Screening Tonight of Dan Wechsler's Film 'More Than the Rainbow'

By Susan Benne

In addition to being a top-notch bookseller, member Dan Wechsler (Sanctuary Books) is also a filmmaker. His latest film is More Than the Rainbow, a documentary chronicling the life of Matt Weber, a NYC taxi driver turned street photographer. The film premiered at New York's documentary film festival DOC NYC last year and was featured as an official selection. It was awarded the same honor at the San Francisco DocFest. Set to the music of jazz legend Thelonious Monk and contemporary jazz musician Keith Gurland, the film goes beyond a character study and "becomes a vibrant conversation about the photographic medium, artistic expression, and New York City." Check out the trailer below. If you're in the NY area, you can see the film tonight, the inaugural night of the Coney Island Film Festival. The screening will take place at the Coney Island Museum (1208 Surf Ave., 2nd Floor) at 7:30pm. You can purchase tickets ($7) by clicking here. As a NYC resident, photography fan, and documentary enthusiast, I'm eager to see the film. Cheers to Dan! I'm constantly amazed by the rich lives and myriad of accomplishments our members have outside of the rare book world. [more Screening Tonight of Dan Wechsler's Film 'More Than the Rainbow']



Harriet Beecher Stowe Center's Future Secured with Federal Grant

By Susan Benne

The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center is a museum in Hartford, CT located in the house where Stowe and her family moved to in 1873. She resided there for the final 23 years of her life, during which Stowe continued to write, lecture, and made considerable contributions to local art institutions. The Center has a worthy collection: over 12,000 books, 4,000 pamphlets, 180,000 manuscripts, and 12,000 images that illustrate critical issues in nineteenth century American history like abolition and suffrage. It boasts the largest collection of items related to the Beecher and Stowe families as well as prominent members of Hartford society, and, of course, resources related to Uncle Tom's Cabin. The Stowe Center recently received a $150,000 federal grant from the Museums for America program at the Institute of Museum and Library Services to preserve the Center's collections. The grant will go toward the acquisition and implementation of new climate control and fire suppression systems. The Center has already invested $400,000 for these new systems in addition to other interior renovations and conservation of items in the collection. Katherine Kane, Executive Director of the Harriet Beecher-Stowe Center said, "The Stowe Center is delighted to receive this public support for a project preserving Harriet Beecher Stowe's Hartford home for our diverse international audiences. This grant is a significant investment in Center's historic collections, which tell a national story important for al... [more Harriet Beecher Stowe Center's Future Secured with Federal Grant]



Missing: Georgetown College Board Records

By Susan Benne

Update: these have been recovered as of 5/28/2019. Georgetown College (Georgetown, KY) are missing two volumes from their archive. The volumes are records of the Board of Trustees of Georgetown College. The first volume dates from 1837-1866, the second goes from 1866-1912. They are handwritten and noticeably deteriorated. The volumes would have gone missing sometime between 2007 and 2011. If you have any information on them you can contact the staff archivist, Sandra Baird, at Sandra_Baird@GeorgetownCollege.edu. [more Missing: Georgetown College Board Records]



Library of Congress Announces a Symposium on Authenticity

By Susan Benne

This sounds fascinating. All the official info is below& "Authenticity" Rare Book and Special Collections Division The Library of Congress December 6, 2013 The Library of Congress announces a symposium on “Authenticity,” a program that will look at one of the most difficult subjects facing libraries, private collectors, and booksellers todayjudging the genuineness of printed materials. The symposium will not focus on theft or forgery, but rather on the research which curators, scholars, and conservators have been conducting regarding all elements of printing and book production. The program will include specialists who are at the cutting edge of research on printing techniques, paper manufacture, binding construction, and typography. They will include scholars, conservators, scientists, and booksellers who are dedicated to establishing methods for determining authenticity in the field of rare books, prints, and manuscripts. The symposium will occupy the entire day and will close with a keynote address by Michael Suarez (Director, Rare Book School, University of Virginia). The Program Schedule: Panel on Paper Tim Barret (University of Iowa), Kim Schenck (National Gallery of Art), Peter Bower (Forensic Paper Historian, London) Panel on Printing and Typography Paul Needham (Scheide Librarian, Princeton University), Nick Wilding (Georgia State University) Panel on Color Thomas Primeau (Baltimore Museum of Art), Meg Ford (Christies London), Lynn Brostoff (The Library of Congr... [more Library of Congress Announces a Symposium on Authenticity]



Stuart Lutz Completes NYC Century Bike Tour for the Sixth Year

By Susan Benne

Stuart at the completion of his ride. As anyone in the trade knows, being an antiquarian bookseller is a pretty much a 24/7 job, so it can be surprising to hear about sellers' lives outside of their work. Nonetheless, sellers can do some amazing things in their spare time! A perfect example is member Stuart Lutz (Stuart Lutz Historic Documents, Inc.). While he's not working with historic documents, letters, and autographs or being with his family, Stuart is an avid bicyclist. Yesterday he completed his sixth NYC Century Bike Tour, an annual event that allows riders to determine the length of their ride, which ranges from 15 to 100 miles. Stuart opted to complete the full century ride and navigated 100 miles through four of the five NYC boroughs. Cheers, Stuart! [more Stuart Lutz Completes NYC Century Bike Tour for the Sixth Year]



Rare Book School & Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar Attendees Laud Programs

By Susan Benne

Each summer is an extra treat for the rare book world because of the excellent educational programs provided by Rare Book School and the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar. Rare Book School offers a number of fascinating courses on an array of trade-related subjects (to name just a few courses from this past summer: Developing Collections: Donors, Libraries & Booksellers; Digitizing the Historical Record; and The Illustrated Scientific Book to 1800). Fondly known as 'Bookseller Boot Camp', for the past 35 years the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar (CABS) has been helping booksellers, librarians, and collectors elevate their knowledge of the trade. (I attended myself last summer and strongly recommend the program. Hopefully I can apply to a course at Rare Book School next summer!) Below are three links to impressions and reflections from booksellers who attended either Rare Book School or CABS this year. Travis Low (Ken Sanders Rare Books) on Rare Book School Margueritte Peterson (Tavistock Books) and Malcolm Moncrief-Spittle (Renaissance Books) on the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar Wish you had attended? Rare Book School is offering two courses this fall in Washington, DC as well as a fresh lineup next summer, and CABS will be back in August 2014. You'll note that all three students attended on scholarships, so make sure to check the RBS and CABS websites for similar opportunities (including scholarships from the ABAA!). [more Rare Book School & Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar Attendees Laud Programs]



Boston Rare Bookseller F.A. Bernett seeks Cataloguer/Bookseller

By Susan Benne

F A Bernett Books of Boston, a charter member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (and members of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers and the Verband Deutscher Antiquare) is seeking to fill a long-term, full-time position for a cataloger, bookseller and acquisitions specialist experienced with materials pertaining to the fine arts, architecture and visual culture. The ideal candidate will combine entrepreneurial drive with intellectual curiosity and a passion for art history. Professional requirements include: strong overall writing skills (including knowledge of rare books cataloging) a professional demeanor, proven sales ability an instinct for acquiring materials suitable to our categories of trade a willingness to undertake significant travel foreign language skills, familiarity with the book auction market, and an aptitude for social media marketing (including blogging) are important considerations. Due to the intimate nature of our business, all candidates should be highly motivated self-starters who can perform well as independent members of a collaborative group. Day-to-day activities will include extensive work with out-of-print books and serials, print portfolios, photographic albums, maps, trade catalogs, architectural archives and other materials from antiquity to the present day, as well as contact with museum and academic library personnel.  Our office is a pleasant book-lined loft in downtown Boston, convenient to public tran... [more Boston Rare Bookseller F.A. Bernett seeks Cataloguer/Bookseller]