These items are still missing as of May 31, 2019. Missing Books: Uranometria Nova Star Atlas & Companion Text On or about October 27, 2013 two books went missing from the home of Dr. Kevin B. Marvel in Tucson, Arizona. Please contact Dr. Kevin B. Marvel at kevin.marvel@aas.org or 703-589-7503. The Atlas Title: URANOMETRIA NOVA. STELLAE PER MEDIAM EUROPAM SOLIS OCULIS CONSPICUAE SECUNDUM VERAS LUCIS MAGNITUDINES E COELO IPSO DESCRIPTAE. AD. FR. ARGELANDRO. Author: ARGELANDER, Fr Description: First edition of this atlas (text not present) which the Dictionary of Scientific Biography describes in its lengthy biography of Argelander as "One of his finest works." Oblong folio, approximately 11-1/2 x 16-1/2 inches in original boards with cloth spine. Original title label on front cover. Lower right corner of rear cover and all adjacent paper (about 2 x 1 inches) worn, but without loss. Complete with all 17 plates. As the title says, the stars recorded are those which were visible to the naked eye. The support text is a small book with marbled covers. The description is below. Author: D. Fr. Argelandro (D. Fr. Argelander) ‚ Title: Uranometria Nova (Neue Uranometrie) ‚ ‚ Book Description: Subtitle: Stellae Per Mediam Europam Solis Oculis Conspicuae Secundum Veras Lucis Magnitudines E Coelo Ipso Descriptae. Binding and boards tight though showing signs of detaching, leather quite worn, egdes and marbled boards heavily scuffed, Ex-lib (from Lick Observatory - withdraw... [more Missing from Tucson, AZ (2013)]
Please contact ABAA HQ or Michael Hollander (ABAA member) if you believe you have been offered this item: NOTES ON BUDDHISM, by Thomas Latter, a pamphlet of about 20 pages. The item was mailed to a customer on March 3, but never reached its intended recipient. The package was last tracked in London. [more Missing from London, UK]
“The book was a vehicle to connect a family.” –Henry Roth For more than 35 years, Lawrence Fox has served as the ABAA's legal counsel and also as one of our members' good customers. Larry is known for his collection of the writings of Edgar Allan Poe and American literature. His copy of Henry Roth's Call it Sleep—a first edition, first state with first state dustwrapper—is “among the finest, brightest and most crisp copies of this scarce book.” In recognition of his many years of service with the ABAA, Larry has donated the copy to the Association's charitable entities with proceeds from the sale going to the Elisabeth Woodburn and Benevolent Funds. George Lowry and his team at Swann will offer the book for sale, without commission to the Funds, on May 18, 2016. But it gets better. Larry was Roth's personal friend and Trustee of the Henry Roth Literary Properties Trust and this copy is inscribed to Larry Fox: “In awe at his incredible assiduity”. The book chronicles the story of David Shearl, a child immigrant growing up in the slums of early 1900s Brooklyn. It beautifully captures the pain and honesty of families amidst a background of Jewish life and community. We at the ABAA are so excited to have these long friendships come together to benefit something so deeply important to us and to Larry: creating knowledge, learning, and opportunity through education and aiding booksellers in times of need. View the auction, spread the word, and bid, bid, BID! [more Save the Date: Swann to auction Call it Sleep to Benefit ABAA Charities on May 18th]
ABAA members will be bringing their best items to the 56th annual New York Antiquarian Book Fair during the second week of April, 2016. Below, we have a few highlights from our members (in no particular order): exceedingly rare books, unique records, and one-of-a-kind ephemera to give a brief flavor of the treasures that await discovery in New York. Members submitted so many featured items that we've had to split the list into two parts. This is part two, click here to view the first batch of featured items... William Blake, “The Ancient of Days” (Europe, pl. 1). Relief and white-line etching, 1794, printed in blue ink, probably in 1794 by Blake, image and platemark 23.4 x 16.8 cm. on a leaf of wove paper 24.4 x 17.7 cm. Mounted in a window cut into a backing leaf, pen and ink framing lines on the mount which is also inscribed in pencil by an unknown hand, “From Europe, Frontispiece.” Designated as copy D of “The Ancient of Days” in BB pp. 109, 339 (no. 100), 340 (no. F1). Provenance: Possibly inherited from Blake by his wife Catherine in 1827; possibly acquired by Frederick Tatham upon Catherine Blake's death in 1831; acquired “about 1853” (BB p. 337) by George A. Smith and mounted and bound by him with other works by Blake, including the “Order” of the Songs of Innocence and of Experience; the vol. sold by Smith, Christie's, 1 April 1880, #168 (66 to the dealer Bernard Quaritch); possibly sold, or more probably lent, by Quaritch to the facsimilists Will... [more Featured Items: New York Book Fair (Part 2)]
Thomas Patten of the New Canaan, CT Police Department reports the following item stolen from a private residence: Faded royal blue volume of Moby Dick housed in a protective beige colored box with a black band on the spine, against which the title was embossed in gold lettering. The container was clearly of more recent vintage than the volume (perhaps mid-20th Century). Inside the box, there was a program from a 1951 centennial commemoration of the publishing of Moby Dick that took place at the Princeton University Library. The Title page indicated that the volume was a first edition published by Harper & Brothers in New York and Richard Bentley in London in 1851. Also, on either the inside front cover or the first right hand page, the following was inscribed in pencil: No. 27 Christmas Present to Henry From His Mother Images below. If you believe you have been offered this item, please contact: Officer Thomas Patten New Canaan Police Department 203-594-3520 thomas.patten@newcanaanct.gov [more Stolen from New Canaan, CT]
Cheryl Needle, an antiquarian bookseller from Pepperell, MA, died in January. Born in 1948, she is survived by children and grandchildren, her partner of 25+ years, Frank Infante, her former husband and sometime business partner, Matthew Needle of Newburyport, MA, and her many friends and colleagues in the trade. Although she was not a member of the ABAA, she had all the qualities one looks for in a great antiquarian dealer: a fine eye for unusual material, reasonable prices, the highest ethical standards, and on top of that, she was friendly, decent, and caring. Greg Gibson of Ten Pound Island Books remembered Cheryl in his Bookman's Log blog. Below are excerpts from that, followed by contributions by some of her other friends and admirers. Greg Gibson: A veteran of more than four decades as a used book dealer, Cheryl was an active participant in what many regard as the final phase of the Golden Age of book selling in New England. Good material was available and cheap, and giants like Benny Tighe and Sam Murray still roamed the earth. Attics groaned with rare books, and an adroit dealer could hop from country auction to country auction the way, it is said, that squirrels were able to travel by tree from the east coast to the Mississippi without once touching the ground. We did our business by postcard and telephone, and we waited eagerly for each week's issue of AB Magazine – not just for the treasures on offer there, but for the information it imparted and the sense of co... [more In Memoriam: Cheryl Needle (1948-2016)]
These items are still missing as of 6/2/2019. A couple of books have "gone missing" from Black Swan Books in Richmond. Please contact Nick Cooke if offered. (1) Robert Craig. Rules and Regulations for Cavalry Sword Exercises; 1812 1st Edition; rebacked with a paper spine label ($1250); and (2) J. G. Barnard. The C.S.A. and the Battle of Bull Run; 1862, First Edition, in publisher's cloth with 5 maps and the signature of French engineer A. Loubat ($450). Black Swan Books 804-353-9476 [more Missing in Richmond, VA]
UPDATE: These items have been recovered! PLATO. The Republic of Plato. In Ten Books. Translated From the Greek by H. Spens. With a Preliminary Discourse Concerning the Philosophy of the Ancients By the Translator. Glasgow: Robert & Andrew Foulis, 1763. First Edition in English. Please contact us if offered, please. Heritage Book Shop 310-659-3674 [more Missing en route to Los Angeles, CA]
David Terry Reports Theft of 3,000+ Books "I owned a loft in Oakland, California that just sold. This past weekend, I moved all my contents out of the loft, including my lovingly-curated library of 3,000+ architecture books. Devastatingly, my moving truck filled with all these books has been stolen in Oakland this past Monday (February 29)--and yet to be recovered. Oakland PD says recovery is "unlikely," and that these types of truck-jackings are "epidemic" in the Bay area. The reason I am writing is so that you may alert your member stores, especially those with a large used book market, to look out for anyone trying to sell a large collection of signed U.S. presidential biographies OR high-end architectural books. Contact David if you have any questions. David M. Terry 4471 Dean Martin Drive The Martin 3302 Las Vegas, Nevada 89103< 510-813-9854, Mobile 866-214-4762, Fax" [more Missing from Oakland, CA]
Chicago colleague Larry Van de Carr's 2008 Silver Ford XLT van (with Illinois "environmental" license plates) full of his stock was stolen in Oakland, California. The inventory is largely rare science fiction (some signed), literature in dust jacket, a smattering of illustrated (Rackham, etc.) some Western Americana. Larry says he often lays descriptions slips into his books or prices near the upper right hand corner of the front free endpaper. If you are in the Bay Area and are approached under suspicious circumstances and offered material like this PLEASE do all you can to delay and call the police if you have reason to suspect these are Larry's books. Please contact ABAA Headquarters at hq@abaa.org or 212.944.8291 or Garrett Scott at garrett@bibliophagist.com if you are offered any items or have any information to provide. Update: Thanks to the quick thinking of staff at Moe's in Berkeley, one suspect has been apprehended, but only four of the books have been recovered. Please stay alert for these items. [more Missing from SF Bay Area]