The following item went missing during transit after passing Canadian customs: ERASMUS, Desiderius. Institutio principis christiani, saluberrimis referta praeceptis, per Erasmum Roterodam, ab eodem recognita. Praecepta Isocratis de regno administrado ad Nicoclem regem eodem interprete. Cologne: Ex officina Eucharij Ceruicorni (colophon: Impensis M. Godefridi Hittorpij), May 1529. 8vo, pp. With fine woodcut title after Hans Holbein and woodcut white on black initials; contemporary owner's inscription on title-page crossed out; Latin inscription on first page of text in a contemporary hand; some light foxing. Early vellum over boards. BOUND WITH ERASMUS, D. Epistolae familiares propter singularem elegantiam & argumenti materiam Scholis & adolescentum studiis captuique accommodatae ex omnibus, quas reliquit, literis summo doctissimorum iudicio segregatae. Basel; B. Westheimer, 1538. , 477 (i.e. 479) pp. With woodcut printer's device at end. Some light marginal foxing. BOUND WITH ERASMUS, D. Pars prima (- secunda) breviorum aliquod ... epistolarum quæ iam nunc collatione magni operis epistolarum sunt emendatæ. Cologne; J. Gymnicus, 1536. leaves; leaves. With woodcut printer's device on title pages and woodcut 2 (of 3) parts. Some light marginal foxing. I. Early and scarce edition (1st: Basel, 1516) of one Erasmus' major works. "The Institutio principis christiani, written for the future Emperor Charles V and treating of the duties of kingship, is an important statement by a lea... [more Lost in Transit: An Early Erasmus Sammelband of Student’s Texts]
UPDATE: This has been recovered. Someone Like You by Roald Dahl First Edition. Signed by the author and dated Nov. 11, 1953. A card inscribed by Patricia Neal (signed “Pat”) presenting the book is laid in. Very good plus in a very good dust jacket. Queen's Quorum. If offered, please contact Peter Stern at Peter Stern & Co., Inc. Phone (617) 542-2376 info@sternrarebooks.com [more Missing: Someone Like You by Roald Dahl]
B&B Rare Books is missing a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that was sent to London (technically Essex). If anyone is offered a first of Charlie, please contact info@bbrarebooks. Attached is a photo of their Charlie as well as the description (the most obvious marker is a vertical crease to the dj on the front panel, about an inch in from the right edge:) New York: Alfred Knopf, 1964. First edition, first issue, with a six line colophon. Publisher's red cloth, with the title in blind to the front board, spine lettered in gilt, black topstain; in the original first-issue dust jacket designed by Schindelman, lacking the ISBN number to the rear panel, with illustration of a chocolate candy bar, Charlie, and Willy Wonka to the front panel, illustration of Wonka dancing in front of billboards to the rear panel. Near fine, with gilt just a touch dimmed and a few faint spots to topstain; unclipped dust jacket, with a few closed tears to the spine ends, creasing and nicks to the top edge of the rear panel, vertical creasing to front panel, and vertical creasing, minor soiling, and a light dampstain to rear panel. Overall, a bright and unfaded unclipped dust jacket without the usual chipping and fading. If offered, please contact Sunday Steinkirchner at (212) 464-7125 or sunday@bbrarebooks.com. [more Missing in UK: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory]
The ABAA's Woodburn Fund provides financial support for scholarly research and education relevant to the antiquarian book trade. This includes annual scholarships to Rare Book School, California Rare Book School, and the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar. Ezra Tishman of Aardvark Books/Ezra the Bookfinder attended the Rare Book School on a Woodburn Fund scholarship this year. (We published his rave review of the Rare Book School and the Woodburn Fund in June.) We asked Ezra a few questions about his time at the Rare Book School, and he responded with a glowing review of the whole experience. ABAA: Why is it important for a bookseller to take part in this kind of “mid-career” training? Ezra Tishman: Mid-career booksellers can easily become overwhelmed with the logistics of acquiring, cataloging and selling stock, preparing for fairs, etc. A mid-career training offers the opportunity to “blow out the pipes” so to speak, to view the trade afresh, and to keep the bookseller open to educational avenues either neglected, or those never yet known. Those outside the trade might assume you acquire all the knowledge you need through your daily experiences dealing with what comes through your door? ET: Not by a long shot. Developing as a mature and capable bookseller means being ever-willing to be schooled, on multiple fronts — not only by the books and customers who cross my threshold, but by being open to filling-in specific gaps in knowledge, widening and strengthening fami... [more Reflections on Attending the Rare Book School]
The following item has been reported missing from California, last seen on July 31, 2015. Bohemian Club Ledger. Manuscript ledger of the Bohemian Club from its founding in 1872 to 1899, roughly three hundred pages of manuscript minutes and records along with relevant printed material from the period. The notes include mention of founder Ambrose G. Bierce, Henry George, Ina Coolbrith, Mark Twain and others. The cover is a black “pebbled” ledger style cover, approximately 8” by 11”, 250 - 350 pages. If you have any information on this item, please contact Richard P. Koch at rpkoch1@sbcglobal.net or (415) 397-1060. [more Missing: Bohemian Club Ledger]
Sally Burdon, ILAB President, has announced that The B.H. Breslauer Foundation is investing another $25,000 in the Breslauer Foundation Prize Fund, meaning that “this important prize for bibliography can continue to be awarded for many years to come.” “We owe a great debt to The B.H. Breslauer Foundation for their generosity and support,” said Burdon. Felix de Marez Oyens, President of the B.H. Breslauer Foundation, commented that: “My fellow trustees and I are pleased to make this additional donation in order to enable the ILAB to award every fourth year not only the main bibliography prize of $10,000, but also second and third prizes of $5,000 and $3,000 respectively. The discipline of bibliography is not usually a lucrative pursuit. It is important therefore that the practitioners of this branch of scholarship be encouraged as much as possible by institutional libraries and also by the rare-book trade, which profit from it. We hope that these prizes, which are not inconsiderable, will continue to play a major role in that encouragement.” The ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography honors the most original and outstanding published work in the field of bibliography. It is awarded every four years. The most-recent winner is Dutch scholar Ina Kok, whose Woodcuts in Incunabula Printed in the Low Countries (Brill, April 2013) was awarded the prize in 2018. The next prize will be awarded in 2022. The ILAB Prize for Bibliography was founded in 1964. In 2008, its name wa... [more New Investment in ILAB Breslauer Prize]
I was thrilled recently to learn, via John Windle, of the philanthropic activities of ABAA member Phillip Pirages and his wife Ellen Summerfield. The couple formed the Give a Little Foundation in 2007 with the mission to provide assistance to individuals and families in Yamhill County, Oregon who are experiencing financial adversity and to alleviate hardship and enhance the quality of life of those on very limited budgets. The foundation offers one-time grants of up to $500 to help residents in crisis, and it has other special outreach programs in place to help school children, job seekers, and seniors. Phil and Ellen were moved to give back to their local community after identifying a need through their professional acquaintances and social services organizations. From the beginning, they have worked with existing organizations who had the infrastructure in place to identify and evaluate individuals who were on the cusp—that is, people who perhaps needed equipment, tools, licenses, school supplies, or even rental deposits to bridge a gap to gainful employment, success in school, or other needs. Working with these front-line agencies allowed the foundation to respond quickly by assisting the neediest cases. To be certain that funds are used properly, grants are made directly to the vendor or service provider involved, rather than the applicant. In recent years, ABAA members John Windle, Chris Loker (of Children's Book Gallery), and Lawrence O'Shaughnessy (of Franklin Books)... [more ABAA Member Phillip Pirages Gives Back to his Oregon Community]
The ABAA's Woodburn Fund provides financial support for scholarly research and education relevant to the antiquarian book trade. This includes annual scholarships to Rare Book School, California Rare Book School, and the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar. Ezra Tishman of Aardvark Books/Ezra the Bookfinder was the recipient of a Woodburn Fund scholarship to Rare Book School this year and had the following to say about his experience. I wanted to take moment to officially thank the ABAA for the scholarship assistance I received to attend a Rare Book School course in Bloomington, Indiana. The assistance allowed me to take the time off from work, and I spent an amazing week at Indiana University's Lilly Library, learning from the legendary "Master of Bibliographical Resources", Joel Silver. His encyclopedic knowledge of available references -- and his folksy delivery of just a slice of his vast body of knowledge — rather blew me away. In the first two days of the course — despite twenty-five years fulltime in the trade, I truly wondered about what I really knew, and how I could have worked so long without the benefit of some of these resources. I've no doubt at all that what I gained from attendance at Joel's course will prove indispensable, in both my capacities as bookseller and appraiser. Again huge gratitude to our organization for its commitment to help members grow and thrive in the trade. Scholarships to Rare Books School and California Rare Book School are awarded ann... [more Woodburn Fund Scholarship Recipient on Rare Book School]
We have received a report that the items pictured below were lost in transit in July 2017. They were originally purchased at auction and listed under the lot "'Shabbat Shuva' sermon in the handwriting of the Chatem Sofer." If you have any information on these items, please contact ABAA Headquarters at hq@abaa.org or (212) 944-8291. First Item: Second Item: [more Missing Items Lost in Transit]
ABAA-member Claudia Strauss-Schulson, her son Todd and daughter Caren, have written a book -- Scrawl: An A to Z of Famous Doodles -- based on the extensive collection of illustrated letters and sketches built by the late David Schulson, founder of David Schulson Autographs, Ltd. (now Schulson Autographs). We asked the three Strauss-Schulsons to tell us about the book and the collection on which it draws. ABAA: How did this collection come about? Claudia Strauss-Schulson: The collection began with the intent to combine art with history. The collection built out from illustrated letters to include drawings of all sorts from the full range of human endeavor. The criteria for selecting a letter or drawing for the collection had to do with adding diversity and curiosity as the collection grew. ABAA: How large is it? Claudia: Larger than the number of pieces in Scrawl. ABAA: You must come across doodles and marginalia all the time in your area of specialty. What gave you the idea to turn the collection into a book? Todd Strauss-Schulson: In the months after Dad died, Caren and I had the idea of turning the private collection into an art book. Dad loved this material, and we grew up with it. The exciting part was not to do another historical book of letters, not academic or stuffy. We wanted to do an art book that contextualized this material as art objects, as we had learned from him. Caren Strauss-Schulson: Our dad was the perfect balance of serious and playful, and Rizzoli comple... [more Collection: Famous Doodles]