This Thursday Night at Observatory: "Natural Histories: Extraordinary Rare Book Selections from the American Museum of Natural History Library" with Tom Baione of AMNH

This Thursday, January 10, I am so very excited to be hosting my former colleague at the American Museum of Natural History--library director Tom Baione--at Observatory. He will be talking about--and showing scores of amazing illustrations from!--a variety of rarely seen illustrated books residing in the museum's research library special collections as explored in his new book Natural Histories: Extraordinary 
Rare Book Selections from the American Museum of Natural History Library
. We will also have twenty copies of this gorgeous book--which  features forty suitable-for-framing art prints of images from the book--available for sale and signing by Mr. Baione!

Full details follow. Hope very much to see you there!

Natural Histories: Extraordinary 
Rare Book Selections from the American Museum of Natural History Library: Illustrated lecture and Book Release Party with Tom Baione of New York’s American Museum of Natural History
Date: Thursday, January 10
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $5
Presented by Morbid Anatomy
*** Copies of the book will be available for sale and signing

Most people are well acquainted with the front-stage wonders of New York's American Museum of Natural History--the world class habitat group dioramas, the highly stylized hall of biodiversity, the epic dinosaur skeletons; what is less well known is the equally astounding back-stage collection, which includes an world-renowned collection of exquisite, rare, and beautifully illustrated books on the natural sciences held by museum's research library. The new book Natural Histories: Extraordinary 
Rare Book Selections from the American Museum of Natural History Library
, edited by AMNH's Tom Baione, brings these hidden works to the fore, showcasing forty extraordinary works created between the 16th and 20th centuries, covering all seven continents, and spanning such diverse scientific fields as anthropology, astronomy, earth science,
 paleontology, and zoology. The book also features essays about each work by Museum curators, scientists, and librarians, as well as forty extraordinary, suitable-for-framing art prints of images from the book.

In tonight's highly illustrated lecture, join American Museum of Natural History's Boeschenstein Director of
 Library Services and volume editor Tom Baione for a look inside the Natural Histories... and a virtual trip behind the scenes of the Library's Rare Book Room. Attendees will also have the opportunity to purchase--and have signed!--their own copy of this gorgeous new volume.

Tom Baione, a Brooklyn native, started working in the Museum's Library in 1995 
after attending Pratt Institute's School of Library and Information
 Science. After years in the Library's Special Collections and Reference 
Services units, Tom became the Library's Director in 2010. He is an active
 member of New York's Grolier Club and lives in midtown with his high
school sweetheart. The Museum was his favorite childhood destination and he still reports a thrill upon entering the museum each day.

More here.