ABAA members James Bryan and Mary Hill, proprietors of Carpe Diem Fine Books, were featured in an article in the Monterey County Herald this past weekend. The link to the article appears to be broken, so I have posted it below. Congrats, James and Mary! ******************************************** First editions seize the day at downtown bookstore By DAVE DE GIVE Special to The Herald Posted: 02/06/2011 01:38:57 AM PST; Updated: 02/06/2011 01:38:57 AM PST Sixteen years ago, James Bryant and Mary Hill were living in Utah when they had the idea for selling books. Hill, previously from Monterey, followed a job that had moved to Utah, but Bryant, who was in the wine business, found that sales were slow in Salt Lake City. Eager for something new, "we took the opportunity to seize the day and start a book business," said Bryant. The couple eventually moved back to the Peninsula, and for the past five years have operated Carpe Diem Fine Books in a historic neighborhood in Old Monterey, specializing in first-edition, rare and used books. The location is fitting for a store that stocks rarities from the past. A segment of Monterey's Path of History winds its way along Pearl Street, passing Carpe Diem's 1930s Carmel-stone building before turning up Houston Street toward the Robert Louis Stevenson House, where the famous author lived in 1879. The location is fitting for a store that stocks rarities from the past. A segment of the Monterey's Path of History winds its way along Pearl Stre... [more Members in the News: Carpe Diem Fine Books]

The 44th California International Antiquarian Book Fair will be held this weekend, February 11th-13th, in San Francisco at the Concourse Exhibition Center. Over 200 members of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA) and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) will be exhibiting their diverse inventories, providing a rich selection of books, manuscripts, maps and other printed materials. The theme of this year's fair is music, and there will be a special exhibit of rare musical books and manuscripts from the Jean Gray Hargrove Music Library of the University of California at Berkeley. Additionally, there will be several lecture and seminars taking place during the fair; a schedule of events can be found here. If you are attending the fair, please drop by the ABAA booth! The 44th California International Antiquarian Book Fair Concourse Exhibition Center 635 8th Street at Brannan Street San Francisco, CA 94103 Hours: Friday, February 11, 2011 3 pm - 8 pm Saturday, February 12, 2011 11 am - 7 pm Sunday, February 13, 2011 11 am - 5 pm For more information, please visit sfbookfair.com. [more This Weekend: 44th California International Antiquarian Book Fair in San Francisco]

Check out this article, Glorious Patriotism: The Britain in Pictures Series, written by ABAA member Priscilla Lowry-Gregor and published in Firsts Magazine in December 2009. [more 'Glorious Patriotism: The Britain in Pictures Series']

An interesting New York Times article on Litquake and the literary scene in San Francisco; several ABAA firms are mentioned- Bolerium, Libros Latinos, Meyer Boswell- and there's a nice paragraph on John Durham, proprietor of Bolerium. Thanks to Joe Luttrell from Meyer Boswell for bringing this to our attention! San Francisco's Bookstores and Readings reflect a Lively Literary Scene [more San Francisco’s Bookstores and Readings reflect a Lively Literary Scene]

This article from the International Herald Tribune is about Gyorgy Kepes, a designer and design theorist. His archive was recently sold by an ABAA firm, Ars Libri. Congratulations on the sale and the mention, Ars Libri! A Master of Image and Information [more Article: 'A Master of Image and Information']

There's a nice profile of Dee Longenbaugh and her shop, The Observatory, in the Capitol City Weekly. Observing the Observatory [more Member in the News: Dee Longenbaugh]

Take a moment to check out some of the interviews from Mike Ginsberg's Video Archive Project. With the help of Taylor Bowie and Kara McLaughlin, Mike produced almost 100 interviews with ABAA members, and hoped to eventually complete 200-250 videos. These interviews provide a wonderful snapshot of the rich history of both the ABAA and the rare book trade. We thank Mike for his hard work on the project, which continued until his passing in 2023. You can also view ILAB Booksellers on Video [more Michael Ginsberg ABAA Video Archives]

Take a moment to read this interview with English dealer Ed Maggs of Maggs Bros. A working life: The rare-book dealer [more Bookseller in the News: Ed Maggs]

An extremely rare Mormon book, an 1837 first edition Parley P. Pratt's A Voice of Warning, has been offered for sale on eBay with a buy-it-now price tag of $75,000; at auction, the book would be expected to bring in between $75,000-$100,000. The Library of Congress, the Community of Christ (formerly the RDLS Church), the LDS Church and Brigham Young University all have at least one first edition copy of A Voice of Warning, but there have only been three public sales of the edition in the past two decades. After his baptism as a Mormon in 1830, Pratt delved into the religion and was called to be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1835, and soon thereafter became the most influential writer in early Mormonism (he was dubbed "the Father of Mormon Pamphleteering"). A Voice of Warning "established the basic arguments and expository formulas for Mormon missionary tracts", and is a very influential piece of work, considered by some bibliographers to be "the most significant book in all of Mormon literature after the canonized scripture." The seller says that "all offers will be reviewed" and is not charging for shippinghe or she will personally deliver the book to anywhere in the world. One of the Rarest of the Rare Mormon Antiquarian Books on eBay for the First Time Parley Parker Pratt A Voice Of Warning 1837 Mormon Pratt LDS Rare Book [more Very Rare Mormon Text Offered on eBay]

John Windle was interviewed on CNBC, where he discussed the trade and investing in books. Congratulations on a great interview, John! Children's Book Gallery [more Member in the News: John Windle]