This past weekend was the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair, which was held at the Hynes Convention Center. The Boston fair kicked off the ABAA's fair season, which includes our California show in February and New York show in April. Besides getting to see an abundance of fascinating and unique books, prints, maps, and ephemera, the fairs are the book world's opportunity to connect with friends and colleagues, and fair weekends always involve good books, food, drink, and conversation. This fair was no exception and a good time was had by all. Every ABAA fair also features lectures and presentations, and the Boston fair had some really interesting programs like "What's For Dinner", a presentation by Richard Gutman and Erin Williams that recounted the variety of factors that influenced cuisine in the 20th Century and an illustrated lecture by Martin Antonetti and Ron Patkus on "The Art of the Book in Wales." Attendees took advantage of the free appraisal program on Sunday afternoon, evidenced by the long line that persisted during the program's two hour slot. (It's worthwhile to note that every ABAA fair features an opportunity for attendees to have up to three books appraised on Sunday afternoon.) If you attended and had your books appraised, we'd love to hear from you about the experience. Thanks to all the exhibitors, attendees, and Commonwealth Promotion for another great fair! [more Boston Fair a Blast]
Events
The New York Public Library currently has an exhibit on display in its flagship building entitled Charles Dickens: The Key to Character. The exhibit "celebrates the power of Dickens's characters to be imagined ever anew, examining important precedents for his art of characterization as well as intersections between his personal and his literary creations." A few of the items on display are artwork by over twenty illustrators, the memoranda book Dickens used to jot down possible character names, and his 1867 pocket diary that contained the code Dickens used to communicate with his mistress. Flavorwire noted a very interesting part of this exhibit that the NYPL website did not mention: a replication of Dickens's 'fake library'. After moving into Tavistock House in 1851, Dickens apparently wanted to fill a space in his study with fake books, the witty titles of which he came up with himself, and "wrote to a bookbinder with a list of 'imitation book-backs' to be created specially for his bookshelf." For the current exhibit curators at the NYPL recreated some titles from Dickens's imitation library, which included titles such as Jonah's Account of the Whale, Kant's Ancient Humbugs, Captain Parry's Virtue of Cold Tar, The Art of Cutting the Teeth, and Drowsy's Recollections of Nothing. (Additional images and titles can be found at the link.) I swear, every time I read something about Dickens, I learn something new; what a fascinating man! Check Out Charles Dickens' Library of Fake ... [more Charles Dickens's Fake Library Replicated in NYPL Exhibit]
The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America is delighted to announce the winners of the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest! First Prize: Jordan Haug, University of California San Diego, "Mormon Fundamentalism & Polygamy" Second Prize: Jessica Anne Kahan, University of Michigan, "Romance Novels in DJ, 1925-1935" Third Prize: Andrew Ferguson, University of Virginia, "Bibliography & Puzzle of R.A. Lafferty" Essay Prize: Kevin Baggot Roberts, Johns Hopkins University, "Cheap Thrills: Sex in American Publishing, 1924-1970" Congratulations to the winners! [more 2012 National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest Winners Announced!]
In a nod to ancient Greece, where poetry was considered as much of a sport in the Olympics as wrestling, NPR has been hosting the 'Poetry Games'. Poets from all over the world were invited to write an original piece celebrating athletes and athletics and submit the poem into the games. Each morning on Morning Edition a poem is selected and read, and then posted on the Poetry Games site. It is then up to NPR's audience to vote for their favorite poem. Love this! Here's a link to today's poem, Once More by Ales Steger, and you can cast your vote here. Be sure to check back at the Poetry Games section of the NPR site for a new poem each day! [more NPR Holds 'Poetry Games']
First Edition Cover Art The very rare first edition of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, which I previously posted about, brought in £30,000 ($46,737) at auction in London last week. The book was inscribed by 'Jack' Lewis and was originally estimated to be worth £19,000 ($29,600.10). Rare Chronicles of Narnia book sells for £30,000 [more Update: First Edition Narnia Book Inscribed by 'Jack' Lewis]
There's a great article in this morning's NY Times about Rare Book School, check it out! UPDATE: A companion piece in the NY Times Arts Blog about the Hinman Collator is also worth a read. Rare Book School [more NY Times Profiles Rare Book School]
First English edition of The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli, 1640 (image via Keys) The first English edition of Niccolo Machiavelli's seminal work The Prince, dated 1640, was recently discovered during a collection evaluation in Norfolk, UK. Andrew Bullock, the head of the book department at Keys auction house was combing through a late collector's books when he was drawn to a particular shelf. "The Machiavelli was on a shelf hidden amongst a number of Common Prayer books, but some sort of sixth sense asserted itself, and I took it down to take a closer look,†Bullock said. No matter what 'sixth book sense' brought Bullock to his discovery, he and many collectors are very happy that it did. Bullock called it an "extremely exciting find" as "it is very rare for an English first edition of such an important work to come to auction." The book is 300 pages long and measures only 14.5cm x 9cm (5¾in x 3½in), but is expected to bring in £25,000 to £30,000 ($30,992 to $46,488) when it is auctioned this Thursday, July 26. Extremely rare first edition of Machiavelli's The Prince, found in Norfolk, to go under the hammer in Aylsham [more First English Edition of Machiavelli's 'The Prince' Goes to Auction Thursday]
The New Orleans Public Library and the Southern Food and Beverage Museum (SoFAB) have partnered to open the largest culinary library in the South. The two organizations have been in talks about the project since 2010, but the museum had to be "mature enough to acquire a building", said SoFAB president Liz Williams. The museum currently has over 9,000 cookbooks, menus, recipes, archival documents, and literature about food, all of which will be housed at the new library. In addition, there will be a collection of children's materials related to the culinary arts, food, and nutrition. Library director Charles Brown said that, once completed, this children's culinary collection will be the most comprehensive of its kind. Brown also stated the library's intention to become a repository for "the papers of people in the culinary world." The library has already received its first donation of papers from Southern kosher cookbook author Mildred Covert. SoFAB lost its collection of more than 2,000 books and the computer that housed the collection database during Hurricane Katrina, but donations of from all over the world came in after the catastrophe, making the robust collection that exists today. The library is scheduled to open in 2013 and will be located at 1609 O.C. Haley Blvd, just down the street from SoFAB's new location (also set to open next year). The library will be free and open to the public, but the collection will not circulate. No taxpayer dollars will be used for the... [more New Orleans Set to Open Largest Culinary Library in the South]
Reading Rainbow, one of my favorite shows as a child, is returning to teach a new generation about the magical journeys books can take you on, but will do so in a whole new medium. Originally a television program that aired on PBS from 1983 to 2006, Reading Rainbow will now be available as an app. LeVar Burton, the host of the television show, acquired the "Reading Rainbow" license last year for his new digital multimedia company, RRKidz. Burton recognized the changes occurring in the children's publishing industry; like the entire industry, things are moving more and more toward digital platforms and he saw a perfect opportunity to reinvent what he did for 25 years on Reading Rainbow: get kids excited about reading books through the use of technology. “We're still tying literature and the real world together, and where it meets is in the imagination of the reader, the child,†Burton said. “So I think we've really done a good job of translating in a bottom-up reinvention of what was once a television series (into) a new multidimensional interactive experience.†The app is intended for children ages 3-9 and currently features 150 books that are segmented onto different "islands", like 'Animal Kingdom', 'My Friends', and 'My Family'. Stories come alive through audio storytelling by celebrity actors and "light animations and activities to enhance the story." It also features customized reading recommendations, a reward program to motivate reading, a parental dashboard to... [more 'Reading Rainbow' Returns as an App]
First Edition Cover Art of 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' by C.S. Lewis A rare inscribed first edition of C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will be auctioned in London this Thursday, July 19. This copy is especially rare because the author inscribed it with his nickname, Jack, which only close friends and family called him. No other copy of the book with an inscription of Lewis's nickname has ever gone on sale. The inscription reads, "Nicholas Hardie, with love from Jack Lewis", and was given to the son of Colin Graham Hardie, one of Lewis's best friends. Lewis would often visit the Hardie household, Nicholas Hardie, now 66, remembers, and spent many evenings reading Dante aloud with his father. "He was a distinguished old man," Mr. Hardie said. "I remember being eight years old and my mother telling me I had to be on my best behavior because C.S. Lewis was coming around." It was on a Christmas visit for tea in 1950 when Lewis gave Mr. Hardie the copy of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Max Hasler, a modern first editions expert at Bloomsbury Auctions, said the book is "an exciting find" because "only a few books signed by C.S. Lewis have ever come to auction, and none of them have been signed 'Jack'". The book is valued to be worth up to almost $19,000. Rare first-edition Narnia book given to your boy by C.S. Lewis up for auction at £12,000 [more First Edition Narnia Book Inscribed by 'Jack' Lewis Goes to Auction]