Meet the real-life Indiana Jones of Medieval manuscripts

I always assumed I’d take an interest in antiquarian books when I was older and had more disposable income. (Then again, that’s never guaranteed and might not even be feasible for Millennials, but I can hope.) I also assumed that books from the 1800s, which is my particular interest, would be extremely expensive. I’m happy to report that I was wrong on both accounts!

I recently celebrated my 31st birthday and treated myself to a couple of books from the 1800s, the cheapest being $21 and the most expensive being $60. Sure, there are some 1800s books that are several hundred or several thousand dollars apiece, though I’m not in the market for those. Given this fairly recent interest, I decided to join The Aldus Society, which is a local antiquarian book enthusiasts group in town.

They normally meet at the Thurber House, the home and museum dedicated to James Thurber in downtown Columbus, though due to the pandemic meetings have been virtual. I attended my first meeting recently and am hooked! The guy who spoke is basically the real-life Indiana Jones of Medieval manuscripts.

The speaker was David Gura, who is the Curator of Ancient and Medieval Manuscripts in the Hesburgh Library at the University of Notre Dame. Admittedly, I think Medieval books are cool but they’re not my particular area of…