In February of 1964, in my freshman American Literature Survey Class, I first encountered Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Our teacher was Daniel Hoffman, a worthy poet, critic, and educator who'd go on to publish two dozen books, one of which, Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe was nominated for the National Book Award. All in all, a serious customer. At that time, furthermore, he was 41 years of age, at the height of his powers as a teacher. Sparks flew as he paced in front of his desk, expounding on Jonathan Edwards, Fenimore Cooper, Poe, the Transcendentalists – inspiring us, challenging us, prying us loose from our childish preconceptions, frightening us, taking us places no teacher had ever taken us. And then we got to Moby Dick. He started right off by reading us a chapter. As I recall it was “The Honor and The Glory of Whaling” – one of those intermediary chapters that expands the scope of the story through space and time to the realm of gods and myths. It was the first time and, until just recently, the last time I'd ever heard the book read aloud. And of course, it had a profound effect. With those words still ringing in our ears, he went on to demonstrate how each of the themes resonated back through the book, strands in a mighty cable such as the one Father Mapple spins in his sermon. We youngsters, of course, were utterly gobsmacked by this performance, for it was as much a performance as it was a lecture. At the end of that first hour, Professor Hoffman told us pro... [more A Boy & His Book: Moby Dick]
“Lynd Ward was way ahead of his time, a visionary, in understanding the importance of the book as an object, as a container of a kind of content. His books were made with great attention to that container and he worked within it as precisely as a concrete poet works with language.” — Art Spiegelman The so-called graphic novel -- which may be no more than a successful rebranding of comics -- has become a very popular genre, with its own bestseller list in the New York Times, and growing shelfspace in new book stores. In light of this new-found prominence and respectability, it's interesting to look back at the precursors to the graphic novel, the stages the idea of the illustrated novel-length story went through before settling into the form we current know. One of these stages was the wordless novel, in particular the work of American Lynd Ward, who was both an influential illustrator of children's books (he won a Caldecott Award) and a pioneer of the wordless novel. Lynd Kendall Ward grew up in Chicago and studied Fine Arts at college in New York in the early 1920s. A year studying wood engraving in Germany in 1926-'27 led to his discovery of Frans Masereel's wordless novel The Sun (1919). Told in a series of woodcuts without any words, the concept spoke to the young American artist. He returned to the U.S. in late 1927, where he began his career as an illustrator by working on drawings for Dorothy Rowe's The Begging Deer: Stories of Japanese Children. In 1929, Ward ca... [more Lynd Ward and the Wordless Novel]
A theft of a number of maps and prints focused on Arctic Exploration, Ethnography, and Circumpolar Navigation has been reported in Juneau, Alaska. Please contact our offices at the ABAA if you have any information reguarding these items. [more Stolen in Juneau, Alaska]
The last major antiquarian book fair of 2016 is almost upon us. The center of the rare book world moves to Boston, MA for three days at the end of October for the 40th annual Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair. Once again, the Hynes Convention Center hosts more than 120 rare book dealers from around the world. The event is one of the oldest and most-respected antiquarian book shows in the country, and this year celebrates its 40th Anniversary. The Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair is sponsored by the New England Chapter of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America. Dates Friday 28th – 5:00-9:00 PM Saturday 29th – Noon-7:00 PM Sunday 30th – Noon-5:00 PM Free Admission Over the Weekend! As the Boston Book Fair is celebrating its 40th year, they are offering free admission for all on Saturday, October 29 and Sunday, October 30. Tickets for Friday night's exclusive preview event are just $20! Tickets will be sold online at www.bostonbookfair.com and at the box office during Friday evening show hours. A portion of the ticket sales will benefit the Boston Public Library and the American Antiquarian Society. In addition to the thousands of unique and rarely seen items offered for sale by the exhibiting dealers, there are a number of special events and exhibits taking place over the weekend. Collecting the Boston Music Scene: 1976-2016 All Weekend If you're a music fan, you won't want to miss David Bieber extensive archive of rock posters, albums, and... [more 2016 Boston Book Fair]
Former president of the ABAA Robert D. Fleck died yesterday. Fleck founded Oak Knoll Books in 1976, and Oak Knoll Press two years later. The publishing operation was intended to fill a need he saw for books about book collecting, design, and bibliography. Fleck was extremely well-known and respected throughout the international antiquarian community, serving as president of both the ABAA and the ILAB during his long career. Just last year, he was awarded the ILAB Medal “in recognition of services rendered to the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers.” His son, Rob Fleck, posted this announcement on the Oak Knoll Books website: It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of my father, Robert D. Fleck, Jr., proprietor of Oak Knoll Books & Press. He was our helmsman – our captain – our leader in this world of books-about-books. Having founded Oak Knoll Books in 1976, Dad's legacy is anything but short, and heavily decorated with awards, honors, and leadership positions. His love for his family & friends, local history, and (of course) books was unsurpassed. His determination and poise under pressure, no matter how severe, was something that we should all aspire to. He was an important man in the field of bookselling, but I'll always know him as the loving father that he always was. Books were his life, and his life was books. He will be greatly missed. Love you Dad, Rob Fleck Memorial Service A memorial service will be held Tuesday, September 27, 2016... [more In Memoriam: Robert D. Fleck]
Bookplates are fascinating corner of the literary world. If your only exposure to bookplates are the rather anodyne mass-produced examples some modern bookstores sell, you may not appreciate the individuality, wit, and artistic skill that went into bookplates in years gone by. A new exhibition attempts to showcase the best examples for bookplates from centuries past. The Rosenbach of the Free Library of Philadelphia presents The Art of Ownership: Bookplates and Book Collectors from 1480 to the Present, from September 21, 2016 through January 17, 2017. Edwin Davis French (1851–1906), bookplate of William Keeney Bixby. Engraved print and black printing ink on paper. New York, 1906. In Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864), The scarlet letter: a romance ... Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1850. The primary function of a bookplate is simply to indicate the owner of a book, yet book collectors across the centuries have commissioned ornate and evocative designs that do much more than designate property. From coats of arms and etched portraits to scenes of libraries and fantastical creatures, these miniature artworks may reveal a great deal about the ancestry, occupation, artistic taste, or philosophy of the men and women who used and circulated them. The Art of Ownership features beautiful and curious specimens from five centuries of books in the Rosenbach's collection, along with examples from the Rare Book Department of the Free Library of Philadelphia, the University of Delawar... [more The Art of Ownership: Bookplates]
Update: These books have been recovered. The ABAA has recently become aware of a theft which occurred in May from PRPH books. If you have information, or believe you may have been offered either of the items below, please contact Fabrizio Govi (gfabbrig@gmail.com), from whom these books were consigned. De Chyromantia libri III authoris ciusdam vetustissimi per Joannem DRYANDRUM restituti Marpurgi, anno MDXXXVIII. Tibet, Antioco (1528) 8vo; 18th-century full vellum over boards, spine with label and gilt title; 138 , (5, of which the last is a blank) pp. With four full-page chiromantic hands and several zodiacal and planetary illustrations in the text. Some light browning, but a very good copy. RARE SECOND EDITION (the first printed in Bologna in 1494 is extremely rare and is virtually impossibile to find on the market) of the first comprehensive treatise on palmistry. All the most famous subsequent authors on the subjects are somehow indebted to Tiberti (cf. G. Sabbatini, Bio-bibliografia chiromantica, Reggio Emilia, 1946, pp. 92-94). This edition, which was reprinted in 1541, does not bear Tiberti's name on the title-page. The original dedication by Tiberti to Ottavio Ubaldino, earl of Mercatello, is followed by a new dedication addressed by the editor Johannes Dryander to the Mainz nobleman Johann Furderer de Richtenfels. The text of the two Mainz editions differs significantly from that of the first Bologna edition, a thing that can only be explained by the fact that Dryand... [more 2 Books Stolen from PRPH]
Happy Roald Dahl Day! The renowned British children's book author, screenwriter, and WWII fighter pilot, was born one hundred years ago, today (September 13, 1916). Dahl (or more accurately his books) has been in the headlines often in 2016, first as Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Dahl's classic The BFG hit the theaters and again after the death of the actor Gene Wilder, whose most-celebrated role was as the eccentric Willy Wonka in the 1971 film adaptation of Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (renamed Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory). Many book collectors doubtless brought their children (or grandchildren) to see The BFG and/or played Wilder's classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (or at least watched him sing “Pure Imagination” on YouTube -- scroll down to play the video for a little music while you peruse the rare Dahl books on this page) after Wilder's passing, and have been reading Dahl stories at bedtime. However, if you have a Roald Dahl first edition or two — especially of his earlier books — you might want to make sure they're safely out of reach on a high shelf until the next generation has learned to handle rare books properly. Roald Dahl joined the Royal Air Force at the beginning of WWII. After surviving a crash that fractured his skull and temporarily blinded him, Dahl became a fighter ace, before lingering headaches from his injuries forced him from the cockpit. Sent to the British Embassy on a diplomatic posting in 1942, Dahl was... [more Collecting Roald Dahl]
Bezalel silver binding with 4 blue stones and etched designs, c. 1920, housing a Hebrew Bible, approximately 5” x 4”. Owner thinks book was inscribed – possibly in Hebrew – to “Albert” or “Eliezer,” Reported stolen in Tucson, AZ in January 2016. Book was possibly sold to a pawn shop in Tucson, AZ and subsequently sold by the pawn broker. Please report any information to David Waxman at Estates of Mind (on behalf of the owner). Email: estatesofmind@gmail.com. Tel: (516) 487-5160. [more Missing from Tucson, AZ]
"You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm.” -- Colette I readily admit that I am a fan of the badass literary woman. Give me Anais Nin, Marguerite Duras or Virginia Woolf any day – women who tell it like it is, who aren't afraid to examine deep parts of the psyche, of feelings on sex, attraction, anger… any and all of the above. It is no surprise, then, that when I first read works by Sidonie Gabrielle Colette (best known by simply “Colette”), I immediately was attracted to her matter of fact statements on such taboo (at the time) subjects, and the lyrical quality of her prose. Today being the 62nd anniversary of her death, I thought it high time a blog was written about this amazing female literary giant. Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette was born in January 1873 to a tax-collector/war hero (bet you didn't think such a combo was possible…) and his young wife in the French region of Burgundy. Though at Colette's birth the family was significantly well off, by the time she was able to attend school the family's wealth had diminished substantially and she was only able to attend public school until she was 17. Though public school was not the ideal, it was still a reasonably substantial education for a girl in her social standing at the time. Shortly after leaving school, she married a well-known author of the day Henry Gauthier Villars (known as “Willy”) when she was 20 and he was 14 years her senior. Willy convinced her (as she later recollected) to beg... [more Colette]