It's common knowledge that Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence, but did you realize he was also the first American to record a recipe for ice cream? Jefferson's recipe was for vanilla ice cream and he, sadly, did not name it Declaration of Deliciousness (which would be a perfect name if Ben & Jerry's decided to make a tribute flavor!). Precursors to ice cream, often ice mixed with fruits or juices, appeared in ancient Greek, Chinese, and Persian cultures. It's believed that the first milk based icy treat and the earliest device to make a 'ice cream' appeared in China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). These frozen iced-based drinks gained popularity in Europe, and in the 17th century it became popular to turn these drinks into frozen desserts. Italians added sugar to the concoction and sorbet (then called sorbetto) was born. A Neapolitan, Antonio Latino, is credited with creating the first milk-based sorbet, the earliest form of our modern day ice cream. The French also were experimenting with their own form of ice cream called fromage, a misleading designation since there recipe did not contain cheese, and by the 18th century it had become a popular treat. Here's where Jefferson enters the picture. Ice cream is thought to have come to America with settlers in the early 18th century, so Jefferson may have encountered the dessert in the colonies, but there is no doubt that he enjoyed it during the five years he spent in France (1784-1789). Four ice molds... [more Thomas Jefferson’s Ice Cream Recipe]
ABAA-member Vic Zoschak, owner of Tavistock Books, sponsors an educational scholarship to support antiquarian booksellers in the early stages of their career. The scholarship provides full tuition for a bookseller to attend Joel Silver's course, Reference Sources for Researching Rare Books (L-25), at the Rare Book School (RBS). The 2018 recipient of the Tavistock Books Educational Scholarship is bookseller Ellen Saito, whose talked about her experience at the Rare Book School with Margueritte Peterson of Tavistock Books. The 2018 Tavistock Books Educational Scholarship Award Winner Ellen Saito and Bibliography instructor Joel Silver this month at RBS. Margueritte Peterson: Welcome, Ellen! As the latest recipient of the Tavistock Books Educational Scholarship to Joel Silver's course at RBS, what were you most excited about, in terms of RBS? The class? Meeting more like-minded people? Ellen Saito: Thrilled to secure the Tavistock scholarship, I was elated to attend this course as my first choice by far. For months, I was in a tizzy of anticipation of this course, ESSENTIAL to everyone in the rare book world. It was most exhilarating to meet Joel Silver, prominent librarian, kind and generous teacher and master storyteller, who shared his discerning knowledge of 350+ top rare book research sources, including their free websites and affordable reprints. Develop your inner librarian; you, too, can be privy to any topic related to rare books. Your lost invitation to a secret societ... [more 2018 Tavistock Books Educational Scholarship Winner]
What newly listed or catalogued items caught the eye this week? A rare astronomical textbook from 1482; a useful set of Firsts, a magazine about collecting first editions; and a first edition by today's birthday boy, George Orwell. A bound collection of 32 full-color costume plates of French noblewomen by LANTÉ, LOUIS MARIE; GEORGES-JACQUES GATINE (ENGRAVER) (1827) Slim folio 32 colored plates bound in contemporary 3/4 leather with speckled paper over boards, decorative gilt stamped borders on both boards, and a leather label mounted to the front board, with the gilt title "Costumes Francoises," within ornamental gilt floral borders (label just starting to peel at the edges). These plates most likely originally came from a larger work consisting of 70 plates, titled "Les femmes célèbres de la France historique et littéraire à travers 70 costumes finement coloriés à la main à l'époque et rehaussés d'or." The front board is heavily mottled, the boards are exposed along the edges, and the plates are sporadically lightly foxed. Contains the following thirty-two hand-colored plates: Marguerite De Flandre, Épouse de Jean de Montfort, Duc de Bretagne; Isabeau de Bavière, Femme de Charles VI; Suivant d'Isabeau de Bavière; Suivant d'Isabeau de Bavière; Jacqueline de la Grange, Femme de Jean de Montagu, Grand Ministre de France sous Charles VI; Dame de Famille des Ursins, sous Charles VI; Agnès Sorel; Euriant, Femme du Comte de Nevers sous Charles VII; Anne de Bretagne... [more Books of the Week]
The following items have been reported missing: CHRISTIE, Agatha. Autographed letter signed ("Agatha Christie"), Winterbrook House, Wallingford, Berkshire, 20 August 1972. HUXLEY, Aldous (1894-1963). Autograph letter signed ("Aldous"), to Denver. Los Angeles, 2 January 1959. GANDHI, Indira. Autographed letter signed ("Indira Gandhi"), as Prime Minister of India, to an unnamed recipient, New Delhi, 1966. GANDHI, Mohandas K. (1869-1948). Autograph letter signed ("MK"), to Allan Taumer. , Friday . . Trotsky, Leon (1879-1940). In Russian: The Problems of the Civil War. Leningrad: Priboi, 1924. DARWIN, Charles (1809-1882). Autograph letter signed ("Ch. Darwin"), to Dr. Foster. Kent, England, 9 May . KEYNES, John Maynard, 1st Baron. Autographed letter signed ("JM Keynes"), to “My dear Ogden", Firth Sussex, 6 September 1919. If you have any information on any of these items, please contact Raptis Rare Books at mail@raptisrarebooks.com or 561.508.3479. [more Missing in Transit]
ABAA members and book lovers the world over mourn the loss of William Reese, antiquarian bookseller of New Haven, CT, and founder of the William Reese Company. He was universally acknowledged to be the greatest American antiquarian bookseller of his generation, known for his expertise in Americana, color plate books, natural history, exploration, literature, and the history of the book, and also widely celebrated as a man of uncommon graciousness, generosity, humor, and decency. William Reese was born on July 29, 1955 in Havre de Grace, Maryland, son of William Blain Reese and Katherine (Jackson) Reese, and died early in the morning of June 4, 2018 at his family's farm, Seven Springs Farm, in Havre de Grace after a long illness. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy Hurt, his sister, Barbara Reese, and his nieces, Sarah Dyer and Tessa Currie, and nephew, Andrew Currie. At this time, a private family memorial service is planned. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Bill's memory to the American Antiquarian Society. William Reese Company will continue under the ownership and management of Bill's wife, Dorothy Hurt. Bill graduated from Yale, summa cum laude, in 1977 and was already a partner in a rare book firm, Frontier Americana, while in college. In 1979, he founded the William Reese Company. To date, the firm has issued 357 catalogues in Americana, voyages, exploration, natural history, color plate books, literature, etc. since 1979, with no plans on stopping. He was a... [more In Memoriam: William Reese (1955-2018)]
Five books caught the eye among this week's crop of new listings -- along with one unusual piece of jewelry! -- which proves you never know what you'll find in a rare book shop! Winne-the-Pooh (First Edition) London: Methuen, 1926. Shepard, Ernest H.. First edition. Limited to 350 copies printed on handmade paper and signed by Milne and Shepard. With all of the well-known and well-loved illustrations and a fold-out map of Pooh's and Christopher Robin's territory, which appeared in the ordinary edition as endpapers. Bound in quarter dark-blue cloth with light-blue paper over boards. Corners slightly bumped and minute soiling to upper cover, else near fine in original dust wrapper, which shows expected toning. Housed in a red-cloth chemise inside a matching slipcase. Bookplate of former owner. Offered by Bromer Booksellers. Autograph Letter Signed by Ulysses S. Grant City Point, VA: np, 1865. First edition. Framed. Fine. THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR: IN THE LAST WEEKS OF THE WAR, GRANT DIRECTS HIS GENERALS FOR THE FINAL PUSH ON RICHMOND AND PETERSBURG. By March, 1865, the Richard-Petersburg campaign was in its ninth month of operation and the Union forces were putting a stranglehold around General Lee's vaunted Army of Northern Virginia. The Union army was getting reports from Confederate deserters detailing the desperate state of Lee's army due to lack of food and supplies. It seemed only a matter of time before Lee would have to make a move: either try to flee with his army, or s... [more Books of the Week]
On October 4th, 1862, a children's literature tycoon was born. With his humble beginnings, of course, no one ever would have suspected that a talented writer and publisher was in their midst. Edward L. Stratemeyer was born the youngest of six children in Elizabeth, New Jersey to a young tobacconist and his wife. Both of Edward's parents had immigrated from Hanover, Germany in 1837, and yet Stratemeyer's main language was English growing up. As a child, Stratemeyer read Horatio Alger often, enjoying his rags-to-riches tales immensely. He later was said to have remarked on how much Alger's stories influenced him as a young man, and gave him some of the confidence he later used to begin his career. It looks as though even as a teenager Stratemeyer had some idea of what he wanted to do as an adult, as he opened his own amateur printing press in the basement of his father's tobacco store. He printed local & homemade flyers and pamphlets, and a few short stories such as The Newsboy's Adventure and The Tale of a Lumberman. After graduating high school, Stratemeyer worked daily in his father's shop, and kept up printing a few items here and there. It wasn't until he turned 26 that he sold his first story to popular children's periodical Golden Days, and received $76 for his contribution (a fact that the helpful internet informs us was over six times the average weekly paycheck for the average U.S. citizen at the time). After experiencing this hint of fame and riches, the young writer... [more Edward Stratemeyer: King of the Children’s Series]
Which books and pieces of ephemera caught the eye among this week's crop of new listings? First editions of The Lord of the Rings, a medieval manuscript in a 15th-Century binding complete with library chain, and a contemporary fine-art binding of Sinclair Lewis' classic, It Can't Happen Here, among others... THE LORD OF THE RINGS comprising THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE TWO TOWERS & THE RETURN OF THE KING (First Editions) by TOLKIEN, J. R. R. "One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all And in the darkness bind them"THE LORD OF THE RINGS comprising THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE TWO TOWERS & THE RETURN OF THE KING, Allen & Unwin, 1954, 1954 & 1955 respectively, each in first edition, (first printing), all 3 volumes vg+ or better in vg dust-wrappers save for some light fading and wear and tear to the dust-wrapper spine extremities. INTERNATIONAL FANTASY AWARD winner and an enduring classic of literature. The quintessential fantasy quest saga from which all others are derived !!! A set of books which in fine condition, first printing & first edition has increased its value 100 fold over the last forty years. Offered by Fine Books Company. 1948 World Series Braves vs. Indians Program, 4to, pictorial covers, illustrated, 40 pp. Slight edgewear, one signature (4 pages) loose, one inch margin tear through loose signature, otherwise bright and clean; very good overall. This program is the Braves edition, featuring pictures of both managers on the ... [more Books of the Week]
Which books and pieces of ephemera caught the eye among this week's crop of new listings? A very early biography of Stalin, a protest poster from 1969, and a first edition of an influential poetry volume from the Harlem Renaissance, among others... Stalin: The Career of a Fanatic (First Edition) by Essad-Bey (Pseudonym for Lew Nussimbaum) New York: The Viking Press. Near Fine in Very Good dj. 1932 (c.1931). First American Edition. Hardcover. . (B&W photographs) First published in Germany, this was one of the earliest books about Joseph Stalin. Although probably unreliable as history (the New York Times reviewer characterized the first part of the book, dealing with Stalin's early life, as "rather fictional"), it still painted a persuasive portrait of the dictator's personality and gave a compelling account of his rise to power. The author himself, the subject of Tom Reiss's 2005 biography "The Orientalist," was quite a character: born Lev Nussimbaum, he was a Jew from Azerbaijan who transformed himself into a Muslim prince in Nazi Germany, having earlier escaped the Russian Revolution in a camel caravan. (The claim made in the jacket blurb that he was a "compatriot of Stalin's" was almost certainly bogus.) Writing as "Essad Bey" and "Kurban Said," he became a celebrated adventurer and author of the classic novel "Ali and Nino." And that ain't the half of it. (A 1934 newspaper feature story about "Essad Bey" laid in.) Very scarce, especially in the original jacket. Offered by ... [more Books of the Week]
This item is still missing as of 6/12/2019. Maggs Bros' copy of 'In Parenthesis' by David Jones was presumably stolen en-route to a dealer in Los Angeles, California. The package was delivered complete to their mailbox on the street and when they came to open it, they found the envelope empty and the book removed. The theft occurred this past Monday. A description is attached; it is copy 3/75. Please contact Ben Maggs if you know the whereabouts of this book. Benjamin Maggs Modern Department Private Press and Illustrated Books Maggs Bros. Ltd. 48 Bedford Square London, WC1B 3DR Tel: +44 (0)20 7493 7160 Fax: +44 (0)20 7499 2007 benmaggs@maggs.com http://www.maggs.com [more Missing in LA area: In Parenthesis by David Jones]