The 44th California International Antiquarian Book Fair will be held this weekend, February 11th-13th, in San Francisco at the Concourse Exhibition Center. Over 200 members of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA) and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) will be exhibiting their diverse inventories, providing a rich selection of books, manuscripts, maps and other printed materials. The theme of this year's fair is music, and there will be a special exhibit of rare musical books and manuscripts from the Jean Gray Hargrove Music Library of the University of California at Berkeley. Additionally, there will be several lecture and seminars taking place during the fair; a schedule of events can be found here. If you are attending the fair, please drop by the ABAA booth! The 44th California International Antiquarian Book Fair Concourse Exhibition Center 635 8th Street at Brannan Street San Francisco, CA 94103 Hours: Friday, February 11, 2011 3 pm - 8 pm Saturday, February 12, 2011 11 am - 7 pm Sunday, February 13, 2011 11 am - 5 pm For more information, please visit sfbookfair.com. [more This Weekend: 44th California International Antiquarian Book Fair in San Francisco]
Events
An interesting New York Times article on Litquake and the literary scene in San Francisco; several ABAA firms are mentioned- Bolerium, Libros Latinos, Meyer Boswell- and there's a nice paragraph on John Durham, proprietor of Bolerium. Thanks to Joe Luttrell from Meyer Boswell for bringing this to our attention! San Francisco's Bookstores and Readings reflect a Lively Literary Scene [more San Francisco’s Bookstores and Readings reflect a Lively Literary Scene]
A member brought this brief but interesting item about Jane Austen to our attention. Academic: Jane Austen had spell checker [more 'Jane Austen had spell checker']
A first edition of D.H. Lawrence's The Rainbow, with an illustrated dust jacket, is expected to bring in between $28,000 and $40,000 when it is auctioned off by Sotheby's London on October 28. Even without the dust jacket, a first edition of the novel is valuable, going for about $1,600 depending on condition, because, out of the original 2,527 copies printed in 1915, 1,195 copies were destroyed after the book was banned under the Obscene Publications Act. This left only 1,332 first editions in existence, of which very few are believed to still have their dust jackets intact. Two other D.H. Lawrence first editions will be sold alongside this rare copy of The Rainbow; a copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover in a rare dust jacket and a limited edition English-issue copy of Women in Love, number 31 of 50 copies signed by Lawrence. These books are part of a private collection comprised of 149 rare books put up for sale by a mysterious 75-year-old man, an "English Bibliophile" who has been collecting for 45 years and now wants to disperse his library through several Sotheby's sales so that "other collectors, young and old" have "the opportunity to acquire such fine books". Also included in the sale is an extremely rare first edition of Peter Pan that is signed by J.M. Barrie and inscribed to Lady Diana Cooper, a close friend of his and well known society beauty. It is estimated to sell for almost $32,000, and the entire collection is thought to bring in nearly $5 million. Rare DH Lawren... [more Rare D.H. Lawrence Books at Auction]
On October 28th, Ken Gloss will be giving a free lecture at the Hingham Public Library entitled, "Is There Value in Your Old and Used Books?". The link provides a profile of Ken as well as more information on the lecture. Ken Gloss coming to Hingham Public Library Brattle Book Shop [more Member in the News: Ken Gloss]
As mentioned in a previous post, Heritage Auction Galleries' Rare Books Auction will take place on October 14th in Beverly Hills, and will offer a rare English copy of 'Russia's Treasure of Diamonds and Stones'. There are a number of other noteworthy items, however. Some highlights include: *First edition of Jane Austen's first novel, Sense and Sensibility, in three volumes *First printing of three of four of Einstein's Annus Mirabilis papers *First collected edition of the "Federalist Papers", originally owned by Jonathan Dayton, a Revolutionary War officer and the youngest signer of the Constitution *First printing of the complete score of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony *First edition, first printing of A Christmas Carol from Dickens' own library *First edition, first issue of For Whom the Bell Tolls with an inscription from Hemingway to his friend Charles Sweeney *Edward S. Curtis' Portfolio 1 of The North American Indian For more information about this auction, click here. Heritage Highlights Heritage Auction Galleries [more Highlights from Heritage Auction Galleries' Upcoming Sale]
As previously posted about, in early December Sotheby's will auction off a very valuable and very interesting collection of rare books, including a first edition of Audubon's The Birds of America, which is considered to be the "world's most expensive book". Prior to the auction, the collection will tour and be put on public display in Paris, New York and London. Included in the public viewing will be the letters written by Queen Elizabeth I to jailer Sir Ralph Sadler about the imprisonment of Mary Queen of Scots, Shakspeare's First Folio, and an illustrated copy of Plutarch's Lives of Romulus. The schedule for the public viewing tour: *October 7-11: Sotheby's Paris, Galerie Charpentier, 76 rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré *October 30-November 5: Sotheby's New York, 1334 York Avenue at 72nd Street *December 3-5: Sotheby's London, 34-35 New Bond Street, W1A 2AA World's most expensive book on display [more Public Viewing of "World's Most Expensive Book"]
Tomorrow, October 2nd, Adams Amsterdam will hold its rare books, print and art auction, which will feature live internet bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com. Included in over the 800 rare books, manuscripts, maps, prints, paintings, photographs and other art pieces being offered is the original 1964 manuscript for Ik Jan Cremer. The manuscript is part of a portfolio that includes original cover designs, collages and cover art, and Cremer's own strategy of a publicity campaign for the book. It is expected to bring in between $275,000-$340,000. For more information on the complete catalogue and bidding, visit LiveAuctioneers.com. Orig. manuscript for classic '60s novel at Adams Amsterdam, Oct. 2 [more Adams Amsterdam's Rare Books, Print & Art Auction- Oct 2]
After undergoing extensive renovations, the McKim Building at the Morgan Library and Museum is set to reopen to the public on October 30th. Originally, the building was the private study and library of Pierpont Morgan, and was designed in the style of the High Renaissance. The $4.5 million renovation is truly a gift to the public, as it has greatly enhanced the exhibition space, allowing for more of the broad and remarkable permanent collection to be displayed. The Library, also known as the East Room, is now equipped with a state of the art lighting system, a newly installed 19th century Persian rug that is reminiscent of the rug that originally lay in the room, and newly designed display cases. The inlaid bookshelves that house Morgan's rare book collection have been fitted with non-reflective Plexiglas, allowing visitors a pristine view of the books. There are more than one hundred works that are exhibited on rotation in the Library, and the additional display cases will greatly increase the works on regular view. These works include: "a letter from fifteen-year-old Queen Elizabeth I purchased by Pierpont Morgan in 1900; the manuscript for Balzac's Eugenie Grandet (1833) with a torturous mass of revisions, corrections, and additions demonstrating the writer's complex creative process; illustrated notes by Alexander Calder regarding the installation of his "stabiles" from 1941; the Reims Gospel Book, the Morgan's finest Carolingian manuscript, written in gold at the Abbey o... [more Morgan Library and Museum to Reopen McKim Building]
The Phoenix New Times has named Charles Parkhurst Rare Books as the Best Collectible Bookstore of 2010. Congrats! [more Best of Phoenix 2010: Charles Parkhurst Rare Books]