Browse the latest catalogs, newsletters, and e-lists of rare books, fine bindings, incunabula, print ephemera, and much more from the members of the ABAA below. (Also includes podcasts, blog posts, and other digital formats.)
*New* indicates any catalogs brought to our attention since the starts of July 2022.
AARDVARK BOOKS/EZRA TISHMAN BOOK APPRAISALS
- E-List #24: Women Sci-Fi Authors from Easton Press
- E-List #23. Put N' Take: A Collection of Gambling Sheet Music Scores, 1889-1987
ANTIPODEAN BOOKS, MAPS, PRINTS
- E-list #44 ~ W.W.I., Americana, Australia, Photographs, Maps, Ephemera
- E-list #43 ~ Antipodean Books at the Brooklyn Virtual Book Fair
- Electronic List 135: LAWRENCE WEINER (1942-2021)
- Electronic List 134: Fin-de-Siècle to Art Déco: World War I in Its Artistic Context, French Illustrated Books and Print Portfolios
-
19th Century Decorated Paper Bindings, Decorated Cloth Bindings and Historic Works New York Book & Ephemera Fair Catalog
W. C. BAKER RARE BOOKS & EPHEMERA
- Sixty Books About Love -- Just in time for Valentine's Day, an offering of books about true and not-so-true love and its consequences, together with paeans and complaints to those beloved, and advice to aspiring lovers.
- Books by, for, and About, Women 1649-1877
- The Black Panther Party & Related Material from the Collection of Samuel L. Brooks
- The Early Modern Civil Rights Movement: 80 items from 1917 to 1953
- Summer Miscellany
- Spring Sale -- 30 first and limited editions
- Caldecott Winning Illustrators Series: Roger Duvoisin (Blog)
- Five Facts About Romantic Adventure Writer Janet Evanovich (Blog)
- Latest Acquisitions: Chronologies, Infographics, and Cartographic Data-Vizualization
- Reformers & Visionaries, Scoundrels & Incendiaries: 250 Years of Persuasive Mapping
- Brattlecast #134: A Signing by Hancock (Podcast) *New*
- Brattlecast #133: Wine & Spirits (Podcast) *New*
- Catalogue Two: Not Fair
- New Publication Announcement: Paul Theroux's Facing Ka'ena Point
Featured item:
James Baldwin
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1953. Advance reading copy, issued to reviewers before publication of the first edition, with alternate artwork not used in the first edition. [x], 303, [1] pp. Perfectbound in publisher's illustrated wraps. Very Good, dampstain to front wrap; spine sunned, creased, and rubbed along edges. Slight curling to front wrap, wear at corners. Small marginal tidemark to upper margins of prelims. A rare prepublication copy of the celebrated African American author's first book.
Offered by Burnside Rare Books and found in "African Americana."
ANDREW CAHAN, BOOKSELLER, LTD.
- E-list on Women's Health *New*
- African American E-List *New*
- Inhabited by Winston (January 2022)
- Winston for Your Walls
- List 283: World Wars I & II Aviation
- List 281 - New Acquisitions: Books about Books * Calligraphy * Cartography, etc.
Featured item:
First edition of an especially virulent astrological prediction for the year 1565 by the Erfurt physician and astronomer Joannes Hebenstreit, who produced prognostications for every year from 1553 until his death in 1569, but exemplars from some of these years have not survived. The text surrounding the bizarre title woodcut sums up Hebenstreit's main points well: in 1565 the Pope will die, the Turks will perish, plague will reign, war will ravage, the Empire will fall. The arresting title woodcut illustrates a soldier and a skeleton bearing a coffin upon a catafalque covered with a mortcloth and topped with a papal tiara, all set against a backdrop of a burning city, the smoke from which roils in a turbulent sky where a dragon encircles two foreboding, eclipsed suns. Each of Hebenstreit's predictions are provided in graphic, apocalyptic detail, and he offers ideas for neither remedy nor prevention. Indeed, in the final section, Hebenstreit predicts not only a resurgence of plague, but something new and even worse: a fresh pestilence that will bring with it untold suffering and an unimaginable symptomatology that will drive the afflicted mad before it kills. The most doomsaying prognostication in Hebenstreit's oeuvre. No copies located in American libraries.
Offered by W.S. Cotter Rare Books and found in "Heat Wave."
- New catalog available — Contact clarebooks@roadrunner.com (716) 688-8723 to request…
Featured item:
Regulations for the Uniform & Dress of the Navy and Marine Corps of the United States.
Philadelphia: Printed for the Navy Department, by T.K. and P.G. Collins, 1852.
15,[1]pp., text printed mostly in two columns, plus fifteen lithographed plates, thirteen in color, after J. Goldsborough Bruff by C. Schuessele and P. S. Duval. Folio. First American Uniform Book for the U.S. Navy. Contemporary black morocco backed marbled boards, spine lettered in gilt, some wear and scuffing. Scattered light foxing and soiling. Bookplate of the New England Historic Genealogical Society on front pastedown (with withdrawal stamp) and their blindstamp on titlepage. A bit of soiling, small old stain in lower edge of titlepage and text. Very good Hiler, page 864 (stating Washington as the imprint and with varying pagination); Sabin 68960. Colas and Lipperheide citing later edition. Item #332767
A rare color plate book describing and illustrating the uniforms and dress of officers in the United States Navy and Marines. Contains several pages of detailed regulations on the dress of officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates in the Navy and Marines, along with fifteen lithographed plates. The lithographs, done by P.S. Duval & Co. after drawings by artist and Gold Rush adventurer J. Goldsborough Bruff, depict full dress uniforms as well as details of epaulets, hats, belts, swords, and other accoutrements.
This copy has the bookplate of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, indicating it was donated to them by Com. George H. Preble. Preble was a career Naval officer who rose to the rank of Rear Admiral, serving in the Seminole Wars, the Mexican-American War, and the Civil War. Preble was also a lieutenant on Perry's 1853 journey to Japan, authored the first history of the American Flag, and was custodian of the original "Star-Spangled Banner" which flew over Fort McHenry.
A rare and important color plate book in the field of U.S. Naval History, with a notable and quite relevant association.
Offered by James Cummins Bookseller and found in "Civil War Americana."
- THE LUNAR VOYAGE FROM THE 17th CENTURY TO THE PRESENT -- In conjunction with the RBMS and the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing -- Offered jointly with John W. Knott, Jr., Bookseller
- Popular Fiction 1814-1939: Selections from the Anthony Tino Collection -- Offered jointly with John W. Knott, Jr., Bookseller
- E-list: Photographic Archives, Latin-Americana, African-Americana, Lincoln Conspirators, American Indian History, and More -- Joint catalog with Auger Down Books
DE SIMONE COMPANY, BOOKSELLERS
- New Arrivals (June 28, 2022)
- Catalog #88, Medical Books from the Fifteenth to the Twentieth Centuries -- This catalog is print-only. To request a copy, contact MedBks@aol.com...
Featured item:
I'm Out to Lick Runway Prices. Let's All Follow the 7-Key Plan to Hold Prices Down [poster]
Office of Economic Stabilization
Notes: A rather fierce-looking poster encouraging women to participate in the federal efforts to control inflation driven by shortages during the Second World War. An illustration of a woman wearing an apron, her teeth and fist clenched dominate the poster. Below the image are a list of seven key actions: buy war bonds; pay taxes; get life insurance; reduce debt; buy only what is needed; comply with rationing; and cooperate with wage stabilization efforts.
20-1/8 by 28-5/16 inches.
Edition + Condition: Small piece of upper left corner missing, short tears at the folds, thus very good. Folded for mailing, as issued. SHIPS FOLDED. This is an original World War II poster, not a reproduction.
Publication: [Washington, DC]: Distributed by O.W.I. [Office of War Information] for the Office of Economic Stabilization, 1944.
Offered by Downtown Brown Books and found in "List 71: WWII Homefront Posters."
Featured item:
Miniature Biographies Published by Duke Brand Cigarettes
Knapp & Company. Park Place, New York. 1890s. A complete set of 48 absolutely charming miniature chromolithographed biographies, published as part of an advertising campaign for Duke Brand Cigarettes. Each was issued in a box of cigarettes in a "collect-them-all"-type marketing ploy. The complete set here includes 7 women and 41 men. Each measures approx. 3" by 1.5", is approx. 16 pp., and stapled in original chromolithographed illustrated wrappers.
The wrappers are particularly well-designed, and feature a portrait of the subject on the upper wrapper, and an allegorical/metaphorical illustration on the lower wrapper that matches that figure's accomplishments. For example, industrialist Andrew Carnegie has a coal worker shoveling coal on his lower wrapper, while Edgar Allan Poe has a raven perched atop a pile of books on his lower wrapper. Explorer and hunter Henry M. Stanley has an African woman's bust inside a map of Africa on his lower wrapper. Other prominent figures run the gamut from actors (Edwin Booth, Sarah Bernhardt), to writers and poets (Tennyson, Irving), to businessmen (Vanderbilt), engineers and inventors (James B. Eads, Mary Anderson), and politicians (William Henry Harrison). There is even one child, the musical prodigy Josef Hoffman.
Offered by Eclectibles and found in "E-list No. 87."
- Comic collection of William "Gatz" Hjortsberg -- Details available upon request from info@elkriverbooks.com...
- Highlights from the ABAA Virtual Book Fair
RODGER FRIEDMAN RARE BOOK STUDIO
- OCCASIONAL LIST 22: A Miscellany: Original Art Work; Small Archive of Major English Watercolourist; Interesting Theatrical Pieces; Manuscript Material, Etc., Etc. -- available on request from fgrare@fgrarebooks.com...
- Has the following lists available: California, Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Oregon, Louisiana, Colorado, Ohio and New York. Will email to interested parties. Contact info@ginsbook.com to request...
- New Acquisitions with Many FIne Bindings (June 2022)
- Commercial List (April 2022)
THOMAS A. GOLDWASSER RARE BOOKS
- Hart Crane (Forthcoming) -- for more infomation, contact mail@goldwasserbooks.com...
- Walker Evans - 35 items
DAVID A. HAMILTON AMERICANA BOOKS
JONATHAN A. HILL, BOOKSELLER, INC.
- E-list 202 New Arrivals in Poetry Photography Art Literature *New*
- E-list 201 New Arrivals in Poetry Photography Art Literature
- 12 New Acquisitions (June 2022)
- Literature List (May 2022)
Featured item:
Bruno Munari. Uomini sulla Luna.
Milan: Sugar Editore, 1962. First edition of Bruno Munari’s science fiction panorama depicting a colony on the moon, accompanied by two discs containing audio of the imaginary lunar settlement. A single paragraph at the beginning of the panorama sets the scene, introducing space captain “Bill Ventura” in his spaceship, followed by Munari’s stunning color-printed lunar panorama, which can be viewed in two-panel sections or as an unbroken landscape. Viewers encounter a space station above the moon, with windows revealing the activities of the astronauts inside, followed by the bustling lunar colony itself, built under a protective dome, featuring decorative trees, a theater, a tennis court, and a swimming pool.
The flip side of the panorama offers a rough timeline of missile developments from the 1940s to the 1960s, ending with the United States Army’s Nike Zeus of the early 1960s. In the front and back folds of the panorama are two discs from outer space: the first contains messages from the space station to the lunar settlement, and the second the sounds within the first city on the moon. Text in Italian. OCLC records one holding, at Stanford. A near-fine example of popular space race iconography in the years just before humans set foot on the moon.
Double-sided panorama, measuring 7.75 inches square, 93 inches fully unfolded. Printed in color on both sides, with pockets in first and last panels holding flexible white 33-rpm records. Lightest edgewear.
Offered by Honey & Wax Booksellers and found in their recent catalog "12 New Acquisitions."
- Rare Books Santa Monica
- Fine Press & Wood Engravings (October 2021)
- Sharon Dolin Center for the Book Arts Poetry Chapbook Archive -- A detailed list is available upon request from james@jamesjaffe.com
- Jonathan Williams / The Jargon Society: a comprehensive selection of their publications -- The 233-page illustrated catalogue offers over 550 items, including books, manuscripts, letters, photographs and ephemera. The catalogue is available upon request from james@jamesjaffe.com -- There is no digital version of this catalogue.
- Catalog 417: A Note from the Editors -- New Catalog Series w/Recent Acquisitions
- Catalog 416: Amusing Things of Little Consequence: Letterheads
- New York Book Fair 2022
- Manuscripts, Letters & Art (New York Book Fair)
JOHN W. KNOTT, JR., BOOKSELLER
- Catalog #74: 100 Rare Books -- with an emphasis on history and military affairs. Please request from mail@kubikbooks.com...
MICHAEL LAIRD RARE BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS
- New York Book Fair 2022
- Fifty curious items published on the occasion of the California Book Fair / Virtual Book Fair
- Recent Acquisitions: English, American & Continental Law, c.1474-1920 (July 19, 2022) *New*
- International & Maritime Law, 1564-1907: 30 Titles (July 12, 2022) *New*
- Catalog 103 (Preview) *New*
- Transatlantic Book Fair 2022 *New*
DAVID M. LESSER, FINE ANTIQUARIAN BOOKS
LIBER ANTIQUUS, EARLY PRINTED BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS
- New Arrivals (June 2022)
- A December Miscellany
- On Our Shelves No. 27 – Beast and Man in India (Video)
- Rare Book Moment 26: Look for relationships in your collection (Video)
- Gorey Christmas
- E-cat featuring Anti-fascism, racial stereotypes, mid-century folk and propaganda and more
- Short List of Periodicals: First Issues, Complete or Extended Runs from Inception
- Cinema and Cinema-adjacent: A Catalogue of Printed and Archival Materials
Featured item:
GLANCY, Diane
Cache Fourche
(Tulsa), (Hadassah Press), (1981). An early book, a collection of poetry, by this author of Cherokee descent. Glancy's first several publications were chapbooks that she published herself, first as the Hadassah Press, and then as the MyrtleWood Press: Hadassah is the Hebrew word for Myrtle, the author's grandmother's name. This title was published the same year as Drystalks of the Moon and Clearing Ghostlaw's Field: only one book, Traveling On, preceded, in 1980. OCLC locates only one copy of Cache Fourche, and this is the first time we have encountered this title. Trace spotting to covers; a very near fine copy in stapled wrappers. Extremely scarce, both in the market and in library holdings.
Offered by Ken Lopez Bookseller and found in "E-list 190."
J. & J. LUBRANO MUSIC ANTIQUARIANS
STUART LUTZ HISTORIC DOCUMENTS
- List of 77 Mark Twain First Editions and Ephemera available by request from info@macdonnellrarebooks.com (specify elist or paper copy).
MAIN STREET FINE BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS
- Selection of Historic Editions of African-American Magazines from the 1940s-1970s *New*
- From [Shame] to PRIDE! Queer Narratives from Miscellany
- Illustrated Catalog on Carlos Merida (1891–1984) -- Mexican painter, sculptor, writer and graphic designer -- available by request from mmbooks@comcast.net
- Latin America
MARTAYAN LAN RARE BOOKS & MAPS
BRUCE MCKITTRICK RARE BOOKS, INC.
Featured item:
Boston Women’s Health Collective. Women and Their Bodies: A Course.
Boston: Boston Women’s Health Collective and New England Free Press, (1970). First edition. 11 x 8-3/8 inches. 1-87, 89-193pp. (pages misnumbered, with erratum note to bottom of p. 87, “Page 88 is NOT missing -- I just goofed in the numbering”). Side-stapled newsprint self-wrappers with price of 75¢ to front wrapper. B&w illustrations. Lightly edgeworn, with nicks and a short tear to wrapper edges; approx. 4” x 1” strip of loss to fore-edge of front wrapper, affecting chapter numbers on verso but not other text; toning. About Very Good.
A rare first edition of what became, in its next printing, Our Bodies, Our Selves, a groundbreaking publication of the second wave feminist movement, and, arguably, the catalyst for the women’s health movement in the United States. Only 5000 copies of this first edition were printed, and these were hand-distributed at workshops and to friends of the authors. Despite the limited print run and grassroots distribution, the book became an immediate success. A second print run of 250,000 copies was issued by the New England Free Press the following year; over 4 million copies have now been printed, and the book is in its ninth edition.
The idea for Women and Their Bodies grew out of a workshop with the same title at a women’s conference held at Emmanuel College in Boston, in May 1969. As the authors note in their introduction: “After that, several of us developed a questionnaire about women’s feelings about their bodies and their relationship to doctors. We discovered that there were no ‘good’ doctors and we had to learn for ourselves.” Each member of the group then chose a topic of women’s health to research and write about, and these developed into what became the book’s chapters: “Women, Medicine, and Capitalism, an Introductory Essay”; “Anatomy and Physiology”; “Sexuality”; “Some Myths about Women”; “Venereal Disease”; “Birth Control”; “Abortion”; “Pregnancy”; “Prepared Childbirth”; “Post Partum”; and “Medical Institutions”.
The result was “the first and most comprehensive book to provide information about women’s health and sexuality”, as Wendy Kline notes in “’Please Include This in Your Book’: Readers Respond to Our Bodies, Ourselves”, (Bulletin of the History of Medicine, Spring 2005). As Kline notes, in the mid-1960s, a major crisis of confidence around patient care struck the health care system, creating the impetus for patients’ rights advocates and intersecting with the women’s liberation movement and civil rights movement. “Female bodies, argued health feminists, had been subjected to male medical authority; women could not achieve full equality without the right to reclaim their bodies. Doctors were overwhelmingly male (in 1970, only 7.6 percent of physicians and 7.2 percent of obstetrician-gynecologists were female) and, according to critics, paternalistic, condescending, and judgmental”. Women were therefore encouraged to become their own patient advocates, educating and empowering themselves through women’s health literature. (Kline, pp. 85-86).
Women and Their Bodies I Our Bodies Ourselves became one of the most important ways women sought to do that, and still do, as the book’s enduring popularity suggests. OCLC locates 12 holdings of this edition, and none appear in auction records.
Offered by Kate Mitas Books and found in "E-list #16."
- Louis M. Jason's book Literary (and Other) Celebrity Doodles II is now available. Contact the store at info@mysterypierbooks.com to order...
- Father's Day Gift Offerings
Featured item:
Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1884. 320pp. AEG. A magnificently crafted Club Binding (signed in the front dentelle, “Club Bindery, 1901) bound in full green Morocco with incredibly ornate and detailed all-over “cottage room” design on both covers and spine featuring inlaid crimson centerpieces, as well as center “star” and surrounded by 24 floral blossoms (with 4 and 5 petals) and dots. As well, the binding features an exquisite and complicated gilttooled design of floral sprays, pointelle spirals, and urns from which vines of stippled gold extend outward, mosaic and similar design work on spine; doublures and flyleaves of crimson moiré sild, gilt dentelles with rosettes. Sensitively and beautifully extra-illustrated containing 27 India ink and black and white wash drawings by E. Fitch (Edward W. Fitch), 19th Century artist whose work is represented in the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British art. The wonderfully crafted drawings range from small corner drawings to nearly full-page landscapes, seafaring scenes and cityscapes. LIMITED TO 100 COPIES, only 75 of which are numbered: this is copy #47. Very fine condition, with no signs of wear, stunning! A fine example of the work of one the greatest American fine binders. Housed in a contemporary full brown Morocco gilt box. Pictured in full color, Item 18, in Tom Boss’s wonderful book, “Bound to Be the Best: The Club Bindery,” 2004. Roderick Terry’s copy, with his engraved bookplate (by A.N. MacDonald). Dr. Roderick Terry, Sr. (1849-1933), learned bibliophile and assiduous collector of books and manuscripts from Newport, where he was active in philanthropist pursuits and various cultural institutions such as the Redwood Library, the Newport Historical Society, and served as the President of the Board of Directors for the Redwood Library and Athenaeum from 1916-1933. His substantial collection was auctioned by Anderson Galleries making $270,000 at three sales in 1934 and 1935.
Offered by Nudelman Rare Books and found in "Catalog 48."
- Catalog 58 May 2022 -- by subscription only. Contact oldwestbooks@earthlink.net for details about obtaining a copy.
PHILADELPHIA RARE BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS
PHILLIP J. PIRAGES FINE BOOKS & MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPTS
- The Bunker Hill Archive (Newsletter)
- New Historical Documents (Newsletter)
RABELAIS BOOKS ON FOOD & DRINK
RICHARD C. RAMER, OLD & RARE BOOKS
- Special List 456: Seven Recent Acquisitions *New*
- Special List 455: Twenty-Nine Recent Acquisitions *New*
- Catalog 49 (2022)
- Catalog 48 (2021)
ROOTENBERG RARE BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS
- Transatlantic Book Fair *New*
- Recent Acquisitions: Science & Medicine *New*
- RBMS (June 2022) *New*
BARRY LAWRENCE RUDERMAN ANTIQUE MAPS, INC.
Featured item:
Antwerp: Plantin, 1591. 2 volumes in one, oblong 4to. Woodcut printer’s device on title-page, 2173 woodcut illustrations printed 2-3 per page, indexes of plant names in Latin, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Dutch, and English at end. Contemporary blindstamped pigskin, initials “A.V.G.H.” and date 1593 gilt stamped on upper cover; hinges and spine ends repaired in vellum, later endpapers. Second edition, of the “most useful reference work in connection with the study of 16th-century botanical illustration.” (Hunt) This copy contains frequent French plantnames and notes added in a legible hand (17th c?), sometimes referring to Bauhin, Dodoens, Mattioli, et. al. Bookplate of The Horicultural Society of New York. Kenneth K. Mackenzie.
Offered by Sanctuary Books and found in "Botany & Gardening."
- A Handfull of 19th Century American Books
- Wines and Viticulture - 17 items from 4 centuries
Featured item:
BILL JUSTICE (1914-2011) Animator for Disney Studios.
Two Original Sketches Signed. Chip 'n' Dale Sketch Signed, on a 3 x 5 inch card. Justice sketched two of his popular and favorite characters, the chipmunks Chip and Dale. He inscribed and signed the drawing rendered in black marker, "Best wishes to Bill, Bill Justice." Undated. (A note to Baby Boomers: Justice directed the animated Mickey Mouse March opening for "The Mickey Mouse Club. [can be purchased separately for $295.00] Pinocchio's smiling face grace's the LOVE Stamp First Day Cover. Pencil sketch, inscribed and signed, postmarked Aug. 8, 1988. Justice sketched Pinocchio near the red "LOVE" above four red roses identified as Aristocral Cachets and above the printed explanation of the rose's association with love. Between Pinocchio's face and the very popular and colorful rose adorned Love stamp, Justice wrote, "Best Wishes to Kati," and signed, "Bill Justice," below the postmark. Perhaps best known as the animator of the chipmunk duo, Chip and Dale, Justice was a contributing animator for "Pinocchio," Disney's 1940 animation film. Justice's long career for Disney Studios involved many aspects of animation film making and also included engineering projects related to Disney theme parks.
Perhaps best known as the animator of the chipmunk duo, Chip and Dale, Justice was a contributing animator for "Pinocchio," Disney's 1940 animation film. Justice's long career for Disney Studios involved many aspects of animation film making and also included engineering projects related to Disney theme parks. (A note to Baby Boomers: Justice directed the animated Mickey Mouse March opening for "The Mickey Mouse Club.").
Offered by Schulson Autographs and found in "Catalog 189."
- List: 150th Anniversary of Mendeleev's Periodic System
- California Book Fair 2019: 130 Items on Science and Medicine is now available on request from scientiabk@gmail.com...
- Catalog 43, "Made the Machine Crack" -- available by request from garrett@bibliophagist.com...
- Catalog 42, Shake Up Open Your Eyes -- available by request from garrett@bibliophagist.com...
- Foxwell Medical History Collection, Part 3 - Women's Health *New*
- Foxwell Medical History Collection: Part 2
MARC SELVAGGIO, BOOKS & EPHEMERA
MICHAEL R. THOMPSON RARE BOOKS
- Women's Studies: Reproductive Rights, Suffrage, Abolition, Immigration, Science and More *New*
- Education: Froebel, Mathematics, Science, Women’s Education, Toys, and More Grolier 2022
- 2022: Catalog 1 -- print copies available at the upcoming California Book Fair!
- TRB E-List #52: New Acquisitions: AIDS, LGBTQQ, Women's Rights, African Americana
- E-List #49: Archives and Collections
- Catalog 275: The Serpent Power; more unusual books on Orientalism and free thought
- Catalog 274: Medical Books, including the library of George Kaplan (pt. V)
- New York Book Fair 2022 -- a joint NY Fair catalog with Konstantinopel Rare Books
Featured item:
The American Diary of a Japanese Girl
(Yone Noguchi) Miss Morning Glory
New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1902. First edition. Original half bamboo mat over pictorial boards, with its delicate spine and corners intact. A touch of toning to the boards and some gentle shelfwear to edges. Internally complete, unmarked and pleasing. A work that has become scarce, likely owing to the fragility of its binding, OCLC reports fewer than 50 surviving in libraries, and it has not sold at auction since 1924.
“The first American novel by a writer of Japanese ancestry, The American Diary of a Japanese Girl is a landmark of modern American fiction and Japanese-American transcendentalism. First published in 1902, Yone Noguchi’s novel describes the turn-ofthe-century adventures of Tokyo belle Miss Morning Glory in a first person narrative that the New York Times called ‘perfectly ingenuous and unconventional.’ Initially published as an authentic journal, the Diary was later revealed to be a playful autobiographical fiction written by a man. No less than her creator, Miss Morning Glory delights in disguises, unabashedly switching gender, class, and ethnic roles. Targeting the American fantasy of Madame Butterfly, Noguchi’s New Woman heroine prays for ‘something more decent than marriage’” (Franey). In many ways, Miss Morning Glory and her creator are reflections of each other; both question social definitions imposed upon them, pressing for a more complex and less binary understanding of individuality, humanness, and romantic connection. Yone Noguchi, the son of a sculptor, lived in the United States from 1893-1904. During that time he was “an immigrant and a studentlaborer who came to America in hopes of becoming an English language poet. He was very much connected with the Japanese American community...but at the same time really wanted to ‘belong’ in America. He had no idea about the kind of racism and Orientalism he would face” (Sueyoshi). His isolation and feelings of difference were both heightened and assuaged through his romantic and sexual relationships, and through the embrace of his own queer identity. During his time in the U.S. he engaged in a long-term affair with the poet Charles Warren Stoddard as well as with two white women, Ethel Armes and Leonie Gilmour, before marrying Matsu Takeda. “Diary serves as one of Asian America’s earliest queer texts…and Noguchi’s later public confession that Miss Morning Glory was in fact him and the narrative was about his own life prompted those longing for more public representations of queer love and attraction to read Morning Glory” (Sueyoshi). Near Fine.
Offered by Whitmore Rare Books and found in "Centering Narratives of Joy & Resistance."
JOHN WINDLE ANTIQUARIAN BOOKSELLER
- July 2021: Mostly Private Press
- New Arrivals: Mostly Literature (May 18, 2021)
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