Agent Pendergast takes on a bizarre and gruesome case: in the ghost-haunted city of Savannah, bodies are found with no blood left in their veins—sowing panic and reviving whispered tales of the infamous Savannah Vampire. As the mystery rises along with the body count, Pendergast and his partner, Agent Coldmoon, race to understand how—or if—these murders are connected to an infamous skyjacking, and together they’ll uncover not just the answer…but an unearthly evil beyond all imagining.It’s a case like no other in the new installment of Preston & Child’s #1 New York Times bestselling series. Admittedly, COVID restrictions mean that it may not currently be possible to enter, but hopefully that will be possible soon! Looking for more libraries to visit? Check out these beautiful libraries from around the world. Aesthetically, I’m forced to admit it’s nothing to write home about: it looks rather like an industrial prison complex. If we’re talking looks, the Bodleian in Oxford is sadly much more beautiful, with its classical architecture and eye-catching blue dome. However, the UL is one of only six legal deposit libraries in the UK, meaning by law it’s entitled to receive a copy of every single book published in the nation. This makes it an invaluable research resource. Wandering through the narrow, cramped passageways, in between miles of dark shelving, can really make you feel a sense of “library-hood” which (almost) makes up for the less than pleasing exterior. To be perfectly honest, it’s surprisingly small; I was a little underwhelmed when I first entered. But there’s another library in the college anyway to meet the needs of students, and the Wren’s collection of rare manuscripts is impressive. They include several original Isaac Newton manuscripts, A.A. Milne’s own manuscript for Winnie the Pooh, the first book to have been printed in English, and more. Naturally, Pepys’s famous diaries form one of the most significant elements of the library, but there are also several medieval manuscripts, Sir Francis Drake’s almanac, and a huge collection of printed ballads. The library is housed in the Pepys Building, of which he partially paid for the construction. Its most important piece is the St Augustine Gospels, one of the oldest European books in existence. Made in Italy in the 6th century, it’s widely considered to have been brought to England by St Augustine in 597 CE, when he was sent by Pope Gregory the Great to convert the Anglo-Saxons. It’s now taken out on special occasions such as the enthronement of new Archbishops of Canterbury, for which the Master of Corpus will transport the gospel to Canterbury. I will, however, go into a little more detail about the Katharine Stephen room, which houses our rare books collection. Named after an old Principal of Newnham who was also the cousin of Virginia Woolf, it was built in 1982 and achieved Grade II listing in 2018. It carries over 6,000 rare books and manuscripts, such as 16th century Shakespeare editions, original 1700s copies of Tatler, and more. I was also particularly surprised to go in once and see that it contains, in a small glass case, a ring with the braided hair of Emily and Charlotte Brontë.
