“Books in Libraries, Libraries in Context” English Tour
“Books in Libraries, Libraries in Context”England, March 26-April 10, 2011
Jonathan and Barbara Hill are offering an English tour group for book collectors, librarians, and book dealers on March 26-April 10, 2011. The price for this unusual tour seems quite reasonable to me. Their website gives the following information (as well as daily schedule, registration forms, etc):
"This two week tour in England will have a special appeal to all those who love books and their history, and who are interested in the evolution and variety of libraries. It will also appeal to those who wish to see and travel in particularly beautiful parts of England, and to enjoy tranquil landscapes, ancient cathedrals, splendid mansions and rural hotels. It will appeal equally to the general traveler, the librarian, the collector, the conservator, the academic, or the book-dealer.
We shall view books in a range of different kinds of libraries from various historical periods, in cathedrals, universities, colleges, and historic mansions. Each stop and site visit will offer a rich context of history, culture, architecture and gardens. At many of the places we visit we shall have on site talks and introductions. Throughout, we shall provide a running commentary on all aspects of the itinerary, from history and culture to horticulture and cuisine. The final two days of the tour will be spent in London, where, in addition to libraries, participants will be able to enjoy all the culture and diversions of this national capital and global city."
Book Thief Jailed Again For Stealing Rare Books
Source: Guardian.co.uk
A Cambridge graduate who stole more than £1m worth of rare books during his career as a professional book thief was today found guilty of stealing £40,000's worth of books from a celebrated library.
William Jacques, nicknamed "Tome Raider" after stealing hundreds of rare books in the late 1990s, drew up a "thief's shopping list", targeting the most expensive books that he could access.
He used a false name to sign in to the Royal Horticultural Society's Lindley library in London before hiding valuable books under his tweed jacket, Southwark Crown Court was told.
Detective Constable Paul Howitt said Jacques, the son of a farmer from Selby, North Yorkshire, was an "extremely arrogant man, a very greedy man who was obsessed by money" and was "responsible for the biggest ever raid of our leading libraries".
The Cambridge graduate began selling stolen books at auction houses in the late 90s. The haul that led to his previous conviction, some 500 rare antiquarian books and pamphlets from the British Library, Cambridge University Library and the London Library, was one of the biggest of its kind in British legal history, and many of the works were damaged in an attempt to disguise their origins.
Jacques was jailed for four years in May 2002 by a judge at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court for 21 counts of theft. He now faces a similar time in jail after his most recent offences.
Judge Derek Inman told Jacques he had hidden behind a "shabby cloak of respectability" as he spent years systematically plundering valuable collections without anyone noticing.
Jacques had been a member of the three libraries for years, ironically informing the British Library that he needed their facilities for "economic research". He has a extremely high IQ and used his knowledge of the antiquarian book trade to cheat police, the court heard.
[Top]Autographed Books by Allen and Patricia Ahearn
Thanks to Allen and Patricia Ahearn for their permission to post this article from their site at Quill and Brush Their site is very informative and an excellent resource for book collectors.
Author's autographs in a book may be considered in various categories, including signed limited editions, signed trade editions, and association copies. We've discussed limited editions elsewhere on the site.
Signed trade editions are copies of the regular trade first edition signed by the author, with or without an inscription. These signed books will usually sell for at least twice as much as an unsigned copy, but the real determinant of price will be the value of the author's signature. Some authors are very generous in signing their books; as a result, their signatures may be worth only $10 or $15, representing the price difference between a signed and an unsigned copy of a first edition, or the price of a signed later printing. On the other hand, some authors very rarely sign a book and their signatures alone may be worth $50 or more; again, this would establish a price. Further, some authors are very free with their signatures but very rarely inscribe copies of their books, and therefore inscribed copies, even if the recipient is unknown, will command a premium.
Value of Signed vs. Inscribed Books
We are often asked about the value of a first edition that is inscribed by the author to another person versus the value of the same book just signed by the author. We understand that if the original recipient of the book is not well known, or of general interest, some collectors prefer the author's signature without the inscription. From our point of view we would always prefer an inscribed copy and think it is worth more than a copy that is just signed by the author. However, we understand that if the author is young and the collector hopes one day to meet the author at a signing, or perhaps send some of his books to get the author to sign, the collector will not want to buy a copy of the book inscribed to some unknown person. From our point of view, we know that after the death of an author, inscribed copies are always worth more than copies that are just signed, Also, from our point of view, the inscription allows us to have more of the author's handwriting to examine to assure ourselves and our customers that it is a genuine author's autograph.
Association copies are books that include a signed inscription from the author to another famous personality or someone important within the framework of the particular author's life and work. These will be valued more highly than the normal signed first edition, depending on the importance of the recipient involved.
[Top]A Rare Occurance in These Modern Times - Uncut or Unopened Books
Source: strange and random happenstance
Have you ever been reading a book and find that you can't read the next page because it has never been cut? But this surprisingly happened to me just the other day while I was reading my copy of Lark Rise to Candleford. Of course this used to be a common occurrence with older books, and it was de riguer in Austen's lifetime. Ever wondered why Mr. Bennet in the BBC miniseries has a knife whilst sitting in his study avoiding the shrill cries of his wife? And no, not just plotting on his behalf. People actually kept knives ("paperknives") nearby in order to open said pages... they weren't there to keep away book pilferers as you might have thought. So out of interest I wandered to the lovely web and looked up uncut pages only to find I have been using a misnomer for years, I should have been saying unopened pages! Also it turns out I should have used a parring knife not a regular old knife... but it turned out better than the time I tried to do it with my finger to the first volume of Pride and Prejudice that was my grandmother's when I was a teenager and it now has a very "badly opened" page indeed (ie torn and raggedy).
As the book collector's glossary explains unopened pages: "A state where the book's pages at the fore edge and/or top are still joined from the folding. This cannot occur if the book has been properly cut. At one time many books were issued unopened, and it is not uncommon to find older books still in this pristine state."
It further goes on to say: "A rare book that is unopened may be considerably more valuable than that same book opened. Therefore, one should consider carefully before opening a book. Of course, you cannot read a book that is unopened, at least not in its entirety."
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I found this article to be quite interesting. I am, however, one of those rare book collectors who actually reads her books. I know.... How could I? My reply is "How could I NOT?" My collection rose from my desire to have a personal library full of well loved books waiting to be reread and books as yet unread waiting to give me the pleasure of reading. Don't get me wrong, I love the hunt - the rare find - a lovely, rare book (especially one at a good price). I love the fine, leather bindings and gold gilt page ends - the author signature - the first edition. As strong as this love may be, however, books are all about reading for me - always have been. I read very carefully but I do read.
How about you? Do you read your treasures or place them on a shelf or behind glass and love them from a bit of a distance? I'd love your feedback...
[Top]Nobel Winning Author, Jose Saramago, Dies At 87
Jose Saramago dies at 87; Portuguese novelist won the 1998 Nobel Prize in literature
The writer was 60 before he penned most of the works for which he was honored. He explored historical themes from unconventional angles, and society through imaginative, inexplicable events.
Source: LA Times
June 19, 2010
Jose Saramago, winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in literature for early novels that explored historical themes from unconventional angles and later works in which inexplicable events threaten society's underpinnings, has died. He was 87.
The writer died Friday at his home in Lanzarote, one of Spain's Canary Islands, of multiple organ failure after a long illness, according to the Jose Saramago Foundation
[Top]Jobless Man 'Mutilated' Stolen Shakespeare Folio
Source: Telegraph.co.uk By Richard Savill
A jobless book dealer who posed as a wealthy international playboy "mutilated" a rare Shakespeare first folio to disguise the fact that it was stolen, a court heard.
Raymond Scott tore the binding and boards from the 1623 book - described as the most important in the English language - before claiming to have discovered it in Cuba.
Mr Scott was alleged to have stolen the book from a locked cabinet at the Pallas Green Museum at Durham University in 1998.
Crown Court was told Mr Scott had hoarded the folio at the two-up two-down former council home he shared with his elderly mother, Hannah, in Washington, Tyne and Wear.
The book reappeared in public on June 16 2008 when Mr Scott took it the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC, and tried to sell it.
By then, the book had pages missing and the boards it had been bound in were pulled off.
One expert who inspected the book, which was still thought to be worth one-and-a-half million US dollars in its damaged condition, described it as “ cultural legacy that has been damaged, brutalised and mutilated."
Mr Scott, 53, who sat in court wearing Valentino sunglasses, Versace crocodile shoes and a Louis Vuitton waist pouch, denied theft, handling stolen goods and removing criminal property from Britain.
Robert Smith QC, prosecuting, said Mr Scott had told experts at the Folger library he was a wealthy businessman who lived in Switzerland and had a mother living in Monte Carlo.
He claimed he had inherited his father's construction business and was independently wealthy, giving the impression he was more interested in the book's historical background than its monetary worth.
Mr Scott told experts he had come across the book in Cuba after meeting a woman called Heidi Garcia Rios, who worked at a hotel in Havanna.
He said that through his friendship with her, while he was renting a two storey Villa, with tropical gardens and a pool, in the Cuban capital, he had been introduced to Deni Mareno Leon, a retired military major whose mother had recently died.
Mr Scott claimed it was after the death of Mrs Leon that the book, which had been in her family for a century and was kept in an old wooden bible box, came to light.
He said that after he was shown the folio, which included the works The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Macbeth, he had carried out some preliminary research in Cuba and learned of the Folger Shakespeare Library.
As his Cuban friends had been unable to take the book to the library themselves, Mr Scott said he had agreed to have it authenticated on their behalf and given them a $10,000 deposit before he took it out of the country and into America.
He described the day they had realised the potential value and historical significance of the book as "folio Friday".
Mr Smith said: "He presented himself as someone doing a service to the cultural community by bringing in the book and having it authenticated.
"He said he was staying at the Mayflower hotel in Washington where he had a suite; the Mayflower is an exclusive and well known hotel in Washington.
"He offered Cuban cigars to the curator, who declined,” Mr Smith added:
"The truth was Raymond Scott lived in a house at 3 Widgeon Close, Washington, not DC, but Tyne and Wear, with his mother.
"The evidence will establish he was not a wealthy man by any means, on the contrary, he was living on state benefits.
"The evidence will establish he was living way beyond his means, he had at the time debts of more than £90,000."
The court heard investigations revealed Mr Scott had become "infatuated" with a woman living in Cuba in around February 2008 and had been sending her huge sums of money.
Mr Smith said this was cash he could "ill afford and had been borrowed for that purpose".
The court heard despite the damage to the book experts at the Folger concluded it was an original first folio, one of only around 200 printed, after examining the paper under a microscope and carrying out other tests.
[Top]The World of High-Priced Book Collecting
An autographed copy of a first edition is special--something hard to reproduce on a Kindle or iPhone. "Signed editions give people a sense of intimacy with the author, who handled the book," says Kenneth W. Rendell, a South Natick, Mass. dealer in historical letters and documents. It can also add considerable value. "A first edition of Huckleberry Finn might be a couple of thousand dollars," explains Joshua Mann, co-owner of B&B Rare Books in Manhattan. "Add Twain's signature to it, and it could jump to six figures." Mark Hime, proprietor of Biblioctopus Antiquarian Books in Beverly Hills, handled a copy of Huck Finn that Twain had inscribed to his wife, Olivia. "I sold it for $175,000 in the mid-1990s," he recalls, after spending $90,000 for it in a 1991 sale. "It would be a lot more today."
Although one must be cafeful: "There are a lot of fakes out there," says Natalie Bauman, cofounder of Bauman Rare Books in Philadelphia. The most frequent forgees are the ones worth forging: Hemingway, T.S. Eliot, Steinbeck, Fitzgerald, Twain, Faulkner. "None of the signatures is particularly difficult to forge," observes Tom Congalton, owner of Between the Covers Rare Books in Gloucester City, N.J. That said, most dependable dealers and auction houses will stand by their wares--forever. That, plus credible provenance, is pretty good insurance if you're laying down $50,000 for a book. Genuine examples of many signatures abound; Hemingway, for example, signed lots of letters, bar coasters and bullfight programs. For less expensive items, compare your example with bona fide versions on the Web.
There are two idiot-proof ways to acquire genuine autographed books. One is to collect so-called signed limited editions--small print runs that precede or follow first trade editions, often numbered and signed by the author under the auspices of the publisher.
[Top]Why Collect Science Fiction Books?
Source: CollectingSF.com
It all begins with sense of wonder, an almost magical attraction to books by a particular author, a distinctly engaging concept or theme, or the sheer joy of holding a unique volume with a compelling physical appeal. It is important to keep in mind that almost all book collectors begin as readers. Readers become collectors when they find that the books themselves have become important objects in and of themselves. The book has transcended the state of being merely a vehicle for passing on the author’s stories and thoughts and becomes an object with intrinsic beauty and value. Object and content enhance each other, heightening the unique experience the book brings to its owner.
By most accounts, the origin of Science Fiction as a distinct literary genre dates back to 1926, when Hugo Gernsback started publishing what he called "scientifiction" in a new magazine known as Amazing Stories. Gernsback said, “…sense of wonder comes not from brilliant writing, nor even from brilliant conceptualizing; it comes from a sudden opening of a closed door in the reader's mind.” Collecting the objects that initiated that amazement is the best way to keep it vivid, alive and immediately accessible.
Almost all Science Fiction book collectors begin as readers. This is an important point for by far the largest numbers of SF readers see books as consumables. They are content with reading a library copy or a paperback reprint and think of the book as simply a medium for conveying the author’s subject matter. They use, and often abuse, the book as they please, dog-ear corners, make notes in the margins, bend the covers back and break the spine. For them, books are as disposable as a McDonald’s hamburger wrapper. They are book consumers.
For such readers things like the edition of a book, or its condition don’t matter. They perceive little difference between a hardcover first printing and a paperback reprint. The joy they receive from a book, and one must acknowledge that very real pleasure, comes from the author’s content alone. All other considerations are inconsequential.
For those of us who are not book consumers but book collectors, the joy of the text is but one of several delights in a book. Look, feel, the very tactile uniqueness of a volume elevate the book from simple container to an object of physical beauty and romance which augments the thoughts and ideas of its author. We take care of our books like we would other valuable objects. We treat them gently, store them properly and do our best to protect them from injury. The very act of owning our books, being able to take them down off the shelf, turn them over in our hands and take pleasure in their presence, enriches our lives and gives continued delight.
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[Top]Craft Shop Family Buys Up Ancient Bibles for Museum
By GERALDINE FABRIKANT
Published: June 11, 2010
Source NYTimes.com OKLAHOMA CITY — At least one example of the printed word is in great demand even in the digital age: ancient Bibles.
With a goal of establishing a national Bible museum of great depth and size, the evangelical Christian family behind the Hobby Lobby chain of craft stores has been spending heavily to amass a collection that has set dealers buzzing in the staid world of rare books.
Specialists estimate the family has bought illuminated, or decorated, manuscripts, Torahs, papyri and other works worth $20 million to $40 million from auction houses, dealers, private collectors and institutions, some of which may be selling because of financial pressure.
The man leading the effort is Steve Green, president of Hobby Lobby, a private company based here that is a favorite of scrapbook makers, do-it-yourselfers and home decorators. The company, founded by his father, David, in 1972, now numbers 439 stores and has generated a family fortune that Forbes magazine estimates at $2.5 billion.
With money to spare, the younger Mr. Green, 46, has found a passion to complement his vocation, and is working with specialists in deal-making and history who, using company money on behalf of the family, began buying with a flourish about six months ago.
“They have caught everyone’s attention because no one in recent memory has spent so much so quickly on Bibles,” said Dr. Eric White, curator of special collections at the Bridwell Library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
The collection now includes more than 30,000 items, according to Mr. Green and his team. Some of those were shown to The New York Times at Hobby Lobby offices in Oklahoma City, including a New Testament papyrus from the second century A.D., a lavishly illustrated and illuminated Martin Luther New Testament and a Spanish Inquisition Torah.
“The goal is to create a museum around the story of the Bible,” Mr. Green explained. “No book has been persecuted as much or loved as much. Its incredible story needs to be told.”
Mr. Green is Pentecostal, but other family members worship in churches of other denominations, including Baptist and Assemblies of God. The family gives to a variety of Christian causes, Oral Roberts University and evangelical ministries among them, and adheres to Christian principles, closing its stores on Sundays, playing Christian music in them and operating Mardel, a separate chain of religious bookstores.
With sales last year of just over $2 billion the company has no long-term debt, Mr. Green said over a lunch of sandwiches that began with a prayer at the company’s nondescript, sprawling corporate headquarters. Despite the recession, profits rose in 2009, he said, perhaps because people spent more time at home.
For the Green family, the time seems ideal for buying religious works.
As Sam Fogg, a London dealer of rare manuscripts, put it, “Between 1988 and 1993, the Bible market rocketed,” and then it languished even as the broader art market rose.
In addition, “Libraries are rethinking their mission in the age of digitization,” said David N. Redden, executive vice president at Sotheby’s books department. “They are wondering what their holdings should be: whether they are about collecting rare books or disseminating information. If the latter, do they need rare books? In some ways, it is not a bad time to be buying.”
The Green collection aims to be one of a kind. Other Bible collections in the United States, including one at the American Bible Society in Manhattan, generally intend to inspire readership, said Dr. Scott Carroll, who began advising Mr. Green about six months ago. “Our goal is to inspire people with the story of the Bible and its history.”
Dr. Carroll, a former professor in ancient studies who has specialized in Biblical manuscripts, recently resigned from Cornerstone University, a nondenominational Christ-based liberal arts school in Grand Rapids, Mich., to become executive director of the museum and an adviser to Mr. Green. In the 1990s, Dr. Carroll helped another collector, Robert Van Kampen, build the private Van Kampen Collection of Bibles and related material in Orlando, Fla., and helped oversee its academic objectives, including archaeological digs.
Some who are knowledgeable about the rare book market suggest that the group’s buying has pushed up prices. The buying has also spawned some skepticism about the overall quality of purchases made in such rapid-fire style. Among the 30 objects that the Green group offered for examination recently were a silver amulet from the first or second century inscribed with a passage from Deuteronomy, also known as the Shema; the Codex Climaci Rescriptus, a manuscript originated from the Monastery of Mt. St. Catherine that was home to the earliest near-complete copy of the Bible, and the first volume of a Complutensian Polyglot Bible that was used for the comparative study of the text of Scripture. It contains the first printing of the Septuagint, or Old Testament Scriptures in Greek.
“Compared to objects in the fine art market, they are not hugely expensive, but in the rare book field, they are big time, and these people appear to be spending a lot of money,” said Stephen Massey, an appraiser experienced in ancient religious objects. Though Mr. Massey had not seen the collection, he reviewed a list of the objects that were displayed.
Westminster College at Cambridge put the Codex Climaci Rescriptus up for auction at Sotheby’s last year. “It is not widely used at the school, and the money will help open up the resources of the school to a broader constituency,” said Susan Durber, the principal of Westminster.
The estimated auction price was $1 million. When the manuscript did not sell, the Green group bought it directly from Sotheby’s, for an unspecified price.
The group also bought a Martin Luther New Testament with 44 lushly hand-painted and illuminated woodcuts, suggesting that the edition was made for royal use, perhaps for Luther’s protector, Frederick the Wise.
The book was sold by Jorn Gunther, a dealer who had listed the edition at $400,000 in his catalog. “Book dealers are bibliophiles, but these men are coming at it with a strong belief that the Bible is the word of God and they want to show that,” said Mr. Gunther of Stalden, Switzerland. “It is like a doctor buying medical books.”
Collecting work from the Old Testament and the New Testament has taken the buyers into Judaica. “We have over 1,000 Torahs,” said John Shipman, a venture capitalist who is the third member of the Green buying team. Mr. Shipman, whose father was an ordained minister as are his brother and brother-in-law, said he met Mr. Green, through Mart Green, his brother, about seven years ago, when Mart, the founder and chief executive of EthnoGraphic Media, was producing “End of the Spear,” a film about missionaries killed in Ecuador.
“John talked about collecting Bibles,” Steven Green said. “My brother had talked about a Bible museum. That was how it started.” Mr. Shipman brought in Dr. Carroll at the end of last year. “He has the academic knowledge, and I negotiate the purchases,” Mr. Shipman said. He added that several other families were also collecting with the goal of giving to the museum.
Because the Bible museum has not completed the paperwork to become a not-for-profit organization, the salaries of Mr. Shipman and Dr. Carroll are not yet public, and Mr. Green declined to reveal them. The plans for the museum are quite ambitious. Dr. Carroll said the three were looking for 300,000 square feet of space and hoped to attract more than a million visitors a year.
Dallas is the first choice to house the collection, Mr. Green said, because of the large number of people of faith in the area. He also said that the many seminaries and universities in Dallas would welcome such a museum and it would benefit from their resources.
An offer on a former Macy’s store in a mall was rejected, but Mr. Green is continuing to look for a large property while temporarily storing his trove of treasures at the company’s warehouses.
[Top]$1M Heist of Heiress' First Editions
A home-electronics installer was busted for lifting $1 million in rare books from a sprawling Fifth Avenue mansion owned by the socialite widow of a Vanderbilt heir.
Timothy Smith, 41, was booked Tuesday after investigators found him with 51 prized books from the late Carter Burden's extensive collection, which includes first-edition works by Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
It is not known whether those titles were part of the robbery.
Smith -- who owns his own audio-video installation business and serves as condo-board president at his East 86th Street building -- pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Wednesday on a grand larceny charge, officials said. ...
Carter Burden, a multimillionaire descendant of robber baron Commodore Vanderbilt, died in 1996. He served on the City Council from 1969 to 1978.
Book-collecting was one of Carter Burden's great hobbies. His collection of first-edition 20th-century American literature is regarded as one of the finest in the world.
"You can never be too thin, too rich, or have too many books," he once said.
Two years after Burden's 1996 death, his family donated some of his collection to the Pierpont Morgan Library that included more than 30,000 books and other papers valued at as much as $10 million.
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