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. 

Kindred (1979) [DUKE007712003] by Octavia Butler. Rubenstein Library copy 1: Publisher's case binding with black cloth spine and brown paper sides. In original pictorial dust jacket with illustration by Larry Schwinger. Inscribed by Octavia Butler to Charles Brown.

Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) [DUKE002932526] by Zora Neal Hurston. First edition as issued. 

Two important works in the American lexicon are in excellent condition. They need enclosures to make sure they stay that way.

NEW!

東海道名所圖會 / Tōkaidō meisho zu (1797) is a six volume set of traditional Japanese stab bindings. These beautiful books depict Japanese life. Each of these volumes needs a custom enclosure to protect the delicate paper and woodcuts.

(Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library)

NEW!

A Negro Explorer at the North Pole , by Matthew Alexander Henson (1912)

Roots , by Alex Haley (1976)

Invisible Man , by Ralph Ellison (1952)

These four classics are in very good condition but require custom enclosures to make sure they stay that way.

(Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library)

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.

(Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library)

SUPPORT WOMEN BOOKBINDERS!

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 gold tooling. 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)

(Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library)

SUPPORT WOMEN BOOKBINDERS!

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 gold tooling. The nine books are:

The Devil's Disciple: A melodrama in three acts (B. Shaw)
Widower's Houses: A play (B. Shaw)
Caesar 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 Dilemma: 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)

(Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library)

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 custom enclosures 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 ]

61 of 70 volumes available for adoption

(Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library)

Adopted:
T. 1
T. 10
T. 13
Plate v. 1
Plate v. 2
Plate v. 5
Plate v.7
Plate v. 8
Plate v. 11

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)