A Few Good Books - A Few Good Buys
I have selected some books that are signed, limited edition - and which also happen to be attractively priced. I will list a few of them here. You can go to Amazon, yourself and search for signed, limited edition - then wade through all but I have attempted to save you some time and maybe let you know what is out there that may be special. "Special" is subjective, of course - these books being ones I would enjoy for my personal book collection, generally. Most have only one book available so if you see something you like, do not wait - just suggesting... If you click on the links I provide here I will receive a small (very small) commission. Thank You - I keep trying to pay the light bill :-}
Ceramics Art Show - Great Book Themes by Richard Shaw
I found this work of ceramic art by artist Richard Shaw to be quite interesting. It has a book theme and it shows the cavelear way that many folks treat books. It is just the thing for a book collector's home. Don't you think?
Richard Shaw's ceramic trompe l'oeil exhibition is a continuum of themes that he has explored for years: the personal remnants that individuals leave behind and their universal stories.
These still life porcelain tableaus consist of everyday objects arranged in compositions that extend our illusion of reality and raise an awareness of the beauty and value in the mundane.
Characteristic of all of Shaw's work is a technical expertise in the use of cast porcelain that goes beyond mere realism. His intricately crafted pieces are both humorous and intellectual in its art historical dialogue with some of the patterns found in 18th century Chinese export ceramic ware. Shaw has been a leading figure in redefining contemporary trompe l'oeil ceramics in the United States and beyond.
Where: Braunstein/Quay Gallery
Date(s): March 18, 2010 - April 17, 2010
Address: 430 Clementina Street, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
Phone: 415-278-9850
A lament for the bookshelf by Russell Smith
I have just read one of the most thoughtful posts on books and the state of books (even tangentially, book collecting - thus I am including it here...). I hope you will enjoy it. We have Russell Smith of The Globe and Mail to thank for the following:
Russell Smith: On Cultures 3/04/2010 in The Globe and Mail
In the future, our books will be invisible, like our music, but we’ll be the poorer for it. Here’s why
In the age of the e-book, what will happen to bookshelves? How will we decorate our apartments? How will we judge our prospective partners?
I am living in the aftermath of a move, where as usual the books have been the most obstructive and expensive and dustiest element. They have been moved from student room to disastrous relationship to shared house to storage locker for 20 years now, and they have not suffered, indeed they have proliferated as they migrated, like a great nomadic herd. Many of them have traversed this vast country more than once; some have crossed an ocean. My books thrive on upheaval: It causes them to spawn.
Before every move, I perform a heartbreaking yet necessary cull. I isolate the weakest – the review copies of self-help books, the self-published novels sent to me with challenging notes, the anthologies compiled for noble charities – and I drive them to a local library or Goodwill with a guilty feeling. (Fiction is more likely to survive this cull than non-fiction, because it is less topical: All the books I bought in the nineties on “computer culture” are uninteresting except to a specialist in failed prognostications. But a novel from the nineties with a computer in it is fascinating.)
And still on every move there are 10 more boxes than there were before, and new Ikea shelves to be assembled and found space for. When I am grown up, I will have a carpenter build me bookcases of actual wood, but by then there will be no more books.
[Top]The Bible of Bibliomania
Post Updated 3/12/2010
The Wall Street Journal Books 3/05/2010 By Norman Lebrecht
Almost 30 years after writing my first book, I still have instant recall of the moment when I received the first bound copy, its yellow title dancing on a deep-blue background. My most vivid impression was not so much of personal achievement as of humble admission—of being joined to a chain of civilization that stretches back almost to our cavernous origins. Read More
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From Oxford University Press USA
The Oxford Companion to the Book
Description
The Oxford Companion to the Book is the first reference work of its kind covering the broad concept of the book throughout the world from ancient to modern times. Along with such subjects as bibliography, the history of printing, editorial theory and practice, and textual criticism, it also engages with newer disciplines such as the history of the book and the electronic book. Additionally, the companion provides an engaging analysis of how books and societies have shaped one another. Written by the world's top scholars in bibliography and book history, the companion is an authoritative and highly informative work of reference for an international readership across a vast range of disciplines.
This unique two-volume work is organized into two parts. Part I is a substantial series of introductory essays-over forty essays offer generic histories of the subject as well as surveys of the history of the book around the world, including the Muslim world, Asia, Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Part II of the companion comprises an A-Z section of over 5,000 entries on every aspect of this exceptionally rich and diverse subject, ranging from brief definitions and biographical entries to more extensive treatments. Both parts of the text are richly illustrated with reproductions, diagrams, maps, and examples of various typographical features.
Features
The authoritative resource on all aspects of the book throughout the world from ancient to modern times
A unique combination of essays and alphabetically-arranged entries, interlinked to provide both depth of analysis and swift access to information
Written by over 400 of the world's best scholars, making this the authoritative resource on the subject
Imaginatively illustrated with many unique and rarely seen images
Reviews
"'The Oxford Companion to the Book' is a monument to mankind's most effective means of communication, one that is infinitely portable, transmissible and treasurable, intimate and tactile in ways that none of its rivals can attain Suarez and Woudhuysen are great exploders of conventional bibliographic wisdom." --Wall Street Journal
Product Details
1408 pages; 150 engravings & black and white photographs; 30 line drawings; plus examples of typographical features; 10.9 x 8.6;
ISBN13: 978-0-19-860653-6
ISBN10: 0-19-860653-2
About the Author(s)
Michael F. Suarez, S.J. is University Professor, Director of the Rare Book School, and Hon. Curator of Special Collections at the University of Virginia. He is co-editor of The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain, Volume 5, 1695-1830 (2008) and co-general editor of The Collected Works of Gerard Manley Hopkins , (OUP, 2006).
H. R. Woudhuysen is Professor of English at University College London. He has edited The Penguin Book of Renaissance Verse (1992), with David Norbrook, Love's Labour's Lost (1998) and, with Katherine Duncan-Jones, Shakespeare's Poems (2007) for the Arden Shakespeare third series.
$275.00 US - Order from Oxford University Press HERE
[Top]Fine Books & Collections Returns to Print
February 1, 2010, Durham, NC. Fine Books & Collections magazine, which targets collectors of rare and collectible books, will return to a regular print schedule in April 2010.
The magazine had suspended its bi-monthly publication schedule in November 2008, but published an edition in Fall 2009. Based on very positive results, the publishers will return the magazine to print on a quarterly basis. The annual subscription price will be $25.
In announcing its plans, the magazine said it would continue its monthly e-letter online and its very popular blog. According to associate publisher Kim Draper, the web site has grown tremendously in the past year, having just topped 50,000 monthly visitors.
“We don’t hope to achieve as much readership in print, but we do think print has a certain charm and value that is impossible to obtain online,” says Draper. “It remains a conundrum why collectors of print love reading online, but we are delighted to be able to serve both needs.”
The online editor, Rebecca Rego Barry, will also serve as editor of the print edition. According to Barry, the content of the magazine will be a collection of some material used online as well as new features, columns, and resources that will not appear online. “We are intrigued with the idea of archiving some of our best online stories in a print format, but we will also be offering readers new content in each issue. It was a formula that worked very well for us with the edition we published last fall.”
The magazine said that it plans some operational changes to make publishing more affordable, most notably that it will not process any subscription without a valid email address. According to Draper, “When we looked at our operation, we realized that contacting people via the postal service was just too expensive. We plan to handle all renewals and communication efforts via email, so there’s really no point in having a subscriber with whom we can’t communicate.”
Writers in the upcoming print edition will include Nicholas Basbanes and Joel Silver, two stalwarts of the book collecting world. The magazine will continue its annual directory of booksellers started last fall that featured more than 700 book-related businesses, and it will add a feature called Biblio/360, an annual guide to classes, societies, fairs, and symposiums related to book collecting.
Fine Books & Collections was founded by bookseller P. Scott Brown in January 2003 as OP magazine. It changed name in September 2004 and adopted a color format. In November 2008, Brown returned to bookselling full-time, and the magazine suspended print publication until Fall 2009.
The magazine is published by Journalistic, Inc., a North Carolina–based media company.
[Top]Leaf From Gutenberg Bible On Auction Block
As part of the March 18 sale of the library of Roger Wagner, a very rare leaf from am original Gutenberg Bible is up for sale by Pacific Book Auctions. Low estimate is $40,000.00 and High estimate is $50,000.00. The auction catalog describes it in this way:
Printed leaf, Folio 148 from Volume I, being 2 Samuel, Chapter 3 (with parts of Chapters 2 and 4). With 2 hand-executed initials in red, one on either side. 14½x11¾, set in custom-made burgundy cloth chemise and folding box.
Original leaf from the most famous book in the annals of western civilization, the 42-line Bible of Johannes Gutenberg, acknowledged as the first book printed with moveable type. A tremendous project, the culmination of years of effort and the toil of many workmen, the printing of the Bible marked a turning point in the social, political, economic and religious life of Europe. The dissemination of information which resulted from the advent of the printing press, both religious and secular, demolished many of the boundaries which had for so long held Europe stratified, and set loose the full vigour of the renaissance. Of the production itself, Printing and the Mind of Man (1) states "Standards were set in quality of paper and blackness of ink, in design and professional skill, which the printers of later generations have found difficult to maintain; it is only in legibility of type that they have been able to improve on this, the first and in many ways the greatest of all printed books." Original leaves from the Bibles printed by Gutenberg are justly prized, and are a cornerstone of any library concerned with the evolution of the printed book.
Condition:
Lightly foxed, a little rough along one edge where originally bound, a few tiny chips and slight stains at lower edge, very good condition
PBA Auctions Announces Henry Miller Auction - Others
PBA Galleries in San Francisco have just announced "A rare and extensive collection of Henry Miller items including the typed manuscript for the first draft of Tropic of Capricorn (Estimate: $40,000/60,000) and his Paris Notebooks from 1932-1936 (Estimate: $100,000/150,000). The literary significance of these extraordinary notebooks can hardly be overstated - they capture the thoughts and reflections of Miller during his time of greatest creativity, and provide the basis for the works which were to make him famous. The material in the collection is from Miller's personal archives, and in addition to his own manuscripts and letters, there are letters from his many friends and literary associates, including Anais Nin, Lawrence Durrell, Erica Jong and others.:
Auction catalog describes one of the Paris Notebooks as follows: "About 19 pages of manuscript notes, including 2 original watercolors. The most important information and watercolors by Miller date from 1937-39, though at least one later page is dated 1950, and there are several child's drawings by Miller's daughter, Val, on later leaves (dated by Miller 1951). 15½x11, original wrappers, detached.
Miller's "Paris Notebook" contains two lovely watercolors by him, and some fascinating information: lists of where he sent manuscripts, lists of things to do, people to see (including some well-known names) and pieces to write, with things accomplished crossed out in pencil (still legible): "...Brassai - give me 6 copies of woman on the pot!...Kahane: Give me blank books for A[naïs]'s diary & water-colors...Go thru folders of MSS. Anais returned for possible good timber! Get circular letter printed for 100 names, demanding money for publishing venture. Buy Pen Knife! Dedicate French version of 'Aller Retour NY' to Blaise Cendrars - 'the first Frenchman to make me a royal gesture!'...Print 'Land of Fuck' from 'Capricorn' privately at 100 frs. a copy - for sale discreetly. Then, with proceeds, print other things!...." In 1938, Miller lapses into a page of daily doings that is a wonderful window into his world: "Feb. 10th. Do 5 pages a day of Capricorn regularly - Day passed going to movies with the Durrells! Begin tomorrow!! 2/18/38 - not yet begun!...Feb. 1939 - Do water-colors for Gotham Book Mart!! Begin 2nd Volume of Capricorn! Do regularly first thing every day. Lawrence and other work on the side! Get symbolic Geographic maps on Quai - near Point Royal. Look for cheap French edition of Claude Saint- Martin's 'Le Crocodile' et 'L'Homme de Désir.' (Chacomac?) Get gouache tubes, good paper, square brush & oil brushes. Also heavy paper for oils...." Miller also lists plans for better hygiene and quality of life: "Hygiene: Resume morning walks - around exterior Boulevards. Hot baths frequently. Evian mineral water. Pain Hovis & yogurt daily. Good Wines with Meals! Less salt & pepper - less coffee. * Horlich's malted milk shakes! (Montparnasse). Take Enemas now & then. Reserve Sundays for painting - no work! * Stay in bed whole day before tackling different work! (Meditate, contemplate - saturate). Grapefruit more often!"
Condition:
Heavy extremity chipping and browning to fragile pages, many pages detached, but none appear to be lacking, still an excellent early workbook, with most pages dated and two exquisite watercolors."
The auction to be held on March 18, 2010 is The Library of Roger Wagner and includes:
Section I: Fine Books, Lots 1-62, Section II: Autographs & Manuscript Material, Lots 63-93, and Section III: Henry Miller – Manuscripts, Books & Related Material, 94-214.
Pacific Book Auction (PBA) provides some info about their live auctions on their website. Here it is:
"PBA Galleries is a full-service auction house working to make the auction experience exciting and rewarding for all our clients. At our Live Gallery auctions, we continue a long-established trend of offering the finest collectible properties to our clients.
Sale days at PBA Galleries are typically on Thursdays. Items offered for sale may be previewed at our gallery the Tuesday and Wednesday prior to the auction from 9:00am to 5:00pm or by appointment. Property can also be previewed the day of the auction until 12:30pm. Our Live Gallery auctions are held at the PBA Galleries Auction Room, located across the hall from PBA Galleries on 133 Kearny St. between Sutter and Post Streets. Parking is available at many garages and public transportation is also convenient. The Montgomery Street BART Station is almost next door to the Galleria Park Hotel and most downtown buses have stops nearby.
Registering to bid at our Live Gallery auctions is a simple procedure. It can be done in advance through our website or in person at the auction house. If you are unable to attend the sale, we also accept absentee bids. Absentee bidding entails filling out a bid sheet and sending it to PBA Galleries via e-mail, regular mail or by phoning the bids in before the auction takes place. Another bidding option is telephone bidding for those clients who are unable to attend the auction but would like to bid on the phone during the sale. Space for telephone bidding is limited, so it is important to make arrangements to bid as early as possible. If you have any questions regarding bidding at our Live Gallery auctions, please feel free to contact us for further information."
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