Research documenting rare bindery dust jackets from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. Adapted from the Spring 2019 Journal of The Private Libraries Association, Pinner, Middlesex, England. Reprinted by permission. The practice of issuing dust jackets on new books is generally thought to have begun with the introduction of publishers' bindings around 1820. Books issued before then (and after) in provisional bindings are believed to have neither needed nor received jackets.1 But while this understanding of early jacket use has long seemed correct for British, American and European books, recently examined evidence shows that dust jackets were issued long before the 1820s in the German states and probably elsewhere in Europe. Most of the surviving examples of these jackets, including the earliest ones, are of German origin, which is where this previously undocumented and all but unknown chapter of book history begins. I. Two-piece bindery jackets 1760s–1860s Throughout the latter decades of the eighteenth century and beyond, German binderies produced a distinctive and durable type of dust jacket for the simple board bindings of that period. This practice continued well into the era of publishers' bindings in the nineteenth century. Examples of these jackets have been examined on about thirty titles, all bound in paper-covered boards, from the 1760s to the 1860s.2 These early jackets had several characteristics that were common to them throughout the entire period of t... [more Early Bindery Dust Jackets]

A 1916 bound manuscript illuminated by Alberto Sangorski is missing from Oakland University Libraries (Rochester, MI) following a leak in Kresge Library discovered on December 11, 2021. Specifically, the item is Daisy, A Poem, by English poet Francis Thompson, “designed, written out, and illuminated” on 13 vellum pages by Alberto Sangorski for Riviere & Son with notice that “This manuscript will not be duplicated,” signed by Sangorski. Boards are jade green crushed morocco, inlaid with a border of gilt-outlined daisies and ochre celtic knots encircling five thistle flowers bordered by a thin strip of inlaid black morocco and a thicker band of red with studs echoing jewels; emerald crushed morocco doublures with border of gilt flower and pinnate leaf motif framing watered silk, and watered silk endleaves. Portrait miniature (signed AS 1916) of a young woman on the title page, and many gilt illuminated and ornate initials and rubrications throughout. The book sits in an emerald green clamshell case with brass clasps—the lid is lined in green watered silk, and the bottom is crushed velvet. Condition: Very Fine. If offered, please contact Dr. Dominique Daniel, Coordinator of Archives and Special Collections, Oakland University Libraries, daniel@oakland.edu. [more Missing: 1916 Bound Illuminated Manuscript by Alberto Sangorski]

ABAA-member Stuart Bennett (Stuart Bennett Rare Books) talks with Walter Edgar about about his novel, The Charleston Gambit (2021, Evening Post Books) -- recorded at the Charleston Literary Festival in November of 2021. Listen here... [more Stuart Bennett Interviewed About His Novel The Charleston Gambit]

Wouldn't you like to automate the process of searching our members' listings for the books or other items you desire? Well, you can easily let us do the searching for you! WANT LISTS Customers can set up “Want Lists” — saved searches for the books or items you are actively hunting for — which alert you (by email) anytime a new copy is listed or an existing listing changes substantially (new price, image added, etc.). You can tailor the frequency of these emails to suit your needs: Daily emails let you know within hours of any change or new copy being listed. Weekly or monthly emails will send you a digest of all new titles listed in the preceding week or month (and not sold by the time the email is sent). The default setting is for daily emails (as that's what ABAA members prefer). If you're actively trying to collect a popular niche or subject area, you may want more frequent emails, so no other collector beats you to your prize. CREATING A SAVED SEARCH "Want List" searches can be as general or specific as you wish. You can search for any books by a particular author, or just first editions, with or without dust jackets, or a very specific edition within a certain price range, etc., etc. If you want to monitor new listings in a broad category, enter the salient information in the “Keyword” field. (Ex: "Anarchy" or "Poetry, Ireland"). Once you've set up the search parameters, you can sit back and relax in the knowledge that if a book you want is offered for sale o... [more Let Us Do the Rare Book Searching for You!]

Robert Jordan was the best-selling author of The Wheel of Time fantasy series, and (because I need to get my utter impartiality out of the way at the start) one of my favorite authors. I've collected his books for the past 25 years. If you're unfamiliar with The Wheel of Time, think of it as a 14-volume The Lord of the Rings set at a future point in Earth's history when society has regressed technologically and forgotten most of our history -- but discovered magic, naturally! Total sales for the series are estimated to be in excess of 80 million copies, although those figures are several years old and at least one of his publishers has suggested the estimate is on the low side. With a total readership of that magnitude, it seems likely there are many people collecting Jordan's books and related items, so we have assembled this guide to the major works and significant associated items. Jordan's real name was James Oliver Rigney, Jr., a Vietnam veteran who later worked for the US Navy as a nuclear physicist. Rigney began writing for his own amusement in 1977, and published under several pseudonyms in the 1980s. The first book of The Wheel of Time (WoT) series, The Eye of the World, was published in 1990, and sold well. By 1993, when the fifth installment, The Fires of Heaven came out, WoT books were huge bestsellers. Rigney was diagnosed with amyloidosis in 2006, and died in September 2007 after undergoing extensive medical treatment at the Mayo Clinic. After his death, one of ... [more Collecting Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time]

Meet the latest antiquarian booksellers accepted as members of the ABAA. Full Members: Keith de Lellis, Keith de Lellis Gallery LLC, New York City, NY Beginning in 1970 at the age of 15, Keith de Lellis began dealing in Fine Art Photography and has done so continuously over the past 50 years. De Lellis has watched the interest in photographs grow from an exceedingly small specialized market into a major field of collecting. He started dealing when he was in junior high school and was soon selling to the Smithsonian, the Metropolitan Museum of Art along with collectors some of whom are long forgotten others who are now legends to those familiar with some of the early figures in the world of collecting art photography. The first thirty years operating as a private dealer in Manhattan and beginning in 1998 as gallery owner of the Keith de Lellis Gallery in three locations on the upper east side. First in a beaux arts mansion at 47 East 68th Street for 10 years and next at 1045 Madison Avenue for 7 years and for the past three years in the Fuller Building at 41 East 57th Street. De Lellis is known as a canny dealer who spots trends in collecting and undervalued artists before they become mainstream and popular among collectors and museums. The gallery presents five exhibitions a year. Richard Erdmann, Mare Booksellers, Dover, NH Richard Erdmann began selling books, informally, in 2001, as a way to build his personal collection; but by 2007 he transitioned to selling books as a fu... [more New Members of the ABAA]

Between 1995 and 2004, 62 older and very valuable books from the National Library of Sweden (KB) were stolen by the then head of the unit for manuscripts. Today ten of them are returned to KB, made possible by a generous donation. The returned items' lineage spans three centuries and have previously belonged to both royalty and great book collectors before being incorporated into the library's collections. The extensive thefts at KB are well known to many. Media interest has been considerable and the crimes have even been portrayed in documentaries and fiction. For the library, this event was a tragedy and the theft of the 62 books – the bearers of hundreds of years of history – a great loss for our common cultural heritage. After the thefts were discovered in 2004, the police conducted a preliminary investigation, but the case was dropped two years later. In 2011, KB was able to locate and bring home the first of the books, Cornelis von Wytfliet's atlas from 1597. At the same time, KB published a comprehensive list of all the stolen books on their website, with the plea: Help us find the books! That call was answered by Tomas Söderblom, a doctorate historian and successful entrepreneur, who took up the challenge. He contacted KB and took the initiative to donate ten of the stolen books, which today are returned to the library. “A fantastic day for culture and society” - This is a fantastic day, not only for KB but for culture and society in its entirety. We have all... [more Ten Stolen Books Returned to the National Library of Sweden, More Still Missing]

The eleven documents were part of a fifteen item lot sold by Charles Hamilton from his catalogue 15 in 1966, and they were not discovered missing until 2010. They consist mostly of legal documents signed by Mark Twain and his business manager Ralph Ashcroft. A link to a list of the documents with full descriptions and a full account of the matter can be found at the Twainquotes website: http://www.twainquotes.com/MissingInDetroit.html If you have handled any of these documents or recall seeing any of them in the market at any time since 1966, please contact Barbara Schmidt who operates the Twainquotes website (bsschmidt@twainquotes.com), or ABAA member Kevin Mac Donnell (info@macdonnellrarebooks.com). [more Possible Theft of Eleven Important Mark Twain Documents from the Detroit Public Library]

We asked the winners of the 2021 National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest to introduce themselves, and learned about some fascinating books and collections along the way! First place: Jessica Camille Jordan (Stanford University): Could you give us a brief description of your collection? My collection is comprised of works that bear the illustrative or graphic design work of husband/wife duo Leo and Diane Dillon, whose career together spanned six decades. Most of the objects in my collection are books, but there are also comics, records, posters, and more. The earliest items I have are science fiction pulp magazines from the 1950s, and the most recent is a 2019 picture book called Love and the Rocking Chair, an autobiographical story they were working on at the time of Leo's death in 2012, and which Diane later completed. What first interested you in Leo & Diane Dillon? Although I didn't know it at the time, their artwork graced some of my favorite books as a young reader, including Wise Child by Monica Furlong and Sabriel by Garth Nix. Later on, I learned more about their fascinating lives and career, and I felt it was important to try and create a comprehensive bibliography of their work. But I have always been really drawn to and moved by the beauty of their art, and that's where the initial interest came from. What currently has pride of place in your collection? Probably the Reader's Digest Condensed Books installment that contains their illustrations for a condensed v... [more Meet the 2021 NCBCC Winners]

We are pleased to announce that for the fourth year the Northern and Southern California chapters of the ABAA will be jointly awarding a prize for the best young book collectors in California. As with prior years, three prizes will be awarded, and the top collection will be exhibited at the upcoming 52nd California International Antiquarian Book Fair to be held in Oakland this coming February. Submissions are due December 1, 2021 and winners will be notified by December 20, 2021. Complete details are found here. [more Announcing The Fourth Annual California Young Book Collector’s Prize]