A RARE BOOKS EXPERT, who curated the Dead Sea Scrolls while they were in the United States, is profiled by the Baptist Press:

Rare books benefit from her rare talent

Posted on Sep 26, 2007 | by Gary D. Myers

NEW ORLEANS (BP)--For nearly four months last spring, Chicago-based rare books expert Ellen Middlebrook Herron combed through the rare books collection at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary's John T. Christian Library.

Herron discovered and cataloged a number of important early books and Bibles in the NOBTS library, including several 15th-century works from the earliest days of the printing press.

But in many ways, Herron's expertise is as rare as the books she investigates. These skills include the ability to read Latin and French as well as decipher titles and phrases in languages such as Greek, Hebrew, Italian and Spanish. She also has the uncanny talent for dating handwriting by century. Extensive knowledge of binding procedures and early book construction techniques are other tools Herron uses to identify and date books.

Her training and experience with ancient documents led to Herron's involvement with two important collections -– the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Scriptorium: Center for Christian Antiquity.

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