This Just In: The Maurice Levy Collection of French Gothic
Here is a brief post about an article I found on The University of Virginia Library Site. I found it very interesting as I understand many of us wonder (worry) about what will become of our collections after we have "passed on". Professor Maurice Levy found an excellent way to make sure his collection was taken care after his demise. The article starts with: This week Nicole Bouché, Director of Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, relates the story of how a major new acquisition came to University of Virginia. You can read this interesting story HERE.
AbeBooks' 10 Most Expensive Sales in 2012
ABE's top 25 sales from 2012 illustrate the broad nature of rare books. There are modern first editions of iconic books, significant religious and theological works,and pioneering books of science and discovery. Our most expensive sale was a copy of Johann Bayer’s 1603 celestial atlas with 48 lavishly illustrated tables portraying the constellations identified by the Greeks and a 49th table showing 12 newly discovered constellations – it sold for $47,729. This was the first star atlas to cover the entire celestial sphere, and introduced a new system of star designation known as the ‘Bayer Designation.’
The second spot is occupied by one of the most successful media franchises in history, James Bond. When Ian Fleming first put pen to paper and wrote Casino Royale in 1953, there was no way he could have imagined the enduring popularity of 007. This inscribed first edition of Casino Royale sold for more than $46,000 and would grace any rare book collection.
In third place is Franz Kafka’s novel Die Verwandlung (aka The Metamorphosis), which sold for $30,000.The original German edition is highly sought after because of Kafka’s ability to deliver unexpected impact at the end of his sentences. This effect has been difficult for English translators to replicate so the original German script is essential for Kafka collectors.
In addition to the top 25 overall sales, you can also discover the most expensive sales in various categories including children's literature, art, science, poetry, and others.
1. Uranometria, Omnium Asterismorum Continens Schemata, Nova Methodo Delineata, Sereis Laminis Expressa by Johann Bayer - $47,729
A rare piece of astronomical history from 1603 – a first edition of the most famous celestial atlas of all with 48 lavishly illustrated tables portraying the constellations identified by the Greeks and a 49th table showing 12 newly discovered constellations. The book has the coat of arms of a Venetian family on both covers and a monastery stamp on its title page. The title translates as ‘Uranometria, containing charts of all the constellations, drawn by a new method and engraved on copper plates’ and ‘Uranometria’ comes from Urania, the muse of the heavens.
2. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming - $46,453
A signed first edition of the 1953 Jonathan Cape publication of Casino Royale, the first James Bond novel; this copy has also been inscribed by Fleming "To/ _____ ______/Something for the/flight/from the author".
3. Die Verwandlung by Franz Kafka - $30,000
A first edition, published 1915 by Kurt Wolff. This famous novella contains 73 pages plus five additional pages of advertisements at the rear.
4. A Latin bible from 1491 - $26,200
A copy of a ‘Poor Man’s Bible’ (so-called because of its smaller size) printed by Johann Froben in Basel. It was the first bible to be printed in an octavo format, making it easier to transport and more affordable to a common church-goer. Until the publication of Froben’s edition, bibles were massive, iconic objects
5. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak - $25,000
Published in 1963, this first edition came with its first state dust jacket in fine condition. Sendak had signed the title page under his printed name.
6. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - $25,000
A true first edition, in two volumes, from 1868. The book is accompanied by a small slip of paper signed by Alcott.
7. A Polyglot bible from 1599-1602 edited by Elisa Hutter - $25,000
A folio bible in six volumes bound in blind-stamped tooled leather. This is the first multi-language bible in which English is one of the languages. Western and Eastern European languages are placed in columns parallel to the classical Hebrew, Greek and Latin. This book is often referred to as the ‘Nuremberg Polyglot’ or ‘Hutter-Polyglot’. Hutter was a professor of Hebrew in Leipzig.
8. Livre d’Heures (book of hours) - $24,680
A book of hours in Latin and French once owned by Etienne de Poncher, archbishop of Tours, in central France, from 1551-1552. The book, printed on parchment, has a velvet cover on wooden boards with two brass clasps from the 16th century. A book of hours is a devotional book, usually an illuminated manuscript, that contains prayers, hymns and psalms. This one featured many images of animals.
9. Cosmographia by Petrus Apianus - $23,681
Printed in Paris, this is a pioneering book on astronomy and geography from 1551. It features a large folding woodcut map and many diagrams defining weather, climate and the continents. A hugely influential book, it was widely translated in later years.
10. Les Ruines de les Splus Beaux Monuments de la Grece by Julien David Le Roy - $23,530
A second edition of ‘Ruins of the Most Beautiful Monuments of Greece’, two volumes bound together as a single large folio. Roy, a French architect and archaeologist, rushed this book into print in 1758 in order to beat his British rivals, James Stuart and Nicholas Revett.
11. A Latin psalter - $23,446
A psalter is a book containing the Book of Psalms and usually other devotional material. This undated psalter is a well preserved Latin manuscript, printed on parchment, containing antiphones (responses to psalms) and songs. It has a Gothic blind tooled binding with fillet embossing, diamond shaped fields with depiction of rosettes and an eagle, and a brass clasp decorated with letters.
12. Mystere de la Vengeance de Notre Seigneur by Eustache Mercade - $20,000
Published in 1491 in Paris by Antoine Verard, this first edition lacks 16 leaves, but only one complete copy is known to exist, in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. The sale also included a letter by French bibliographer Amedee Boinet, who confirms the exceptional rarity of this book.
13. Voyage de La Pérouse autour du Monde by Jean-François de Galaup - $19,539
Published in 1798 by Plassan, this second edition set contains four octavo volumes and one atlas folio. They detail the journeys of explorer Jean-François de Galaup who was appointed by Louis XVI to lead an expedition around the world; and more specifically to complete and correct the Pacific maps of James Cook.
14. A 13th century Latin bible – $19,314
Written on vellum and produced in Paris around 1250. A beautiful handwritten manuscript with decorations in the margins and initials in red and blue. Rebound with 16th century leather with one remaining clasp
15. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway - $18,500
Published in 1952, this first edition was inscribed by the author "with very best wishes, Ernest Hemingway, Keywest/1958."
16. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - $18,000
A first edition with original first state dust jacket with a Truman Capote quote in green.
17. Divina Commedia by Dante Alighieri - $16,500
A 1506 copy of Dante’s Divine Comedy - a rare counterfeit of a 1502 edition.
18. The Pyramids of Gizeh by John Shae Perring - $16,263
Three parts in one volume, published in 1839-1842. A large folio edition with 59 plates featuring sketches by J.E. Andrews. A key book on Egyptian archaeology written by a gifted explorer, topographer and draftsman.
19. The Call of the Wild by Jack London - $15,000
A first edition, first printing, signed by Jack London on a check pasted to the endpaper.
20. An illustrated bible from 1650 - $15,000
This 17th century bible produced by Nicolaum Johannis Piscatorem and featuring 480 copperplate engravings.
21. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham - $14,500
First impression of the first British edition published in 1951 and inscribed ‘Yours, John Wyndham / (John Benyon Harris) 22-8-51.’ Presented in a custom clamshell case designed by binder James Tapley.
f Orchids 22. Theatrum Fungorum by Franciscus van Sterbeeck - $13,916
A fine first edition of this 1675 study of mushrooms. The book depicts 349 varieties and was written in Dutch.
23. Lindenia Iconography of Orchids by P. de Pannemaeker, G. Severeyns, and J.Goffart - $13,342
A complete set of the first English edition from 1891-1897. Bound in six folio volumes, with plates chromolithographed by P. de Pannemaeker, G. Severeyns, and J. Goffart.
24. Atlas geográfico, estadístico e histórico de la República Mexicana by A. García y Cubas - $13,000
The first edition of the first great scientific atlas of Mexico, published in 1858 as a grand folio.
25. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie - $12,912
One of 12 signed and numbered leather-bound copies of Rushdie’s novel. Issued by Viking in 1988, this edition is printed on vellum, bound in goatskin and comes with a custom-made folding case.
Rare Book & Memorabilia Collector to Sell Collection for Ailing Daughter
Date: October 26, 2012
Source: CBC Books
A Florida memorabilia collector who has spent decades amassing thousands of celebrity autographs and rare books is selling off his prized possessions to help his ailing daughter, the Associated Press reports.
Ken Kallin, 67, started collecting signed photos, books and trading cards in 1980 after meeting Bette Davis. Since then, he's added to his treasure trove by attending book signings, charity golf tournaments and celebrity appearances, scouring garage sales and buying from other collectors and friends.
However, his 43-year-old daughter and her husband have been struggling financially because she suffers from a rare autoimmune disorder, which sometimes involves taking powerful chemotherapy drugs. The family pays $2,200 a month for health insurance and her deductible is $1,250. The couple also has two children to support.
Kallin's collection, which includes 120,000 pieces of memorabilia, was described as "once-in-a-lifetime" by an expert not connected with the sale, and is expected to draw some big spenders this weekend.
The collection features more than 680 antique books, more than 7,000 contemporary books, rare letters, and tens of thousands of autographed photos, trading cards and sheet music dating back to 1864, and vintage Tin Tin books in French. The celebrity signatures in Kallin's possession include Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor and Julia Child.
The collection hasn't been independently appraised, but the auction house and Kallin believe it's worth $4.5 million based on valuations for comparable items that have sold recently.
"It's for a higher purpose," Kallin said.
-With files from the Associated Press
Bids can be placed through LiveAuction. Lots are listed according to "Rare Books" - 680+ est USD 17,500 - 40,000, "Autographed Books" - 7,300+ est USD 175,000 - 375,000, "Autographed Letters" - 1,470+ est USD 1,750 - 15,000, as well as movie posters, autographed photos, autographed trading cards, and more...
[Top]Rare book conservation tips and techniques
Source: Rare Books Digest
I have enjoyed the posts from Rare Book Digest and found the latest to be especially helpful. I want to share it with you but I will only give you a tiny bit... I strongly suggest you go to the site to read the entire post... A link will be provided near the end of my brief post. Here ya go...
We all have come across books that are in bad condition. Books that have suffered the consequences of exposure to one or more of the enemies of paper books, such as water, mold, smoke, dirt, direct sunlight, dust, insects, bad shelving and so forth. As any rare book collector should be familiar with, some of these problems can be prevented and even remedied depending on the specific situation, particularly in the case of the lower valued books. For any high valued books it may be worth seeking professional advice. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the book care supplies that every collector should not be left without.
Following this paragraph is a list with explainations about supplies you should have on hand and a few suggestions about displaying your collection. Enjoy!
To read more go to the Rare Books Digest
[Top]Notorious Books: Saddam Hussein's "Blood Qur'an"
Saddam Hussein and the Blood Qur'an supposedly written in the dictator's blood.
The book was produced by Abbas Shakir Joudi, an Islamic calligrapher who now lives in Virginia in the United States. Over the course of two years, Saddam donated 24–27 litres of his blood, which was used by Joudi to copy the 6,000 verses and some 336,000 words of the Qur'an. According to Joudi, Saddam Hussein summoned him to Ibn Sīnā hospital in Baghdad, where his son Uday was recovering from an assassination attempt, and asked him to write out the Qur'an from his blood as "a sort of vow from Saddam's side". The work was handed over to Saddam in a ceremony in September 2000.[1] It was subsequently put on display in the Umm al-Ma'arik (Mother Of All Battles) mosque in Baghdad, erected by Saddam to commemorate the 1990-91 Gulf War and designed with minarets in the shape of Scud missiles and Kalashnikov rifle barrels.
Other reports have questioned the official Saddam Hussein government version of how much blood was donated in the making of the Qur'an (or if it was even Saddam's blood in the first place). Reporter Philip Smucker reported in Baghdad on July 29, 2001; "Most striking is the dubious and totally unverifiable claim that Saddam donated nearly 50 pints of his own blood for the writing of a Koran." Smucker also wrote: "Western diplomats based in Baghdad are unimpressed with the Iraqi leader's religious devotion, dismissing the mosque and its holy book written in blood as a crude publicity stunt. 'How can we be sure this is Saddam's blood and not that of some of his victims?' one asked."
A subsequent news report also from UK's Telegraph newspaper, saw reporter David Blair in Baghdad state on December 14, 2002 regarding Saddam's infamous Blood Qur'an. "In fact, a skilled artist copied the 605 pages of the holy book using Saddam Hussein's blood. The Iraqi dictator donated three pints over two years and this, mixed with chemicals, was used for every verse." Three pints over two years is a much more realistic number and would equate to just over 1 liter of blood.
In December 2010 several news agencies published news articles regarding how Saddam's infamous Blood Qur'an has become a contentious issue in the delicate politics of today's Iraq. In one article Celso Bianco, the executive vice president for America's Blood Centers, noted the difficultly in believing a claim of Saddam having somehow allegedly donated 27 liters of blood in only a 2 year period lending credence to questioning this very dubious claim by Saddam's Baathist government and its supporters. Bianco notes; "The amount of donation allowed for a blood donor in the United States is five or six pints over the course of a year, or less than a gallon, Bianco said. At that safe rate, it should have taken Hussein nine years to donate all that blood, not two. 'It's an incredible amount, if that [number] is correct,' Bianco said. 'That certainly would have made him anemic.' "
Given vastly different (contradicting) claims of the amount of blood Saddam Hussein allegedly donated towards the making of the infamous Blood Qur'an, and the dubious and unverifiable nature of the high end donation estimates just how much (if any) of Saddam Hussein's blood (allegedly mixed with chemicals and ink) is used in the infamous Blood Qur'an remains an open, debatable, and difficult to answer question.
The Blood Qur'an was displayed in a hexagonal marble building set on an artificial lake within the mosque complex. Only invited visitors could view it, as the building was normally locked and off-limits. According to Australian journalist Paul McGeough, who saw a page from the Blood Qur'an, "the blood lettering is about two centimetres tall and the broad decorative borders are dazzling – blues, light and dark; spots of red and pink; and swirling highlights in black." The Guardian's Martin Chulov describes it as "an exquisitely crafted book that would take its place in any art exhibition – if it wasn't for the fact that it was written in blood."
After the fall of Saddam
Umm al-Ma'arik (now Umm al-Qura) mosque, where the Blood Qur'an was put on display during the Saddam era
Following the fall of Baghdad to US-led forces in April 2003, the custodians of the mosque put the Blood Qur'an into storage for safekeeping. The demise of Saddam left the Iraqi religious and secular authorities with an acute dilemma. On the one hand, it is regarded as haraam (sinful) to write out the Qur'an in blood. Saddam's act was denounced in 2000 by the religious authorities of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Professor Abdul Qahhar al-Any, a professor of Islamic thought at the University of Baghdad, argues that "Saddam is not a holy man, so his blood is dirty." Said Ali Alwaah, a Shia cleric who was imprisoned under Saddam, describes the Blood Qur'an as "Saddam's black magic. The Qur'an is about gold and silver – not something as impure as blood. [The Blood Qur'an] can be burnt or it can be thrown in the river. I would throw it in the river." On the other hand, it is also forbidden to defile or deface copies of the Qur'an. As one Iraqi summarised the dilemma, "It is forbidden to write the Qur'an in blood, but how could we destroy the holy book from God?"
The Iraqi government and political figures have also expressed differing views about what should be done with the Blood Qur'an. The Shia-run government does not want to see the re-emergence of symbols of the Saddam regime and has established a committee to supervise their removal. Some former opponents of Saddam, such as Ahmed Chalabi, have argued for the destruction of all Saddam-era monuments and symbols on the grounds that they are "a clear reminder of the consequences of totalitarianism and idealising a person that embodies evil". Others, such as Mowaffak al-Rubaie, argue that Iraqis "need to remember [the Saddam era], all what is bad and what is good and learn lessons." The Iraqi Prime Minister's spokesman Ali al-Moussawi has proposed that the Blood Qur'an should be kept "as a document for the brutality of Saddam, because he should not have done this. It says a lot about him." However, he said that it should never be displayed in a museum as no Iraqi would want to see it, but it could perhaps be held in a private museum like Hitler or Stalin memorabilia.
[Top]It’s Not Just About The Content
This is the beginning of an excellent article on Biblio about collecting books - books of all sorts for all reasons: binding, beauty, rarity, subject, imprint, and even - hold for it... content... smile. It is worth a read... Enjoy.
–written by Nigel Beale
As incomprehensible as it may seem to the hard core collector, there are in fact some people who actually read the books they buy.
Although many obsess over the ‘book beautiful,’ valuing design, boards and bindings over everything else, most buy books for the information or entertainment contained within their covers. And for good reason; according to ‘Books in our Future,’ a 1984 report to the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress, ‘…reading books is the activity which enriches all others. There is no business, work, sport, skill, entertainment, art or science that cannot be improved by reading and whose rewards cannot be increased by books.”
For More of this interesting article, go here:
http://www.biblio.com/blog/2010/08/its-not-just-about-the-content/#
The Last Book Sale – Larry McMurtry to Auction 300,000 Books
- By Michael Stillman
Keep your eyes open for an enormous book auction in a very small town this summer. On August 10 and 11, Addison & Sarova Auctioneers will be conducting an on-site sale of inventory from Larry McMurtry's Booked Up store in Archer City, Texas. Before anyone gets disheartened over Mr. McMurtry leaving the business, he isn't. As he explains, he is “just downsizing.” At the age of 75, he believes it's time to share the stock, although even after reducing it by two-thirds, he will still have one of the larger inventories in the book trade.
Currently, the Booked Up inventory is housed in four large buildings. The first building contains about 140,000 titles, the remaining three buildings around 100,000 each. It is only the stock in buildings 2-4 that will be put up for sale. Mr. McMurtry will continue to operate the business from the main location.
Mr. McMurtry is almost as much of a legend in the book selling field as he is among the reading and viewing public for his novels and screenplays. The auction's title, The Last Book Sale, is a play on the overlapping careers, reminiscent of The Last Picture Show, one of Mr. McMurtry's novels set in “Thalia,” a town not unlike Archer City. Had Mr. McMurtry returned to Thalia/Archer City a bit sooner, the young folk never would have wanted to leave. There would have been plenty of jobs for Duane and Sonny managing those 450,000 titles. Jacy, still looking beautiful as Cybil Shepherd, would be helping customers find the perfect book.
Larry McMurtry has been selling books almost as long as he has been writing them. Forty-one years, he points out. The original store was in Georgetown, but in 1986, he opened up a second store in Archer City, his hometown. Later, the Georgetown store closed. He explains that operating a book shop in Georgetown had become too costly. It's no surprise property is less expensive in Archer City.
Now, a small, rural town in North Texas does not sound like an ideal location for a book store, particularly one handling close to half a million volumes. The closest city, as his readers will recall, is Wichita Falls. Since Booked Up holds four to five times as many books as the population of Wichita Falls, a wider audience than that was always required. Fortunately, he points out, “people like to travel.” Travel they do. Customers come from all across America, Europe, and as far away as Australia and even China. Some are regulars. Undoubtedly, it is Mr. McMurtry's reputation that plays the major role in drawing customers from so far, though he gives the credit to his “long-time great staff.”
A few years back, there were reports on the newswires that Mr. McMurtry was closing the Archer City store. The story was that competition from the online sites was making it impossible to run a traditional bookstore. He said that he considered the idea for “about 20 minutes,” but was never serious about locking the doors. He explains, “I don't pay much attention to Amazon or AbeBooks.” His focus is on traditional bookselling, and he remains committed to the concept. In fact, it is his hope that many of the large lots of books offered at his sale find their way into the hands of young booksellers. “Young dealers have a chance to get some good stock.” He purchased the inventory of 26 bookshops and hundreds of private collections along the way, and is hopeful he can provide a starting point for some of the next generation. He believes this sale will offer an indication of how committed that next generation of booksellers is.
As with competition from online sellers, Mr. McMurtry is not terrible concerned about competition from electronic books either. They have their place, but he does not believe they will replace the printed word.
With some 300,000 – 350,000 books going up for auction, most, naturally, will be sold as shelf lots. This explains why Mr. McMurtry considers the auction a great opportunity for young booksellers. Asked whether most books are collectible or reading copies, he emphatically states, “most of what we have is collectible.” This is not to say that it is all expensive material too good for reading. No one has 350,000 books appropriate for the rare book rooms. What he means is that the condition of his books, and the interest of their content, be they more recent or old, is at a high level. “We purge twice a year,” he explains, removing books whose condition or interest is unsuitable for the shop. It is not so much that every book is a great book as it is that they make a point not to have “bad” books. “We are picky.”
In terms of fields, with the quantity being offered, you would expect a wide variety of material to be available. “We have good holdings in just about anything you want to name,” he points out.
The almost half a million books at the store are not all of the books Larry McMurtry owns. He also has a personal collection, which he estimates at around 28,000 volumes. It represents 55 years of collecting. He describes it as a “general humanistic library,” with a good deal of reference material. “I have used it. It educates me,” he explains. Mr. McMurtry has received many of his books in his role as a reviewer over the years. As to what he plans long term for his personal collection, that is not a decision he is ready to make at this time.
Mr. McMurtry has set aside just 100 books to be auctioned off as individual lots. These are not necessarily the 100 “best,” if best means the most expensive. They are just a sampling of items he finds interesting, available for those not looking to purchase entire shelves. He rejected the idea of pulling the best books off of the shelves to be sold separately. The plan is to make sure the shelf lots contain plenty of valuable books.
For those interested in what promises to be one of the greatest events in the book selling field in years, Addison & Sarova is providing detailed information on their website. While the sale itself will be held on Friday and Saturday, August 10 and 11, viewing begins on Friday, August 3. Books can be viewed everyday except Sunday, from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., until the sale. Those interested in the shelf lots should stop by in advance to see what books are on those shelves.
The sale itself promises to be an exciting event for all. Snacks and drinks will be provided to bidders during the sale (Texas is quite warm in August), and there will be a one-hour break for lunch. The auction will be conducted from 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. each day. On Friday (August 10), approximately 930 lots will be sold, including the “McMurtry 100” single book lots. On Saturday, another 615 shelf lots will be sold, along with a large sign. That is the Goodspeed's sign. Years ago, Mr. McMurtry picked up the sign that hung on the legendary Goodspeed's shop in Boston. Goodspeed's career roughly paralleled the Twentieth Century.
The Addison & Sarova website also provides information about which airports to use (Wichita Falls is about 25 minutes away, Dallas 2 hours), where to stay, where to rent a car, even where to rent a truck.
The link to “The Last Book Sale” on the Addison & Sarova website is found here:
addisonsauction.com/thelastbooksale.html.
[Top]Further Details About Earth Platinum
This is the second of two posts about the incredible new book by Millennium House Publishers from an interview with Gordon Cheers, the Managing Director of Millennium House . Enjoy!
http://www.millenniumhouse.com.au/index.html
Details:
On quality
Earth Platinum is printed on traditional presses then bound by hand, covered in leather—we are not cutting corners ... in fact our corners have metal protectors, built to last. The pages are printed on archival acid free paper.
Other problems encountered
There were all kinds of unexpected problems, and a great number of test versions were produced before we achieved the final version. With the paper, we started off using 120 gsm paper, but found that the pages kept ripping as we turned them, because the book size was so large. So we increased the paper to 150 gsm and there were fewer rips, then we increased it to 250gsm ... Eureka! ... No rips. This, however, meant that the cover/boards had to be made out of wood, to support the weight of the paper. Of course we couldn't cover these boards with paper, so we had to use leather, but then the corners would bend, so we had to use metal protectors.
At the beginning of this project all our 2-year-old computers crashed each time we tried to look at a map spread. We brought in a technician to increase the computer memory so that all the editors and cartographic consultants could work on the maps. Even then we used low-resolution versions, only dropping in high-resolution maps and images just before we went to print. We also had to create special font characters with a company in the UK, so that we could Romanize the local names for places in countries using Arabic, Vietnamese, Icelandic, and the like.
Building for a legacy
I have published many books, and written a few. Most books last about 3–6 months in bookshops—not because they are not good, but with over 1 million titles published in 2010 and the average bookstore carrying less than 30,000 books, there just isn't the space to hold all the titles produced each year. As writers, we often write to produce a legacy but the reality is that for most books, there is no legacy; the shelf life is too short. I wanted to leave a legacy, and wondered what it would take to achieve that. I decided a reference book needed to have 3 elements (over the years I have seen many books with these elements, but few had all 3).
These elements are:
1. Needs to be credible, authoritative, well respected. If Earth Platinum uses the best team of writers, cartographers and editors, this should happen. Earth Blue achieved this 2 years ago,
winning the Best World Atlas awards around the world.
2. Any book needs to be well produced (i.e. well bound, finished and built to last). Earth Blue won the award for (the Australian print and production) not only the Best Produced Limited Edition Book of last year, but also the Best Overall Book Of The Year. We have learned a lot since producing Earth Blue and we know that Earth Platinum will be even better.
3. Lastly, a book needs to be well cared for. If a book is rare, it will be cherished—so we are only printing 31 copies and then we will destroy the plates. This means that there will be some countries around the world that will never see a copy of Earth Platinum.
Like many of the rarest treasures in the world, Earth Platinum, too, is made by hand, and like the first book ever printed, the Gutenberg Bible (produced over 500 years ago), Earth Platinum will also be held behind glass in museums, and in the finest of historical and private book collections 500 years from now. There is little that I can achieve in my lifetime that will survive 500 years; there is little that any of us can achieve that will last 500 years.
Earth Platinum needs to be cherished, to ensure that those in the year 2500 can see how our world appeared in 2011. 500 years from now, when the buildings around us have disappeared, Earth Platinum will still be here as our legacy.
Why buy a book?
Some people think that you don’t have to open a book, you don’t have to visit an art gallery or museum, because you can “see it all on the net”. My family reads books, visits art galleries and museums, AND uses the net. Atlases, like many books, help us dream, we find one town, then spot another and another, and before we know it we have spent hours exploring the world. Three years ago I looked at an atlas with my kids—we then ended up spending $20,000 traveling to Rome, Venice, Japan and Bali on holidays—now that was an expensive atlas! Atlases are also time capsules, and Earth Platinum is one big time capsule.
Why buy an atlas when the internet is available? In the long run new technology doesn’t always replace old technology. TV didn’t replace radio, DVD didn’t replace Cinema. In the 1980s digital watches were popular, and many said digital watches would be the death of the traditional watchmaker. Most of my friends had a digital watch (some even had calculators on them)—now who is wearing a digital watch today? The watch on my wrist cost more than 10 times the cost of a digital watch, my watch is elegant, stylish and accurate. When I look at it I also gain a perspective of time, not just a single data byte. My kids will one day inherit my watch. In the 80s the watch industry did get a shake-up, many manufacturers went out of business. There are fewer watch repairers around today. The ones that are around know their craft, most of them are over 50, many are passionate about their work. Fewer and fewer individuals are learning cartography; will this industry go the same way as the watchmaker?
As publishers, we too are passionate about the books we produce, and at Millennium House, we are passionate about mapping. We believe an atlas can give you a perspective of the whole world as it is today. We also like making our books BIG! Like a good watch or family Bible, Earth Platinum will be passed from generation to generation.
Without atlases, will the internet be the world’s only source of world mapping in 5, 10, 20 years from now? Will we be handing down thumb drives to our kids saying here are this year’s family photos? Are we printing out the emails we send to family, and others, as a record of our thoughts, will we hand down web pages to future generations, saying “this is what it web pages looked like in 2012”?
Don't get me wrong; the Internet is a great resource, as are books.
What is cartography—art, science or politics?
Cartography is an art. We had teams of people just dedicated to creating the color background—differentiating the colors by the height above sea level. We spent hours at meetings discussing the choice of colors—even the oceans have 7 shades of blue. Once the coloring was decided we added the place names, only to find in some places the names were not legible as the brown background first chosen for the mountains was too dark and the type was too fine. Back to the drawing board, to get the balance right.
Cartography is a science. The symbols, layers, and the line work come together in a program called Adobe Illustrator. Once the population of a town (from over 5 million down to less than 10,000) is known, the label and marker size are then assigned based on our predetermined size scale, the town name is given a reference point (longitude and latitude), and the towns are automatically added to the maps using programs such as Maplex and MAPublisher. Cartographers then have to check by sight to make sure the names don’t run into or on top of other names. This is tricky with long names such as Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu (a mountain in New Zealand)! Fortunately in this instance the label lies near the coast, so the lettering can flow into the sea. Then there are the easy town placements such as the Norwegian town of Å that lies on the island of Moskenesøya in the county of Nordland. The roads with 10 categories (such as major, minor, secondary or track), railways, rivers, national boundaries and international boundaries (7 categories in all), lakes (salt or otherwise), mountain peaks, volcanoes, World Heritage sites, etc, all have a separate coding, determining style, print color, size, thickness etc. Even the Great Wall of China has its own coding/styling.
Cartography is political, as over 40 editors (from all around the world) had the task of researching how to treat sensitive political issues such as Taiwan, Tibet, Jammu and Kashmir, and many more. Fortunately for Earth Platinum, and its readers, Earth Platinum is published in Australia. As it now exists, we would not be allowed to print Earth Platinum in China. If we printed in China, where some atlases are printed, the South China Sea, India/Pakistan, and Israel would all look very different.
Earth Platinum reflects a modern-day view of the world as it is now—taking in the partition of Sudan, the relatively new country of Kosovo, applying a current standardization to the towns in China, recognizing the South African, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand trend to revert to traditional names for some of their major towns and features. As it now exists, Earth Platinum cannot be sold in Korea or India. We could have made changes to make Korean and Indian sales possible, but chose not to. We defer to the UN for clarification and boundaries, spelling, etc—I thought if it’s good enough for the UN, it was good enough for us! Of course some of the updates simply reflect our world as it is today and who is in power, such as in Antigua and Barbuda’s highest point, which has been renamed, to honor the President of the United States, Barack Obama. Boggy Peak, on the island of Antigua in the Caribbean, is now officially known as Mount Obama.
Is it a political statement, a publication reflecting modern history and cartography, or a work of art? Only 500 years from now, with the test of time, will someone else decide.
My history
In the beginning, my first book, Carnivorous Plants, was self-published in 1983, produced when owned my wholesale plant nursery in southeast Australia, where I propagated carnivorous Plants. I then wrote a book called A Guide to Carnivorous Plants of the World (Hardcover, 1993) published by Harper Collins, then Killer Plants and How to Grow Them for Penguin as a Picture Puffin. The Picture Puffin book then went on to win Children's Book of the Year in Australia in 1997.
Since then I have worked for Penguin books and at Random House where I was the publishing director of Children's and adult illustrated books. In 2005 with Margaret Olds I established Millennium House.
In my over 27 years of book publishing I have found the hardest books to publish are Atlases, for political, artistic and accuracy to detail reasons.
Personal
I am forever thinking of a subject or writer that could make a good book, whether I'm going for a walk, reading a newspaper or looking at TV. There are so many subjects that still need to be covered and presented in a simple informative way. For example we published Scientifica, which explained quantum physics and many other complicated scientific theories and formulae in an easy-to-understand format for the general reader. It’s very exciting to help make a complicated subject accessible.
When I’m not looking through atlases, to relax I listen to classical music and work in my garden, where I have been working on planting a tropical sanctuary, using ferns, palms and many tropical plants to create ‘rooms’ in my garden. I have been able to acquire plants that are up to 30 years old.
[Top]Earth Platinum - Largest Limited Edition Atlas Scheduled to Release in May
I recently had the opportunity to speak with Gordon Cheers of Millennium House and managed to put together a comprehensive background and details about his upsoming release of Easrth Platinum a book of HUGE proportions. Here are twelve brief facts about Earth Platinum:
1. Earth Platinum is 6ft by 4.5 ft
2. Earth Platinum weighs 330 pounds
3. Earth Platinum retails for $100,000USA
4. Earth Platinum has 128 pages
5. Earth Platinum has detailed maps and full-color photo spreads
6. 24 Earth Platinum images are made from stitching together as many as 1,000 individual photos, the largest has 12,000 photos joined together
7. Earth Platinum took over four years to finish
8. 100 cartographers, geographers, and editors working on Earth Platinum
9. Only 31 copies of Earth Platinum will ever be published
10. Each of them is numbered
11. About half of them are still available for purchase
12. Earth Platinum delivers mid May
The following has been provided to me by Mr. Cheers and I will publish it in two blog posts (each of considerable length). The first is background on the new Limited Edition book and the second blog post will cover details about Earth Platinum. Gordon Cheers is a pleasant, knowledgeable professional therefore, I will post his interesting tale as he told it:
"I have been asked the following questions by the public and at a book fair; below are my answers.
A brief description of Earth Platinum
Earth Platinum is the world’s largest atlas, and contains maps, text and photos. The maps are the largest scale of any world atlas on a single page, many of the images are so large they take up a wall of 6 feet x 9 feet.
When will Earth Platinum published?
Earth Platinum is expected to be published mid May 2012.
How much did the entire project cost?
Millennium House has spent over US$1 million in producing the mapping required for Earth Platinum.
How many pages? What is the weigh? How many photographs and maps?
There are 128 pages in Earth Platinum, and the weight of the book is 150 kilograms, with over 30 large photographs, 61 pages of maps.
How long did it take? How many people were involved in the work?
I had the idea over 25 years ago. We have been working on the mapping involved in Earth Platinum for over 4 years. If you added up all the hours of work, it would take one person over 60 years to complete. Fortunately for us we have had over 70 people working on the book.
Who was your biggest support during the days before the dream turned into reality?
Our publisher Janet Parker has been living this project for over 3 years, without her help it would not have been possible.
In this information age, when so much is available on the Internet, why is there a market for an atlas, and at such a cost.
The amount of data we have is so large that we needed to produce a book of this size to do the material justice. Some islands are now seen for the first time at a reasonable size in relation to their nearest continent. It’s not always easy to get a sense of scale of our planet, this is the closest a book can go to achieve this. This is the closest any of us who are not astronauts can get to obtain a feeling of how the whole world would look from space. Earth Platinum will prove that a printed book, an Atlas can still be an important work if it provides a unique experience.
It is also important that we have a record of our time (2012), and if this record can inspire individuals to travel and marvel of at our world then we have achieved what we wanted. For Museums and Libraries we believe Earth Platinum would provide the “anchor of an exhibition” of the worlds best mapping. Along side this atlas, visitors could also see the historical mapping that Museums and Libraries have been acquiring for years that relate to their particular country.
Apart from the maps, we also believe that Earth Platinum is a work of art, the way the images of our world are seen for the first time at this large detailed size. The images we’re using are so detailed, each image is made up of up to 1,000 photos. The image of the Shanghai skyline is made up of 12,000 photos and is the largest photo in the world.
People, who have stood near the double page image of Machu Picchu and have traveled there, have said to me, it’s like being back there again — “you can almost feel and touch the mountain”. Not bad for an image 6 feet x 9 feet long. Earth Platinum will have many images like Machu Picchu.This magnificent book combines maps, images and information in a stunning presentation.
What was the inspiration to publish the world’s largest atlas?
Over 25 years ago, when working for a publisher, I published a large guide to Australia full of maps. I mentioned to my boss that it would be great to produce the same sort of book on the whole world. My boss at the time said it would be too expensive—as did the next 3 bosses I had in publishing. So 6 years ago I set up my own company to produce Earth Blue and Earth Gold and from there went on to produce Earth Platinum.
How much is Earth Platinum?
US$100,000 per copy. It is not just pitched to the wealthy.
Earth Platinum is being considered by private, corporate and institutional purchasers.
What has been the response by those who have seen the book?
The many people, who came to see the prototype on display at Frankfurt Book fair, were so amazed and impressed by Earth Platinum. They wanted to look at every page, and search for their hometown before having photographs taken with the book to show to family and friends. Their enthusiasm for the project made me realize just how popular maps remain, regardless of any advances in electronic availability.
Why produce the biggest book on earth (is it the biggest book?)
We believe Earth Platinum will be the biggest book published (i.e. it has a cover, pages, an index, there is more than one printed, and is readily available for sale). Anyway, it is certainly the largest atlas ever printed or published.
Why will it be the last big atlas ever printed?
Many people are using GPS devices instead of road atlases and maps to move around, many travelers download the map of the area they want, before they travel. All this means that less maps and atlases are being printed, fewer cartographers are being trained, most mainstream publishers have sold off their cartography departments. Two years ago we published our “smaller” atlas, Earth Blue (24 inches x 18 inches), it won all the cartographic awards—no publisher has since been able to match its size or detail. The last big atlas close to Earth Platinum was produced over 350 years ago in black and white—it’s now priceless. The world was viewed a lot differently then. It may take another 350 years before anyone challenges our atlas. However, my feeling is it will never happen. Earth Platinum will become a priceless piece of art work/historical document representing our world today.
Why 31 copies?
We have looked at the market, and our costs—we want Earth Platinum to be cherished and preserved, and we feel producing 31 copies should ensure this.
Any sold yet?
We have sold a number of copies already and have interest in many, but only one in 6 countries will ever have a copy of Earth Platinum.
Will there be a small version?
We have already produced smaller atlases in the Earth series such as Earth Blue selling for $5,800. If we produced a smaller version of Earth Platinum, we would need to reduce the detail substantially and then increase the font size, otherwise it would not be readable. It would not be the same book. Detailed mapping is not like a photo; maps cannot go down smaller and smaller because they become unreadable. Earth Platinum is large because it needs to be.
Can students benefit from the atlas?
Earth Platinum will be an astonishing publication that we hope will inspire travelers and students. By using detailed hill shading and colored relief, the world and its terrain makes more sense. Consider crossing the Himalayas—which looks daunting when you see the height of the mountains and the extent of ranges. These ranges are less obvious on previous maps and atlases. Also less obvious as was the way many national borders follow rivers or mountain ranges.
How difficult was it to get experts working on it to compile the project?
Once we started to engage geography professors and prominent cartographers in one country, they seemed to know others around the world and in a very short time we had every corner of the globe covered, even the oceans. Not such a daunting task with a team of over 60 professionals.
Do you think that the cost of production will be covered by sales?
Our aim in producing Earth Platinum is to create a benchmark in cartography and a legacy for future generations. It was never meant to make lots of money—my old bosses were right; it is a very expensive exercise and it will not make money—but it will be a legacy. Producing just 31 copies will, ensure Earth Platinum is cherished for decades to come.
Be sure to look for the second post on this remarkable book... Coming soon -
Millennium House can be reached Here - http://www.millenniumhouse.com.au/index.html
[Top]M Moleiro – The Art of Perfection - Creating Codices
Beato de Liébana– Luxury edition
I have long admired the work of Spanish publisher M. Moleiro. They are actually more than standard publishers, however. They produce fine Codices, Books of Hours, Illuninated Manuscripts and more using the methods of the past. They use vellum and hand made papers. They use tanning methods from the time of the early book production and make exact reproductions of treasured books currently in Museum and University conservership around the world. Here is a video (in Spanish - they are based in Barcelona) followed by information from the M. Moleiro website - a site well worth the visit...
“M. Moleiro is the most prestigious company in the world specialised in the reproduction of codices, maps and works of art usually made on parchment, vellum, paper, papyrus… between the 8th and 16th centuries in the form, in most instances, of illuminated books. The techniques employed in reproducing the codices, combined with the wisdom and skilled craftsmanship of our trade, enable us to remain very faithful to the original. Bound in leather tanned used the methods of years past and reproduced on special, hand-made paper, our codices reproduce all the nuances of the paintings, parchment, gold and silver leaf etc. A M. Moleiro codex is, therefore, more than a facsimile book, it is an exact replca, a “First, unique and unrepeatable edition”.
The constant search for the most outstanding bibliographic treasures that have survived the passage of time necessarily requires close collaboration with the libraries, museums and archives where they are zealously safeguarded. All our facsimile editions have been carefully selected. They are singular codices not only in terms of the great beauty of their illustrations – a source of uplifting pleasure for the senses – but also due to their historical and artistic importance within the culture of the western world.”
M. Moleiro Editor, S.A.
Travesera de Gracia, 17
E08021 Barcelona - España (Spain)
Telephone +34 93 240 20 91
Telephone 902 113 379
Fax +34 93 201 50 62
USA +1 (305) 831 4986
France +33 (0)9 70 44 40 62
UK +44 (0) 20 7193 4986
http://www.moleiro.com/en/bibliophile-editions.htm *** for special bibliophile editions
http://www.moleiro.com/en/home.htm *** for M Moleiro website
http://docs.moleiro.com/general_catalogue_12.pdf *** for the general catalog
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