A quick roundup of the news about rare books and collectors from around the world. (Regularly updated, with the latest news items added at the top.)
Members in the news:
Finding History in a Footlocker
"When she’s not teaching English at Serra High School, Chris Lowenstein [ABAA-member Book Hunter's Hoiliday] spends much of her time dealing in antiquarian books, which sometimes results in sheer serendipity that leads her to unusual non-literary discoveries. In one case she stumbled upon — pun meant — a footlocker crammed with items from World War I." Read on...
From PBS to BHML Ken Gloss Knows Antiques like a Book
"Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library was more crowded with book lovers than usual on Thursday, Aug. 22 when it hosted Ken Gloss of Brattle Book Shop and PBS’ “Antiques Roadshow.” Gloss was there to lecture about rare books, but his style was less lecture and more wit as he recounted interesting and funny stories from his many years operating Boston’s Brattle Book Shop." Read more...
F.A. Bernett Books henceforth will be Bernett Penka Rare Books.
"F. A. Bernett (Boston) and Penka Rare Books (Berlin) have joined forces and are now operating as one -- Bernett Penka Rare Books.
In 2019, we celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the firm, while also looking ahead with excitement to many new projects, catalogs, and book fairs. We will continue to specialize in important rare books and visual primary source material in the fine and decorative arts, architecture, design, social history, and related fields, and Philipp will help further expand our focus on German, Russian, and East European materials. With a presence in Berlin in addition to our office in Boston, we will be better able to serve the needs of both our American and European customers." -- Peter Bernett, Philipp Penka, Erika Hapke, and Melissa McCaffrey (Bernett Penka Rare Books)
Salt Lake City's Weller Book Works Turns 90
Longtime ABAA-member Weller Book Works celebrates their 90th anniversary with a party on August 17th.
- Read co-owner Tony Weller's vision for the next 90 years...
- The Deseret News covers the milestone...
When Celebs Want Rare Books, This Is Where They Go
L.A. Mag: "Mystery Pier Books—tucked away just off the Sunset Strip—has kept the rich and famous (and the rest of us) supplied with rare and antiquarian books since 1998." Read on...
Inside Whitmore Rare Books
"There is something about being in a rare book store that sets off the dopamine receptors in my brain, at the same time flooding me with pleasure and calm, and stimulating a certain acquisitive desire." Read on...
Collecting Film Scripts
Collecting film scripts is a fast-growing niche and ABAA-member Kevin R. Johnson (Royal Books) has literally written the book about collecting scripts; The Celluloid Paper Trail: Identification and Description of Twentieth Century Film Scripts has just been published by Oak Knoll Press, the publishing arm of another ABAA member, Oak Knoll Books. If you have an interest in filmmaking or screenwriting, or a taste for comparing shooting scripts to the final film, you will learn a great deal from this book. Read an interview with Kevin R. Johnson at the Oak Knoll Biblio-Blog...
Reflections on Attending the Rare Book School
ABAA-member Ezra Tishman reflects on his experiences at the Rare Book School. (Read on...)
And in other bookish news...
What’s Your Type? Learning to Print With Rare Book School
"The printing press is considered one of the most important inventions that have changed the world, because it democratized information. Developed by Johannes Gutenberg in 1440, it was key in making available to ordinary people ideas about religion, culture, science and politics." Read on...
Books as Decorations: Everything Old is New Again
For some odd reason the national media is pretending that people using books as "mere" decorations is somehow a new trend with celebrity roots. (Context...)
Why do people keep convincing themselves they’ve solved this medieval mystery?
The Voynich Manuscript speaks to almost everyone, but is anyone really listening to what it has to say? (Washinton Post takes on an enduring literary mystery...)
Four Foundations Team Up to Buy the Historic Archives of ‘Ebony’ Magazine
"A consortium of foundations—the Ford Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, the J. Paul Getty Trust, and the MacArthur Foundation—has bought the historic archives of Johnson Publishing, the Chicago-based company behind Ebony and Jet magazines, for $30 million....
The foundations, which came together to buy the archive in just a week to keep it from disappearing into private hands, plan to donate it to the National Museum of African American History of Culture in Washington, DC; the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles; and other cultural institutions." (Learn more...)
French Traveling Bookstore Goes Viral
Our recent Facebook post about a traveling bookseller wandering the French countryside living and working in a tiny house on wheels has gone viral. It seems that the romantic fantasy of owning your own bookshop is as potent as ever! (Share the dream for yourself...)
Featured item:
by MORLEY, CHRISTOPHER
Garden City: Doubleday, Page, 1917. 12mo., cloth & pictorial boards in dust jacket. First Edition. An immaculate copy of the first edition. First issue, with the misprint "Y ears" for "Years" on p. 4, line 8 and with the "l" missing in "goldenrod" on page 169, line 11. Also in the first state dust jacket, with "vibrating" instead of "beating" on the front cover.
The entire front endpaper is covered by the following signed autograph inscription by the author, to famous movie director Frank Capra: "This is Frank Capra's copy of this little book-and I am grieved when I think how much he paid for it! It cost him 160 times as much as if he had bought it in September 1917- also, the Author is not worth 160 times what he was then! There is a mistake somewhere! With embarrassment and every good wish- Christopher Morley Jan 28-1935." It is interesting to note that the quotation on the front jacket does not agree with the text of the book, as it appears on p. 146 and leads to speculation that some subsequent issues of the book were issued without dust jackets. With the John C. Eckel bookplate.
Near fine; very tiny nicks or short tears to a lovely dust jacket. Enclosed in a nice leather and cloth slipcase with gilt lettering on the spine. A great association copy in wonderful condition!
Offered by Antic Hay Books.
Minnesota Collectors Scour for Rare Books
Minneapolis' StarTribune recently interviewed local book dealers and collectors about the rare-book world, including ABAA-member Rob Rulon-Miller: "Rob Rulon-Miller is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America and sells books out of his home in St. Paul. Here, almost every wall has disappeared behind shelves filled with books available for sale." (Read more...)
A Glimpse Into the Irish Rare-Book World
Will de Burca of De Burca Rare Books (Blackrock, Ireland) recent gave the Irish Times a glimpse into the Irish rare-book world, collecting James Joyce, and the impact of social media for the rare-book trade. (Read on...)
Rare Book and Manuscript Library exhibit to feature typewriters used by Hefner, Ebert, Sandburg
An Underwood Standard Portable typewriter used by Playboy creator Hugh Hefner in college is the centerpiece of a Rare Book and Manuscript Library exhibit of writers’ tools, “Writers & Their Tools: Parchment-Paper-Processors,” at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, that opened June 17. (More info...)
A Look at the Rare-Book Trade in India
“Not many people know what it takes to find a rare book. Our search often takes us from the pavement book markets in Delhi and Kolkata to fellow antiquarian dealers in remote European villages.” (Read more...)
By Her Own Hand
Rare book and manuscript specialist Miranda Garno Nesler & Dan Whitmore, founder of ABAA-member Whitmore RareBooks (Pasadena, CA) have created a new publication, By Her Own Hand, that highlights the rare written work of women and women of color. LA Times published this article...
Following Environmentalist Edward Abbey's Footsteps in the Utah and Arizona Deserts
The LA Times knows no pilgrimage in the footsteps of Edward Abbey is complete without a stop at ABAA-member Back of Beyond Books (Moab, Utah).
Hamilton Letter, Stolen from Massachusetts Decades Ago, Resurfaces
ABAA-member Seth Kaller, Inc. provided some hostorical background to tha Boston Globe for this piece on the rediscovery of a long-missing letter by Alexander Hamilton.
The Folger's Future
Fine Books & Collections has an update on the Folger's major expansion plans...
Unknown Cache of Weegee's Crime-Scene Photos Discovered
Fascinating story about an artist who bought a box of old photos in 1970, and forgot about them for 50 years. After finding the box and working to unstick the curling bundle of images, he discovered they were largely unknown original photos by the pioneering photographer known as Weegee.
Private Libraries That Inspire
The Wall Street Journal profiles the private libraries of Jay Walker, Don Elledge, and Richard and Donna Clayton in this article from April 25. ABAA-member John Windle provided some context.
ILAB LAUNCHES PROVENANCE SYMPOSIUM VIDEO ARCHIVE
In March 2019, the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America, and the Grolier Club presented a symposium to consider issues surrounding provenance, theft, and forgery as they affect the rare-book trade. The various talks and panels were recorded, and are now available to watch online. Learn more...
Dan Whitmore on the Art and Joy of the First Edition Book
The Washington Post outlines plans to make the Library of Congress more accessible and visitor-friendly, and the inevitable fears that any change is too much change...
Get ready for "The Booksellers" documentary, described as a "behind the scenes look at the New York rare book world," and featuring interviews with many ABAA members. No release date at the moment, but let the excited anticipation begin.
The Unforged Truth Behind "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"
Actress Melissa McCarthy is an Oscar contender for her role as biographer turned literary forger Lee Israel in the film Can You Ever Forgive Me? The film spins Israel’s criminal career for laughs, but the truth was less humorous.
ABAA-member David Lowenherz (Lion Heart Autographs) was one of the antiquarian book dealers deceived by Israel and her partner Jack Hock, and also the man who alerted the FBI to her schemes. Hock and Israel were arrested after a sting operation that involved Lowenherz wearing a wire to record Hock’s “confession” while selling some stolen letters. Lowrenherz recently wrote an intriguing review comparing the film to reality for Reel Chicago, because, as Lowenherz states, "the facts are, in some ways, more compelling and devastating than what the film shows."
