One of the more remarkable comeback stories of the 21st century has been the rebirth of the vinyl record. Once the most-common form for sales of popular music, the vinyl record was consigned to the dustbin of history by the late 1980s thanks to the rapid adoption of new formats (first 8-tracks, then cassettes, and finally CDs), along with the accompanying miniaturization of the playback machines themselves. As consumers, the mass market embraced smaller, more-portable formats, and vinyl records and the necessary cumbersome equipment to play them were judged obsolete. However, the emerging digital technology that made our smart phones and streaming services possible were based on compromises in sound quality that many aficionados could not accept, so vinyl records never truly went away, even as decades passed without most chart-topping mus... [more Vinyl Records: Collectable & Cool]

The Boston Book Fair is the annual fall gathering for book lovers and collectors of rare books, featuring the top selection of items available on the international literary market. The 43rd annual gathering of U.S. and international dealers, sanctioned by the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, takes place in Boston, Massachusetts over the weekend of November 15-17, 2019. Here are a few preview items to tempt you, including copies of some of the most-famous rare books of all time! Allen Ginsberg, Original Carbon Typescript for Part I of “Howl”, (ca. early 1956) Previously unknown original carbon typescript of the most important postwar American poem: Allen Ginsberg's “Howl.” Almost certainly the only surviving draft version of this iconic poem remaining in privat... [more Boston Book Fair: Preview Items]

Southern & Northern California Chapters of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America have announced the second annual California Young Book Collector's Prize! Most great collectors started when they were young, and most great collections started with a passion for a particular object or subject. When these objects are books and manuscripts, the collectors are called bibliophiles, or lovers of the book. The purpose of The California Young Book Collector's Prize is to nurture the next generation of bibliophiles. The competition is open to collectors aged 35 and under who are living in California. All collections of books, manuscripts, and ephemera are welcome, no matter their monetary value or subject. The collections will be judged on their thoroughness, the approach to their subject, and the seriousness which with the collector ... [more Second Annual California Young Book Collectors Prize]

The makers of Downton Abbey go to great lengths to get their period details and history correct, and one of the ways they do this is by incorporating contemporary books into conversations and even at times the main plot. In fact, it can be difficult to find an episode of Downton where the references to Dickens, Trollope, or now-obscure English historians are not flying thick and fast. When Lady Edith started dating a London editor, one expected to meet Virginia Woolf or E.M. Forster at a party any moment. Alas, poor Michael Gregson died before the producers could work a Bloomsbury party into the show. (Post script: After this post was first published, I attended the "Dressing Downton" exhibition at Asheville, NC's Biltmore House -- which has a stunning library -- and discovered that Virginia Woolf was a guest at that London party, albeit... [more The Books of Downton Abbey]

Faith Baldwin was once one of the bestselling authors in America, although she was never a lauded award-winner. Instead, Baldwin practiced what was variously called “light” or popular fiction, and today is generally called romance — usually with a touch of superiority. In her obituary, The New York Times declared her 'the doyenne of American light fiction writers.” Raised in relative wealth and comfort in Manhattan, Baldwin initially saw acting as a means for a single women to gain independence, but as her writing career took off, she embraced it. At the start, she wrote for the women's magazines, publishing poetry and prose -- whatever there was a market for. In 1921, she published her first novel, Mavis of Green Hill, and by 1927 she was able to regularly sell the serialization rights for many of her novels to mainstream magazin... [more Collecting Faith Baldwin]

In 1995, longtime ABAA-member Ben Kinmont started the Antinomian Press. His focus was (and has remained) on project art, both by others and himself. Sometimes, the Press has published exhibition catalogs on artist ephemera and alternative artistic practices; at other times, Kinmont has used it as a teaching tool in the classroom to publish his collaborative projects with students. The Antinomian Press is also an art project by Kinmont, the archive of which is in MoMA's Drawings & Prints Collection, and to which archive addenda are continually being added. “Ben Kinmont, Bookseller” was initially started as an art project in 1998, so all of Kinmont's bookseller catalogues have been issued by the Antinomian Press -- see the colophon page (below) of his catalogs for the title of the business as an art work. Although these catalogues have ... [more The Antinomian Press]

The winners of the 2019 National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest have been chosen. They are: First: Matthew Wills, University of California, San Diego: "The Largesse of the Propaganda State: Printing Anti-Confucian Vitriol in Mao's China." Second: Miriam-Helene Rudd, University of Delaware: "20th Century Mystery Adventure Series for Young Women." Third: Michael Dascal, University of Maryland: "Scientific Revolutions: Crises and Paradigm Shifts in the History of 20th Century Western Scientific Thought." The winners' collections ran the gamut from popular novels (Miriam Helene-Rudd asked "Is Nancy Drew dated or daring?") to the great scientific paradigm shifts of the twentieth century (which Michael Dascal defines as "the development of relativity theory and quantum mechanics"), and also explores "a modern state's power to commandeer vas... [more 2019 NCBCC Winners]

Meet the latest members of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America. New Full Members Reagan Bisharat, Reagan's Rare Books (Midlothian, VA) Starting as a hobby collector nearly twenty years ago, Reagan Bisharat, of Reagan's Rare books, has built a business out of his passion. Reagan's Rare Books is a purveyor of antiquarian books and ephemera dating primarily from the 18th, 19th, and early 20th century. Specializing in fine leather and decorative cloth bindings, Reagan has hand selected each piece in his inventory. Subject matter includes History, Literature, Theology, Biography, Travel and Exploration, as well as Americana. Timothy J. Stevenson, Carlson and Stevenson (Manchester Center, VT) As an antique dealer since 1976, Timothy Stevenson started out knocking on doors in Vermont and nearby New York State. All manner of inter... [more New Members]

ABAA-member Weller Book Works turns 90! Anniversary celebration for the Salt Lake institution, Saturday, August 17, from 4 - 6 PM! Who'd have thought a small used bookstore founded two months before the 1929 stock market crash would grow into one of the West's premier bookstores? Weller Book Works survived the Great Depression, World War II, a catastrophic fire (1971), big box chain stores, and the disruption of the internet. Founded in August, 1929, in Salt Lake City by Gustav Weller, the store began as Zion's Bookstore. It has gone through many changes and four generations of Wellers over the years, and it continues today as Weller Book Works. (Read the complete history...) Weller Book Works is the oldest bookstore in Utah, and one of the oldest in the country. For 90 years, Weller's has been cultivating ideas, challenging thoughts, and... [more Weller Book Works Turns 90]

The ABAA's Woodburn Fund provides financial support for scholarly research and education relevant to the antiquarian book trade. This includes annual scholarships to Rare Book School, California Rare Book School, and the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar. Ezra Tishman of Aardvark Books/Ezra the Bookfinder attended the Rare Book School on a Woodburn Fund scholarship this year. (We published his rave review of the Rare Book School and the Woodburn Fund in June.) We asked Ezra a few questions about his time at the Rare Book School, and he responded with a glowing review of the whole experience. ABAA: Why is it important for a bookseller to take part in this kind of “mid-career” training? Ezra Tishman: Mid-career booksellers can easily become overwhelmed with the logistics of acquiring, cataloging and selling stock, preparing for fairs, e... [more Reflections on Attending the Rare Book School]