The ABAA has launched a program where seasoned ABAA members act as mentors, i.e. business advisors and guides, to novices in the rare book field and/or those not currently in the trade but whose background and interest in the vocation would make them good candidates to enter the field. The goals of this program are to: • Provide dealers early in their careers with the opportunity to advance their professional development • Build a recruitment pipeline for the Association that enhances the number of qualified applicants and diversifies the membership • Afford mentees the opportunity to build a relationship with an ABAA member • Educate potential candidates about a career in the trade (for example, graduate students looking for a profession outside of academia) Structure ABAA Headquarters is responsible for coordinating and implementing the program. Mentors and mentees will be paired with consideration of a variety of factors such as any specific requests, specialization/area of focus, and business structure. Location could also be a point of consideration but, with the availability of technology like Skype, need not be a requirement. Once paired, mentors and mentees will be introduced via ABAA Headquarters and, if both felt that it was a suitable fit, would commence a one year period of mentorship. Over the course of the year, mentors and mentees are required to have face to face communication for a minimum of 1-2 hours each month (this could be completed electronicall... [more ABAA Launches Mentorship Program for Novice Book and Manuscript Sellers]

Missing, presumed stolen from HANSONS AUCTIONEERS and VALUERS LTD, Heage Lane, Etwall, Derbyshire, DE65 6LS: Inscribed WWII edition of Winston Churchill's My Early Life. Images of the book and inscription are attached. Please contact Marc Kuritz, if offered: churchillbookcollector@gmail.com Churchill Book Collector, ABAA | ILAB | IOBA San Diego, California, U.S.A. / 619.384.7992 [more Missing from Derbyshire, UK: Inscribed WWII edition of Winston Churchill’s My Early Life]

Nearly a century ago, women in the United States earned the right to vote. The road to universal suffrage was long and filled with many obstacles and more than a few setbacks, but through the resiliency and perseverance of the women who championed the cause of equal rights, this milestone was achieved. In celebration of the centennial anniversary, the 53rd California International Antiquarian Book Fair (February 7-9, 2020) is counting down the days to the book fair with profiles of 100 pioneering women who made #herstory and forever changed the world. Along with this social media celebration, the book fair will be hosting a special exhibit and panel discussions. Learn more at www.cabookfair.com... “The process for narrowing down the women being profiled to just 100 was arduous, but we feel they are representative of the many women who are continuing to play a role in the fight for women's rights,” said Brad Johnson of johnson rare books & archives, who compiled the list along with Carol Sandberg of Michael R. Thompson Rare Books and James and Lynne Owens of Thorn Books. Visit the California International Antiquarian Book Fair on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter to learn more about these pioneering women. Here are just a few of the women who have already been profiled: DAY 63: Nellie Bly (1864-1922), the intrepid American investigative journalist and social justice advocate. Although best known for her sensational 72-day solo voyage around the world, Bly first came to promi... [more California Book Fair Celebrates 100 Pioneering Women]

One of the more remarkable comeback stories of the 21st century has been the rebirth of the vinyl record. Once the most-common form for sales of popular music, the vinyl record was consigned to the dustbin of history by the late 1980s thanks to the rapid adoption of new formats (first 8-tracks, then cassettes, and finally CDs), along with the accompanying miniaturization of the playback machines themselves. As consumers, the mass market embraced smaller, more-portable formats, and vinyl records and the necessary cumbersome equipment to play them were judged obsolete. However, the emerging digital technology that made our smart phones and streaming services possible were based on compromises in sound quality that many aficionados could not accept, so vinyl records never truly went away, even as decades passed without most chart-topping music recordings being made available on vinyl. Speciality vinyl stores endured! Collectors and die-hard fans ensured that interest remained passionate, and have enjoyed building up their own record libraries as people without record players dispose of their parents often vast album collections. In recent years, micro-presses have been established all over the world, and for many bands, vinyl versions of their albums have become premium products, produced in limited editions and often selling out swiftly. Major retailers are again stocking vinyl albums, and records can be purchased at most malls in the US. Picture discs, colored vinyl, and other... [more Vinyl Records: Collectable & Cool]

JAMES CUMMINS BOOKSELLER of New York City is seeking an experienced antiquarian bookseller and rare book cataloguer familiar with the full range of material handled by the firm: printed books from incunables to modern literature, as well as manuscripts, autographs, archives, ephemera, and illustration art. The ideal candidate will have strong writing skills, as well as practical, demonstrable knowledge of descriptive cataloguing (including collation, bibliography, and knowledge of reference sources) from an antiquarian bookselling perspective, with suitable foreign language skills (at least one classical or modern European language beyond English). Sales experience is essential, including the ability to engage new customers (private and institutional), conclude sales, and maintain relations with existing customers. The ideal candidate will enjoy working collaboratively as a member of a small team in cataloguing, buying, researching, and selling rare books, and will have areas of particular expertise or specialization. This is a full-time position. Some travel will be required. Salary: $70,000 plus benefits, or commensurate with experience. Please send CV and references to Henry Wessells, henry@jamescumminsbookseller.com (e-mail only). [more Position Opening at James Cummins Bookseller]

Please contact us if you know the whereabouts of the following item: Reflections on Color by Roether, Susan Published by Black Stone Press, 1982 Fine in slipcase. [more Missing in NYC: Reflections on Color]

The Boston Book Fair is the annual fall gathering for book lovers and collectors of rare books, featuring the top selection of items available on the international literary market. The 43rd annual gathering of U.S. and international dealers, sanctioned by the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, takes place in Boston, Massachusetts over the weekend of November 15-17, 2019. Here are a few preview items to tempt you, including copies of some of the most-famous rare books of all time! Allen Ginsberg, Original Carbon Typescript for Part I of “Howl”, (ca. early 1956) Previously unknown original carbon typescript of the most important postwar American poem: Allen Ginsberg's “Howl.” Almost certainly the only surviving draft version of this iconic poem remaining in private hands, and the only one to ever be separately offered for sale, this copy was struck from what has become known as the fifth draft (so identified in HOWL: Original Draft Facsimiles and Variant Versions . Barry Miles, Editor. New York: Harper & Row, 1986) and most likely dates from early 1956. It is this draft that Ginsberg read in what is the earliest known recording of the poem at Oregon's Reed College from February 1956 (indeed you can hear him turning the pages at precisely the right time on the recording), performed just three months after the legendary Six Gallery reading where the poem debuted. Provenance: this copy of “Howl” was ... [more Boston Book Fair: Preview Items]

Southern & Northern California Chapters of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America have announced the second annual California Young Book Collector's Prize! Most great collectors started when they were young, and most great collections started with a passion for a particular object or subject. When these objects are books and manuscripts, the collectors are called bibliophiles, or lovers of the book. The purpose of The California Young Book Collector's Prize is to nurture the next generation of bibliophiles. The competition is open to collectors aged 35 and under who are living in California. All collections of books, manuscripts, and ephemera are welcome, no matter their monetary value or subject. The collections will be judged on their thoroughness, the approach to their subject, and the seriousness which with the collector has catalogued his or her material. The winner of the competition will be awarded: A gift certificate of $500 to spend at the 2020 California International Antiquarian Book Fair An exhibition of the winner's collection to be presented in a showcase at the book fair A stipend of $250 towards exhibition expenses (to help cover travel costs, showcase labels, and insurance) A year's membership to the Book Club of California A year's membership to the Bibliographical Society of America A year's subscription to The Book Collector A year's subscription to Fine Books & Collections magazine The deadline for receipt of submissions is December 1st, 2019... [more Second Annual California Young Book Collectors Prize]

The following items were reported missing from a building lobby in San Francisco: Antonio Gallonio / Antonio Tempesta - De Sanctorum Martyrum Cruciatibus - 1659/1660 Bockler - Theatrum Machinarum Novum 1662 & Architectura Curiosa Nova (part 1) 1664 If you have any information please contact Roland Salvato. [more Missing in San Francisco]

The makers of Downton Abbey go to great lengths to get their period details and history correct, and one of the ways they do this is by incorporating contemporary books into conversations and even at times the main plot. In fact, it can be difficult to find an episode of Downton where the references to Dickens, Trollope, or now-obscure English historians are not flying thick and fast. When Lady Edith started dating a London editor, one expected to meet Virginia Woolf or E.M. Forster at a party any moment. Alas, poor Michael Gregson died before the producers could work a Bloomsbury party into the show. (Post script: After this post was first published, I attended the "Dressing Downton" exhibition at Asheville, NC's Biltmore House -- which has a stunning library -- and discovered that Virginia Woolf was a guest at that London party, albeit in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it, non-speaking role. Her costume is the one on the right of the photo below. The exhibition was so popular it went on tour, and an expanded version will open at the Biltmore House in November 2019 and run until early April 2020.) Outfits worn by Lady Sybil (left) and Virginia Woolf (r) in Downton Abbey. Shown in the Biltmore House as part of the "Dressing Downton" exhibition in early 2015. (Source: Cincinatti Enquirer.) Given creator Julian Fellowes' attention to detail and habit of tangling the fictional Crawleys in real historical events, those featured books are genuine and are generally well-chosen. The disce... [more The Books of Downton Abbey]