New York Antiquarian Book Fair This Week!
This is the Big One folks. The hum-dinger of fairs. Attend it if you can - Regret it if you can't. Of course the Los Angeles Fair and a few in Europe would claim the prize as Best Fair so this is just a personal observation. It is great fun!
When
April 9 - 11, 2010
Friday noon - 8pm
Saturday noon - 7pm
Sunday noon - 5pm
Where
The Park Avenue Armory
643 Park Avenue, at 67th Street,, New York City
www.armoryonpark.org
Schedule
Friday, April 9, 2010 4:30pm
The New York Antiquarian Book Fair, sponsored by the ABAA, is pleased to present Nicholas Basbanes, for an exclusive book signing of Mr. Basbanes just published new work, About the Author: Inside the Creative Process. This book is the first availability of this book and the first time it is being offered for sale. Proceeds from the book will support the ABAA library fund.
Saturday, April 10, 2010 1pm in booth A15
The New York Antiquarian Book Fair, sponsored by the ABAA, is pleased to present, Stuart Lutz, for an exclusive book signing of his just published work, The Last Leaf: Voices of History's last-known Survivors. Lutz has recorded survivors' oral histories from many famous historical events. Some stories included are from the final three Civil War widows, the final pitcher to surrender a home run to Babe Ruth and the last surviving employees of Thomas Edison, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Harry Houdini.
Sunday, April 11 noon - 3pm
Discovery Day
Children’s Book Illustration of 19th-Century Britain
There is a new exhibit at The Huntington Library in the Los Angeles area. It should be of interest to book collectors, especially collectors who focus on children's books or 19th century books, artist books (like those of Arthur Rackham) or on early British books. This is an exhibit not to be missed. It is a great excuse to visit the Los Angeles area and a lovely time of year for a visit. Enjoy!
In the 19th century—with the work of Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, Lewis Carroll, and others—children’s fairy tales and nursery rhymes began to be widely published, documenting what was originally a rich oral tradition across western cultures. In Britain, such publications were enlivened by the work of some of the most talented artists and illustrators of the period, including Walter Crane (1845–1915), Arthur Rackham (1867–1939), and Kate Greenaway (1846–1901). Drawing on the collections of The Huntington’s art and literary collections, “Child’s Play?” includes a selection of rare drawings as well as the books themselves. Although beguiling, some of the stories and their illustrations represent the often complicated layering of the joys and fears related to childhood and child rearing.
Where: The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens
Date(s): April 3, 2010 - July 26, 2010
Address: 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, California, U.S.A.
Early Printed Books Auction Coming Up
Swann Galleries will hold an important auction of early printed books on April 12, 2010. They are located here: SWANN GALLERIES, INC., 104 East 25th Street, New York, New York 10010 Tel. 212-254-4710, Fax. 212-979-1017.
EARLY PRINTED BOOKS Features a private collection of Baskerville imprints comprising nearly two-thirds of the 18th-century Birmingham printer's output, as well as a diverse selection of emblem, fable, and other illustrated books. Some books go back as far as the 16th century and anticipated sale prices appear quite reasonable. You don't really know what books will sell for until they sell, obviously.
This sale is an excellent way for collectors to add very rare books to their collections. If you contact Swann early and set up an account, you may place bids in advance via telephone, fax, mail, or e-mail, and their staff will bid on your behalf. You can also make advance arrangements to bid by telephone during the auction.
Swann Gallery describes the auction in this way: An unusually large group of Baskerville imprints features a superb copy of the 1763 Holy Bible ($4,000 to $6,000) and less common titles such as Richard Gardiner's 1762 Account of the Expedition to the West Indies ($800 to $1,200) and the 1765 Vocabulary, or Pocket Dictionary, attributed to Baskerville himself ($800 to $1,200).
Among the many emblem, fable, and miscellaneous illustrated books in the sale are Andrea Alciati, Omnia . . . Emblemata, Lyon, 1566 ($1,500 to $2,000); Cesare Ripa, Iconologia, Amsterdam, 1644 ($800 to $1,200); Christoffel van Sichem, Bibels Tresoor, Amsterdam, 1646 ($800 to $1,200); and Het Groot Tafereel der Dwaasheid, [Amsterdam?], 1720, a satire on the European stock market meltdown that year.
Notable items in a section of travel literature are John Hawkesworth, A New Voyage Round the World . . . Performed by Captain James Cook, New York, 1774, first American edition, with a frontispiece by Paul Revere ($8,000 to $12,000); Sir Alexander Mackenzie, Voyages from Montreal . . . through the Continent of North America, to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans, London, 1801 ($2,500 to $3,500); and Vincenzo Maurizi, History of Seyd Said, Sultan of Muscat, London, 1819, the first European book on Oman ($2,500 to $3,500).
Other sale highlights include, St. Augustine, De civitate Dei, Venice, 1489/90 ($4,000 to $6,000); St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentum in octo libros Physicorum Aristotelis, Venice, 1492 ($6,000 to $9,000); Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, London, 1755 ($8,000 to $12,000); Uri Tsvi Rubinstein, Limudei . . . ha-sehok ha-nikra shakhshpil, Lemberg, 1809, an early Hebrew chess manual ($2,000 to $3,000); and a bound volume containing 3 pamphlets on electrodynamics by André-Marie Ampère, one of them inscribed and signed, Paris, 1822-26 ($5,000 to $7,000).
As you can see by the summary of a portion of the auction items, this is going to be a wonderful and important auction. You can visit the auction site by going to Swann Galleries An auction catalog can be found HERE There is also a 3D catalog that I found quite interesting (though it takes a while to load). You can find it HERE
[Top]NYPD, Art Loss Register Seek Owners Of Book Collection
The New York Police Department (NYPD) has recovered a collection of rare Civil War-era books in the possession of a known thief. The books are believed to be stolen, though the loss has not been reported to the Art Loss Register or the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America. All nine books likely came from the same collection.
The recovered books are: Nehemiah Adams , South-Side View of Slavery , 1855; Albert Barnes , The Church and Slavery , 1857; Silas Casey, Infantry Tactics , 1862; Dean Dudley, Officers of our Union Army and Navy , 1862; William J. Hardee, Rifle and Infantry Tactics , 1863; Hinton Rowan Helper, The Impending Crisis of the South , 1860; Frederick Law Olmstead, The Cotton Kingdom , two volumes, 1861; James Redpath, The Public Life of Captain John Brown , 1860; and Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin , two volumes, 1862.
Anyone having information about this collection is asked to contact Detective Michael McFadden of the NYPD at 212-923-1188 or email michael.mcfadden@nypd.org , contact the Art Loss Register at 877-ART-LOSS or email stolen@alrny.com .
Signed Copy of Emma by Jane Austin Sells for 350,000 EU
An original signed copy of Jane Austen’s classic novel Emma has been sold by a [Briish] bookshop for £325,000.
Published in 1816, the hardback was presented by Austen to her friend Anne Sharp, the model for Mrs Weston in the novel, and has a handwritten inscription inside. READ MORE HERE
[Top]The Ninth Gate - Watch Online Free
The Ninth Gate starring Johnny Depp is a 1999 movie about a "semi sleazy" rare book scout hired to locate a copy of a rare test said to give extraordinary powers. It has been a long time favorite of book collectors as it portrays the elaborate search for a rare book (which many of us can relate to... You can watch it HERE
[Top]Preservation Box Design - Library of Congress
When The Library of Congress considered the undertaking the conservation and restoration of all the collections which needed immediate attention, they saw a daunting task. Lacking finds and trained staff, they determined to create an in-house Phased Preservation Boxing Program. The details, complete with in depth instructions and diagrams for building the preservation boxes can be found online at the Hathi Trust Digital Library.
The first Phased Preservation Boxing Program at the Library was designed to save a collection of about eight thousand rare European law books dating chiefly from the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, the majority of which were in un-restored, stiff-board vellum bindings. This collection, subjected for many years to an adverse environment (high temperatures and fluctuating humidity), had been shelved in the conventional manner regardless of size.
Over the years the larger volumes, which were free to move, expanded and contracted in response to changes in temperature and humidity. Severe dam-
age to book structures and bindings was the inevitable result. Other types of mechanical damage were also widespread. Some immediate form of protection was urgently needed while awaiting the time when conservation treatment could be undertaken, perhaps within a decade or two.
This prgram is target primarily for books that do not see a lot of regular use as a way to stop or retard the damage done by time and light to the rare collections. A simple adaptation of this program by book collectors could protect and preserve their collections.
The Library stresses that phased boxes, being somewhat awkward to open and close, are not suitable for frequently used collections and are designed for valuable book collections which need stabilizing but are not handled very often.
I located this valuable resource online and want to share it with you. The first part of the publication consists of very detailed instructions to build the boxes from one or at most two pieces of archival boared. Detailed diagrams can be located at the end of the publication.
I hope you will find this information useful and at the very least will serve to turn your mind towards the important topic of preserving your valuable collections. The program has been very successful for the Library.
[Top]A Century for the Century - Book for Book Collectors
A Century for the Century
Product Details
• Hardcover: 110 pages
• Publisher: David R Godine; Rev Exp edition (November 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567922201
• ISBN-13: 978-1567922202
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
Any serious book collector (and the most serious belong to The Grolier Club, that pre-eminent New York shrine) harbors a latent penchant for lists.
These lists are usually generated in neat doses of one hundred titles. Here then (at least in the opinions of Messrs. Hutner and Kelly) are the hundred greatest printed books of the twentieth century. Given another pair of editors, you d probably be offered a different list, but this one serves and serves well, for it concentrates not only on the recognized chestnuts, but also lesser-known, and often exceedingly rare volumes that have left their mark. It is noteworthy that only two books in the survey were printed by offset; the rest are all letterpress. And although America is strongly represented, there are also selections from Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands, England, Wales and Switzerland. Every book is illustrated in fine line duotone, many in color, and best of all, the captions that accompanied the original Grolier exhibit have been transcribed intact. In their two prefatory essays, Hutner has provided a convincing defense of his choices (1900 1948), and Kelly, a spirited apologia for his (1949 1999).
Joe Blumenthal ended his survey of fine printing in America with the observation that the art of the book, one of the slender graces of civilization, works its charm on each new generation. This survey, while admittedly neither comprehensive nor definitive, provides an excellent overview of fine printing over the past hundred years. Despite Morison s contention that typography is the most conservative of all the arts, the form of the book continues to mutate, evolve, and advance. If we are to overcome the complexities of a digital age, we would do well to appreciate, if not embrace, that heritage.
[Top]Book Collecting - A Filthy Habit Got Too Clean
I just read a fantastic post on Reality Studio, A William S Burroughs Community. The author, Jed Birmingham, laments the sanitary nature of Internet book collecting with eloquence and wit : "For centuries, a book dealer and a book collector would work together to build a meaningful collection. The relationship was not one of a john and a high-priced call girl, but that of an old married couple. No more. Now a book collector feels that he is a mark if he pays the asking price and a fool if he expresses loyalty to a small handful of dealers."
This an intelligent look at what has been lost and what is found woefully wanting in today's book collecting market. I highly suggest a thoughtful read... READ MORE HERE
[Top]Book Collecting is...
Book collecting is an obsession, an occupation, a disease, an addiction, a fascination, an absurdity, a fate. It is not a hobby. Those who do it must do it. Those who do not do it, think of it as a cousin of stamp collecting, a sister of the trophy cabinet, bastard of a sound bank account and a weak mind.
— Jeanette Winterson