'Tis the Season to be Reading!
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Everywhere you go
Including your local library!
If you were to come into the library today, you could peek past the doors and see librarians running about with tinsel in their hair and garland strewn about the shelves. Today is not a day for quite in the stacks, we're shouting ideas across the room and apologizing to the air for the noise as we laugh. If you get extra nosy and look in the office, you'll see what looks like a Christmas explosion! There's boxes with light spilling out, ornaments on every surface, garland climbing the walls, and a stunning copy of A Christmas Carol printed in 1902 awaiting display in our lobby.
This copy of A Christmas Carol was printed by the Roycroft Shop of East Aurora, NY in 1902, the book has a soft cover made of suede with gilt lettering detailing the title and author as well as the logo of the Roycroft Shop. The Roycroft Shop was the home of the crafting movement in the United States of America founded by Elbert Hubbard in
1897. Hubbard started his crafting movement with handmade books (!) and in fact, the Roycroft Shop still exists today. Known today as the Roycroft Campus, the Shop is one of the oldest surviving Artist Colonies and was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1986.
To say the least, we are so excited to have this copy of A Christmas Carol. Now, the question you may as is: where did you get this wonderful book? Our answer? Um... We're not sure (at least those of us that are here). The book has been stored in our special collection of display only books for at least a few years, as for how it came to be there - that is a mystery. What we do know is that we are thrilled to have this beautiful book and to share it with you this Christmas season!
If you want to take a look at this piece of history, stop in at you local library during the month of December and check out the display case in the lobby. While you are here, check out our Christmas decoration - oh and the Christmas book display! We have copies of Dickens' Christmas Stories and A Christmas Carol, several favorite works by Richard Paul Evans and Debbie Macomber, and many more!
See you in the stacks!
Roycroft History:
https://www.roycroftcampuscorporation.com/learn/history/