The first ABAA Virtual Book Fair starts at 10am (EDT) on Thursday, June 4. Here are some preview items drawn from the rare books and print ephemera you'll find when the virtual doors open. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain London, Chatto & Windus, 1876. First English Edition, which preceded the American edition by six months. Bound in red cloth lettered and decorated in black and gilt. Housed in a custom red leather backed cloth clamshell. The River War, An Historical Account of the Reconquest of the Soudan by Winston Spencer Churchill First edition, first printing, two-volume set. The personal copy of Princess Alexandra of Wales before she became Queen Consort of the United Kingdom won the accession of her husband King Edward VII in 1901. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck New York: The Viking Press, 1939. First edition. Unclipped, wrap around pictorial dust jacket. Housed in a custom-made clamshell. Hebdomidaire Set of miniature blank journals housed within a book box. France, 1840. The LIfe of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell An uncut first edition, first issue of James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson. (London, Printed by Henry Baldwin for Charles Dilly, 1791.) Two quarto volumes. A fine set in the original binding. The Drawings of John Woodhouse Audubon. Illustrating his Adventures through Mexico and California by DENTZEL, CARL SCHAEFER San Francisco:, 1957: Book Club of California, 1957. Book. Illus. by John Woodhouse Audubon. Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Ed... [more Virtual Book Fair Preview]
Preview some of the exciting rare books and related items you'll find at the 60th annual New York International Antiquarian Book Fair. Wells, H G. THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON Indianapolis: The Bowen-Merrill Company, . Octavo, pp. 1-312, twelve inserted plates with illustrations by E. Hering, title page printed in black and red, original pictorial cloth, front panel stamped in gold and blind, spine panel stamped in gold, rear panel stamped in blind. First edition, first binding with "Bowen / Merrill" at base of spine panel, variant with moon gold stamped and author and title gold stamped on front panel. Inscribed and signed on the half title page by Apollo 11 astronaut and first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong. Preceded the British edition by approximately one month. The two editions have minor textual differences. "... a gripping adventure story as well as a historic milestone in modern science fiction." - Survey of Science Fiction Literature II, pp. 782-86. "The last and most complex is THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON. The two first men, Bedford and Cavor are well-contrasted, the civilization of the Selenites is excellent both as horror and satire; and the novel abounds with wonderful passages of unforced description at which Wells is unrivaled ... This lovely book also contains much of Wells's delightful humor; it has kept the joints of his discourse oiled to this day. After THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON, Wells's science fiction novels are never quite the same." - Bleiler (ed),... [more New York Book Fair Preview]
“Many of the books at the fair are not just limited editions, but truly one of a kind.” — New York Times The rare-book world descends on New York over the weekend of March 5-8, 2020 for the 60th New York International Antiquarian Book Fair at the Park Avenue Armory! The New York International Antiquarian Book Fair will feature over 200 exhibitors, carrying a vast treasure trove of rare and scarce material with them: rare books, maps, illuminated manuscripts, incunabula, fine bindings, illustrations, historical documents, rare prints and print ephemera, and so much more. The New York International Antiquarian Book Fair is sponsored by the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers. Special Events: Preview Night — Thursday, March 5, 5pm-9pm Be among the first to see what's on display. Discovery Day — Sunday, March 8th, 1pm-3pm. Do you have a particularly old or rare books in your collection? Discovery Day gives ticketed visitors an opportunity to bring their own rare books, manuscripts, maps, etc. (up to five items) for evaluation by our panel of exhibitors. So, plan to bring in your treasures — we want to see them! Location: Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Avenue, New York City Opening Hours: Friday, March 6, noon-8pm Saturday, March 7, noon-7pm Sunday, March 8, noon-5pm Admission: Preview Night: Thursday, March 5, 5pm-9pm $60 Admission — Includes one daily re-admission Weekend: $25 General $10 Students (w... [more 2020 New York Book Fair]
Thousands of book lovers, booksellers, and scholars will converge in Southern California for the 53rd California International Antiquarian Book Fair over the weekend of February 7-9, 2020. One of the nation's largest exhibitions and sales of rare books, the 2020 California Book Fair celebrates the 100th anniversary of Women's Suffrage with a special exhibit -- Votes for Women -- documenting women's effort to secure political equality. Materials will be on display from the special collection libraries of The Claremont Colleges; University of Southern California; University of California, Los Angeles; California State University; Dominguez Hills; and the Los Angeles Public Library. Recognized as one of the world's pre-eminent exhibitions of antiquarian books, this eagerly anticipated annual fair gives visitors the opportunity to see, learn about, and purchase the finest in rare books, manuscripts, autographs, maps, fine prints, photographs, and more. Featuring more than 150 booksellers from the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA) and International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), the California Book Fair presents volumes from six centuries of printing, as well as original manuscripts that predate Gutenberg. Books at the Fair will cover every imaginable area, from the history of travel and exploration to early science and medicine to classic literature, modern first editions, as well as children's and illustrated books. Prices can range from just a fe... [more California Book Fair 2020]
The 53rd California International Antiquarian Book Fair takes place in Pasadena, California over the weekend of February 7-9, 2020. Here's is a little taste of the rare books and items of print ephemera ABAA members will be exhibiting at this year's Fair! Bradbury, Ray. The Martian Chronicles. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1950. First edition. 222pp. Octavo. Green cloth boards. Light sunning and wear, corners of jacket clipped. Leaf inscribed by Bradbury laid in. An excellent example of Bradbury's seminal future history detailing relations between human settlers and Martian natives. Offered by Ken Sanders Rare Books, booth #610. Women Organizing for Suffrage and Political Change: A Collection of Unusual, Ephemeral, and Delicate Pieces of Suffrage And Related Women's Social Reform Movements Large collection of 36 original memorabilia and worn items from the women's suffrage movement, as well as from the female led social reform movement for temperance, and early women's political campaigns for office. The worn items of this collection originally served to identify suffragettes at rallies and while canvassing. Rather than the emblematic, but far more numerous suffrage buttons, this collection shows a keen focus on the more unusual representations of suffrage. It includes items that are extremely rare today because they were either very fragile or made to be disgarded, such as a delicate porcelain handbell embellished with the “Votes for Women” motto, or a paper cup from the 1... [more CA Book Fair Preview]
The ABAA recently learned of new developments in the criminal case regarding the Carnegie Library thefts. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Greg Priore and John Schulman pleaded guilty to theft yesterday. The full article is here: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2020/01/13/carnegie-library-rare-books-theft-greg-priore-john-schulman-guilty-plea/stories/202001130088... [more Updates in Carnegie Library Theft Case]
The ABAA admitted a number of full and associate members at the end of 2019. Please welcome these new members below: Full Members Alexander Akin, Bolerium Books (San Francisco, CA) Alexander Akin, the son of two labor activists, made his first international trip at the age of 15 to North Korea – an eye-opening visit that sparked an enduring interest in Asian history. He began part-time at Bolerium Books doing various tasks for store credit while finishing a Ph.D. in Chinese history. After a teaching stint, during which he discovered that academia pays even worse than the book trade, he returned to Bolerium full-time in 2011 and became a co-owner in 2013. Melding his academic interests with his activist background, he has expanded the bookstore's purview to include Asian language books and ephemera, while also cataloging materials related to labor and radical history. He has published a number of articles in the fields of East Asian cultural exchange and numismatics, and is finishing a book for Amsterdam University Press on the place of cartography in China's late 16th-century publishing boom. Karen Austin, Austin's Antiquarian Books (Wilmington, VT) Karen Austin left her career in retail buying and management in 1983 when her husband Garry convinced her that the antiquarian book business was a much more pleasant way to make a living. After opening their first store, Snug Harbor Books, in Wells, Maine in 1980, they went on to open two more in the area, and also ran auctions ... [more The Latest ABAA Members]
ABAA-member John Crichton of San Francisco's Brick Row Book Shop has loaned the oldest-known Christmas card to the Charles Dickens Museum in London for inclusion in their current exhibition “Beautiful Books: Dickens and the Business of Christmas.” The card, illustrated by John Calcott Horsley and designed and commissioned by Sir Henry Cole, was printed and mailed in 1843, making it the oldest known Christmas card. Crichton acquired the card in 2017, and interested parties should contact Brick Row Book Shop if they wish to own this piece of history. Charles Dickens, of course, was pivotal to the Christmas industry as we now know it! His celebrated story A Christmas Carol appeared the same year as this card, and was an instant success — so much so that another publisher was offering bootleg editions within the year! 1000 copies of the card were originally printed, but only five are known to have survived to the present day. Crichton told the San Francisco Chronicle that the "survival of these ephemeral items is a rarity, as evidenced by the fact that this museum wanted to display it” and noted that “having a Christmas card that you can sell is the beginning of the commercialization of Christmas.” The Chronicle article provides more details more details about this event: “The press run was 1,000, sold in shops at a shilling apiece, about $4 in today's U.S. currency. Each card had a line at the top for writing in the name of the recipient, and a line at the bottom f... [more The World’s Oldest Christmas Card on Display]
One of the oldest and most respected antiquarian book shows in the country, the 43rd Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair will be held November 15-17, 2019 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. Featuring the fascinating collections and rare treasures of more than 130 American and international booksellers, the event gives visitors the opportunity to see, learn about, and purchase the finest in rare and valuable books, illuminated manuscripts, autographs, political and historic documents, maps, atlases, photographs, fine and decorative prints, and much more. An alluring treasure trove awaits seasoned collectors as well as new visitors at an event that offers the top selection of items available on today's international literary market. Attendees have the unique chance to get a close look at rare and historic museum-quality items, offered by some of the most prestigious participants in the trade. Whether just browsing or buying, the Fair offers something for every taste and budget—books on art, politics, travel, gastronomy, and science to sport, natural history, literature, fashion, music, and children's books—all appealing to a range of bibliophiles and browsers. From the historic and academic, to the religious and spiritual, from the exotic to the everyday–the Fair has offerings in every conceivable genre and subject. In recent years, novice and younger collectors have been increasingly captivated with unique offerings at accessible price points. For attendee... [more Boston Book Fair 2019]
UPDATE: These items have been recovered. The following two artist books by photographer Peter Bogardus were lost in transit to a New York address: Bogardus, Peter. Going to Gansu. Woodblock title-page, blocks carved and printed by the artist, fourteen photogravures printed from copper plates, each numbered and signed. Oblong folio (images 28 x 23 cm; paper size 33 x 38 cm). New York: Khelcom New York, 2018. No. 4 of 19 copies (of a total edition of 22) numbered and signed by the artist. Quarter black morocco over brown paper board and cloth clamshell box with cloth chemise, spine titled in gilt, by Gray Parrot. Bogardus, Peter. Places of Reverence. 40 photographs printed from copper plates as photogravures by Peter Bogardus. Text written by the artist and letterpress printed by Arthur Larson at Horton Tank Graphics. leaves. New York: Khelcom New York, 2016. Limited edition of 39 signed and numbered copies printed on Twinrocker handmade paper. Quarter red leather, spine stamped in gold, over cream-colored cloth boards, housed in matching clamshell box by Gray Parrot. If you have any information on these items, please contact James Cummins Bookseller at (212) 688-6441 or info@jamescumminsbookseller.com. [more Lost in Transit: Two Artist Books by Peter Bogardus]