Eoin Purcell's Blog

Hello and welcome
I’m Eoin and this is Uncovered History a blog about History Books lost in the bowels of libraries, private collections and all the other places where they do no-one any good. It is about words trapped on pages and it is about how technology is helping me and you read them again as the writers and the words intended.

What and How
I write another blog* on publishing and part of that site involved visiting and working on Google Book Search. Last week it struck me that one of the enormous values Google Book Search and other book indexing site are offering is free access to books that have long since fallen out of readership.

They may once have been well read and acknowledged as fine examples of their genres but now these books exist as part of the shelves of libraries (Often stored in their less read warehouse sections) the shelves of private collectors or as the stock of second hand antique and rare booksellers. Indexation and digitisation has saved them from ending their days in that way. It harks back to a conversation started by Jeff Jarvis who said “Print is where words go to die“.

That is why every few weeks (I will twice for twice a month but I am a busy guy so there is no guarantee) I hope to be able to post an item which has used the internet and its tools to find obscure and wonderful books (Always two, sometimes more never more than five), read some or all of their content, search a little to find where (if possible) one might buy a copy, see what can find about the authors and generally promote a book that once was deemed worthy of publication.

Wrap Up
I don’t know if anyone will like the idea, I don’t care. It appeals to me and that at the end of the day is the reason I am doing this. On the other hand it would be nice if people did enjoy it and if they dropped me comments and suggestions along the way. Feedback is a powerful thing.

If you have suggestions for topics with the following fields: history, politics, economics, society and global affairs then e-mail me at

eoinpurcellsblogATgmail.com

Notes
*If you are interested you can read it here