Book historian to discuss old books, digital books and future of libraries Feb. 26

Michael Suarez, an authority on the history of books, will discuss “Old Books, Digital Books and the Future of Libraries,” in the 2012 Peple Lecture Feb. 26, 2 p.m., at the University of Richmond’s Jepson Alumni Center.

The talk, sponsored by Friends of Boatwright Memorial Library, is free and open to the public.

Suarez is university professor and director of the Rare Book School at the University of Virginia. He is author of “The Oxford Companion to the Book,” a million-word reference about the history of books and manuscripts since the invention of writing.

A Jesuit priest, Suarez is co-general editor of “The Collected works of Gerard Manley Hopkins” and editor-in-chief of Oxford Scholarly Editions Online, one of the largest digital humanities projects.

He holds fellowships from The American Council of Learned Societies, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. He also is honorary curator of University of Virginia’s special collections.

The Edward C. and Mary S. Peple Library Lectureship annually brings leading American librarians and scholars to speak about topics of interest to librarians and the community. The Peples were charter members of Friends of Boatwright Memorial Library, the university’s main library containing more than half a million books, 100,000 bound periodicals and electronic resources. Edward Peple graduated from the university, returned to teach English, and served as dean of the graduate school and associate provost. He retired in 1978.

For more information, call 804-289-8454.

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