The ABAA has recently approved several new members, all of whom have successfully proven themselves to be, in the words of the ABAA Guarantee, "established, knowledgeable, and of excellent reputation." These new members were sponsored by existing members, and have undergone a rigorous screening process. We welcome the newest members of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America. Full Members Nick Aretakis, Nick Aretakis Rare Books Nick Aretakis was born and raised in California, and attended the University of California, at Berkeley, where he received a B.A. in American History. He also has an M.A. in International Relations from the George Washington University, and spent a year in the American History Ph.D. program at the University of Virginia. In the mid-1990s he helped launch the “BookTV” series at C-SPAN television, aft... [more New Members]

The Lilly Library, Indiana University, has announced its summer exhibition. “Eat Your Vegetables! Five Centuries of Vegetarianism and the Printed Word” will survey the history and impact of vegetarian movements on society, and it will also contain a variety of cookbooks that emphasize vegetarian cuisine. The materials in this exhibition are drawn from many of the Lilly Library's collections, most notably the collection of books, pamphlets, and other materials on the history of vegetarianism formed by ABAA-member William Dailey (William Dailey Rare Books Ltd), as well as the Dr. and Mrs. John Talbot Gernon Cookbook Collection. The exhibition will be on view in the Main Gallery of the Lilly Library from July 21 to September 10, 2016. The Library will formally open the exhibition on July 21 at 5:30 p.m., with a talk by William Dailey ent... [more William Dailey on Collecting Vegetarian Literature]

ABAA-member Jennifer Johnson of The Book Shop in Covina, CA, has been awarded a Young Antiquarian Scholarship by the Hungarian Antiquarian Booksellers' Association to attend the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers' (ILAB) Congress in Budapest in September, 2016. ABAA-President Mary Gilliam writes of Johnson that “Ever since joining the Association, Jen has been very supportive of, as well as involved in, Association activities, e.g, serving on the Southern California Book Fair committee, and organizing the now ever-popular Poker Tournament, which has raised ~ $15,000 for the ABAA Woodburn Educational Fund." "Jen represents the next generation of booksellers, and epitomizes the type of bookseller to whom we wish to entrust our beloved trade; e.g., along with , they broke new ground in terms of identifying and compiling archi... [more Johnson Awarded Young Antiquarian Scholarship]

Maxwell Perkins was the most famous editor of the golden age of American letters, working with Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and many others. Rather than attempt to compress his mammoth career into two hours, the new film Genius, starring Colin Firth and Jude Law, focuses on Perkins relationship with Thomas Wolfe, perhaps his most gifted author, but also his greatest challenge. ABAA members offer many interesting items connected to Maxwell Perkins and his stable of famous authors, from glamorous first editions and rare books, to unexpected ephemera like mundane letters between the editor and various literary executors. Carolina Folk Plays: Second Series. Edited with an Introduction on Making a Folk Theatre by Frederick H. Koch New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1924. First edition. Thomas Wo... [more Max Perkins: Genius Editor]

ABAA-members George Koppelman and Daniel Wechsler were featured on CBS Sunday Morning this past weekend. The booksellers belief is that they may have identified Shakespeare's personal copy of John Baret's Alvearie; or Quadruple Dictionarie, and they have published a book detailing their exhaustive investigation. We previously wrote about Koppelman and Wechsler's ground-breaking work in 2014... [more CBS News: Shakespeare’s Beehive]

Hailed as "the sports equivalent of the Emancipation Proclamation," one of the original contracts Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers has been authenticated by ABAA member John Reznikoff (University Archives) and appraised at $36 million by ABAA member Seth Kaller (Seth Kaller, Inc.). Owned by businessman Mykalai Kontilai, the contracts will go on display at the Collectors Café in New York City next week. ESPN reported on the contact this week, quoting Reznikoff: "It passed all the tests with flying colors, everything that I looked at," Reznikoff said this week. "There's a lot of components to a document. There's ink, paper, printing, and everything was consistent." "I'm 110 percent sure" it's real, Reznikoff said. and Kaller: "Their effect on American history, and even the world, transcends the bounds of sports," Kaller wro... [more Jackie Robinson’s Original Contracts Authenticated]

The ABAA, in partnership with The Library of Congress, the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies, and the Grolier Club, is currently accepting entries for the 2017 National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest. The contest aims to encourage young collectors to become accomplished bibliophiles. We are honored to once again have support from the Jay I. Kislak Foundation, the generous underwriter of prizes for this contest. Collegiate Book Collecting Contest winners, and interested students whose institutions do not offer contests, can submit entries at apply.abaa.org. All entries for the 2017 competition must be submitted by May 31, 2017. For more information on the contest, please visit contest.abaa.org. If you have any further questions, please contact hq@abaa.org. Need some inspiration or ideas? Meet Previous National Collegiate Bo... [more 2017 National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest]

ABAA members will be bringing their best items to the 56th annual New York Antiquarian Book Fair during the second week of April, 2016. Below, we have a few highlights from our members (in no particular order): exceedingly rare books, unique records, and one-of-a-kind ephemera to give a brief flavor of the treasures that await discovery in New York. Members submitted so many featured items that we've had to split the list into two parts. Tune in next week for another sneak-peak at items you'll find at this year's New York Antiquarian Book Fair. (For more details on the book fair, click here...) BODMER, Karl (1809-1893, illustrator) -- Prince Maximilian zu WIED-NEUWIED (1782-1867). Voyage dans l'Intérieur de l'Amérique du Nord execute pendant les années 1832, 1833 et 1834. Paris: Chez Arthus Bertrand, 1840-1843. 4 volumes (text: 3 volum... [more Featured Items: New York Book Fair (Part 1)]

The pinnacle of rare book fairs in the US is the annual New York Antiquarian Book Fair, which takes place from April 7-10 at the Park Avenue Armory. Collectors can browse the booths of over 200 rare book dealers from around the world and all across the United States, offering a vast selection of rare books, maps, manuscripts, illuminated manuscripts, and ephemera. This book fair is officially sponsored by the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America and our parent organization the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, which means that collectors can be confident in the authenticity of the items available for purchase. (Scroll down for a few examples of the items that will be available this year.) Hours Preview: Thursday, April 7, 5-9pm Fair: Friday, April 8, noon-8pm Saturday, April 9, noon-7pm Sunday, April 10, noon-5pm... [more Get Ready for the New York Book Fair]

Happy Leap Day! We thought you might want something to read on this bonus day, so here's a roundup of the latest news from the rare books world. New Penguins Collectors of Penguin Classics -- and we're nearly all de facto collectors of Penguin Classics by the time we've graduated college -- will be excited to see the launch of a new series of "Pocket Penguins," new editions of the most-widely read Penguin Classics. Color-coded by original language, the new series adapts the iconic Penguin Classics color-scheme and design, and will appeal to book-design afficionados. Unpublished Beatrix Potter Story Found Fear not fans of children's books featuring anthropomorphized animals, a lost story by Beatrix Potter, "The Tale Of Kitty-in-Boots" has been found in the Potter archives, and will be published in the fall. New Tolkien Poems Found Tolkien ... [more Rare Book News]