Iain Banks diagnosed with gall bladder cancer
Scottish author unlikely to live longer than a year and latest novel The Quarry set to be his last, he revealed on his website
Alison Flood and Claire Armitstead
The Guardian, Wednesday 3 April 2013 11.57 EDT
Iain Banks, whose darkly humorous presence has enlivened Scottish literature for 30 years, has announced he is "officially very poorly" with gall bladder cancer and may have only months to live.
Banks, 59, is recovering from jaundice caused by a blocked bile duct. "But that – it turns out – is the least of my problems," he said on his website.
The author's trademark deadpan humour was to the fore as he broke the news: "I've withdrawn from all planned public engagements and I've asked my partner Adele if she will do me the honour of becoming my widow (sorry – but we find ghoulish humour helps)," he wrote.
His website soon broke under pressure from wellwishers who wanted to read the news and leave tributes.
Banks has delighted fans with his prolific output under two names, and outraged literary puritans with his blithe assertion that he aimed to devote no more than three months a year to writing, because there were so many more interesting things to do – like driving fast cars and playing with fancy technology.
So it must have seemed a very black joke indeed when he discovered a back problem he had ascribed "to the fact I'd started writing at the beginning of [January] and so was crouched over a keyboard all day" was something much more serious.
"When it hadn't gone away by mid-February, I went to my GP, who spotted that I had jaundice. Blood tests, an ultrasound scan and then a CT scan revealed the full extent of the grisly truth by the start of March," he wrote.
"I have cancer. It started in my gall bladder, has infected both lobes of my liver and probably also my pancreas and some lymph nodes, plus one tumour is massed around a group of major blood vessels in the same volume, effectively ruling out any chance of surgery to remove the tumours either in the short or long term."
He said he and his new wife intend "to spend however much quality time I have left seeing friends and relations and visiting places that have meant a lot to us".
His publishers, meanwhile, are doing all they can to bring forward the publication date of his new novel, The Quarry, "by as much as four months, to give me a better chance of being around when it hits the shelves".
Banks, who made his literary debut in 1984 with The Wasp Factory, is really two authors: he writes bestselling, mainstream, literary fiction as Iain Banks, and award-winning science fiction as Iain M Banks, about the Culture universe.
Last summer he described his development as a writer in a typically jocular column for the Guardian Review book club, which featured the first of his Culture novels, Use of Weapons. "The original draft … dates from 1974 and was packed with purple prose of the look-I've-got-a-thesaurus-and-I'm-going-to-use-it/never-use-one-adjective-when-six-will-do school. (Oh, I should add that, having written three unpublished novels by this time, one of them immensely long, and a 30,000-word novella, I must have decided that writing one book at a time was somehow too easy, so when I started writing UoW I started another novel at the same time.)"
His happy-go-lucky front conceals a stubborn streak, which he also revealed in the column, recalling how he had initially ignored the advice of two mentors – science fiction writer Ken MacLeod and publisher James Hale – as to how to liberate the novel from its "manically complicated structure that was really only comprehensible with a diagram". Having initially told both men "they were mad", he eventually realised they might have a point. "As a result, what may still be my best SF novel is largely the work of others."
MacLeod, the award-winning Scottish science fiction author, who is a friend of Banks from high school days, said the support went both ways. "It's very hard to take. Iain has been a tremendous support and encouragement over the years. You couldn't ask for a better friend, and I'm just holding out for a statistically improbable recovery."
Banks said he was still deciding whether to undergo chemotherapy "to extend the amount of time available". He told friends and colleagues about his cancer diagnosis a few weeks ago
"The way Iain has reacted to his situation is not really with a sense of unfairness but more that it's just the way the universe works, the way matter works, that there's nobody out to get us, nobody to blame for it all," said MacLeod. "It's a very courageous and stoical attitude in his situation. There's no doubting the style of the man. What you see is what you get, and the Iain who comes across in his books is very much how he is."
MacLeod said Banks thought of himself as principally a science fiction writer who happened to have published a literary novel first. "He wrote several of the Culture novels in first drafts before The Wasp Factory and he got many rejections. He was almost embarrassed when he wrote a mainstream novel in The Wasp Factory and wondered if his friends would think he was selling out."
Banks's friend Ian Rankin, creator of the archetypal Scottish detective Inspector Rebus, said he preferred the literary novels to what Banks called his "skiffy" [sci-fi] books. "The exciting thing about reading Iain Banks is that you never know what kind of book it's going to be.
"It could be weird, it could be other-worldly, it could be literary fiction, a family saga, about a disc jockey – you don't know what you're going to get, so every time a new book comes out there was that excitement."
Rankin said he and Banks were part of a group of writers who would get together "fairly regularly, either for a few beers in Edinburgh, or a curry."
"He has this huge belly laugh with his head thrown back … He's a really interesting guy to spend time with – a mind fizzing with energy and ideas, with a childlike wonder at the world. He's also quite engaged with politics – I remember him destroying his passport in protest at what he saw as Tony Blair's warmongering, and then suddenly realising he needed it for a tour to Australia. He wears his politics and his passion on his sleeve, and he's full of quirks – really engaging quirks. He was attempting at one point to drive along every single road in Scotland, for example, keeping very detailed road maps."
Rankin said Banks's comment about asking Adele if she would do him the honour of "becoming my widow" was typical of the author.
"That combination of the macabre with the comedic is something he pulled off time and again in his fiction," said Rankin. "He's taken it with good grace and humour and stoicism. I hope I have the chance to have that drink with him in Edinburgh."
Banks wrote an exploration of the history of malt whisky, Raw Spirit, which gave him an excuse to expound his political beliefs. He began his journey, shortly after Iraq had been invaded, in a car festooned with anti-war posters. Given its timing, he wrote, the book "can't help being about the war", but then whisky had always been "up to its pretty bottle neck" in politics.
These days, Banks flaunts his political views with a FTT (Fuck the Tories ) T-shirt. But a courteous side was shown in his statement that the treatment he had received from the NHS in Scotland had been "exemplary, and the standard of care deeply impressive. We're all just sorry the outcome hasn't been more cheerful."
"It's very moving indeed how many people are very sad," said MacLeod. "Everybody who knows him is just devastated by this."
Banks's statement was reposted on a new website called Banksophilia friends of Ian Banks, which has been set up for friends, family and fans to leave messages and check his progress.
Large selection of Harry Potter 1st Editions at Heritage’s NY Rare Book Event
Press Release: Heritage Auctions
Large selection of Harry Potter 1st editions Heritage’s NY Rare Book Event
Broad field of signed first editions plus large selection of Harry Potter first editions offered April 10
Apr 01,2013 - The largest single selections of signed Harry Potter first editions offered at one time, including a rare first edition, first printing of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - one of the first 500 copy press run – may conjure $30,000+ as part of Heritage Auctions’ Rare Books Signature® Auction April 10 at New York’s Fletcher Sinclair Mansion (Ukrainian Institute of America) at 2 East 79th Street (at 5th Ave.). A highlight among the number of signed and autographed editions is a first edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, signed by Rowling and 14 members of the cast of the Warner Bros. film. The book is accompanied by a pass to a cast and crew screening of the film and a certificate of authenticity and is expected to bring $5,000+.
The volumes leads a deep run of the world’s more sought after children’s titles among a select library of unique books, manuscripts, prints and maps.
“The is the first time collectors can take their pick among nearly two dozen signed or rare Harry Potter editions or J.K. Rowling autographs in one auction,” said Joe Fay, Manager of Rare Book Auctions for Heritage.
The strong selection of children’s titles continues with a rare presentation copy of Beatrix Potter’s The Tailor of Gloucester, inscribed and accompanied by an autographed letter and a small slip of paper sporting four distinct signatures, expected to fetch $12,000+. A 1918 signed letter by L. Frank Baum, the author of the beloved Wizard of Oz on his personalized stationery illustrated by images of covers of 14 "Oz" books, is expected to bring $10,000+ and is one of three Baum lots, including a first edition of Father Goose. His Book, inscribed by illustrator W.W. Denslow, expected to fetch $1,000+.
On the other end of the fiction spectrum, the auction features a 1955 first edition of Ian Fleming’s James Bond classic Moonraker – one of 10 signed Fleming titles available – which is expected to bring $30,000+. A first edition of Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West, inscribed and signed by McCarthy to his close friend, Bill Kidwell, is expected to bring $2,500 and a scarce, asbestos bound copy of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, a presentation copy warmly inscribed to novelist and screenwriter Richard Matheson and his wife is expected to bring $10,000+.
Several lots of important photographic volumes is led by Julia Peterkin’s Depression era Roll, Jordan, Roll, one of the first books to depict African-Americans as real people and not stereotypes. Illustrated with 90 photogravure prints and with the rare signed print, the volume is set to bring $10,000+. A full 21 volumes of The Philadelphia Photographer, a rare early American photography magazine, with 222 mounted albumen prints, is expected to bring $5,000+.
Two, early and faith-changing translations of The Bible, a 1550 copy of the historic Coverdale Bible, the first complete modern English translation of the Bible, and William Tyndale’s 1566 translation of The New Testament, are expected to bring $25,000+.
Collectors of important works on science will find particular interest in Johannes Kepler’s 1611 first edition describing why snowflakes are hexagonal (200 years before the solution was finally discovered), which is expected to realize $25,000+, a first edition of Charles Darwin’s groundbreaking On the Origin of Species, is expected to bring $20,000+, while Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev’s Principles of Chemistry, dated 1869-71, is expected to bring $20,000+. The selections continue with Julius Casserius' 1600 work on the vocal and auditory organs, with 34 striking anatomical copper plate illustrations, is expected to bring $15,000, while Christiaan Huygens’ volume from 1690 explaining his groundbreaking wave theory of light, which may fetch $15,000+.
Further highlights include but are not limited to:
Robert E. Howard’s original typed manuscript for the Conan the Barbarian story, "A Witch Shall Be Born," originally published in Weird Tales, December 1934, is expected to fetch $25,000+.
A rare second printing of the first appearance of the U.S. Articles of Confederation is expected to fetch $15,000+.
James Malton’s 1811 volume titled A Picturesque and Descriptive View of the City of Dublin and illustrated by 25 hand-colored plates is expected to bring $10,000+.
A 1755 copy of the first edition of A Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson, "the most amazing, enduring and endearing one-man feat in the field of lexicography," is expected to bring $12,500+.
Heritage Auctions is the largest auction house founded in the United States and the world’s third largest, with annual sales of more than $800 million, and 750,000+ online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and receive access to a complete record of prices realized, with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HA.com
[Top]World Book Day - March 7, 2013
World Book Day was designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and is marked in over 100 countries around the globe.
UNESCO says< "Starting from 1996 UNESCO has been celebrating World Book and Copyright Day, whose aim it is to promote reading, publishing and the protection of intellectual property through copyright. The origins of the day we now celebrate in the UK and Ireland come from Catalonia, where roses and books were given as gifts to loved ones on St George's Day – a tradition started over 90 years ago. World Book Day is a partnership of publishers, booksellers and interested parties who work together to promote books and reading for the personal enrichment and enjoyment of all. A main aim of World Book Day in the UK and Ireland is to encourage children to explore the pleasures of books and reading by providing them with the opportunity to have a book of their own.
[Top]First-Edition, Signed 'Gatsby' Was Stolen From Him, Man Says
Source: Courthouse News Service
by: By REBEKAH KEARN
SANTA ANA, Calif. (CN) - A book dealer is asking $750,000 for a signed first edition of "The Great Gatsby," which was stolen from a man's home, and whose character Tom Buchanan was "loosely modeled" on the man's father, the son claims in court.
William M. Hitchcock sued James Robert Cahill Rare Books, and Quintessential Rare LLC dba AbeBooks.com dba James Cahill Publishing/Rare Books, in Federal Court.
Hitchcock, of Houston, claims the book is a family heirloom and that Cahill has no right to sell it.
Hitchcock seeks "to recover a unique and valuable boo, to wit, a first edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic and critically acclaimed novel 'The Great Gatsby' autographed by the author and inscribed to Hitchcock's father, Thomas Hitchcock: 'For Tommy Hitchcock for keeps from his friend F. Scott Fitzgerald Los Angeles 1927."
Hitchcock says his father, who died fighting in World War II, "was the dominant American polo player of his generation. Fitzgerald loosely modeled the character of 'Tom Buchanan' in the novel 'The Great Gatsby' and the character of 'Tommy Barban' in ... 'Tender is the Night' on Thomas Hitchcock. Fitzgerald also autographed and inscribed a copy of 'Tender is the Night' to Thomas Hitchcock."
After Hitchcock's father died, the autographed copy of "Gatsby" passed to Hitchcock's mother, then to him when she died in 1997, the complaint states.
Hitchcock says he displayed the book in his house until 2005 or 2006, when "a person or persons unknown removed the book from Hitchcock's residence without his permission, authorization or knowledge."
He claims he realized the book was missing after he moved to a new house. Hitchcock says he looked for the book and talked to his friends about its disappearance, but never found it and "did not determine for certain that it was gone."
But in April 2012, Hitchcock says, a friend saw the book for sale on Cahill's website for $750,000.
Upon investigation, Hitchcock says, he found that Cahill had bought the book "at a Bonham's auction in Los Angeles in or about 2010 for about $61,000."
Hitchcock claims Cahill never bothered to find out who owned the book before he bought it. He claims Cahill did not receive "any documentation of the provenance or history of possession of the book or proof that it had left the possession of the Hitchcock family lawfully or with the Hitchcock family's consent."
Hitchcock says he filed an online crime report with the Houston Police Department on April 17. Then he had attorney Thomas Kline, with Andrews Kurth, send Cahill a letter demanding return of the book, to no avail.
When Cahill refused to cooperate, Hitchcock says, he "filled out a stolen art data sheet" with the FBI on April 26. He says the FBI investigated for almost a year, but closed its case in February this year without pressing charges.
Hitchcock then hired another lawyer and tried again to retrieve the book. He claims that on Feb. 28, attorney Terry Higham "contacted James Robert Cahill by email and telephone and renewed Hitchcock's demand for return of the book. Following the conversations occurring on March 1, 2013, Mr. Cahill again refused to return the book," the complaint states.
It continues: "During his telephone conversation with Higham, James Robert Cahill claimed that he had already transferred the book to a resident of the United Kingdom who intended to deface the book by cutting out the pages containing Fitzgerald's signature and inscription. Upon Higham's objection to the defacing of the book, Mr. Cahill indicated that he could prevent such defacement of the book, if he chose to do so."
Hitchcock says he is the rightful owner of the book, and he wants it back.
"Because the book, as inscribed to Hitchcock's father, is a unique work of literature of historical and personal significance, the harm to Hitchcock cannot be adequately remedied unless the book is returned to him, with damages for loss of use and enjoyment during the period of Cahill's detention of the book," the complaint states.
Hitchcock says he is afraid that Cahill or his alleged customer "will make good on Mr. Cahill's threat to deface the book by cutting out the pages containing F. Scott Fitzgerald's signature and the author's inscription to Hitchcock's father."
Hitchcock seeks a preliminary injunction preventing Cahill from selling or defacing the book, declaratory judgment that Hitchcock is the book's only rightful owner, wants Cahill ordered to return the book, and damages for replevin and conversion.
He is represented by Terry L. Higham with Barton, Klugman & Oetting of Los Angeles.
[Top]Anthropodermic Bibliopegy or Books Bound in Human Skin
This topic has interested me for quite some time. I find the practice strangely intriguing and gruesome at the same time. In fact this practice dates back to the 17 th century and there are a number of these strange in public (and probably private) collections as noted below. Wikipedia has a fairly comprehensive article on the practice of binding books in human skin - also known as Anthropodermic Bibliopegy.
Please tell us if you have any experience or expertise in these books...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anthropodermic bibliopegy is the practice of binding books in human skin. Though extremely uncommon in modern times, the technique dates back to at least the 17th century. The practice is inextricably connected with the practice of tanning human skin, often done in certain circumstances after a corpse has been dissected.
Surviving historical examples of this technique include anatomy texts bound with the skin of dissected cadavers, volumes created as a bequest and bound with the skin of the testator (known as "autoanthropodermic bibliopegy"), and copies of judicial proceedings bound in the skin of the murderer convicted in those proceedings, such as in the case of John Horwood in 1821 and the Red Barn Murder in 1828.
The libraries of many Ivy League universities include one or more samples of anthropodermic bibliopegy. The rare book collection at the Harvard Law School Library holds a book allegedly bound in human skin, Practicarum quaestionum circa leges regias Hispaniae, a treatise on Spanish law, though testing on the binding has proven inconclusive. A faint inscription on the last page of the book states:
"The bynding of this booke is all that remains of my deare friende Jonas Wright, who was flayed alive by the Wavuma[1] on the Fourth Day of August, 1632. King Btesa did give me the book, it being one of poore Jonas chiefe possessions, together with ample of his skin to bynd it. Requiescat in pace."
The John Hay Library's special books collection at Brown University contains three human-skin books, including a rare copy of De Humani Corporis Fabrica by Vesalius.
Some early copies of Dale Carnegie's Lincoln the Unknown were covered with jackets containing a patch of skin from an African American man, onto which the title had been embossed. A portion of the binding in the copy that is part of the collection of Temple University's Charles L. Blockson Collection was "taken from the skin of a Negro at a Baltimore Hospital and tanned by the Jewell Belting Company".
The National Library of Australia holds a book of 18th century poetry with the inscription "Bound in human skin" on the first page.
Another such book resides at the University of Georgia in the Richard B. Russell Special Collections Library.
Several anatomical volumes, including at least one belonging to and apparently prepared by the renowned anatomist Joseph Leidy (September 9, 1823 – April 30, 1891) are in the Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. As of August 2012, these volumes and samples of human-skin leather were on public display.
There is also a tradition of certain volumes of erotica being bound in human skin. Examples reported include a copy of the Marquis de Sade's Justine et Juliette bound in tanned skin from female breasts. Other examples are known, with the feature of the intact human nipple on one or more of the boards of the book. One volume from very early in the 17th century is said to show the face of a priest who was put to death for his alledged part in the attempted assassination of a King.
