Like a homecoming...

Well, dear readers, it looks like the blog wasnt the leading source of Library news last week! All you had to do was turn on your television or pick up your newspaper to see what was going on down here on King Street.

Thanks to a generous grant from MeadWestvaco and the Harold C. Schott Foundation, our incomparable archivist, Trisha Kometer, was able to locate a volume presumed missing for over two hundred years. This volume, "Dissertation on Parties", was part of the personal library of John Mackenzie, a planter and diplomat from Goose Creek. Mackenzie wished for his library to go to the newly-founded College of Charleston, but upon his passing in 1770, The College did not have the physical space to house the collection. It was turned over to the Library Society for temporary safekeeping, which worked well until a 1778 fire gutted the Library, presumably destroying the Mackenzie collection.

Fast forward about two hundred years: one of our librarians found a book in the vault with "J. Mackenzie" stamped across the back. She thought the name familiar, started investigating, and found the story about the collection. An inventory search was made, and all the rediscovered books were returned to The College.

One, however, escaped detection... until Trisha came along! "Dissertation On Parties" was found, The College contacted, and, as of last Thursday returned home to George Street right where Mr. Mackenzie wanted it so long ago.

Click here for the full story on the Mackenzie Project at the College of Charleston.

Click here to read coverage on the handover from the Washington Post.

In which we learn St. George's Day has nothing to do with grits...

Your loyal blogger wishes you a very, very happy St. George's Day! Amongst your rose-wearing, Jerusalem-singing, and dragon-slaying today, why not consider some ticket-buying? Today marks the 448th birthday of William Shakespeare, and to celebrate, the Library Society is hosting a big birthday party for the bard on this Thursday. The Charleston Renaissance Ensemble - Piccolo Spoleto favourites and the premiere Early Music group in the area - will be singing tunes from Shakespeare's time. And as a very, very special guest, bestselling author, sometimes actor, and perpetual raconteur Bernard Cornwell will be joining in, favouring us with dramatic readings from Shakespeare.

Tickets are $15, and children are allowed in for free.

Get them online here, by calling 1.888.718.4253, or at the front desk of the Library Society.

How you know a Wide Angle is great: the speaker's so interesting I didn't even talk about the food.

Your loyal blogger loves his job. Truly, madly, deeply loves his job. Being able to share our collections and events with our patrons and guests is too much fun.

But.

When someone's got a job title as cool as "Chairman of Vibe", I've got to admit... I get a little jealous. And this Friday, that's just who's coming. Our Wide Angle Lunches are back for Series IV, and Robert Hicks kicks off the season. 

Hicks is the "Chairman of Vibe" for BB King's blues clubs, which sounds like the coolest job ever. [Even if that was just the fancy name for the guy who scrubs the plates, it would almost be worth it, just for the business cards...] He got there by being a major country and alt-rock music manager and publisher. In addition to that, he's a major collector of Southern and outsider art, and has been named one of Art & Antiques Top 100 Collectors in the US. And in addition to that, he's the chair of Tennessee's Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission, the driving force behind the preservation of Franklin battlefield, and (yet another awesome title), 2005's "Tennesseean of the Year".

He lives in an 18th century log cabin.

Living in an18th Century Log Cabin is almost as
 cool as being this guy's Chairman of Vibe.

Oh, he also happens to be a New York Times bestselling novelist, the topic he'll be discussing at Friday's Wide Angle Lunch. Come join us at 12:30PM here at the Library for Hicks on "The Power of Fiction in Preserving History". Get your tix now through Showclix.

Yes, this is a Carolina Day post, two months early...

As some of our New England friends might know, today is Patriots' Day. Not to be confused with Patriot Day, which is September 11th, or Patriotes Day, the national holiday of Quebec, Patriots' Day occurs every third day in April and commemorates the Revolutionary War battles of Lexington and Concord. In Massachusetts, Maine, and (for some reason) Wisconsin, it's an official holiday.

I mention this because it's a good segue into mentioning South Carolina's own Revolutionary War holiday, Carolina Day. Celebrated on the 28th of June, Carolina Day marks the 1776 defeat of a British invasion force at the Battle of Sullivans Island. Today it's the day when all of Charleston's venerable cultural institutions meet at Washington Park and march down Meeting Street to the Battery for a wreath laying and some speechifying at the base of Sergeant Jasper's statue.

Carolina Day is also when all the venerable members of said institutions don their seersucker and turn Meeting Street into a river of blue-and-white pinstripes. This is, of course, done solely for participants own comfort, though it does seem to turn into a spectacle for the tourists. The important thing is this: make sure you're ready to march with the Library Society (the oldest and most venerable cultural institution in the South) by picking up your official Ben Silver Library Society tie.

Lest you think this is a bit early for your loyal blogger to be discussing June events, I promise that one of our patrons was in last Friday encouraging the writing of this post. In a good year, we might have about a dozen folks march with the Library in the parade. Said encouraging patron is not settling for anything less than fifty this year. Good for him: I know I'll be there.

And that golden hope brings me back to Patriots Day... our friends in Massachusetts have figured out a great way to boost the popularity of their Revolutionary parade: not only do the schools and government offices close; not only do the Sox play an early home game; but it's also the day the Boston Marathon is always held. And don't feel bad that their patriotic fete gets 25,000 attendants, while our Carolina Day struggles for a few hundred... unlike our Northern friends, we aren't all trying to finish the parade as quickly as possible!

Y, oh y...

March 22 - the birthday of Holy Roman Emperor Maxilimilian I, the Pentium processor, and the poet Billy Collins. Things are as busy as can be around the library today in preparation for Volodymyr Vynnytsky's piano concert here tonight (a few tickets still available!)... tables to be moved, seats to be placed, wine to be chilled, all that sort of stuff. As always, a big thanks to our Music Committee for their help, and a double thanks to Cowan Holdings, Ltd., for sponsoring the event. Volodymyr is such an impressive pianist... your loyal blogger can't wait!


Also upcoming... tomorrow is the first evening for our Sunshine Readers programme! The CofC Tri-Delts will host a fun children's story hour starting at 6:30 PM tomorrow here at the Library Society. Parents, grandparents, and babysitters are encouraged to bring their wee ones, three and up, to this exciting adventure in reading. Kids are encouraged to bring a pillow or stuffed bear, and come dressed in their jammies for this pre-bedtime event.


Parents... wearing your jammies is allowed, too. Just... use your best judgement.

Hits, parades.

March 12! Birthday of the Girl Scouts, Jack Kerouac, and the anniversary of the start of the Williamite War in Ireland. Which reminds me, St. Patrick's Day falls on a Saturday this year... so remember, King Street will be closed for the Ancient Order of Hibernians parade sometime between 10-11AM. If you're looking to drive to the Library, you'll have to come before or after the festivities. Also, the Hibernians (the other Hibernians) have their parade up Broad Street starting at 11AM, so be mindful of that, too, if you're headed this way.

Another great reason to head this way this week: Unedited is back for Unedited: Musical Madness. Enjoy a night of drama, intrigue, and Broadway hits with Laura Ball, starting at 7PM this Thursday night Tickets are $15, and available by clicking here.

Marching into March...

Don't forget, our March events calendar starts off with a great event, right from day one... on March 1st, St. David's Day, this Thursday, the Library Society will host author Caroline Alexander for an exciting and informative lecture and reception. Ms. Alexander will discuss her book The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story of Homer's Iliad and the Trojan War. 


Caroline Alexander studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, has a doctorate in classics from Columbia, and has authored pieces for The New Yorker and National Geographic and more in addition to her five non-fiction books. It should be a terrific evening! 


The event starts at 7PM, and tickets are $15. Get them at the front desk of the Library, by calling 1.888.718.4253, or by clicking here.