ABAA-member Books of Wonder, which specializes in new, classic and collectible children's books, have announced they plan to open a second storefront later this summer in the Upper West Side. Owner Peter Glassman, told the New York Times that he'd been searching for a suitable space for years, but economic conditions had not been optimal for the project. "Now that the city is thriving again the time seemed right to finally expand to the Upper West Side.” The new store will be located on West 84th Street. Books of Wonder owner Peter Glassman at a recent event in the store. Books of Wonder first opened its doors in 1980. It has since outgrown the original "tiny, hole-in-the-wall" storefront in Greenwich Village -- through several bigger and better spaces -- to its current location on 18 West 18th Street. Longtime customer Nora Ephron used Books of Wonder as the inspiration for Meg Ryan's bookstore in the film You've Got Mail -- even to the point of having set designers measure the real store's fixtures and fittings to ensure accurate recreation on set. Unlike Meg Ryan's fictional store, Books of Wonder weathered the superstore explosion and arrival of the internet, and this year celebrates 37 years in business! Designer's mock-up of the new Books of Wonder storefront on West 84th Street. [more Books of Wonder to Open New Store]

The ABAA Benevolent Fund recently received the largest contribution in the fund's history from the estate of Gyngr Schon, who owned Old London Books in Bellingham Washington with her husband Michael Schon. Gyngr Schon became an ABAA member in 2008, after her husband's death, though the Old London Bookshop had been an ABAA member firm since 1994. She had worked as a secretary in her twenties and befriended a rare book librarian at The Huntington, later entering the antiquarian book business with her husband. In 1988, like many other antiquarian booksellers, the Schons began operating their business out of their home — a large, 17-room Victorian in Bellingham. After her husband's death, Schon established a presence on the internet, and through what her colleague Ed Smith describes as “hard work and a positive attitude” kept the business going at a difficult time. Smith recalls the last time he saw Gyngr Schon was at a Book Club of Washington event that “included a stop at Old London Books where Gyngr served refreshments to all and was holding court surrounded by book people who were having fun and laughing and enjoying themselves and buying books from her.” Schon's friend and fellow-ABAA member Taylor Bowie explained the impulse for this bequest: “I recall very well the time I happened to visit Gyngr at her home/shop in Bellingham. No one else was there that day but the two of us, and so she talked very freely. She told me that her will stipulated a large donation t... [more Gyngr Schon Bequest]

“Three columns of unknown verse by the Mad Poet of Broadway: Life is good.” (A brief remembrance of Robert Fraker from Garrett Scott, May 3, 2017.) I probably met Robert Fraker of Savoy Books sometime in the mid-1990s, though later neither of us could ever remember when exactly it happened. It must have been some February back when I worked for John Crichton at the Brick Row Book Shop in San Francisco, when Robert would have been wandering through the shop a day or two before a California Book Fair. This genial bookseller from back east immediately stood out because even when judged by the recondite standards of the Brick Row Book Shop, Robert tended to purchase remarkably obscure titles of American verse. In those days, to have sold anybody a copy of C. L. Woods's Kaw-Wau-Nita, and Other Poems (Stockton, Calif., 1873)—as I believe we did to Robert around that time—seemed to me an event worthy of at least minor celebration; to have sold it to a colleague in the trade, who presumably labored under the belief that he might someday sell it, and at a profit, seemed to my tender sensibilities even more baffling and worth further inquiry. Across the broad landscape of 19th century American poetry, a landscape marked by tall trees like Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson (or even by the spreading shade trees of Fitz-Greene Halleck and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, or by the tough native shrubbery of Frederick Goddard Tuckerman or even Jones Very), what kind of bookseller would in... [more In Memoriam: Robert Fraker]

Belle da Costa Greene Scholarship With the goal of actively working to achieve a more diverse and inclusive community of booksellers and librarians, thanks to the generosity of Lisa Unger Baskin, The Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminars (CABS) is pleased to offer a 2017 scholarship for $2,000 to cover the cost of tuition, room and board ($1,646) with the additional $354 intended for travel or incidental expenses. The scholarship is intended for a bookseller or a librarian from an historically underrepresented community. We encourage applications from booksellers and librarians from the African American, Latino/a/x, Asian American/Pacific Islander, LGBTQ+, working class, persons with disabilities, or other self-identified communities of booksellers or librarians who might benefit from this scholarship. Applicants should submit a short 1- or 2-page essay on why they want to attend CABS. They should include in the statement a brief personal and professional history, and something about their relationship to books and the book trade. We also ask for a CV and one letter of support from a member of the book trade, a professional librarian, or another member of the antiquarian book world. This scholarship is named for Belle da Costa Greene, the African-American librarian, bibliographer, and director of the Morgan Library. The deadline to submit your application is May 1, 2017. We will notify the winner by or before May 15, 2017. Submit your application by mail or by email to Garrett S... [more Belle da Costa Greene Scholarship offers Tuition-plus for Underrepresented Peoples to CABS]

Autograph expert and ABAA-member Gary Combs died last month. A celebration of his life will be held in New York City on March 7, as many of his former colleagues will be in the city for the New York Antiquarian Book Fair. ABAA-member James Camner paid tribute to his late friend and colleague: It is with deep sadness that I am reporting the death of my dear friend and colleague Gary Combs who died just after his 70th Birthday on February 10. Gary will be known to many in the ABAA as a premier level autograph dealer in New York City. He was a top private dealer, a “dealer's dealer” for many years, but his start in the business was as a salesman in the Book Department of B. Altman's Department store, where I met him back in 1976. At the time, he was the assistant to another dear old departed friend of the trade, Bob Tollett. Upon Bob's retirement, Gary became Altman's buyer, and remained there until the store closed for good. We older autograph and book dealers will remember what a force Altman's and their buyers were in their day. At every book fair, autograph show and twice a year in Europe, we all looked forward to their buying trips. They were perhaps the most powerful retail outlet to the general public, and their groundbreaking full page ads in the New York Times likely created countless new collectors. With Gary's passing, we have lost our last link to that grand old institution and its retail world of antiquarian books, maps and autographs. After leaving Altman's, Ga... [more In Memoriam: Gary Edward Combs]

At a time when some brick and mortar antiquarian bookstores are closing their doors in favor of an internet-only presence, Matthew and Adrienne Raptis, of Raptis Rare Books, have gone against the grain and recently opened a rare bookstore on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach. Worth Avenue, like Madison Avenue or Rodeo Drive, is synonymous with luxury brands and caters to an island that is home to the rich and famous, including the new President-elect, Donald Trump. Raptis Rare Books had previously operated mainly as a catalog and online business out of a beautiful Italianate villa in Vermont, but Matthew Raptis wanted to have more interaction with his customers and allow people to come into greater contact with “these wonderful written works of art.” The new gallery opened on November 1, but the grand-opening is being held until January 2017, when the holiday rush is past. "We've had an outstanding initial reception to the store,” Matthew commented. “People love the idea of something new and different on the Avenue and when they walk in they often talk about their love of the smell of old books and how a particular book touched their lives. Holding a rare book is like holding a bit of history in your hands.” Almost all of the books in the Raptis Rare Books inventory are first editions and many of them are signed or inscribed by the author. Matthew and Adrienne refer to the new store as a gallery because "like fine art, in a way it is like stepping into a museum." Unlike a ... [more Raptis Rare Books Moves to Palm Beach, Florida]

Longtime ABAA-member John Windle has a new endeavor, The William Blake Gallery, a new exhibition space in San Francisco dedicated to works created by the massively influential 18th and 19th century poet, artist, and engraver. The gallery is the largest of its kind devoted solely to the artist, as well as the largest collection in the world of pieces by Blake available for purchase. The opening exhibition (“Always in Paradise: A William Blake Chrestomathy”) features works by Blake's own hand, including a stunning tempera painting, an important preparatory wash painting, and the earliest impression of an illuminated plate printed by Blake ever offered for sale — a proof plate from Songs of Innocence. Also exhibited are many other prints of unparalleled quality, displaying Blake's range and many of his most iconic images. "Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night; What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry? " – William Blake Widely considered to be one of the greatest contributors to the Western world of literature and art, William Blake's lifetime of otherworldly work was motivated by mystic visions and spiritual revelations. Creating hundreds of artworks -- from engraved illustrations and illuminated books to original writings and watercolors -- his deeply unique style remains endlessly enigmatic and highly sought after. Favored by an eclectic groups of fans and collectors, Blake remains one of the only seminal Romantic artists whose wo... [more New William Blake Gallery]

David J. Holmes was born in Somerville NJ in 1945 to Forrest and Margaret (Reed) Holmes. His childhood was blessed by wonderful family and friends and a deep love of nature. He spent the spare moments of his youth “brookside” in New Jersey, studying the ways of the water, and along the Jersey shore. Later this love was to bring him to purchase his summer home in Port Clyde, Maine. David was also a gifted athlete. When it came time to go to college he selected a sports-oriented school (Springfield College) and then surprised everyone by majoring in English. It was here that he met Barbara Ware, the woman who would become his wife. He and Barbara spent a summer together studying at Oxford University in England where David discovered the world of rare books and manuscripts—a passion that was to become the focus of his life's work. He and Barbara both earned Master's Degrees in English at Northeastern University. They married in 1968 and Dave joined the Coast Guard as a hospital corpsman. He was stationed in Ketchikan, Alaska and served on the buoy-tender, the Bittersweet. David's career in rare books began in Boston in 1972 where he ran his own business out of the corner of a tiny apartment in the company of his new baby, Sarah. In 1975, he joined the firm of George S. MacManus in Philadelphia, where he ran the literature department, and the family relocated to Collingswood New Jersey. Eventually, David was to operate out of his own shop on Broad Street in Philadelphia, ov... [more In Memoriam: David Holmes, 1945-2016]

Arizona State University have announced the acquisition of the Robert Lawler Collection of English Renaissance texts, including significant works by Milton, Chaucer, Raleigh and Swift. The sale was made by Alcuin Books & Autographs, LLC., which had acquired the collection from Arizona businessman and book collector Robert A. Lawler. Discussing the collection, Richard Murian, owner of Alcuin Books described it thus: "Besides the 1550 Chaucer, there were also the 1598, 1602, and 1687 editions which according to Professor Richard Neuhauser (editor of the forthcoming 4-volume Chaucer Encyclopedia) adds greatly to the significance of the collection since in some cases it includes Chaucer apocryphal material that has never been recorded as existing in a single copy. The 1527 remarkable Polychronicon was a superb copy as were the Fabian Chronicle (1559), the Grafton Chronicles (1572), as well as three 17th Century editions of Milton including a beautiful copy of the first illustrated Milton (1688). Other important copies were the Beaumont and Fletcher, First Edition (second impression), Ben Jonson's Workes (1680), Sir Walter Raleigh's The Historie of the World (1628) and a very rare Italian edition of Plutarch (1568)." Commenting on the importance of the acquisition, ASU Librarian Jim O'Donnell said “Books like those in the Lawler collection give scholars and students a precious opportunity to see and touch and even smell the past. We can think better about the past and thus about... [more ASU Libraries Acquire Robert Lawler Collection]

Full Members Jennifer Johnson, The Book Shop, LLC Jen Johnson is the co-owner of The Book Shop, LLC in Covina, California, along with her husband Brad, a member of the ABAA Board of Governors. The Johnson's are celebrating their 10th anniversary of ownership of The Book Shop, a bricks-and-mortar store that has been serving Southern California for more than 35 years. Specialties of The Book Shop include California and the West, archives and ephemera, and heavy metal music. Jen is a native of Nebraska and a graduate of Pepperdine University. She is a former newspaper reporter and public relations executive. She became an associate member of the ABAA in 2010, serves as the co-chair of the Southern California Book Fair Planning Committee and was recently selected to receive a scholarship as the ABAA's representative to the 2016 ILAB Congress in Budapest, Hungary. Her favorite part of the book trade is the research and discovery that comes with working with archives. Duane Stevens, Wiggins Fine Books Curiosity about his mother's ancestors, led Duane Stevens into bookselling. He began acquiring books, maps, and other documentation related to the family's coming to New York in the 1640's, migration to Canada and their return. He grew up in Houlton, Maine, a border town where his grandparents had settled. After founding Wiggins Fine Books in 2007, he began doing book fairs that have since become his focus. Stevens look forward to making his ABAA book fair debut in Boston later this y... [more New ABAA Members]