Stolen: Les Plaisirs et les Jours

By Susan Benne

The following item has been reported stolen: Title : Les Plaisirs et les Jours Authors : Proust (Marcel) Date of publication : 1896 Publisher : Calmann Levy, Paris Description : Calmann Lévy, Paris, 1896. Un volume grand in-8 demi maroquin brun, dos à nerfs, titre doré, plats décorés de papier marbré, tête dorée, reliure signée Devauchelle, X + 271 pages, 14 pl. hors-texte de Madeleine Lemaire. Edition originale. If you have any information regarding this item, please contact Librairie Frérot at librairie.frerot@wanadoo.fr [more Stolen: Les Plaisirs et les Jours]



Notable Private Library to be Auctioned Today in New Zealand

By Susan Benne

Today, a collection of over 600 rare bookswhat some are calling "the last great private library "will be auctioned off in New Zealand. The books were collected by Arthur Pycroft, a prominent Auckland naturalist and scholar. Pycroft earned his living as a senior manager of NZ Railways, but his passions were ornithology and natural history, which he delved into with dedicated research and during personal explorations of Hen Island, Little Barrier, the Kermadecs, and Melanesia. At the age of 50, Pycroft received a hefty inheritance and was able to retire and devote himself to his passions full time. He became a member of the "Moa Searching Committee", a group that searched for skeletons at specific sites. He even had a newly discovered species of petrel named after him. Now let's get down to businesswhat are some of the treasures in this collection? A complete set of Cook's Voyages, published in the 1770s A first edition of the first novel published in New Zealand, Taranaki: A Tale of the War by Henry Stoney (1861) A 2-volume set of Captain Scott's journals from his last expedition, published in 1914 Early Maori language publications, including an 1838 New Testament and an 1852 translated version of Robinson Crusoe Te Tohunga, a 1907 German translation of ancient Maori legends and traditions by Wilhelm Dittmer, which features a leather cover adorned with a color illustration Also included are numerous titles about exploration, shipping and maritime history, natural history an... [more Notable Private Library to be Auctioned Today in New Zealand]



Four Books Stolen from Bow Windows Bookshop

By Susan Benne

These books were still reported missing as of June 4, 2019. The following books have been reported stolen: Title : Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians. Authors : CATLIN, George. Date of publication : 1841 Publisher : London Description : First edition, 2 volumes, large 8vo. Uncut in the original green cloth boards, recently rebacked to match with new paper labels. Title : Cow-boys and Colonels. Authors : CONN, William. Date of publication : 1887 Publisher : Griffith, Farran, Okeden & Welsh, London Description : First English edition. Original gilt titled cloth with illustrations in black and brown to upper cover and spine, slight fading to spine, one small crease to lower cover, overall a very good copy. Title : On the Frontier. Authors : CAMPION, J.S. Date of publication : 1878 Publisher : Chapman & Hall, London Description : First edition. Original gilt titled cloth, spine somewhat browned. Title : The Oregon Trail. Authors : PARKMAN, Francis. Date of publication : 1892 Publisher : Macmillan, London Description : First English edition. Original gilt titled buckram, decoration in blue and red with a large gilt sun to the upper cover, t.e.g., some rubbing to extremities otherwise a very good copy. If you have any information on these items, please contact Bow Windows Bookshop at rarebooks@bowwindows.com or at 01273 480780 [more Four Books Stolen from Bow Windows Bookshop]



Stolen: First Edition of 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe'

By Susan Benne

This item was still missing as of June 3, 2019. The following item was reported stolen: Title : The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe Authors : Lewis. C. S. Date of publication : 1950 Publisher : Bles, London Description : First edition in dustwrapper. If you have any information on this book, please contact Paul Foster at paulfosterbooks@btinternet.com or 020 8876 7424 [more Stolen: First Edition of 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe']



ABAA Bostonian Members in the News

By Susan Benne

The Boston Globe has published an online slideshow of independently owned bookstores in Boston, and ABAA members were certainly the 'stars' of the show, making up half of the total bookstores listed. Congrats to our Bostonian sellers! Please click here to view the slideshow. Almost all of these dealers will be exhibiting at the Boston Antiquarian Book Fair next week. Despite economy, local bookstores endure [more ABAA Bostonian Members in the News]



Stolen Collection

By Susan Benne

Please click here to view a list of stolen books that was recently brought to our attention. If you have any information regarding any of these titles, please contact LaTonya C. Gibbs at lgibbs@chubb.com or (800) 252-4670 [more Stolen Collection]



220-year-old Book of Court Records Returned to Virginia

By Susan Benne

In 1863, Union Army Captain William A. Treadwill of the 4th New York Regiment took a book of court records from a Virginia county courthouse and shipped it north to Boston, presumably to keep the book as a relic. The book made its way from Boston to Jersey City, where it remained in the Jersey City Free Public Library for the past 150 years. The book was recently unearthed while librarians were parsing through the library's holdings in order to prepare for an upcoming exhibit to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. It contains transcribed summaries of court records from 1749 to 1755. Carl Childs, the director of Local Record Services at the Library of Virginia, was thrilled to hear of the book's discovery. The vast majority of pre-Civil War records from the Stafford County Court were destroyed, so this book helps shed some light on that period. Some interesting entries in the book include: A judge's order that a man is paid 50 pounds of tobacco for serving as a witness for two days. A lawsuit of an unhappy widow who challenged the decision that she be awarded a dowry of just one-third of her late husband's estate. Details of a case in which someone being fined for cursing in church. The book was given to Childs, and back to Virginia, last week. It will be copied for the public, and then bound and restored to be kept in the Library of Virginia. Jersey City library returns spoils of Civil War, a 220-year-old book of court records, to Virginia county [more 220-year-old Book of Court Records Returned to Virginia]