Member Bob Topp of Hermitage Book Shop was recently named a 7Everyday Hero by ABC Denver for his volunteer work with children. For the past eighteen years, Bob has been visiting Bergen Valley Elementary School to read to children, grades 3-5. He began volunteering when his own children attended the school, but he enjoyed encouraging children to read so much that he continues to do so to this day. "I cannot describe it," Bob says. "Everybody says how much the kids enjoy it. It doesn't hold a candle to how much I enjoy it." The children Bob reads to are equally delighted by his visits. "A lot of schools don't get it, so we're really cool that we get him to come to our school," says Lily Urban, 3rd grade. "When he reads a story he always picks out a book almost as if he has a kid's mind." Congratulations on the award, Bob, and thank you for inspiring future generations of readers! Volunteer Shares Love Of Books In The Classroom [more Member in the News: Bob Topp, Hermitage Book Shop]

Volunteers working for the CBC Calgary Reads book sale made an exciting discovery this week as they were sorting through the tens of thousands of donated booksa first edition of Hemingway's classic The Old Man and the Sea. An advisor on rare books for the sale, Gerry Morgan, says of the found copy, "The dust jacket is in very good condition which is fairly uncommon for a book from 1952 or 1953. It is not price-clipped, the price is still on the book. I think it's $3.30. And the only marking inside is a light pencil previous owner signature." He estimates it's worth to be between $1,000 and $1,200. The Old Man and the Sea was the last major work of fiction published by Hemingway (1952). It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1953 and it was cited by the Nobel Committee as a considering factor when Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. The book will be offered in the CBC Calgary Reads book sale, which opens this Friday at noon. Rare Hemingway found among book sale donations [more Hemingway First Edition Found Among Book Donations]

Yesterday we were faced with the very sad news that beloved author and illustrator Maurice Sendak died at the age of 83. We're big fans of Mr. Sendak here at ABAA HQ, and it's difficult to find the right words to pay tribute to such an important literary figure. So, in lieu of a more personal eulogy, I've provided links below to several interviews and profiles. (He had so many interesting things to say, it really is worth taking the time to read a few.) We've lost a legend, but there's some consolation in the following quote. Mr. Sendak said, "There are so many beautiful things in the world which I will have to leave when I die, but I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready." Rest in peace, Mr. Sendak. NPR's Fresh Air has put together a wonderful compilation of interviews with Sendak over the years: Fresh Air Remembers Maurice Sendak Maurice Sendak Is Remembered Fondly by Author and Filmmaker William Joyce NY Times Obituary Maurice Sendak: 'I refuse to lie to children' Maurice Sendak on the First Book He's Written and Illustrated in 30 Years V.F. Portrait: Maurice Sendak Desperately Seeking Sendak (A Conversation Between Dave Eggers & Spike Jonze) If you've never seen the Colbert Report interview with Sendak, take a moment and have a laugh. Colbert Interview, Part I Colbert Interview, Part II [more Maurice Sendak (1928-2012)]

The Charleston Library Society, the oldest library in the South, has been conducting a muti-year search and cataloguing project to record the multitude of volumes it contains in its vault. (The library has been moved a number of times over the years and collections have been integrated, thus necessitating the project.) Recently the search unearthed a rare, 270-year-old book on political parties, Henry St. John Lord Bollinbroke's Dissertation Upon Parties. Published in 1743, the book was one of 800 volumes donated to the College of Charleston by John Mackenzie, a planter and diplomat in the 1700s. His library was housed at the Charleston Library Society until the college could erect its own library, but after a terrible fire in 1778 all but 77 of Mackenzie's donated books were thought to be lost. This newfound 78th volume, which is embossed with Mackenzie's name, will be returned to Charleston College in a special ceremony today. The book is quite rare; only 15 other copies remain in existence and most of them are held in academic libraries. A limited number to be sure, but the survival of that "many copies of a book that's almost 270 years old shows it was popular at the time". The search has turned up some other exciting discoveries, including two letters penned by Alexander Hamilton and "a unique third letter written by John Marshall, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, to South Carolinian Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, who helped draft the Constitution", on the day that... [more 270-year-old Book and Other Valuable Documents Unearthed in the Charleston Library Society Vault]

After a friend showed Thom Adorney, a retired Colorado schoolteacher, an antique whaling journal written by an ancestor in the 1850s, Mr. Adorney had a great idea: why not give students at the local Ute Meadows Elementary School the unique opportunity to unlock history for themselves? For over a year now, that's exactly what students have been doing. The entire journal was photographed and students have been diligently transcribing its contents and recreating a map of the three year journey by entering navigational points onto Google Earth. The students expect to finish the transcription and map by the end of the month and, upon completion, their work will be published by the New Bedford Whaling Museum in Massachusetts. (The museum notes that over 14,000 whaling journals were created but most were lost over time.) Mr. Adorney is ecstatic that the children have been so engaged in the project and that they are actually participating in history rather than just learning about it. "Teachers always struggle to make history come alive for kids," he said. "It doesn't get any more real than this unless we're able to transport them back to the time and put them on the deck of the ship." You can watch a video report of this story below. Students work to document 155-year-old whaling journal [more Elementary School Children Bring History To Life with an Antique Whaling Journal]

On May 1, Emory University's Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Book Library (MARBL) opened the archive of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to the public. The SCLC was founded in 1957 by seminal civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King Jr. in response to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Black leaders in the southeast were cognizant that the boycott was the beginning of a much larger movement and formed the SCLC as a means to coordinate further protest activities. At the first convention, held in Montgomery in August of 1957, the SCLC developed some basic resolutions: the use of nonviolent mass action as a strategic foundation of the movement, affiliation with local community organizations throughout the region, and a commitment to keep the SCLC open to all who wanted to participate, regardless of race, color or creed. The archive is a collection of 981 boxes of materials that report on the SCLC's activities from 1968-2007 (the organization is still active today), and includes correspondence, memos, reports and meeting minutes in addition to photographs, flyers, and both audio and visual recordings. Audio recordings include transcripts and other materials from Martin Luther King Speaks, a radio show that aired from 1967-1979. Speeches and lectures by prominent civil rights leaders were aired on the program, but the show explored a range of social issues, including women's rights and the anti-war movement. The archive reveals the SCLC's involvement in a numb... [more Highly Anticipated Civil Rights Archive Opens to the Public]

This item was still reported missing as of June 11, 2019. The following item has been reported stolen: Title : THE BELL JAR Authors : Victoria Lucas Date of publication : 1963 Publisher : Heinemann Description : First edition in price clipped dust jacket. If you have any information on this item, please contact Christiaan Jonkers at info@jonkers.co.uk or 01491 576427. [more Stolen: The Bell Jar]

As I mentioned in my previous post, there was some extra buzz at this year's NY Antiquarian Book Fair due to a number of celebrity sightings. I know there were a number of important and influential scholars, authors, curators, etc. in attendance and I'm sorry that I didn't recognize more! I was, however, all over the pop-culture 'heavy hitters'. Below are my top five celeb sightings from the fair. 5. John Larroquette John Larroquette was the first familiar face I saw early on Friday (his face is etched in my mind from watching Night Court as a kid). Mr. Laroquette is a known collector and was also present at last year's fair. He spent quite a bit of time wandering the aisles but I'm unsure if he left with any purchases. He is currently starring in a Broadway revival of Gore Vidal's The Best Man. 4. Lucy Liu Lucy Liu enjoyed the fair two days in a row, attending on both Friday and Saturday, and spent quite a bit of time on the show floor on both occasions. Many will recognize Ms. Liu from her past roles in Kill Bill and Charlie's Angels or from her current work on the tv drama Southland, but people may be surprised to hear about her work outside of Hollywood. A native New Yorker, Ms. Liu attended Stuyvesant High School and later majored in Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan. In addition to acting, Ms. Liu is also an artist and a singer. She has been a U.S. ambassador for UNICEF since 2005 and has done much work to raise awareness about the plight of chi... [more Top 5 Celebrity Sightings at the NY Book Fair]

This past weekend's NY Antiquarian Book Fair was a great success, with high attendance, eager buyers, and, most importantly, fantastic inventory from over 200 exhibitors from around the world. This was our largest NY Fair to datethere were so many enthusiastic dealers that the show floor was slightly expanded to accomodate the absolute maximum number of exhibitorsand dealers did not disappoint with the marvelous offerings they brought along. The weather was spectacularI heard it again and again throughout the fair and there truly is nothing like springtime in NYCbut that didn't stop people from exploring the cavernous space of the Armory all weekend long. There were also multiple celebrity sightings (more on that later) which only infused the show floor with additional excitement. As an employee of the ABAA, I spend most of my time during the fairs in the ABAA booth handing out literature about the organization and fielding questions from attendees and exhibitors. I enjoy the opportunity to speak with both attendees and dealers about the fair, and I'm particularly fond of the gusto book fair virgins have, the wonder and excitement they express at their discovery of the rare book world. This isn't to say that time in the booth doesn't drag on a bit at times. It does, but mostly because I get frustrated that I'm not exploring every nook and cranny in each booth. Preview night at the NY Fair allows me the chance to explore, and it's one of the many reasons I love this fair i... [more Springtime in NY + Antiquarian Book Fair = Success, Great Time Had By All]

For many readers of this blog, the answer is obvious, but based on the responses I occasionally receive when I tell people who I work for or about one of our fairs (blank stares and sometimes an "antiquari-what?), it's very clear to me that not everyone is 'in the know'. The most evident reasonto buy rare bookscan be easily deduced, but it overlooks the pure pleasure of attending, whether you leave with books in hand or not, and what I consider to be the true spirit of the show: a celebration of books, history, and intellect. I attended my first antiquarian book fair here in New York two years ago, before I had any idea what the ABAA was. Literature has always played a central role in my life, both academically and personally, so when my aunt, also a bibliophile and minor collector, invited my boyfriend and I to attend the show with her we accepted eagerly. We were unsure of what to expect, but figured that if there were lots of books involved then it couldn't be that bad. Armed with no real expectations, I was staggered to arrive on the show floor and behold the immensity of the Armory and its current inhabitantsfirst editions of every classic I had ever read, texts from the Renaissance, maps and prints I had only seen the likes of in galleries and institutions. I was overwhelmed, albeit in a good way, and before I had even begun to look around I realized that I wanted to spend more time there than I had allowed for that evening. I wandered through the aisles in silent wo... [more Why Visit an Antiquarian Book Fair?]