A member brought this brief but interesting item about Jane Austen to our attention. Academic: Jane Austen had spell checker [more 'Jane Austen had spell checker']
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]
A first edition of D.H. Lawrence's The Rainbow, with an illustrated dust jacket, is expected to bring in between $28,000 and $40,000 when it is auctioned off by Sotheby's London on October 28. Even without the dust jacket, a first edition of the novel is valuable, going for about $1,600 depending on condition, because, out of the original 2,527 copies printed in 1915, 1,195 copies were destroyed after the book was banned under the Obscene Publications Act. This left only 1,332 first editions in existence, of which very few are believed to still have their dust jackets intact. Two other D.H. Lawrence first editions will be sold alongside this rare copy of The Rainbow; a copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover in a rare dust jacket and a limited edition English-issue copy of Women in Love, number 31 of 50 copies signed by Lawrence. These books are part of a private collection comprised of 149 rare books put up for sale by a mysterious 75-year-old man, an "English Bibliophile" who has been collecting for 45 years and now wants to disperse his library through several Sotheby's sales so that "other collectors, young and old" have "the opportunity to acquire such fine books". Also included in the sale is an extremely rare first edition of Peter Pan that is signed by J.M. Barrie and inscribed to Lady Diana Cooper, a close friend of his and well known society beauty. It is estimated to sell for almost $32,000, and the entire collection is thought to bring in nearly $5 million. Rare DH Lawren... [more Rare D.H. Lawrence Books at Auction]
The Sheridan Libraries at Johns Hopkins University has recently acquired a collection of 280 rare books and manuscripts concerning scientific discoveries. Included in the collection are a 1495 edition of the works of Aristotle; a 1613 first edition of Galileo's illustrated treatise on the discovery of sunspots; a 1687 first edition of Newton's The Principia; and the first print appearance of Darwin's Theory of Evolution in 1858. There is a small slideshow of selected images here. Johns Hopkins library obtains rare editions [more Johns Hopkins Library Acquires Rare Scientific Works]
On October 28th, Ken Gloss will be giving a free lecture at the Hingham Public Library entitled, "Is There Value in Your Old and Used Books?". The link provides a profile of Ken as well as more information on the lecture. Ken Gloss coming to Hingham Public Library Brattle Book Shop [more Member in the News: Ken Gloss]
From Dragon Books: We recently discovered that our first edition in jacket of Fitzgerald's "Tender Is the Night" has been stolen from our shop in Los Angeles. The theft occurred sometime between the afternoon of Wednesday October 6th and this morning October 8th. If you have any information at all, or if someone offers you a copy in a nice jacket please contact us and the police. In addition, we are missing a signed first edition of William Carlos Williams' "The Wedge" , re-backed with the original spine laid-down. Front fly-leaf has inscription "Dexter Puritan /his book/ William Carlos Williams." If you have any information on these books, please contact Cassandra Joffre at Dragon Books by telephone, (310) 441-8545, or email, cassandra@dragonbooks.com. [more Dragon Books Reports Thefts]
Andrelini, Publio Fausto. DE SCIOLORUM ARROGANTIA PROVERBIALIS EPISTOLA. Paris: in Adibus Ascensianis. (1519). 4to. 8 leaves. The title leaf displays the woodcut printer's device for Badius. Bound in modern leather-backed marbled boards. Old faded number stamped on title and a small hole in a blank portion of the final leaf. If you have any information regarding this book, please contact ABAA Headquarters at hq@abaa.org or (212) 944-8291. [more Andrelini's 'De Sciolorum Arrogantia Proverbialis Epistola']
The Frankfurt Book Fair commenced yesterday, and with a special focus this year on technology. A new digital initiative, called Frankfurt SPARKS, was launched at the fair, and aims to "provide an initial 'spark' for for future publishing projects" and bring "together providers of innovative technology and those working with creative content- thus breaking traditional industry boundaries," according to Director Juergen Boos. Set apart from all the technological presentations and conferences is the rare and antique book pavilion, in its own separate space for the first time this year. Described as "an oasis of calm, with not an iPad in sight", the rare books dealers may be physically detached from the digital pandemonium, but the subject of digitalization and the possibility of how it may impact their business is still on their minds. ProQuest is a company whose current project is to digitalize all early European books published between 1475 and 1700 and put them online. Come November, 4,000 texts from the Florence library, all dating before 1600, will be published online, including some books owned by Galileo. While acknowledging that they do most of their business online, rare booksellers seemed to balk at the idea that digitilization would truly impact their trade. "Look, the people who buy my books are not really interested in ebooks," said Moritz Backhaus, from the Antiquariat im Hufelandhaus book firm. He continued on to say that if one was interested in the text itself, ... [more Even with a Focus on Digitalization, Rare Books Still Display at Frankfurt Book Fair]
UPDATE: Book was recovered. Missing while in transit in Atlanta area: The Pilgrims Progress, by Rev. John Bunyan, Very Early Edition. Approximately 4 in x 6 in. The front cover was restored Significant features: Inside front cover or first page had very light notes or inscriptions and signed by the Mrs. Rev. John Bunyan. Also there were blue ink blot stains on the upper first page that bled through the next few pages. Please contact ABAA Headquarters, hq@abaa.org or (212) 944-8291, if you know the whereabouts of this item. [more UPDATED: The Pilgrim's Progress, by Rev. John Bunyan, Very Early Edition]