The Raven is one of Edgar Allen Poe’s most impressive works, a long narrative poem centered on a talking raven that makes a nocturnal visit to a distraught lover, who is mourning the death of his beloved Lenore.  Noted for its seamless weaving of popular myth, folk tales, classical imagery, and the supernatural, the poem remains a widely acclaimed and popular classic.  However, Poe’s raven has a little known and significant literary heritage.  Historians and literary critics have long speculated that the talking bird in his famous poem was actually inspired by Charles Dickens’ own pet raven, Grip.  This real-life raven was responsible for spawning not one, but two literary greats, as he was also the basis for the bird depicted in Dickens’ own novel, Barnaby Rudge.  Dickens was fascinated by Grip, and resolved to include him in his next novel.  In 1841, he published Barnaby Rudge, and indeed, the title character was constantly accompanied by a talking pet raven, which was far more intelligent than the man himself.  Dickens widely acknowledged that the character was based on his own bird, which had unfortunately died shortly before the publication of the novel.  Dickens was deeply saddened by Grip’s death, and continued to acquire birds; first an eagle, and then two more ravens in succession, both also named Grip.  The third Grip had an even more distinctive and domineering character than the first, and was even able to keep the family dog, a bullmastiff named Turk, under control.  Turk would sit patiently as Grip helped himself to all of the best pieces of meat from the dog’s dinner plate.  According to the BBC, it was around this time that Dickens and Poe became acquainted.  Poe had written an approving review of Barnaby Rudge, and the two arranged to meet when Dickens and his wife were on tour in the United States.  Reportedly, Poe saw a picture of Grip that Dickens carried with him, and was delighted to learn that the bird he had admired in Barnaby Rudge was based on a real-life animal.  Shortly after, Poe composed his most notable work, a narrative poem with an imperious raven at its heart.  The main character, a love-struck and sorrowful young man, is struck by the visitation of a raven, whose croaking refrain, “Nevermore,” simply adds to his grief.  Although Poe never stated it explicitly, it is widely thought that The Raven is based on Dickens’ bird.  In 1848 the writer James Russell Lowell wrote, “Here comes Poe with his raven, like Barnaby Rudge / Three-fifths of him genius, two fifths sheer fudge.”  Poe’s sad and untimely death just one year later cemented his legacy, and The Raven remains his best-known and most-loved work.  Helen Flatley  Read more and see graphics at https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/11/02/raven/



The Train is a 1964 American war film directed by John Frankenheimer.  Its screenplay—written by Franklin Coen, Frank Davis, and Walter Bernstein—is loosely based on the non-fiction book Le front de l'art by Rose Valland, who documented the works of art placed in storage that had been looted by the Germans from museums and private art collections.  The film stars Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield and Jeanne Moreau.  Set in August 1944, it sets French Resistance-member Paul Labiche (Lancaster) against German Colonel Franz von Waldheim (Scofield), who is attempting to move stolen art masterpieces by train to Germany.  Inspiration for the scenes of the train's interception came from the real-life events surrounding train No. 40,044 as it was seized and examined by Lt. Alexandre Rosenberg of the Free French forces outside Paris.  The Train is based on the factual 1961 book Le front de l'art by Rose Valland, the art historian at the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, who documented the works of art placed in storage there that had been looted by the Germans from museums and private art collections throughout France and were being sorted for shipment to Germany in World War II.  In contrast to the action and drama depicted in the film, the shipment of art that the Germans were attempting to take out of Paris on August 1, 1944, was held up by the French Resistance with an endless barrage of paperwork and red tape and made it no farther than a railyard a few miles outside Paris.  Upon his soldiers opening the wagon doors he viewed many plundered pieces of art that had once been displayed in the home of his father, Parisian art dealer Paul Rosenberg, one of the world's major Modern art dealers.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Train_(1965_film)



Children's stories bless us twice.  The first time they are read to us.  The second time, we read them to a child.  See Short Stories by Collection and Author at https://americanliterature.com/short-stories



The Harry S. Truman Library, the first Presidential Library to be created under the provisions of the 1955 Presidential Libraries Act, was established to preserve the papers, books, and other historical materials relating to former President Harry S. Truman and to make them available to the people in a place suitable for exhibit and research.  The Library building, which cost $1,750,000, was built by the Harry S. Truman Library Inc., a private corporation, with funds donated by more than 17,000 individuals and organizations from all parts of the country.  The building and Mr. Truman's Presidential papers were transferred to the Government at a dedication ceremony held on July 6, 1957, and attended by Government officials of both parties.  Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the principal address.  The Library, located in Independence, Missouri, President Truman's hometown, crowns a knoll facing U.S. Highway 24 on land donated by the City of Independence.  In 1968 and 1980 additions to the building were completed at a cost of $310,000 and $2,800,000, respectively.  The present Library building, which is a one-story full basement structure, is roughly circular in configuration.  The total floor space is about 100,000 square feet.  The building contains stack areas for the storage of manuscripts, books, and audiovisual materials, a research room, staff offices, an auditorium, conference and seminar rooms and museum exhibit and storage areas.  President and Mrs. Truman are buried in the courtyard, as are their only child, Margaret Truman Daniel, and her husband, Clifton Daniel.  The core of the Library's research holdings and the principal reason for its existence is its collection of the papers of Harry S. Truman.  These papers consist principally of the White House files for the Truman administration.  They also include papers that document Mr. Truman's life and careers as farmer, soldier, businessman, local politician, U.S. Senator, Vice President and former President.  Since the Library opened it has engaged in an ambitious acquisitions program.  Presently, in addition to the Truman papers, the Library has in its custody more than 450 manuscript collections of individuals who were associated with Mr. Truman at some point during his career in an official or personal capacity.  The Library also has a small quantity of Truman-related Federal records among its holdings.  The largest segment consists of the records of Presidential commissions and committees appointed by President Truman during his administration.

https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/about/history  The library closed for renovations in July 2019.



'Put paid to' probably derives from the practice of book-keepers of writing or stamping "Paid" on bills when the paperwork for a sale was completed.  An early citation comes from the Winnipeg newspaper The Manitoba Morning Free Press, October 1905.  https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/put-paid-to.html



August 12, 2019  Macmillan Publishers recently announced a lending model that dramatically cuts eBook borrowing.  A library may purchase just one digital copy of a Macmillan title within two months after its release to make available for the public.  This embargo means fewer opportunities for readers interested in the electronic format, and longer wait lists with certain Macmillan eBooks.  Each library system, regardless of size and city, faces the same imposing limit.  A federal study from the Institute of Museum and Library Services found public libraries nationally offer more than 391 million eBooks.  But digital licensing rights strike a contrast with traditional printed items, in which libraries take sole ownership.  Electronically formatted books cannot be resold at branch sales or transferred to another library for borrowing.  Library leaders, who want to buy more digital copies, instead meet unnecessary caps imposed by publishers.

http://www.toledolibrary.org/blog/macmillan-publishers-further-restricts-ebook-access-for-libraries



The majestic marble lions that have guarded the New York Public Library’s Schwartzman Building for more than 100 years are getting a much-needed facelift.  The two lions that flank the library building’s Fifth Avenue entrance, dubbed Patience and Fortitude by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia during the Great Depression, will receive a $250,000 cleaning and restoration over nine-week beginning the week of September 2, 2019.  “The lions have earned some time at the spa,” said New York Public Library President Anthony Marx.  “As great stewards of this building, it is critical that we maintain the lions and ensure that they are strong to inspire everyone for generations to come.”  Patience is on the south side of the library entrance and Fortitude is located on the north.  Each were carved in the Piccirilli Brothers’ Bronx studio and have watched over the Beaux-Arts landmarked library since 1911.  Made of porous Tennessee pink marble, the lions must be restored every seven to ten years because of the toll taken from the elements, traffic exhaust, and adventurous visitors who scale the stone felines.  Caroline Spivack  https://ny.curbed.com/2019/8/12/20801885/new-york-public-library-lions-250k-restoration



http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2138  August 14, 2019