Howard S. Mott, Inc. is celebrating its 75th Anniversary! Howard S. Mott, Inc. was one of the founding firms of the ABAA, joining in 1949 when the association was formed.  Proprietor Donald N. Mott took over the family business from his parents, who, as ABAA members have commented, would be proud of this landmark in the trade. In celebration, Howard S. Mott, Inc. is offering Catalogue 260, which is available in print or electronically.  If you are interested in receiving one, please click here to email the shop. Congratulations to Donald and all those at Howard S. Mott, Inc. for reaching this milestone.  We wish you another 75 years of success! [more Howard S. Mott, Inc. Celebrates 75th Anniversary]

A comic book collector and dealer, Gary Colabuono, displayed a number of very rare ashcan comic books last weekend at Chicagos Comic Con.  An ashcan comic is a hand drawn, unfinished version of a comic book that was produced for either legal purposes, such as securing trademarks, or to demonstrate publications for potential advertisers.  These comics were then intended to be thrown out, which is how they got their name, and makes them extremely rare.  (These ashcan copies would have been produced during the Golden Age of Comics, which lasted from the 1930s-1950s).  For many comic books, there are only one or two copies known to have survived. Among the ashcan copies that Gary displayed were Spierman, Superwoman, Superboy and Supergirl comics from the 1930s and 1940s.  Gareb Shamus, CEO of Wizard World, the company that puts on Comic Con, noted that what Gary has is a piece of history that people havent seen before&thats what gets the juices flowing for collectors out there.  Gary agrees that they are pop-culture relics or artifacts, but would not comment on the estimated value of his collection. Rare ashcan comic books on display at Chicago Comic Con [more Ashcan Comics Displayed at Chicago Comic Con]

The Victoria & Albert Museum has a neat video on their website that shows the process of creating a hand-printed and hand-bound octavo. Please click here to watch (Note: there is no audio on the video, only closed captioning). [more Video: Printing and Binding a Hand Made Octavo]

This item was still reported missing as of May 30, 2019. The following item was reported missing during transport: Eleonora Maria Rosalia, Herzogin zu Troppau und Jagerndorff. FREYWILLIG-AUFFGESPRUNGENER GRANAT-APFFEL, Des Christlichen Samaritans... Wienn in Oesterreich: druckts und verlegts Anna Francisca Voigtin. (Vienna): 1708. Fuller title: FREYWILLIG-AUFFGESPRUNGENER GRANAT-APFFEL, Des Christlichen Samaritans, Oder: Auss Christlicher Lieb dess Nachsten eroffnete Behaimbnuss Viler vortrefflichen, sonders, bewahrten Mitteln und Wunder-heylsamen Artzneyen... Auffs neue vermehrt, (sambt einer kleinen Diaeta, wie sich bey jeder Kranckheit in Essen und Trincken zuverhalten ; wie auch beygefugten neuen Koch Buch, in welchen allerhand rare und denen Patienten zu verschidenen Kranckheiten erspriessliche Speisen) nun zum sechstenmahl in offentlichen Druck verfertiget... Two volumes in one. , 499; , 120, . First title leaf stained; some additional staining elsewhere. One signature bound upside down. 4to. 200 mm. Early nineteenth century leather backed marbled boards binding; worn. On the endpapers is a 1820's four page manuscript family record of John Friedrich Furst. Text mostly in German gothic letter. First published in 1697, Duchess Eleonora Maria Rosalia (1647-1704) created this remarkable collection of recipes, advice, and formulas for: cooking; food; drink; medicine; veterinary; household and farm science; etc. Weiss 2300; Ferguson. Bibliotheca Chemica,; I, pp. 235-236 (1697... [more German Book by Duchess Eleonora Maria Rosalia Gone Missing During Transport]

Did you know that the Folger Shakespeare Library has its own YouTube channel?  Theres a variety of interesting videos on there, definitely worth checking out. Below Ive included links to two videos I found particularly relevant to our trade.  The first is an instructional video on handling rare materials, and the second is a demonstration of how a Renaissance-era printing press works.  Enjoy! Handling Rare Materials http://youtu.be/5NWyruNYILw Printing 101 http://youtu.be/lX6e8Q2nc5A [more Videos from the Folger Shakespeare Library's YouTube Channel]

The Rare Book School had some wonderful course offerings this year (as they do every summer!). ABAA member and past President Tom Congalton of Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. was there as instructor for his fourth year, co-teaching Printed Books since 1800: Element of Description and Analysis. He wrote a great blog post reviewing his course and experience. Click here for a very enjoyable read! [more Read Past ABAA President Tom Congalton's Report on the Rare Book School]

New to the rare book world and need to brush up on some important trade related jargon? Check out the ABAA's abbreviated Glossary of Terms on abaa.org! [more Abbreviated Glossary of Rare Book Terms]

This year the Caxton Club published Other People's Books: Association Copies and the Stories They Tell, a collection of essays about the stories behind a number of association copies. (An association copy is a book signed by an author and inscribed either to a personal friend or relation of the author, a colleague, or a famous figure.) The book is being distributed by Oak Knoll Books. From their website: Other People's Books provides stories of fifty-two presentation copies from 1470 to 1986, narrating how each book came to be inscribed. Containing 112 illustrations, this work is a lively historical account of the journey of twenty-four books from institutional collections and twenty-eight from private hands. Set in England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States, these books range in topics from astronomy, ornithology, political science, and psychology, to art, film, history, and literature. While many of the books are presentation inscriptions directly from the author, others were inscribed by someone who was closely connected with the author. The book highlights the owners of these volumes now, many of whom are famous names in literature and history or book scholars and collectors. Click here to read a review of the book from Fine Books & Collections. Click to view an excerpt or to purchase. It sounds like a great read for any bibliophile! Endpaper: Stories with a personal history By Association [more "Other People's Books: Association Copies and the Stories They Tell"]

The following review of ABAA member David Bromer's Aun Aprendo: A Comprehensive Bibliography of the Writings of Aldous Leonard Huxley was written by fellow member Brian Cassidy. It appeared in the ABAA Spring 2011 e-Newsletter. Kudos, David! ********************************* Review: Aun Aprendo: A Comprehensive Bibliography of the Writings of Aldous Leonard Huxley by Brian Cassidy Aldous Huxley is primarily rememberedin the popular imagination at leastfor one book, his classic dystopia Brave New World. This is unfortunate. Huxley was one of the most prolific and versatile British writers of the twentieth century. He wrote on everything from philosophy to psychology, history to the paranormal. He was a pioneer in the field of drug literature, clearing the way for Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, and other seminal figures of the counterculture. Huxley authored dozens of books and during his life published well over two thousand short stories, poems, dramas, screenplays, and essays. He worked as an editor, journalist, reviewer, and translator. In other words, any Huxley bibliographer has before him an enormous challenge. It is perhaps not surprising therefore that no comprehensive bibliography of Huxley has been undertaken since before his death in 1963 (Claire John Eschelbach and Joyce Lee Shober'sAldous Huxley: A Bibliography 1916-1959 ) and no descriptive bibliography since R. Duval's in 1939. As explained in James Sexton's foreword to the new Aun Aprendo: A Comprehensive Bib... [more Review: Aun Aprendo: A Comprehensive Bibliography of the Writings of Aldous Leonard Huxley]

UPDATE: The book has been recovered. The following item has gone missing during shipping between NYC and Toronto: GALILEI, Galileo. Dialogo di Galileo Galilei… sopra i due massimi Sistemi del mondo tolemaico, e copernicano. Florence: Batista Landini, 1632. Octavo, late 18th-century full vellum, burgundy morocco spine label. Identifying characteristics: Bauman Rare Books inventory #82805 Frontispiece in the fourth state (of four), as usual, with artist’s signature present. With pasted cancel slip correcting the shoulder note on page 92 and manuscript addition of letter H to diagram on page 192, both as usual. With errata leaf Ff6; without final blank leaf only (Kk4), often not present. Quires Bb3 and Bb4 misnumbered as Bb2 and Bb3, respectively. Paper repair to verso of dedication page; dedication and “Al discreto lettore” leaves remargined at top. Marginal paper repairs to leaves I6, O6, O7, Ee3, Ff6. Morocco spine label partially perished with some loss to lettering; only light soiling to vellum. Please contact Erik DuRon at Bauman Rare Books 212-751-0011 with any information [more UPDATED: Galileo Book Gone Missing During Transport]