In partnership with the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section Conference (Indiana University Bloomington, June 27-30, 2023) and the ABAA's in-person Booksellers' Showcase, the ABAA will offer a virtual showcase that everyone can visit, regardless of their location. Doors will remain open continuously from Tuesday, June 27 at 12:00pm ET until Friday, June 30 at 8:00pm ET. The RBMS Virtual Showcase will take place at www.abaa.org/vbf Preview the exhibitors... Enjoy this preview of selected books and ephemera that you'll find offered by ABAA members at the 2023 RBMS Booksellers' Virtual Showcase. The Anatomical Eye Glass - The Best on the Face of the Earth Milwaukee: The Milwaukee Litho & Engraving Co, 1902. Lightly warped. Scrapbook residue on reverse.. A fine 11.5" by 8/75" advertising trade sign or counter card. It depicts the earth wearing pince-nez --almost as though they were held in place by gravity. The three elves at the base hold a second pair and point to the nose pads. It is captioned "THE PADS ANCHOR the Eye Glasses in position so that they WILL NOT FALL and CANNOT BE SHAKEN OFF. Presented by F. A. Hardy & Co. Chicago ILL. Verso blank. Delightful eye-catching whimsy imparting a clear message on a new development in eye wear. Offered by Eclectibles. The Faerie Queene. A Poem in Six Books with the Fragment Mutabilitie. 6 volumes Spenser, Edmund. Thomas J. Wise (editor); Walter Crane (illustrator) London: Printed at the Chiswick Press for George Allen, 1897. Hardcover. Ve... [more RBMS Virtual Showcase Highlights]
Our most-recent in-person event was the well-attended 63rd New York International Antiquarian Book Fair. Now, we present the ABAA Virtual Book Fair: Spring Edition, the premiere virtual event for books, maps, autographs, ephemera, and more! May 11-13 abaa.org/vbf Open continuously from 12 pm ET on Thursday until 7 pm ET on Saturday. Explore the finest rare books, manuscripts and ephemera. Shop the virtual booths of international sellers and discover their latest acquisitions and rare finds. View exhibitors here... Learn more about the ABAA Virtual Book Fair: Spring Edition at abaa.org/vbf... For news about our upcoming in-person and virtual book fairs, visit our events page... [more Join us for the ABAA Virtual Book Fair: Spring Edition]
The 63rd New York International Antiquarian Book Fair (April 27-30, 2023 at the Park Avenue Armory) will feature over 180 exhibitors from 17 countries, presenting a vast treasure trove of items: rare books, maps, illuminated manuscripts, incunabula, fine bindings, illustrations, historical documents, prints and print ephemera. Below are some of the items dealers have indentified as their finest or most-exciting offerings! Publisher's Deluxe Edition with the Plates Colored by Hand A Wonderful Example in the Publisher's Superlative 'Polychromatic' Binding SAND, Maurice; MANCEAU, A, illustrator Masques et Bouffons (Comédie Italienne). Texte et Dessins par Maurice Sand. Gravures par A. Manceau. Preface par George Sand. Paris: A Lévy Fils, Libraire-Éditeur, 1862. Publisher's Deluxe Edition in the Superlative 'Polychromatic' Binding by Antoine Lenègre. Two large octavo volumes (10 3/8 x 7 1/8 inches; 263 x 181 mm.). -viii, 356, list of plates,verso blank], , table, verso blank] pp; , 384 pp. Half-titles with printer's credit and publisher's note verso and printed titles in red to each vol., engraved frontispiece with additional coloring by hand to vol. 1, 'Préface' by George Sand, 'Avant-Propos', 'Introduction' and text. Fifty superb hand colored plates by Maurice Sand, and engraved by George Sand's lover Alexandre Manceau. Publisher's Deluxe 'Polychromatic' binding by Antoine Lenègre with his signature in gilt on both front covers. Quarter black chagrin over black cloth boar... [more New York Book Fair Preview]
Spring is in the air and the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America's New York Book Fair returns to the Park Avenue Armory April 27-30, 2023. The Fair's specialties encompass art, science, medicine, literature, history, gastronomy, fashion, first editions, Americana, philosophy, children's books and much more. From the historic and academic, the religious and spiritual—to the bedrock of secular culture, finance, politics—the Fair boasts offerings in every conceivable genre and subject. The 63rd New York International Antiquarian Book Fair is officially sanctioned by the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers. This means that the consumer can rely upon the experience and professionalism of participating dealers and the authenticity of the items available for purchase. Simply stated, all books, manuscripts and related material have been carefully examined for completeness and bibliographic accuracy. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit https://www.nyantiquarianbookfair.com... Event Schedule Thursday, April 27, 5pm-8pm -- Preview Night Friday, April 28, noon-8pm Saturday, April 29, noon-7pm Sunday, April 30, noon-5pm Exhibitors The Fair will showcase over 180 exhibitors from 17 countries, presenting a vast treasure trove of items: rare books, maps, illuminated manuscripts, incunabula, fine bindings, illustrations, historical documents, prints and print ephemera. View the floor plan and ex... [more 2023 New York Book Fair]
The ABAA is accepting entries for the 2023 National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest, which is jointly administered by the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA), the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies (FABS), the Grolier Club, and the Center for the Book and the Rare Books and Special Collections Division (Library of Congress). The National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest is open to all prizewinners of college book-collecting contests, as well as to interested students whose institutions do not offer formal contests. (More information can be found here...) All entries should be submitted at https://www.abaa.org/ncbcc/ncbcc-application... All entries for the 2023 competition must be submitted by June 15, 2023. For more information on the contest, please visit https://www.abaa.org/ncbcc/the-national-collegiate-book-collecting-contest... The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America promotes ethical standards and professionalism in the antiquarian book trade, encourages the collecting and preservation of rare books, and supports education and research. The Fellowship of American Bibliographic Societies was formed in 1993 as a national organization of member book collecting groups. The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress was established in 1977 to promote books, reading, literacy and libraries, as well as the scholarly study of books. Noted collector, bibliophile, and philanthropist Susan Jaffe Tane funds the prizes for the Nation... [more 2023 National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest]
Join ABAA Member Stuart Bennett on Tuesday February 7th at 5:00pm ET, for an illustrated talk on the history and development of book production in England, especially bookbinding on novels, including how Jane Austen's novels were originally bound. The talk will start with the hand-press era and take us all the way to classic editions of Austen's novels in the nineteenth century to show the art and science of bookbinding. Presented under the auspices of Jane Austen & Co. Sign up for the Zoom webinar here. Donations are invited, but sign-up is free: simply enter "0" in the "Add a donation" box to attend for free. Image from Jane Austen & Co. [more WEBINAR Feb 7th: Bookbinding and the English Novel from Aphra Behn to Jane Austen]
The upcoming 55th California International Antiquarian Book Fair (February 10-12 at the Pasadena Convention Center, Pasadena, CA) will feature fine and rare materials from around the globe, including manuscripts, first editions, children's books, ephemera, maps and autographs, as well as antiquarian books in a vast array of fields. Here is a preview of some of the items our exhibitors will be bringing to the Fair: LAMOTTE, Louise. Album with 191 Fashion Design Illustrations. Paris: 1920-1924. Three large quarto volumes with 191 beautiful original fashion design illustrations tipped in on cards. Illustrations are in pen-and-ink and hand-colored with watercolors and sometimes heightened in gold and silver. Leaves: (11 x 9 inches; 280 x 225 mm) Illustrations: (9 1/2 x 6 3/8 inches; 240 x 160 mm). Each illustration is stamped with Lamotte's ink stamp on verso, and occasionally also on recto. The stamp reads "3 Faubourg St. Honore Paris Louise Lamotte" Each plate is also numbered and named on verso in ink. Many of the illustrations are also signed by Lamotte on verso. The spine of volume one reads 1920-1921, volume II reads 1922-1923, and volume III reads 1924. These drawings are particularly interesting in that the 1920s marked an important era in fashion. Fashion underwent a modernization and a simplification from the earlier Victorian and Edwardian eras. As seen in these present examples, the "roaring twenties" brought "the development of convenient and modern styles that rejec... [more CA Book Fair: Preview]
Don't miss the ABAA Virtual Book Fair: Boston Holiday Edition! Your chance to finish your holiday shopping and find rare and unique gifts for everyone on your list! December 8-10, 2022 www.abaa.org/vbf Explore the finest rare books, manuscripts and ephemera. Shop the virtual booths of international sellers and discover their latest acquisitions and rare finds. View participating booksellers... Virtual doors open continuously from 12pm EDT on Thursday, December 8 until 7pm EDT on Saturday, December 10. www.abaa.org/vbf [more ABAA Virtual Book Fair: Boston Holiday Edition]
The Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair returns to the Hynes Convention Center in Boston's Back Bay for an in-person book fair November 11-13, 2022. Here are some highlights from among the rare books and related ephemera you'll find when you visit! Aldus Chapin Higgins Photo Album, 1923. A Ten Weeks Vacation Trip to Europe. February 23rd to May 12th 1923 by Mary Sprague and Aldus Chapin Higgins ending with a Motor Trip in France with Elizabeth and W. Irving Clark Large format hand-made book, unpaginated , colored ink manuscript calligraphy on cover, bound in leather parchment over stiff boards, 306 large and medium format professional black and white photographs mounted on laid paper with deckled edges, each photo titled in manuscript, 3-page typed itinerary bound in at end of book, one small landscape oil painting "Taormina" bound in, 2-page color map with itinerary hand drawn on map, separate set of 7 small format B&W photographs of the architecture of the Higgins home, newly completed, Worcester, Massachusetts, and one engraved calling card of Mr. and Mrs. Aldus Chapin Higgins 1 John Wing Road . Dimensions: 15 1/8" x 11 1/4" x 3" Condition: book as found good condition, covers some wear, contents, including laid paper pages, oil painting, manuscript, professional photographs excellent condition. Description: There are two works of art in this description: the hand made parchment bound, decorated book that became the Higgins photograph album; and the large archive of... [more Boston Book Fair Featured Items]
Please join us on October 21st at 3pm ET to honor this year's prizewinners of the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest's Susan Tane Prize for Student Book Collectors by Zoom. In addition to the awards, the Library of Congress' Chief of Rare Books and Special Collections Division, Mark Dimunation, will interview each winner. To attend, you must register for the Zoom meeting at this link. First Prize Daria Rose Evdokimova (Harvard University) "Ardis Publishers and the Immigrant Identity" Second Prize Francesca Mancino (Case Western Reserve University) “Reassessing Modernism: Women Writers and Publishers of the Lost Generation” Third Prize Austin Benson (University of Virginia) “The Little Office of Our Lady, 1599-1966: Online Book Collecting During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Essay Prize Elizabeth Propst (Harvard University) “How Much Am I Bid for the Moon?: Collecting Poetry on the Cheap” With thanks to our colleagues and judges from the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies (FABS), the Grolier Club, and the Center for the Book and the Rare Books and Special Collections Division (the Library of Congress) for making the contest happen once again, and to Susan Tane for funding the prizes. We look forward to seeing you there. NCBCC Award Ceremony Registration [more National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest Awards on October 21]