ABAA member Lorne Bair has just returned from the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar, where he is on faculty. He wrote a very enjoyable piece on his experience at this year's seminar on his blog, which you can read by clicking here. If you are unfamiliar with the program, it is, as Lorne writes, "a full week of 14-hour days devoted to absolutely nothing other than talk of books." If you are an antiquarian bookseller and unfamiliar with CABS, then you need to check it out! "A Game-Changing Education For Aspiring Booksellers" Lorne Bair [more Lorne Bair Reviews the 2011 Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar]
Brent Ashworth, a Utah rare book dealer and collector, claimed that he had found a 200 page manuscript proving Butch Cassidy did not die in a 1908 shootout, as historians believed, but lived to old age and penned an autobiography. The manuscript is entitled Bandit Invincible: The Story of Butch Cassidy and was written in 1934. It appears to be an extended version of an unpublished novella of the same title by William T. Phillips. Larry Pointer has been on Butch Cassidy's trail for 40 years trying to find out what really happened to him. Pointer had found the truncated version of Bandit Invicible in the 1970s and, although it was a fictionalized biography, there were a number of obscure details that led Pointer to believe that William T. Phillips was in fact Butch Cassidy. Pointer got in touch with Phillips' wife, who denied that Phillips and Cassidy were one and the same, and his son, who was convinced they were. He then had handwriting experts compare Phillips' penmanship with known letters from Cassidy; they confirmed that the two matched. Moreover, there was a striking resemblance between the two men. Pointer was convinced: Phillips was Butch Cassidy. One can only imagine Pointer's excitement when he was contacted by Ashworth about a different manuscript of Bandit Invincible. He began examining additional details offered in the longer manuscript, specifically the names of Cassidy's associates. Using the Atlas of Prisoners at the Wyoming Territorial Prison, he noticed that... [more Supposed Butch Cassidy Autobiography Inauthentic]
Howard S. Mott, Inc. is celebrating its 75th Anniversary! Howard S. Mott, Inc. was one of the founding firms of the ABAA, joining in 1949 when the association was formed. Proprietor Donald N. Mott took over the family business from his parents, who, as ABAA members have commented, would be proud of this landmark in the trade. In celebration, Howard S. Mott, Inc. is offering Catalogue 260, which is available in print or electronically. If you are interested in receiving one, please click here to email the shop. Congratulations to Donald and all those at Howard S. Mott, Inc. for reaching this milestone. We wish you another 75 years of success! [more Howard S. Mott, Inc. Celebrates 75th Anniversary]
A comic book collector and dealer, Gary Colabuono, displayed a number of very rare ashcan comic books last weekend at Chicagos Comic Con. An ashcan comic is a hand drawn, unfinished version of a comic book that was produced for either legal purposes, such as securing trademarks, or to demonstrate publications for potential advertisers. These comics were then intended to be thrown out, which is how they got their name, and makes them extremely rare. (These ashcan copies would have been produced during the Golden Age of Comics , which lasted from the 1930s-1950s). For many comic books, there are only one or two copies known to have survived. Among the ashcan copies that Gary displayed were Spierman, Superwoman, Superboy and Supergirl comics from the 1930s and 1940s. Gareb Shamus, CEO of Wizard World, the company that puts on Comic Con, noted that what Gary has is a piece of history that people havent seen before&thats what gets the juices flowing for collectors out there. Gary agrees that they are pop-culture relics or artifacts , but would not comment on the estimated value of his collection. Rare ashcan comic books on display at Chicago Comic Con [more Ashcan Comics Displayed at Chicago Comic Con]
The Victoria & Albert Museum has a neat video on their website that shows the process of creating a hand-printed and hand-bound octavo. Please click here to watch (Note: there is no audio on the video, only closed captioning). [more Video: Printing and Binding a Hand Made Octavo]
This item was still reported missing as of May 30, 2019. The following item was reported missing during transport: Eleonora Maria Rosalia, Herzogin zu Troppau und Jagerndorff. FREYWILLIG-AUFFGESPRUNGENER GRANAT-APFFEL, Des Christlichen Samaritans... Wienn in Oesterreich: druckts und verlegts Anna Francisca Voigtin. (Vienna): 1708. Fuller title: FREYWILLIG-AUFFGESPRUNGENER GRANAT-APFFEL, Des Christlichen Samaritans, Oder: Auss Christlicher Lieb dess Nachsten eroffnete Behaimbnuss Viler vortrefflichen, sonders, bewahrten Mitteln und Wunder-heylsamen Artzneyen... Auffs neue vermehrt, (sambt einer kleinen Diaeta, wie sich bey jeder Kranckheit in Essen und Trincken zuverhalten ; wie auch beygefugten neuen Koch Buch, in welchen allerhand rare und denen Patienten zu verschidenen Kranckheiten erspriessliche Speisen) nun zum sechstenmahl in offentlichen Druck verfertiget... Two volumes in one. , 499; , 120, . First title leaf stained; some additional staining elsewhere. One signature bound upside down. 4to. 200 mm. Early nineteenth century leather backed marbled boards binding; worn. On the endpapers is a 1820's four page manuscript family record of John Friedrich Furst. Text mostly in German gothic letter. First published in 1697, Duchess Eleonora Maria Rosalia (1647-1704) created this remarkable collection of recipes, advice, and formulas for: cooking; food; drink; medicine; veterinary; household and farm science; etc. Weiss 2300; Ferguson. Bibliotheca Chemica,; I, pp. 235-236 (1697... [more German Book by Duchess Eleonora Maria Rosalia Gone Missing During Transport]
Did you know that the Folger Shakespeare Library has its own YouTube channel? Theres a variety of interesting videos on there, definitely worth checking out. Below Ive included links to two videos I found particularly relevant to our trade. The first is an instructional video on handling rare materials, and the second is a demonstration of how a Renaissance-era printing press works. Enjoy! Handling Rare Materials http://youtu.be/5NWyruNYILw Printing 101 http://youtu.be/lX6e8Q2nc5A [more Videos from the Folger Shakespeare Library's YouTube Channel]
The Rare Book School had some wonderful course offerings this year (as they do every summer!). ABAA member and past President Tom Congalton of Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. was there as instructor for his fourth year, co-teaching Printed Books since 1800: Element of Description and Analysis. He wrote a great blog post reviewing his course and experience. Click here for a very enjoyable read! [more Read Past ABAA President Tom Congalton's Report on the Rare Book School]
New to the rare book world and need to brush up on some important trade related jargon? Check out the ABAA's abbreviated Glossary of Terms on abaa.org! [more Abbreviated Glossary of Rare Book Terms]
This year the Caxton Club published Other People's Books: Association Copies and the Stories They Tell, a collection of essays about the stories behind a number of association copies. (An association copy is a book signed by an author and inscribed either to a personal friend or relation of the author, a colleague, or a famous figure.) The book is being distributed by Oak Knoll Books. From their website: Other People's Books provides stories of fifty-two presentation copies from 1470 to 1986, narrating how each book came to be inscribed. Containing 112 illustrations, this work is a lively historical account of the journey of twenty-four books from institutional collections and twenty-eight from private hands. Set in England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States, these books range in topics from astronomy, ornithology, political science, and psychology, to art, film, history, and literature. While many of the books are presentation inscriptions directly from the author, others were inscribed by someone who was closely connected with the author. The book highlights the owners of these volumes now, many of whom are famous names in literature and history or book scholars and collectors. Click here to read a review of the book from Fine Books & Collections. Click to view an excerpt or to purchase. It sounds like a great read for any bibliophile! Endpaper: Stories with a personal history By Association [more "Other People's Books: Association Copies and the Stories They Tell"]