This item is still missing as of 6/4/2019. The following book has been reported stolen by internet fraud, sold to someone in Los Angeles. (PAINE, Thomas). Common Sense; Addressed to the Inhabitants of America, on the following interesting Subjects. (1776). : Lettre de Thomas Paine au Peuple Français sur la Journée du 18 Fructidor. (1797). (Two works in one volume). $16,000. Philadelphia, printed; London, re-printed Paris: J. Almon, opposite Burlington-House in Piccadilly Imprimerie-Libraire du Cercle-Social, rue du Théâtre-Français, no. 4. An VI de la République, 1776 and 1797. First editions (see below for details). Two works bound in one volume. Octavo. Quarter bound in early 20th Century parchment and cloth over boards, lettered on the spine in gilt. Modest soiling to the parchment, internally crisp and near fine. The first work, Paine's monumentally important pamphlet *Common Sense*, is the first British edition, third issue: , 54pp., with the blank spaces where offending passages (hiatuses) are left blank on the first page of the introduction. The second work is the first French language edition of Paine's *Letter to the People of France and the French Armies, on the event of the 18th Fructidor*. 39, pp. *OCLC* indicates that the English language issue was published in New York in 1797 (and lists 15 holdings); this considerably scarcer French translation (*OCLC* locates only 5 copies) was published the same year as the "Coup of 18 Fructidor" by members of the Frenc... [more Stolen: Thomas Paine, Common Sense 1776 in Los Angeles]

UPDATE: These items have been recovered. The 13 items below have been reported as lost in transit from Mertztown, PA to NYC. They were shipped via USPS Signed Priority Mail on April 3, with the last recorded tracking on April 5 in Philadelphia. The inventory numbers in parentheses may be listed in pencil in the upper left corner of the front endpaper. If you have information or believe you have been offered the items, please contact Charles Agvent (610-682-4750 / info@charlesagvent.com). Items Lost in Transit WASHINGTON, Booker T. UP FROM SLAVERY. New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1901. First Edition. Original gilt-lettered red cloth. Classic turn-of-the-century autobiography by the successor to Frederick Douglass as the foremost American black leader of his time. Born a slave, Washington founded Tuskegee Institute, becoming its first president, at the age of 25. This copy of his best-known book is SIGNED by the author on the front free endpaper to "Booker T. Washington/Tuskegee Alabama/Jan. 25, 1902." Signed First Editions of this classic of African-American history are quite uncommon. Owner name in ink below the author's. Mild wear to the spine tips and corners with the spine edges rubbed. Near Fine. (#015975) CARSON, Rachel. SILENT SPRING. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1962. First Edition. This book on the effects of pesticides is a landmark in environmental writing inspiring the movement that led to the banning of DDT and raising awareness of the important connecti... [more Items Lost in Transit from Mertztown, PA to NYC]

These items are still missing as of 6/4/2019. Atlanta Vintage Books was burglarized March 30, 2017 and reports the following material as stolen. The owners, Jan and Bob Bolgla, are continuing to identify what material is missing. They can be contacted at (770) 457-2919 or avbooks@att.net. 1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, signed British 1st edition, book and dj fine condition, letter of authenticity included (possibly the Order of the Phoenix stolen also, same description) 2. Winnie the Pooh, Limited Signed First Edition. 71/350 numbered copies signed by Milne & Shepard, Methuen & Co, 1927, book/fine, dust jacket/near fine Limited Signed First Edition. 1/350 numbered copies signed by Milne & Shepard. Made with handmade paper. This is number 71. There is a 1" circular stain on the spine of dust wrapper and light fading to jacket; there are also 2 small pieces of interior tape repair applied to the inside head of the jacket spine; otherwise, the jacket is in Near Fine condition with very faint rubbing to spine ends. Blue cloth boards are clean, pristine and unmarked; there is a 3cm dent on the edge of the outside front board, and a 2cm rubbed hole to the top edge. Uncut pages are clean and unmarked. The endpages are clean with mild age discoloration mirroring where the dust jacket pressed against the endpage. 3. Mickey Mouse in King Arthur's Court , Near Fine in Near Fine jacket A Near Fine, First Edition, First Printing of this beautiful pop-up book in original color pic... [more Stolen from Atlanta Vintage Books]

The following books were reported stolen from a home in San Francisco, California: Louis Antoine de Bougainville. A Voyage Round the World. 1772 Arthur Phillip. The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay. 1789 or 1790 Bligh, William. A Narrative of the Mutiny on Board His Majesty's Ship Bounty... 1790 La Perouse, Jean Francois Galaup de. A Voyage Around the World in the Years 1785… 3 volumes. 1798 Cook James (Hawkesworth) An Account of the Voyages… 3 volumes 1773 Anson, George. A Voyage Round the World. 1748 (possibly later). Please contact Greg Krisilas at 818.990.1106 with any information. [more Stolen in San Francisco, CA]

UPDATE: This item has been recovered. The following book has been reported stolen from Ursus Rare Books. MITCHELL, Samuel Augustus. Accompaniment to Mitchell's New Map of Texas, Oregon, and California, with the Regions Adjoining. 46 pp. text, with hand coloured lithographic folding map, 580 x 530 mm. 16mo., bound in original publisher's blind stamped morocco gilt. Philadelphia: S. Augustus Mitchell, 1846. An unusually fine copy of this important map, preserved in a particularly fresh copy of its original binding, with essentially no wear to the map, but some minor splitting at the folds. An important document from the Westward expansion of the mid-nineteenth century. Howes, M685. Martin & Martin 36. Wagner-Camp 122b. Cowan p. 433. Wheat, Transmississippi 520. Phillips, Maps, p. 844. Wheat, Gold Regions 29. There is a description of the alleged perpetrator. Please contact Ursus Rare Books with any information. 212-772-8787 [more Stolen in New York, NY]

ABAA member Tom Nealon (Pazzo Books) specializes in early printed books and cookbooks, and has drawn on his knowledge of these areas to write a book on the history of food and its vital influence on the course of human history, Food Fights and Culture Wars: A Secret History of Taste. In this brief introduction, Tom Nealon explains what drew him to early cookbooks and food is connected with arcane secrets and the spread of the Enlightenment. As fond as I am of eating, from the beginning it was the lies and artifice of food that grabbed me. About ten years ago, I had the idea to try to cook every food mentioned in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (c. 1390). I think it arose from my interest in the scurrilous cook Roger, who would drain gravy out of pies to sell in the lucrative second-hand gravy market, but also that I had ended a run of bad restaurant jobs to open my used bookshop in Boston, Massachusetts, and I wanted to splice these two lives together. One of the first dishes that I cooked in preparation for my project was a thirteenth-century recipe for chicken, that was first taken off the bone, the bone cleaned and boiled, and, finally, the chicken rewrapped around the bone and fried in place to achieve chicken disguised to look like chicken. I've long had a dilettante's interest in the food of the Late Middle Ages – that is, from around 1300 to 1500. The food of these times is so foreign to our own: turtledoves, mutton, flagons of mead, and pork fat, which seems... [more Food Fights & Culture Wars]

While the week after the New York Antiquarian Book Fair is generally a week of rest and recuperation for booksellers and collectors alike, there was still plenty of news happening in the rare book world last week. Bright Young Booksellers: Alexander Akin ABAA-member Alexander Akin of Bolerium Books was interviewed as part of Fine Books & Manuscripts ongoing "Bright Young Booksellers" series. Read more... Lou Reed Archive Goes to the New York Public Library at Lincoln Center Rock and roll legend Lou Reed left a personal archive of unsurpassed detail that will give researchers great insight into both the mundane details of life as a touring musician and Reed's development as an artist. Comprising over 300 linear feet of correspondence and documents as well as over 600 hours of recordings, many unreleased, the archive will be a place of pilgrimage for both musoic scholars and music fans. Read more... ILAB Launches Mentoring Program to Supoport the Next Generation of Booksellers The International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (to which the ABAA belongs) has launched an innovative new international mentoring program to assist young booksellers entering the business. Read more... Kevin Young Named Poetry Editor of the New Yorker There was great excitement last week when it was announced that noted poet Kevin Young, who's also the director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library, has been appointed as the new poetry editor at the New ... [more Rare Book News]

ABAA members have issued the following catalogs of the material they will be exhibiting at the New York Antiquarian Book Fair this weekend (March 9-12, 2017) at the Park Avenue Armory. Note: This list is being constantly updated. Check back frequently in the days before the fair for the latest catalog additions! Athena Rare Books Booth E24 Lorne Bair Rare Books Booth E18 F.A. Bernett Booth B18 -- direct download .pdf David Brass Rare Books Booth C10 Buddenbrooks Booth C23 Andrew Cahan Bookseller Booth D19 James Cummins Bookseller Booth A1 L.W. Currey, Inc. and John W. Knott Jr., Bookseller offer David H. Rajchel Arkham House Archive Booth A5 Donald A. Heald Rare Books Booth C1 Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller Booth B15 Jeff Hirsch Books Booth B23 Kaaterskill Books Booth B11 Eric Chaim Kline Booth A14 Michael Laird Rare Books Booth A33a The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. Booth C22 Part I: 54 Items on Display at the 2017 New York Antiquarian Book Fair Part II: 54 Items on Display at the 2017 New YorkAntiquarian Book Fair Part III: Pamphlets and Ephemera on Display at the 2017 New York Antiquarian Book Fair, 50 Items Liber Antiquus Booth A10 Lux Mentis Booksellers Booth E5 Jeffrey D. Mancevice Booth C12 Bruce McKittrick Rare Books Booth A20 Musinsky Rare Books Booth D4 B&L Rootenberg Rare Books & Manuscripts Booth B19 Sanctuary Books Booth B3 Abby Schoolman Books Booth A36 Triolet Rare Books Booth D30 For more details about the 2017 New York Antiquarian Bok Fair visit www.nyantiquarianbookf... [more New York Book Fair Catalogs]

I've been reading a fascinating book about how humans have exchanged news and views through the centuries, and the changes printing made possible. In Writing on the Wall: Social Media The First 2,000 Years, Tom Standage, the digital editor of The Economist, traces the history of social media through the last 2000 years, highlighting how the last 150 years of broadcast media are in fact an anomaly in human communication. Yes, social media has been around for 2000 years, not a little over a decade as I thought. Far from being the brave new world that Facebook et al. like to claim, online “social media” is, in Standage's view, simply a return to an older style of communication, a style for which humans may be hardwired. Serious book collectors and students of printed history may be the only ones not surprised by this claim, as Standage draws on a great deal of printed history to prove his persuasive thesis. The LETTERS Of MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO To Several of his Friends: with Remarks by William Melmoth, Esq. To Which is Now Added, A General Index. In Three Volumes. Offered by Tavistock Books. Starting with ancient Rome, and the great orator and letter-writer Cicero, Standage discusses how letters were essentially public artifacts, and that writers like Cicero encouraged the recipient to read them to and share them with others. They in turn would often copy a letter, add their own thoughts, and forward it on many others. It's because of this letter-sharing network that Cicero ... [more Early Social Media: Letters, Pamphlets & Newspapers]

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]