The Home Library of Umberto Eco

 

Asia's forgotten musical gems rediscovered on vinyl

As the vinyl market experiences booming demand, crate diggers are spending time and money to re-release forgotten musical gems around Asia and beyond.

Read the full article on BBC here

 

Owners' joy as rare £2.5m books stolen in London heist returned

The owners of rare books, including those by Galileo and Sir Isaac Newton, have described their "profound joy" at having them returned

Read the full article on BBC here

 

Collecting Side Show/Carny Books

It may seem an odd subject to want to amass titles, but for some, the quirkiness and oddities that circus sideshows and carnivals provide are fascinating subjects. I began to indulge in collecting any mystery that had a smidgen of sideshow or carny theme, and have progressed to purchasing non crime fiction too. Sideshows are considered politically incorrect in this day and age. People think that displaying individuals with physical deformities  is demeaning and exploitive. Perhaps it is, for some. But for many of the performers of yesteryear who graced the tents and circus midways, the money and notoriety was a welcome thing, the alternative to being shut away in some institution or hidden in the attic of a family home.

Read the full article on Bookshop Blog here

Inside the haunted doll markets of eBay and Etsy

Haunted doll sellers and collectors say buyers should beware.

Read the full article on Vox here

The Weird World of ‘Haunted’ eBay: ‘Purchase With Caution’

An artist's obsession with listings for the cursed, doomed, and otherwise unexplained.

Read the full article on The New York Times here

Eight Tons of Punk

Facing rising San Francisco rent prices, the world's largest collection of punk records and the anit-establishment music magazine that safeguards it must find a new home

Read the full article on The Outline here

Anthony Daniels Finally Explains the Mystery of That Obscene C-3PO Trading Card

When Star Wars was released in 1977, the sprawling and detailed mythology created by George Lucas existed mostly in the director's head. There was no online hub to confirm how to spell Chewbacca or learn the name of the actor who played him. (The late Peter Mayhew, for the record.) Fans who wanted information beyond the scope of the film had to look toward the novelization by Alan Dean Foster, the Star Wars comic books issued by Marvel, or a series of trading card sets released by the Topps company.

Buried in these cards and their depictions of the various characters and scenes of the film was a strange and arguably obscene anomaly. On the front of card number 207, protocol droid C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) is seen emerging from an oil bath and appearing to be anatomically correct, a rare feature of robots.

Read the full article on Mental Floss here

Adjust Your Tracking

Adjust Your Tracking

documentary film about VHS tape collecting

directed by Daniel Kinem and Levi Peretic (2013)

What is Murderabilia? The Strange Allure Of Artifacts From Serial Killers, Explained

An entire secret industry revolves around the sale of artificats from serial killers. But is it moral to collect these accursed objects? We talk to an artist, a historian, and a victim advocate about the ethics of murderabilia.

Read the full article on Oxygen here