Dear Colleagues,
This message below comes from author Marsha Meskimmon. By contacting
Sharon Wasserman, librarian at the National Museum of Women in the Arts,
who was able to compare the two copies in her library, it is clear that
this plea is no hoax. Please spread the word. Perhaps the plagiarized
copy should be withdrawn from library collections everywhere. If our
European library colleagues could pass this message on, I think we would be
doing a service to this author. Sharon Wasserman's message follows Marsha's.
Paula Gabbard, Fine Arts Librarian
Avery Library
Columbia University
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FROM MARSHA MESKIMMON:
Hello All,
I apologise for this impersonal e-mail, but the subject is urgent and
requires widespread and immediate contact.
A verbatim copy of my first book, The Art of Reflection: Women Artists'
Self-Portraiture in the Twentieth Century (Columbia UP and Scarlet
Press, 1996) has just been found, published under the authorship of
Tiziana Agnati with the title Flaesh-in(g) Mirror: Women Artists'
Self-representation in the Twentieth Century (Milan: Selene Edizioni,
2001). By copy, I mean an exact, sentence by sentence, copy of the
entire book, in English, including even the foreword by Rosy Martin and
scanned, uncredited, images. It is, according to the copyright officers
to whom I have spoken, the worst case they have ever seen. It is not yet
clear who is responsible, but legal action is pending.
In the meantime, I am asking colleagues to check their institutional
(and personal) libraries to ensure that this text does not continue to
circulate - a simple check against my book will demonstrate the severity
of this case.
Many thanks for your help,
Marsha
***********************************************************************************
FROM SHARON WASSERMAN:
Hi Paula,
This is unbelievable. The books are identical, down to the descriptive blurb
on the back of the book. The only thing the Agnati copy doesn't include is
the acknowledgements, though it does include a dedication to someone named
Danilo. I think it is certainly appropriate to send a note to those you
mention in your email. Let me know if you need any other information.
Sharon M. Wasserman
Director of the Library and Research Center
National Museum of Women in the Arts
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