Blog posts by Bartleby's Books
Blog posts by Matt Reimann
Reader, specializing in Twentieth Century and contemporary fiction. Committed to spreading an infectious passion for literature, language, and stories. Currently emplyed by ABAA firm Books Tell You Why, Inc.
Blog posts by Adam Schachter
On November 4, 2011 an earthquake of discovery shattered Adam's carefully created perception of the rest of his professional life. He walked into a room filled with books written in Russian at an estate sale and bought 30 pamphlets because they were printed in Germany between 1945 and 1947, had UN censorship marks and some had beautiful color illustrations on their front wraps. Turns out they were not pamphlets, they were books printed in Russian refugee camps in Germany just after the war and were an attempt at preserving culture while the UN was trying to repatriate the refugees. A recent winner of the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest wrote his paper on these books and it was the first time Adam was truly exposed to the trade and the depth of knowledge it takes to enhance the value of an object and turn it into an artifact. Over the next couple of years, he regularly got up early to cheat on his law practice and work on the exciting items he would find such as the founding minute book of a Guatemalan political party that overthrew its dictator around 1920. So in 2015, Adam gave up his career as a bankruptcy attorney to become a full time antiquarian bookseller. He specializes in selling original materials that tell interesting American stories, with an emphasis on social movements that includes African Americana, Women, LGBTQ and more. Adam has issued four catalogs to date which can be found on his website.
Blog posts by Alexander Akin
Alexander Akin is a partner at Bolerium Books and the current President of the ABAA. He had his first experience abroad at the age of 15 in North Korea, as a delegate to the World Festival of Youth and Students. This startling experience led him to the study of East Asian history and languages as an anthropology student at UC Riverside. He finished his PhD in East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard in 2009.
Blog posts by Brad Johnson
Brad Johnson is the President of the ABAA and an owner of johnson rare books & archives in Covina, California.
Blog posts by Charles E. “Chuck” Roberts
Started bookselling in Frederick MD in September 1980 after taking a “summer job” prior to grad school at Book Alcove Gaithersburg. Bought out his silent partner in 1983 and renamed it Wonder Book & Video. Currently three brick and mortar locations (Frederick, Hagerstown, Gaithersburg). Started selling online in 1997. Joined the ABAA in 2003. Currently offering 2 million plus used and collectible books, LPs and media online at WonderBook.com from our Frederick warehouse. Featured in NYT, WaPo, Public Radio/On the Media, Span etc. Blogs weekly at WonderBookBlog.com
Blog posts by Cynthia Gibson
Cynthia Gibson has been a bookseller since 2004, and also runs the BookFairs.com web site. She currently spends the bulk of her time on the road, but due to the wonders of 3G she can almost always be reached at mail@daiadfinebooks.com or editor@bookfairs.com.
Blog posts by Ed Smith
Ed Smith began selling books in the early 1980s. He joined the ABAA in 1995, serving on the Board of Governors twice. As Public Relations Chair, he produced two films for the ABAA, a documentary of the ABAA SF Book Fair in 2003 and a short PR film.
Blog posts by Elizabeth Svendsen
Elizabeth Svendsen is the owner of Walkabout Books. She opened her first shop in 2006 and became a member of the ABAA in 2012.
Blog posts by Ernest Hilbert
Ernest Hilbert is a longtime employee of Bauman Rare Books, an accomplished poet, and the author of the libretto for a new opera, The Book Collector.
Blog posts by Gordon Hollis
Gordon Hollis has an A.M., University of Chicago; has been a member of the ABAA/ILAB (since 1984); member of Board of Governors, 1992–3; and President of the S.C. Chapter of the ABAA (2004–6). He is a member of the Grolier Club, Society of Dance History Scholars, American Society of Theatre Historians, and Bibliographical Society of America. Before becoming a bookseller (if he can remember the dim past), he taught English at Metropolitan State College in Denver (his alma mater for his AB) and at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Blog posts by Greg Gibson
News, gossip, recent adventures and acquisitions, and deep thinking about the antiquarian book trade.
Blog posts by Heather O'Donnell
Heather O'Donnell got her start in rare books in the 90s, sorting fiction on the floor of the Strand, shelving photobooks in the Avery Library, and working as a curatorial assistant at the Beinecke. For seven years, she was a bookseller in the New York gallery of Bauman Rare Books, and in 2011, she launched Honey & Wax Booksellers in Brooklyn, specializing in literary and cultural history. Heather represents the Mid-Atlantic Chapter on the ABAA Board of Governors, teaches at the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar, and runs the annual Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize.
Blog posts by Heather O'Donnell & Rebecca Romney
Heather O'Donnell and Rebecca Romney run Honey & Wax Booksellers in Brooklyn, NY. Honey & Wax offers surprising copies of literary classics, books with no downloadable equivalent. You can find them at honeyandwaxbooks.com.
Blog posts by Ian Brabner
Ian Brabner is a dealer of historical Americana and has been in the trade for twenty years. He specializes in antiquarian and rare books, American letters and manuscripts, ephemera, and visual culture—all of American origin or context.
Blog posts by James M. Dourgarian
Jim Dourgarian specializes in Modern First Editions, with a special emphasis on John Steinbeck, Steinbeckiana, Ed Ricketts, Wallace Stegner, Tony Hillerman, John D. MacDonald, as well as Western Americana, Photography, and Armed Services Editions.
Blog posts by Jeff Hirsch
Jeff Hirsch Books specializes in Used and Rare Photography Monographs and Modern First Editions.
Blog posts by Jen Johnson
Jen Johnson is an ABAA Member and an owner of johnson rare books & archives in Covina, CA.
Blog posts by Jesse Rossa
Jesse Rossa is the proprietor of Triolet Rare Books, currently based on the Central Coast of California. Prior to entering the trade he apprenticed to a hand bookbinder and was a special collections librarian. The firm's specialties include idiosyncratic modern poetry, literature, and fine press material.
Blog posts by Jett Whitehead
Jett Whitehead has been an active bookseller since 1991, dealing exclusively in the area of modern poetry. A visit to www.PoetryJett.com will tell you more.
Blog posts by John Howell
John Howell specializes in California books and ephemera, fine press, miniature books, the history of printing and books, typography, and artists' books.
Blog posts by John Waite
John Waite is a specialist in Appraisals, Autographs, Documents, Manuscripts and Ephemera. John has a particular interest in the appraisal and placement of archives, large and small.
Blog posts by John Windle
John Windle has been a bookseller his entire career and is still waiting for his big break.
Blog posts by Joyce Kosofsky
Joyce Kosofsky's career in the trade began in the 1970s when she was hired by Brattle Book Shop. Joyce is still at Brattle today overseeing all of the shop's daily operations. She has written a number of articles related to books and the trade, and also appears as an appraiser on the popular PBS program Antiques Roadshow.
Blog posts by Justin G. Schiller
Justin G. Schiller has been in the trade for over 50 years, issuing his first catalogue as a teenager. He is a premier specialist in Children's Literature, Original Illustration Art, and the Cultural Revolution.
Blog posts by Kaitlin Manning
Blog posts by Kristofer Collins
Kristofer Collins is the Books Editor at Pittsburgh Magazine, as well as being a frequent contributor to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He is the publisher of Low Ghost Press and Coleridge Street Books. He also manages Caliban Book Shop (and owns Desolation Row Records located inside).
Blog posts by Kurt Zimmerman
Kurt is first and foremost a book collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years in two areas: association items related to American book collecting and a large assemblage of Latin American literature in both English and Spanish.
Blog posts by Laurelle Swan
Laurelle Swan was drawn to old books as a child. Having completed a successful career in business and corporate sales, Laurelle decided to share her love of fine books with others and thus Swan’s Fine Books was born.
Blog posts by Leah Dobrinska
Leah Dobrinska works for Books Tell You Why. She enjoys reading children's books to her daughters, home-improvement magazines with her husband, and Shakespeare by herself.
Blog posts by Marc Selvaggio
Marc Selvaggio deals in Printed Ephemera, Manuscripts, Unusual Books, Photographs, and Archives from a variety of disciplines.
Blog posts by Margueritte Peterson
Margueritte Peterson received a BA in Children's Literature, and upon graduation made the trek from Florida to the California Bay Area to assist Vic Zoschak of Tavistock Books. She now enjoys blogging, developing catalogues, and managing social media outlets for several booksellers and independent shops around North America. Margueritte plays the piano, goes kitesurfing, and enjoys a close personal relationship with her Netflix account in her spare time. Her favorite books are The Secret Garden and Lolita. Don't psychoanalyze that.
Blog posts by Michael Fagan
Michael Fagan has been active as a bookseller since 1968, dealing in rare books and fine art. Specialists in the areas of modernism and the avant-gardes (1900-1940) in Central and Eastern Europe, including former Czechoslovakia & Yugoslavia, Hungary, Romania, Poland and the Baltic states.
Blog posts by Michael Hackenberg
Michael Hackenberg holds a Ph.D. in the history of the book and libraries from the University of California at Berkeley and has been involved in scholarly bookselling since 1981.
Blog posts by Nick Ostdick
Nick Ostdick is a husband, runner, writer, and craft beer enthusiast based in Western Illinois. He currently works for ABAA member Books Tell You Why, Inc.
Blog posts by Patti & Craig Graham
Patti and Craig Graham opened their first bookstore 1978 in Santa Monica, California. The next year we moved to the famous/infamous Westwood Blvd. Booksellers' Row. Over the years we have hosted hundreds of book signings, readings, published books, sold books and written books. The most famous book we published was the 50th anniversary signed limited edition of FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury illustrated by Ralph Steadman.
Blog posts by Rebecca Romney
Rebecca Romney is an independent rare book specialist formerly of Bauman Rare Books, where she managed projects in acquisitions, catalogues, and web services, as well as maintaining a portfolio of dedicated collectors building rare book libraries. She began appearing on the History Channel's hit TV show Pawn Stars in 2011, one year after becoming manager of Bauman's Las Vegas gallery. You can find her at www.rebeccaromney.com.
Blog posts by Rob Rulon-Miller
Rulon-Miller Books buys and sells rare, fine and unusual books and manuscripts in many fields, with an emphasis on language, early and unusual printing, Americana, Asia, voyages and travel, archives, and appraisal services. Catalogs issued regularly.
Blog posts by Rusty Mott
Donald ("Rusty") Mott grew up in the antiquarian book trade and the firm his parents founded, Howard S. Mott Inc., was one of the founding members of the ABAA. Rusty specializes in First Editions, Americana, Literature, Unusual Imprints, Caribbean (especially Lesser Antilles), Autograph Letters and Manuscripts.
Blog posts by Sandra Stelts
Sandra Stelts is Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts at the Pennsylvania State University Libraries.
Blog posts by Scott Silsbe
Scott Silsbe was born in Detroit and now lives in Pittsburgh. Fourteen years ago, while attending the University of Pittsburgh for an MFA in Creative Writing, he began working for ABAA member Caliban Bookshop. He is currently Caliban's warehouse manager. He is also the author of two poetry collections: Unattended Fire (Six Gallery Press, 2012) and The River Underneath the City (Low Ghost Press, 2013).
Blog posts by Seth Kaller
Seth Kaller is a leading expert in acquiring, authenticating, and appraising American historic documents and artifacts.
Blog posts by Simon Beattie
Our one British contributor, Simon Beattie has been in the book trade since 1998. After almost a dozen years working in London for Bernard Quaritch and Simon Finch Rare Books, he set up on his own in 2010, specialising in European (cross-)cultural history. When he became a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association in 2011, the Association’s Newsletter described him as ‘a dealer to watch’: his catalogues have won seven design awards to date, on both sides of the Atlantic, and in 2012 he was included among the winners of the Smarta 100 Awards for ‘the most resourceful, original, exciting small businesses in the UK’.
Blog posts by Stephen J. Gertz
Stephen J. Gertz is a life-long lover and collector of rare books who began his career in the trade in 1985 as a rare book scout and dealer. He later became manager and head cataloger at William Dailey Rare Books in Los Angeles, and, until recently, Executive Director of David Brass Rare Books in Calabasas, CA. He is now a cataloger-researcher at Philip J. Pirages Fine Books and Manuscripts in McMinnville, OR. He is a former Vice-Chairman and Chairman of the Southern California Chapter of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America and member of the Chapter's Executive Board. His writing has been published by Feral House, The Disinformation Company, Process Media, the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Fine Books & Collections, L.A. Review, The Journal of the Arthur Rackham Society, and various online magazines.
Blog posts by Stuart Lutz
Stuart Lutz is a dealer and appraiser of historic documents, letters and manuscripts based in New Jersey. He can often be seen on Pawn Stars advising Rick Harrison on price and authenticity of documents that come in the shop.
Blog posts by Sunday Steinkirchner
Sunday Steinkirchner and Joshua Mann founded B & B Rare Books when they moved to New York City after college. They have diverse academic backgrounds and a shared love of rare books and literature. Sunday attended SUNY Geneseo and New York University, receiving a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology. She is a writer and currently a Forbes Contributor. Sunday specializes in the Bloomsbury group, the Roaring 20’s and literary expatriates in Paris. Her favorite book is Mrs. Dalloway.
Blog posts by Tanne Bloks
Tanne Bloks is currently following the double research master Dutch Literature and Culture (NL&C) and History and Philosophy of Science (HPS). In 2020 she received her BA in Dutch Language and Culture (cum laude) at Utrecht University (Netherlands). Her multidisciplinary research integrates methods and theories from book history, the history of collecting, color theory and optics.
Blog posts by Terry Belanger
Terry Belanger has been active on the American rare book scene since the early 1970s, when he established a program at Columbia University for the training of rare book librarians and antiquarian booksellers. He founded Rare Book School in 1983. He is University Professor Emeritus at the University of Virginia and a 2005 MacArthur Fellow.
Blog posts by Tom Nealon
Tom Nealon runs the online rare bookshop Pazzo Books specializing in early printed books, cookery and literature. In his spare time he works on barbecue techniques in the test pit in his backyard. He can be found at pazzobooks.com and @pazzobooks on Twitter.
Blog posts by Zoe Abrams
Zoe Abrams ( née Mindell) began her career in the Mortimer Rare Book Room at Smith College, where she majored in Art History and Italian Literature. She has worked for auction houses, libraries, and dealers, most recently Ursus Books in New York City. In 2015-2016, Zoe will be based in Paris, working on her own book business and blogging about adventures abroad at zoethebookseller.com.