The deadline for submissions to the 2013 National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest has been extended to Monday, June 3 at 5pm. To enter, please visit the following link: apply.abaa.org Please pass along this information to any interested parties! [more National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest Deadline Extended]
Blog posts by Susan Benne
Susan is the Executive Director of the ABAA. She collects material on Brooklyn as well as ephemera and vernacular photography. Susan is focused on making the book trade diverse and equitable.
Capote's edits on the manuscript (image via Toronto Star) Truman Capote's typed Breakfast at Tiffany's manuscript was sold at auction late last month for a whopping $306,000. The 1958 manuscript contains Capote's handwritten edits, which number up to a dozen changes per page. Perhaps the most significant change is the heroine's name: originally Connie Gustafson, Capote crossed out every mention of the name and replaced it with Holly Golightly. (Good call, Capote!) More than a hundred different names were used in various drafts before Capote settled on Golightly. The character, of course, was immortalized in popular culture by Audrey Hepburn's portrayal in the 1961 film adaptation. The story was originally commissioned for Harper's Bazaar magazine but was pulled at the last minute because of the sexual nature of Golightly's lifestyle. It ... [more Capote's 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' Manuscript Sells Big]
Willa Cather was a famously private writer. She destroyed many literary manuscripts, personal papers, and letters, and her will forbade the adaptation of her works into plays or movies and the publication of her personal letters. Cather's will expired two years ago, however, after the death of her nephew and the will's executor. This left her remaining personal letters up for grabs, so to speak, and a new book publishes over 500 of Cather's letters. Released last month, The Selected Letters of Willa Cather is co-edited by Andrew Jewell, an associate professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraires and the editor of the Willa Cather Archive, and Janis Stout, the author of nine scholarly books and editor of two other books on Cather. Jewell and Stout acknowledge that they have gone against Cather's will and personal wishes, but jus... [more Willa Cather Letters Published]
Exciting news for ABAA member Greg Gibson: his noir crime novel The Old Turk's Load was just named a Top Crime Fiction Debut by Booklist Online. From Booklist: Pay attention to our debut winners. You're going to be hearing their names, reading their books, and seeing them on best lists for years to come. Congratulations, Greg! [more 'The Old Turk's Load' Earns More Critical Praise]
The Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project, which monitors and reports hate and extremist groups in the U.S., has donated its 30 year collection of extremist materials to the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University. The 90 boxes of periodicals, pamphlets, flyers, and other documents will be added to the Library's Human Rights Archive. The mission of the Human Rights Archive is to "identify, collect, and provide access to materials generated by organizations and individuals working within and having significant social impact on the field of human rights." This donation will be a significant addition to the Library's already extensive collection of American social movements and its collection on Ku Klux Klan materials that documents the group from the 1860s to the present day. The SPLC's collection ... [more Duke University Receives Collection of Extremist Literature]
ABAA member Greg Gibson (Ten Pound Island Book Company) recently released his latest book, a noir crime novel called The Old Turk's Load (you can read more about it here). Greg offered copies for sale at the recent NY Antiquarian Book Fair and kindly donated the proceeds to the ABAA's Benevolent Fund, a charitable fund that offers assistance to booksellers in need. He sold 117 copies of the novel and raised over $1,000 for the Fund. Many thanks to Greg for his generosity! The Benevolent Fund provides financial aid to booksellers in need, whether or not they are members of the ABAA. It is administered by three Trustees and chaired by the immediate Past President of the ABAA, and the Benevolent Fund is separate from all other Association funds. All applications and disbursements from this fund are held in strictest confidence. The ABAA acti... [more Greg Gibson Raises Over $1,000 for the Benevolent Fund]
The 2013 New York Antiquarian Book Fair was a great success: 200 ABAA and ILAB exhibitors brought the best material they had to offer, attendance was bustling, and everyone enjoyed the post-fair hours with colleagues and friends. Festivities kicked off Wednesday night at the grand opening of B & B Rare Books, Ltd.'s new gallery. The space, located in a historic building on East 20th Street, was lovely and filled to the brim with excited booksellers, which made for a delightful party. I even managed to take a few moments to look at the books and was especially impressed with the inscribed copies B & B had to offer. Attendees queued up early for the Thursday night preview and with good reason. There was quite a buzz about the quality of material []exhibitors had on display and there were some truly remarkable items, like the life size papie... [more There's Nothing Like Books & Springtime in New York]
The ABAA is now accepting entries for the 2013 National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest. To apply, please visit the following link: apply.abaa.org. The deadline for submissions is May 31, 2013. Please pass along this information to any interested parties! [more 2013 National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest]
The following item has been reported stolen: Title : A View of the Harbour Authors : Taylor (Elizabeth) Date of publication : 1947 Publisher : Davies, London Description : Original dark blue cloth, lightly faded backstrip lettered in white, free endpapers browned, crease to rear pastedown. The front free endpaper is inscribed by the author ‘To my old enemy, Norman, with love from Elizabeth Taylor 1947. “I strove with none, for none was worthy of my strife; Reason I loved, and, next to Reason, Doubt; I warmed both hands before the fire of life; and put it out.” E.M.Forster after Landor’ If you have any information on this item, please contact Blackwell's Rare Books at rarebooks@blackwell.co.uk or 01865333555. [more Stolen: 'A View of the Harbour' (1947)]
If you're in town for the NY Book Fair, ABAA member Jeremy Norman currently has an exhibition on display at the Grolier Club. "A Count With Taste, and Sticky Fingers" surveys the life and infamous career of Count Guglielmo Libri, "one of the most audacious book thieves in history." (You can read a NY Times review of the exhibition at the link.) It will be on display until May 25 in the second floor gallery. [more Jeremy Norman's Exhibition on Count Guglielmo Libri at the Grolier Club]