Meet the newest members of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America! Full Members William C. Baker W. C. Baker Rare Books & Ephemera (Brooklyn, NY) -- Avant-garde Literature, Americana, Science, Religion, Performing Arts Will Baker operates W. C. Baker Rare Books & Ephemera, a firm specializing in Americana, counterculture, and unusual currents in science, religion, and the performing arts. Will grew up in northeast Ohio, studied religion at Carleton College, and first moved to New York in 2001 to pursue a master's degree in museum studies at NYU. During that time, he worked for the late sword swallower and collector Johnny Fox, who encouraged him to consider more seriously his long-held interest in the rare book trade. After attending Rare Book School, Will was hired as a cataloger in Americana by the William Reese Company, where he worked for five years. In 2011, Will took a hiatus from the trade to lead a revitalization program at New Haven's Institute Library as its first executive director. He returned full-time to the business in 2014 and to New York two years later. Michael Brenner Brenner's Books - Rare & Collectable (Manasquan, NJ) -- Mystery, Sci-Fi, Signed Firsts, Books about Books Always a voracious reader, Michael Brenner had been buying, selling and passionately collecting books for over 30 years before he decided, after a career in the wine business, that he wanted to sell books full-time. He was a moonlighting bookseller for a few years before atten... [more New Members]
The Thomas Mann House has paired up with ABAA-members Brad and Jennifer Johnson of Johnson Rare Books & Archives in Covina, California, to recreate the author's personal library during the years he spent in California. This informative video details the exciting project... We asked Dr. Nikolai Blaumer, Program Director of the Thomas Mann House, about this ambitious project: ABAA: What happened Thomas Mann's original library at the end of his life? The Mann family left the country in 1952, after Thomas Mann was accused of Un-American activities. Parts of his private library were taken to Switzerland, where Thomas Mann spent his last years. Those books are part of the Thomas Mann Archive in Zurich today. Other books (approximately 3500) were sold to a bookseller in Santa Monica. The German Government bought the house in 2016 after it was privately owned for more than sixty years. Many parts of the house remained in their original condition -- including the former study of Thomas Mann and its bookshelves. This room is still the centerpiece of the house -- and a wonderful opportunity to keep the spirit of Thomas Mann alive. ABAA: Who will be using this library when completed? The library will first of all be a study for our fellows, who spend three to ten months in the US. We believe that they will be grateful for the reconstitution of the library -- even though their work reaches beyond Thomas Mann research. Over time, the library will grow according to the interests and experti... [more Recreating Thomas Mann’s Library]
The Northern & Southern California Chapters of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America would like to announce The California Young Book-Collector's Prize. UPDATE: Deadline extended until December 15. Submissions should be sent as a .pdf file to Ben Kinmont, Chair of the Northern California Chapter of the ABAA, at bkinmont@gmail.com. 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. Curiously, the love of books continues unabated today, despite their increasing rarity and the rapid growth of digital media. Some might even argue that the printed page has taken on a new meaning and cultural resonance in our era of computers and electronic texts. In recognition of the next generation of bibliophiles, we have created The California Young Book-Collector's Prize. 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: 1. A gift certificate of $500 to spend at the 2019 California International Antiquarian Book Fair 2. An exhibition of... [more ABAA’s California Chapters Launch Book-Collecting Prize, Deadline Extended!]
The following item was sent to London but was mis-delivered and is now missing (photo below): NORTON, Thomas. To the Quenes Maiesties poore deceiued Subiectes of the North Countrey A warning against the dangerous practices of Papistes A Bull graunted by the Pope to Doctor Harding A disclosing of the great Bull . STC 18682, 18686, 18678, 18679. Imprints vary, London, 1569 & 1570. Later calf, gilt, the joints somewhat rubbed, a few sidenotes just trimmed, else quite clean, the Bute copy (with bookplate). If you are offered this item or have any information pertaining to it, please contact Joe Luttrell at rarelaw@meyerbos.com or (415) 255-6400. [more Missing: “To the Quenes Maiesties poore deceiued Subiectes of the North Countrey…”]
We were alerted to a news story that Kevin Schuwer of Lehi, Utah has confessed to selling forged LDS material. In addition to these materials, he is being investigated for selling items stolen from BYU and other venues. Read more here. Jeff Long at BYU Police is the officer investigating the matter. His number is 801.422.5216 and email is jeffrey_long@byu.edu. The investigation may end up involving multiple jurisdictions and therefore other investigators. We will update as information becomes available. [more Stolen/Forged LDS Material]
Re: Notice of CENSURE of Seyla Martayan and Richard Lan The Board of Governors of the ABAA, pursuant to the Association's ByLaw Article V, section I (2), hereby CENSURE Seyla Martayan and Richard Lan for violations of the Association's Code of Ethics. The Board while appreciative of Ms. Martayan and Mr. Lan's success in satisfying the economic concerns raised by the complainants concluded that these resolutions should have been realized much earlier and without the significant involvement required by the Ethics Committee. Consequently, after a hearing and upon evaluating and considering the relevant documents as well as the testimony Ms. Martayan and Mr. Lan provided concerning this matter, the Board determined they violated the Association's Code of Ethics in their handling of the sale of materials to two customers, specifically Sections 1, 3, 4 (a), and 5 of the Code, in that they failed to: • "share in the responsibility of furthering mutual trust and respect between the trade and the public by conducting their businesses with fairness and integrity”; • “be responsible for the accurate description of all material offered for sale. All significant defects, restorations, and sophistications should be clearly noted and made known to those to whom the material is offered or sold. Unless both parties agree otherwise, a full cash refund shall be made available to the purchaser of any misrepresented material.”; • ”be responsible for the passing to the buyer clear t... [more Notice of Censure of ABAA Members]
In the Jim Crow era, travel was fraught with difficulty for African Americans. The growing black middle class could afford to buy cars and travel for leisure, and throughout the South, the purchase of a car was an important goal for black families as it allowed them to avoid segregated public transport. However, traveling by car to new towns and cities, African Americans did not know which restaurants would serve them, which gas stations would fill up their car, and where it was safe to spend the night. Enter Victor H. Green, a mail carrier in Harlem, who had the idea for a guide book for African Americans to help them navigate the country without injury or harassment — based, in part, on similar guide books from Jewish publishers. The Negro Motorists Green Book (later renamed The Negro Travelers Green Book, but known colloquially as the “Green Book”) was first published in 1936, and initially focused on the area Green knew best, New York; but he quickly expanded it, drawing on the knowledge of his fellow postal workers, who knew their neighborhoods intimately. The guide covered the obvious essentials of travel — where to stay, where to eat, where to buy gas — as well as the less obvious ones — where to find a doctor, a tailor, or black-owned businesses. As the guide book became established, both white and black business owners would seek out Green hoping to be included. At its peak, the guide sold over 15,000 copies a year, and was sold in Standard Oil (later Ess... [more What was a Green Book?]
Please contact us if offered this book. In addition to the description below, it also is housed in a clamshell case. HUGHES, Henry. Treatise on Sociology, Theoretical and Practical. Philadelphia: Published for the Author, 1854. First edition. Octavo. 292 pp. plus two folding charts. Publisher's sage cloth with large blind-blocked arabesques on covers, gilt spine lettering. Tips lightly bumped and light browning to endpapers. A very good copy in the original binding. This is the first American book on sociology and one of the first books to use that term. "The very term, "sociology," was introduced into the American lexicon of social science in 1854 by Henry Hughes, an obscure Mississippi lawyer. His Treatise on Sociology, Theoretical and Practical is the first book-length work to employ that term in its title... Despite the availability of his Treatise, Hughes, a southerner, a slavocrat, and the first self-designated American sociologist, remains an elusive and protean figure in the lyceum of American life and letters" (Saint-Arnaud, African American Pioneers of Sociology). In the same year, 1854, another Southerner, Thomas Fitzhugh, also published a book with the word sociology in the title (Sociology for the South) but his book was merely a thinly disguised racist tract and while Hughes was also racist in leaning at least he was systematic in his approach and thus fulfilling a requirement for a serious text. Hughes used his treatise to proclaim the rightness and necessity o... [more Missing: Henry Hughes’ Treatise on Sociology, Theoretical and Practical.]
In the spring of 2016, I set up a Facebook group called 'We Love Endpapers'. My idea behind it was to create a forum where like-minded people—booksellers, librarians, collectors, book designers—could share, or just drool over, pictures of particularly unusual or beautifully patterned endpapers as and when they came across them. I have always enjoyed the surprise of discovering a hidden gem of an endpaper when opening a book, and thought there may well be others out there who might like to join me in such a group. Sure enough, there are now over 2000 members, and I regularly get people coming up to me at book fairs thanking me for setting it up and saying how much they enjoy it! One thing I have realised since setting up the group is how confusing the terminology of decorated paper can be. With that in mind, here's a brief outline of the kinds of decorated papers you might come across when looking at books from the hand-press period. Many of the examples below have been taken from posts in the We Love Endpapers group (which, I should say, features books from all periods, including modern publications); I hope fellow group members don't mind if I share them here. Marbled Paper The technique of marbling paper was developed in Asia (the oldest examples, from Japan, have been dated to the 12th century) before travelling west, to Persia, Turkey, and Europe. The decoration is achieved not directly onto the sheet of paper itself, but on a liquid called the marbling 'size' ('a glu... [more Decorated Book Papers: a Beginner’s Guide]
Welcome the latest full- and associate-members of the ABAA. Full Members David Meikle, Archway Books (Dover, NH) David Meikle bought his first “old books” at age eleven, paying a bargain price for three handsome 125-year-old books. Only when he got home did he realize most of the engravings were razored out and had probably been for sale individually in that very stall. Still, he was hooked on old books. Twenty-five years later, he jumped at a chance offer to manage a used bookstore in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and spent ten years there, eight as an owner. As his own antiquarian interests developed, he realized that running a general-interest used bookstore would not remain fulfilling for the rest of his working life. So, he sold his share and for nearly twenty years has sold primarily on the internet and at shows. While he characterizes his inventory as “general antiquarian,” over time themes have emerged that reflect a fascination with artifacts where cultures meet — missionary Bible translations and tracts; sailors' photograph albums; foreigners portrayed in Japanese printed books; Western primers and textbooks transmogrified into Greek, Chinese, Armenian or whatever; photographs of the first Japanese/Chinese/Burmese students/diplomats/entertainers in Britain/France/America; relatively unknown US military incursions in Asia prior to World War II; and immigrant religious and political publications in the US. David Spilman, David Spilman Fine Books (Sebastopol, CA... [more New Members]