Meet the latest antiquarian booksellers accepted as members of the ABAA. New Full Members: Donald Lippincott, Open Boat Booksellers Don Lippincott is a lifelong New Englander and has been involved in the book trade since 2011. Patrick Olson, Patrick Olson Rare Books Patrick Olson has been indulging an interest in old books since high school. He first joined the rare book trade in Chicago in 2003, during his junior year of college. Four years later, after receiving his MS in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he embarked upon a decade-long detour holding a variety of professional positions working with rare books: as a rare book cataloger at the University of Illinois and MIT, as a curator at the University of Iowa, and then as a curator and eventually Head of Special Collections at Michigan State University. For six years, he taught rare book cataloging for the University of Illinois's Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Patrick returned to the trade, under his own name, in 2018. He specializes in early print in all fields, with a particular fondness for unusual continental material. Richard Thorner, Resser-Thorner Americana Richard Thorner of Resser-Thorner Americana first exhibited as a specialist in paper/ephemera at several New England shows in 1993. His “paper roots,” however, are verifed as having started around 1972, through a childhood photograph of him examing a library of books purchased by his mo... [more The Latest Members of the ABAA]

Rare book donations are being sought for an auction to help "turn the page" on Russian aggression in Ukraine. Helping Ukrainian Books and Booksellers (HUBB for short) is preparing an international rare book sale to support colleagues under fire in Ukraine. They have scheduled an online auction for mid-November and are actively seeking donations of rare and collectible books, manuscripts, artwork, and ephemera. HUBB was founded by Mitchell Kaplan, Jane Unrue of Scholars at Risk, Carolyn Forche, Christopher Merrill, and Askold Melnyczuk shortly after the start of the war. The group has contacted Oleksandr Afonin, president of the Ukrainian Publishers and Booksellers Association (UBPA) to offer assistance. So far, they've raised over $30,000. HUBB recently distributed $10,000 among some 60 publishers and booksellers across Ukraine. Afonin says that these modest grants have made a big impact on individuals whose lives have been disrupted by the war. In the second round, Ukrainian libraries were invited to apply for grants to fund new books. Melnyczuk reports that HUBB has been able to fund 30 out of the nearly 1,000 applications. "Right now, we're asking supporters to aid our effort by donating a rare or collectible book, manuscript, photograph, artwork, or item of ephemera from their personal collection, which Catalog Sale will put up for online auction in mid-November," Melnyczuk says. "This is an immediate opportunity for booksellers, dealers, and collectors to directly aid th... [more Rare Book Donations Sought for Auction to Benefit Ukranian Booksellers]

ABAA-member Kenneth Gloss, an internationally known rare book specialist and appraiser who runs the Brattle Book Shop in Boston and appears on national TV, will speak at New York's Grolier Club to talk about the "improbable finds" of his decades-long career. The presentation will take place on Thursday, October 5, 6:00 pm at The Grolier Club, 47 East 60th Street, New York, NY, and is open to the public. As Ken reflects on the surprises he's experienced while bookselling: “One day you find yourself drinking from Thomas Jefferson's coffee service, and the next day you're fumigating your truck of fleas. The house you're visiting could contain a handful of Turner watercolors, or a roomful of live ammunition.” His upcoming talk will cover spectacular finds, such as T. S. Eliot's copy of The Great Gatsby and Isaac Newton's copy of Principia Mathematica. On a particular occasion, Ken remembers, “a customer walked into the Brattle Book Shop with a Nuremberg Chronicle and a Kelmscott Chaucer!” And he's experienced some unexpected challenges, too—when he was invited to look at “about 500” books, Ken instead encountered three floors of more than 20,000 nearly perfect dust-jacketed books that he simply had to buy (and figure out how to transport). The unusual and the extraordinary will abound in this illustrated lecture. Ken will talk in part about the history of his historic bookshop (www.brattlebookshop.com/about...), which goes back to circa 1825. He is a second-generati... [more Grolier Club in-person lecture: Ken Gloss]

For most people, managing one career, mastering a sport, or overcoming a major medical challenge are the work of a lifetime. ABAA-member Zhenya Dzhavgova, owner of ZH Books in Fremont, California, has done all these and more in a very short time, as well as successfully navigating the shifting sands of integrating into a new culture, language, and most-recently parenthood. After moving to the US and completing her education, Dzhavgova got involved in the antiquarian book world, and via the well-worn path of Colorado Antiquarian Book School (CABS) and the University of Virginia's Rare Book School (RBS) established herself as a specialist on Slavic and Eastern European books. In 2016, she became a member of the ABAA, but thereafter her story diverged from the “typical” path of an antiquarian bookseller. Her odyssey began in the summer of 2021, in the middle of a global pandemic, when Dzhavgova was diagnosed with breast cancer, and not one, but two types at that! Here is the story of her medical odyssey in her own words: I have been told I had pretty much achieved an impossible goal. I am a former athlete, I eat a healthy diet, I never do drugs, I am active, I had always been very healthy, until I wasn't! Exactly two years ago, at the end of Summer 2021, right in the middle of the pandemic during a routine checkup – I was diagnosed with not one, but two types of breast cancer. I was 41, with a 4-year-old daughter. Even worse, it turned out that MRI, the most advanced imagi... [more Zhenya Dzhavgova: Medical Emergencies and Sporting Triumphs]

J & J Lubrano Music Antiquarians LLC, established in 1977 and long-time members of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America, the Professional Autograph Dealers' Association, the Music Library Association, the American Musicological Society, &c., are internationally recognized dealers in rare printed and manuscript music, rare books on music, autograph letters of composers, and music-related iconography, 15th - 21st centuries. We pay special attention to the particular collecting interests of our clientele and over the last 46 years have helped to develop some of the most important antiquarian music collections, both institutional and private, in the U.S. and abroad. We aim to provide accurate and informed descriptions of material offered to best enable our customers to make the wisest decisions regarding their acquisitions. We operate from private premises in the township of Syosset, on the north shore of Long Island. The area is known for its attractive parks, pleasant villages, and proximity to the Long Island Sound, as well as very good schools, hospitals, and high-level healthcare. Syosset is approximately one hour by train from New York City. This is a full-time, on-site position, with compensation commensurate with qualifications and experience but in the range of $45,000-$60,000. Responsibilities - Create original cataloguing for rare music-related material utilizing an in-house music reference library of approximately 5,000 volumes together with online reso... [more J & J Lubrano Music Antiquarians LLC Seeks Cataloguer]

The Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair (BIABF) returns to the Hynes Convention Center in Downtown Boston, October 27-29, 2023. Celebrating its 45th year, this three-day event features fine and rare printed materials from around the globe, including illuminated manuscripts, modern first editions, children's books, ephemera, photographs, maps and autographs, as well as antiquarian books on a vast array of topics. For more information, visit www.bostonbookfair.com... ABOUT THE FAIR More than 100 rare-book dealers from Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Serbia, the UK, and the US will exhibit an alluring treasure trove for seasoned bibliomaniacs and first-time attendees. Prices range from the millions to the eminently affordable. Each item on view, whether immaculately preserved or intriguingly weathered, tells its own story. Each bookseller holds a seemingly bottomless wealth of knowledge, both artistically and historically, about each item in their collection. “This is one of the most important annual events in the country for rare book enthusiasts,” says Julie Roper, CEO of Capricorn Event Management, LLC, who has managed the Boston Book Fair since 2015. “After the height of the pandemic, we are seeing resurgent demand for in-person fairs, where a global community of the top dealers offer the most sought-after collections of books, maps, illustrations, and ephemera on the market.” Whether browsing or buying, the Fair offers something for every taste and bud... [more 2023 Boston Book Fair]

Max Beerbohm: The Price of Celebrity The New York Public Library Stephen A. Schwarzman Building Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III Gallery Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY October 20, 2023–January 28, 2024 Today we live in a world of celebrity culture. Celebrity became an international industry in the late-nineteenth century, and the English artist and author Max Beerbohm (1872–1956) was at the center of it. From the 1890s through the 1920s, to be a celebrity meant the hope—and fear—of turning up in a drawing or a parody by “Max,” as he was known in both Britain and the U.S. His brilliant skewering of famous people in his visual caricatures and of their writing styles in his satirical works made him a celebrity himself. This was an identity he enjoyed, but later shrank from. In essays and fiction, he explored the price in human terms of achieving and maintaining celebrity status in ways that still resonate with us now. This exhibition maps the career of Sir Max Beerbohm (knighted in 1939) in relation to the idea of celebrity, following him from his early days in the Decadent circles of Oscar Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley through his late career as a radio performer on BBC broadcasts during World War II. Along the way, he knew, drew, and wrote about many other celebrities, from Henry James to Virginia Woolf and George Bernard Shaw to members of the Royal Family. The New York Public Library is the perfect place for this show. A wit and a dandy, renowned for always b... [more Max Beerbohm: The Price of Celebrity at the NYPL]

The California International Antiquarian Book Fair returns to San Francisco in 2024! The fair will take place February 9-11 at Pier 27, a new venue located on the Embarcadero between Fisherman's Wharf and the Ferry Building. The building is well-appointed, with remarkable views of the San Francisco Bay and downtown San Francisco. There is easy access for visitors, ample parking, and nearby public transportation, including San Francisco's historic street cars. The neighborhood is bright and open, frequented by tourists, and well-loved by locals. There are numerous restaurants in the neighborhood and a wide range of hotels. In addition, the Exploratorium, Coit Tower, North Beach, and City Lights Bookshop are all within a short walk. The new venue promises to be popular, and we strongly encourage you to register soon! The dates of the fair are: Friday, February 9, through Sunday, February 11, 2024. ABAA and ILAB members can register here: https://www.tfaforms.com/5059424 Information for exhibitors can be found here: https://www.abaa.org/cabookfair/exhibitor-information-sf-2024 [more 2024 California Book Fair Registration Open]

One thing that distinguishes the book collector from the casual reader is a preference for owning first editions. What is a First Edition? A first edition is the format a book took when it was first made available for sale. The ABAA glossary of book terms states: First Edition: “All of the copies printed from the first setting of type; can include multiple printings if all are from the same setting of type.” Collectors distinguish between a first edition (the first printing of a book) and a modern first edition (which more-or-less applies to books printed from 1900 on -- although, the exact definition is open to debate between dealers). What is a First Printing? The first printing is the first batch of books printed from this first setting of type. For a small press, this might be the only printing a book gets, so all copies are first edition, first printings. The ABAA glossary is a master of understatement when it says “Every printed book has a first edition, many never have later editions.” For others, there might be dozens of printings, especially if a book becomes wildly successful. (Witness the recent trend to keep popular young-adult novels -- Veronica Roth's Allegiant and John Green's Turtles All the Way Down, for two examples -- in hardcover for several years, rather than replace the hardcover with a paperback edition a year after first publication.) How Can You Tell if a Book is a First Edition? In general, books before 1900 did not indicate first or subseque... [more Identifying First Editions]

When I hear contemporary politicians invoke Churchill, I usually feel like I'm watching King Louie, the Orangutan who wants to be a man, sing “I wanna be like you” in the 1967 Disney version of The Jungle Book. “You!” sings King Louie, “I wanna be like you I wanna talk like you Walk like you, too” Yeah. Not so much. If you happen to draw a comparison between King Louis and another loud, big-headed, oddly orange, wanna-be-king with impulse control issues and destructive inclinations, well, that's up to you. I refer you to another Disney movie. Cinderella. If the shoe fits… But I digress. “I'm tired of monkeyin' around!” Sure, there's a lot of ways in which most of those who self-flatteringly invoke Churchill fall short. Intelligence. Eloquence, Historical perspective. Foresight. Principle. Conviction. Courage. General capability. But, to me, none of these are the biggest shortcomings of the chorus of King Louie/wannabe Churchills. In my book, here's the most important and most regrettable thing the Louies typically lack – a presumption of shared purpose and the primacy of decency. Churchill could be fiercely partisan and relentless in pursuit of a policy or cause. And he was a true combatant by nature, whether on the battlefield, at the rostrum, on the backbenches, in Cabinet, leading a Government, or leading the Opposition. But Churchill did not confuse mere opponents with actual enemies. He regarded sincerity of convictions that he did not share. He was a... [more Two Pugnacious Personalities]