The NY Antiquarian Book Fair is only 9 days away (!) and the eager anticipation is palpable. The Americana Exchange calls the Fair "the signal event for book, maps, manuscripts and ephemera collectors in America" as it "attracts the most important dealers, institutions and collectors from across the United States and around the world." AE couldn't be more right on—the NY Fair should not be missed by any lovers of books, art, history, music, popular culture…there's truly something there for everybody! Click here for a few exhibitor highlights. NY Antiquarian Book Fair April 12-15 Park Avenue Armory Fair Hours: Preview: Thursday April 12, 5-9 pm Friday, April 13: 12-8 pm Saturday, April 14: 12-7 pm Sunday, April 15: 12-5 pm [more NY Book Fair Countdown: 9 Days]
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.
Tune in, turn on, drop out. Excerpts from the Acid Test by GRATEFUL DEAD and Ken Kesey First Edition Offered by: Ken Lopez Bookseller, ABAA Seller Inventory #: 029100 Edition: First Edition Publisher: Sound City Productions Place: San Francisco Date published: Description: San Francisco: Sound City Productions. . The first recording by the Grateful Dead, who had been known as the Warlocks about a month earlier. This is a 7" 33 RPM promotional record, labeled "For Radio Play Only, Not for Sale" and consists of excerpts from the Acid Test album that Sound City was producing. The recording was made at the Sound City studio and was the seventh Acid Testcommunal events/happenings that were open to the public and at which LSD, "acid"which was still legal in California at the timewas freely distributed to the attendees. The Sound City Acid Te... [more Friday's Features]
A neat video that shows how a book is printed using traditional methods. Birth of a Book from Glen Milner on Vimeo. [more "Birth of a Book"]
Looking for exciting opportunities this summer? Apply for a scholarship to Rare Book School from the Elisabeth Woodburn Fund! Scholarships are open to full and associate members of the ABAA and employees of members. Applicants for the scholarship should submit an essay of not more than 500 words describing how attending RBS would benefit them as booksellers, what courses each applicant finds particularly appealing in relation to his or her specialties, and why he or she deserves a scholarship. Please submit your application by March 31, 2012 to hq@abaa.org. Recipients will be notified by the second week of April. For information about Rare Book School, including additional scholarship opportunities, course schedules and accommodations, please visit http://www.rarebookschool.org/. Please be advised that final class rosters are determined b... [more Exciting Opportunity: Rare Book School Scholarship]
On Wednesday, a rare book collection that would leave any modern art enthusiast drooling is set to be auctioned in Paris. The collection comes from a French couple identified only by their initials, R. & B.L., and is comprised of various works by countless modern masters- Picasso, Matisse, Miró, Braque, Chagall, and Toulouse-Lautrec, to name a few. "This collection, in which Picasso plays a key position, unites poetry, literature, painting and beautiful bindings," says Anne Heilbronn, the head of the book and manuscript department at Sotheby's Paris. A handful of the items that will be offered tomorrow: * Matisse sketchbook from 1930 * Matisse's exquisite 1947 artist book, Jazz * 32 books with illustrations by Picasso, dating from 1905-1960, and including a very rare copy of André Salmon's Poèmes, which contains an etching of two acro... [more Amazing Rare Art Book Collection Goes to Auction]
We are pleased to announce that this year online ticketing is available for our flagship NY Antiquarian Book Fair, which will be held April 12-15 at the Park Avenue Armory. Click on this link to purchase your tickets now! Fair Hours Preview: Thursday April 12, 5-9 pm Friday, April 13: 12-8 pm Saturday, April 14: 12-7 pm Sunday, April 15: 12-5 pm [more Get Your NY Book Fair Tickets Now!]
The following books have been reported missing: 1. Apthorpe, Raymond. From tribal rule to modern government : the thirteenth conference proceedings of the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute for Social Research / edited with an introduction by Raymond Apthorpe. Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia : Rhodes Livingstone Institute, 1959. 2. Coupland, R. Kirk on the Zambesi : a chapter of African history / by R. Coupland. London : Oxford University Press, 1928. 3. Cunnison, I. G. Kinship and local organization on the Luapula : a preliminary account of some aspects of Luapula social organization / by I. Cunnison. Lusaka : Rhodes-Livingstone Instituite, 1950. Communications from the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute, No. V. 4. Mackintosh, C.W. Some pioneer missions of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland / by C.W. Mackintosh. Northern Rhodesia : the Rhodes-Livingstone Ins... [more Missing Books on Africa/African Studies]
Every four years the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) awards the $10,000 Breslauer Prize for Bibliography to the author(s) of the most original and outstanding work on the history of the book. From the ILAB website: Its purpose is to draw attention to the best academic work being done in the field, to reward and honor it in appropriate terms, and to publicize the League's support for the original scholarship on which the book trade so much depends. The first ILAB Prize for Bibliography was awarded in 1967 to Jean Peeters-Fontainas, followed by famous scholars like Claus Nissen, Wytze Hellinga, I. C. Koeman, Francois Weil, Gerhard Dünnhaupt, Anthony Hobson, and Lucas Heinrich Wüthrich. The next prizewinner will be announced in 2014, and submissions of bibliographies or books about books will be accepted until April ... [more $10,000 Prize for ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography]
Zhenya Dzhavgova, proprietor of Zh Books, is a promising young bookseller who recently attended an ABAA Northern California Chapter meeting as a guest of member Vic Zoschak. Last summer, Zhenya attended the Colorado Rare Book Seminar on a scholarship from the ABAA and it cemented her aspirations as an antiquarian dealer and her desire to join the ABAA (you can read about Zhenya's experience at CABS here). Below are her impressions of her very first ABAA meeting. We look forward to seeing her at more in the future! Considering my desire to join the ABAA in a few years, Vic Zoschak's invitation to the NCC ABAA luncheon is a big deal for me. The meeting is at a landmark San Francisco restaurant, which makes it that much more special. I am the youngest one in the group. I see a few familiar faces people I have met last month at the San Fra... [more Young Bookseller's Insights on the ABAA]
This Sunday, the Council of Friends of the Princeton University Library will be holding a Book Adoption Party, which will allow attendees to view a number of rare items from Princeton's special collections and give them a chance to 'adopt' these items. The money from each 'adoption' will go toward preservation efforts and adopters' names will be added to a plate that will serve as a permanent accompaniment to the item. The Party is more than just a viewing/buying event, however; attendees will have the unique opportunity of speaking with and learning about these items directly from the Library's curators and conservators. Since preservation is at the heart of the event, attendees will also learn about the conservation process used Ben Primer, the Associate University Librarian for Rare Books and Special Collections, urged curators to take... [more Princeton University Library to Hold Book Adoption Party]