

These three volumes were acquired as part of the Locus Science Fiction Foundation Collection. We are adopting these as a set of three individually made custom corrugated boxes. 

(Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library)

Adopt for $150

No: Classical Theatre of Japan  by Donald Keene (1966). This book is an amazing look into the world of Japanese theatrical tradition. It is in its original publisher's dust jacket and slipcase. However, the original slipcase is cardboard. The problem with slipcases are they can abrade the covers when the book is taken removed and put back into the slipcase. We need to create a custom housing for both the book and its slipcase so that these items remain together, but are both protected from needless wear and tear.

(Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library)

Adopt for $150

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress , by Robert A. Heinlein (1966). Widely considered one of the best science fiction novelists, Robert Heinlein won four Hugo Awards for best novel including one for  The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. This tale of revolution and rebellion needs a protective enclosure to protect its as-issued publisher's dust jacket.

(Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library)

Adopt for $150

The Naked and the Dead , by Norman Mailer (1948). This book recalls Mailer's military service in the Phillapines in World War II. The novel was later adapted into a film. The original New Yorker critique of the novel can be found online. This book needs an enclosure to keep the original dust jacket protected.

(Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library)

Adopt for $150

NEW!

Dune, by Frank Herbert (1965). This book is part of the Locus Science Fiction Foundation Collection and is inscribed by the author. Set on a desert planet, Dune is a future space fantasy concerning a time when the human race has reached a point of intellectual stagnation and receives the help of a space-age Messiah and prophet. Fun fact: the Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of Dune the movie will be released at the end of 2020.

NEW!

Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick. Every great TV series began as a book. Adopt the original! This novel ponders life in America against the background of a globe controlled by Germany and Japan--a novel of our world as it might have been. This book is part of the Locus Science Fiction Foundation Collection .

NEW!

A Game of Thrones , by George R.R. Martin (1996). Winter is coming, and you should adopt this book. This one is unusal as it is accompanied by an early version of dust jacket illustrated by Stephen Youll, with border designed by Ron Zim; the jacket design is by Jamie S. Warren Youll. This book is part of the Locus Science Fiction Foundation Collection.

NEW!

Women Bookbinders!  This is a lovely set of fine bindings by women bookbinders. These five bindings are part of the Lisa Unger Baskin Collection and are just lovely. They need some protective enclosures to protect the leather and gold tooling. In this set is:

Lectures on Art , written by John Ruskin, bound by Marguerite Le Lacheur and stamped ML 1899.

Ionica , written by William Johnson Corey, bound by Paulina Pepys Cockerell and stamped PPC 1905 on inside of back cover with annotation in manuscript above stamp 'Paulina Pepys Cockerell'. Paulina Cockerell is likely the sister of bookbinder Patience Scott Cockerell.

The Vision, or Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise of Dante Alighieri, written by Rev. Henry Francis Cary, M.A., binding signed Guild of Women Binders .

Les confessions de J.-J. Rousseau ,  written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, bound by Edith Ella Baldwin, stamped with her initials EEB 1913.

The Aeneids of Virgil done into English Verse by William Morris , written by Virgil, stamped Guild of Women Binders .

NEW!

H. McLanahan bindings (set 1). These may all be written by Bernard Shaw, but the McLanahan bindings are what make these books stunning. They need simple four-flap boxes to protect the delicate goold toolsing. The nine books are:

The philanderer : a topical comedy of the year 1893 (B. Shaw)
Man of Destiny: a trifle (B. Shaw)
Arms and the man : an anti-romantic comedy in three acts (B. Shaw)
Candida: a mystery (B. Shaw)
Captain Brassbound's Conversion: and adventure (B. Shaw)
John Bull's Other Island: in four acts (B. Shaw)
Overruled; & The darkl ady of the sonnets (B. Shaw)
How He Lied to her Husband; Admirable Bashville (B. Shaw)
Major Barbara: in three acts (B. Shaw)

NEW!

H. McLanahan bindings (set 2). These beautiful bindings are by H. McLanahan and arguably the best thing about these nine novels by Bernard Shaw. They need simple four-flap boxes to protect the delicate goold toolsing. The nine books are:

The Devil's Disciple: A melodrama in three acts (B. Shaw)
Widower's Houses: A play (B. Shaw)
Ceasar and Cleopatra: A history (B. Shaw)
Fanny's First Play: An easy play for a little theatre (B. Shaw)
The shewing-up of Blanco Posnet : a sermon in crude melodrama (B. Shaw)
Androcles and the Lion: A fable play (B. Shaw)
The Doctor's Dillema: A tragedy (B. Shaw)
Mrs. Warren's Profession: A play in four acts (B. Shaw)
You Never Can Tell: A comedy in four acts (B. Shaw)

Children and Gardens by Gertrude Jekyll (London, 1933). Jekyll was a British horticulturist, garden designer, writer, and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the UK, Europe, and the US. This volume includes instructions on gardening written for children (and their adults); recipes; and illustrations including Ms. Jekyll's cat.

Chinese Women Speak by Dymphna Cusack (Sydney, 1958). This is Cusack's account of her travels in China in the mid 1950's. Valuable for its verbatim reports of her interviews with Chinese women.

New Plays for Women and Girls by Samuel French LTD (New York, Los Angeles, London, 1932). This volume contains fifteen one-act plays.

These three volumes were acquired as part of the Lisa Unger Baskin Collection . Each book's dust jacket needs some conservation treatment to stabilize small tears. They also need a custom corrugated box to protect the bindings.

(Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library)

Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers , published 1751-72, by Denis Diderot. This is the first encyclopedia to have the contents organized by human thought rather than by nature or theology. This publication was considered innovative in part because it emphasized the mechanical arts, and it named the various authors that contributed content. This complete set contains 70 volumes of text, illustrations and supplements. Each volume needs a custom-made enclosure and many need minor repair to the texts and foldouts. [ Text volumes ] [ Plate volumes ]

63 of 70 volumes available for adoption

(Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library)

Adopted:
T. 1
Plate v. 1
Plate v. 2
Plate v. 5
Plate v.7
Plate v. 8
Plate v. 11

An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser (1925, first edition). Loosely based on real events this story follows Clive Griffiths, a son of two misionaries, who takes a job as a bell hop then in a factory. After making several poor choices he ends up on trial for murder. This two-volume set has some prior repairs that are damaging the original dust jackets. The original publishers slip case is damaging the books, so an enclosure that houses the books and slip case will be made so that all three pieces are protected.

(Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library)

Dante con lespositione di Christoforo Landino [c.2] , by Dante Alighieri (1564) Illustrated with the woodcuts from Marcolini's edition of 1544. This is also the first appearance of AB's woodcut portrait of Dante. This book's headcaps are damaged and the front board is off. It also needs a custom enclosure to protect the fragile binding.

(Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library)

Birds of America by John James Audubon . These are stunning double elephant folios printed from 1827–1803. This set contains four volumes. Three volumes need full conservation attention to repair the broken and loose sewing and boards before the damage becomes so severe they cannot be used.

3 of 3 volumes available for adoption.

(Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library)