Florence Shay in the summer of 1942 when she and Art met at camp. Photograph by Art Shay Chicago Magazine recently published a lovely tribute for ABAA member Florence Shay who passed away in August 2012. The piece is based on an upcoming exhibit by Florence's husband Art Shay, the accomplished photojournalist, and the photographs present an intimate portrait of the intelligent, vivacious woman Art spent over 67 years with. My Florence opens at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago on January 27th and runs through May 24, 2014. [more Through the Lens: A look at Florence Shay through the photographs of her husband Art Shay]

Longtime friend of the ABAA Nicholas Basbanes will be signing copies of his latest book, On Paper, at the upcoming Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair. You can find him at the ABAA Booth at 1pm on Saturday, November 16th. Proceeds will benefit the ABAA's Benevolent Fund, which provides aid to booksellers in distress. The cost of the book is $35. On Paper takes the reader on a journey throughout the history of paper and the ways in which it has influenced and shaped societies throughout the world. Publisher's Weekly gave the book a starred review, saying that through Basbanes's "wide-ranging, freewheeling, authoritative" survey of paper, he "reveals how many roles, directly and indirectly, paper plays in our lives." As if you needed another reason to visit the Boston fair. We hope to see you in line for a copy of Mr. Basbanes's excellent new book! [more Nicholas Basbanes Book Signing at Boston Book Fair]

We are only nine days away from opening night of our 36th Annual Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair and I am ready to head north to Beantown! I'm excited to see all the wonderful material- books, maps, ephemera, etc.that will be on exhibit, see friends and members, and take advantage of my time in Boston. It's a fantastic city with no shortage of history, culture, and activities, so we have been compiling a list of events and attractions taking place during the fair. Check out our Facebook and Twitter pages for a new suggestion every day! Plus, it's autumn in New England which means you'll be in stunning surroundings all weekend. For a sneak preview of items exhibitors will be bringing to the show, visit the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair's Facebook page. I'm drooling over the latest post about a signed Charlie Parker LP of his notorious Lover Man recording. Check out the post for more details. Click here to purchase your tickets for the fair. [more Countdown to the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair!]

The Battle of the Fruit and Vegetable Soldiers by Francis Darwin (image via Open Culture Charles Darwin is famously known as the father of evolution, but did you realize he was also the devoted father of ten children? This seems like a colossal number today (the Duggars and their like aside), but a large family wasn't uncommon in Darwin's time. It was also not unusual during this period to find a spouse among one's kin, as Darwin did when he married his cousin, Emma Wedgwood. Despite his fears that inbreeding may have left his children susceptible to illness or disorders, they were a talented bunch and many went on to have distinguished careers. Perhaps this was due in part to their father's loving encouragement and a more modern attitude toward children than you would find in a typical upper-class Victorian home. Darwin even frequently gave his children discarded manuscript pages they could use as drawing paper. Of the original manuscript of On the Origin of Species, only 28 pages of the manuscript are known to exist, and on the verso of many are illustrations by his children. Both examples here are thought to have been done by Francis Darwin. Above is The Battle of the Fruit and Vegetable Soldiers and to the left is a watercolor of birds and bugs around flowers. I imagine Darwin would have been pleased with both drawings, which now reside at the Cambridge University Library. [more Darwin Children Illustrated 'Origin of the Species' Manuscript Pages]

We're less than a week away from Halloween, so it seems only fitting to do a little round-up of a few spine-tingling titles. All the items listed below are currently being offered for sale by our members on abaa.org. Misery by Stephen King When you think modern literature and horror, Stephen King naturally comes to mind. Misery (New York, 1987), in my opinion, is one of his most chilling stories. Brief synapsis: Paul Sheldon, a famous author of Victorian-era romances is held hostage by Annie Wilkes, a deranged super fan who insists that he rewrite his latest novel because she is not pleased with the ending. (A plot line that placed fear into the heart of every novelist&) Misery was a co-winner of the 1988 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel and was nominated for the 1988 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. The novel was made into a hit film starring Kathy Bates and James Caan in 1990. I think it's one of the rare instances where the film is as good as the book. L.W. Currey, Inc. is offering a fine first edition copy in dust jacket that is signed by King. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James Henry James doesn't typically come to mind as a writer of scary stories, but his novella The Turn of the Screw is a classic. Originally published in the magazine Collier's Weekly, the novella was paired with another story, Covering End, and published in book form in 1898. The collection was called The Two Magics. The Turn of the Screw is a ghost story about a governess's experiences taking ca... [more Frightening Fiction for Halloween]

Steve Green, President of the U.S. arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby, recently revealed his purchase of what some scholars believe may be the oldest known Jewish prayer book. The 11 x 10 centimeter, 50 page book is a siddur, a Jewish prayer book that contains daily prayers. It dates from 840 and is written in an ancient form of Hebrew that includes Babylonian vowel marks. This indicates that it is likely from the Babylonian region, but the siddur's origin has yet to be determined. The book is complete and appears to still be in its original binding, which of course adds additional value to the volume. Green acquired the book as an addition to the Green Collection, his family's extensive collection of biblical texts and artifacts. (Containing more than 40,000 items, it is the largest privately owned collection in the world.) The Greens are Evangelicals and they plan to house the collection in a Biblical museum scheduled to open in Washington, DC sometime in 2017. The Green Scholars Initiative is the Collection's research arm and conducted the academic research and carbon dating of the siddur. Green and his company have recently been featured in the news for unrelated stories. Citing their religious convictions, Hobby Lobby filed a lawsuit in protest of the Affordable Care Act's mandate that private companies must offer employees coverage for birth control. The case is expected to come before the Supreme Court during its upcoming term, which starts today. The Oklahoma based... [more Hobby Lobby President Acquires Rare Siddur]

In the recording below, F. Scott Fitzgerald reads part of Othello's speech to the Venetian senators in Act 1, Scene 3 (if you have the text in front of you, you'll notice that it is edited). Near the end of his life, Fitzgerald was broke and resorted to writing screenplays for money. He also made recordings of himself reading literary greats like Shakespeare and Keats, but it's unclear who produced the recordings and why. Whatever the details surrounding the recordings are, it's a treat to hear Fitzgerald's sonorous voice. After the jump is a recording of Fitzgerald reading the first three stanzas of Ode to a Nightingale (also slightly altered from the original text). [more Fitzgerald Reading Shakespeare and Keats]

Who would have thought that the University of Pennsylvania's PennApps competition would produce an app beneficial to the rare book world? PennApps is touted as the "premiere college hackathon" and it brings together 1,000 university students from more than 100 institutions across the globe for a 48-hour competition to create hacks and apps for web or mobile platforms. This year three students from the University of SwarthmoreAmy Jin, Sam Zhang, and Zachary Lockett-Streiffwere awarded first place in the Data Visualization category for an app that tracks the provenance of rare manuscripts in the Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts. The concept came to the team in a serendipitous manner. On the way to their work space, the team rode the elevator with a few of UPenn's librarians and chatted about the Schoenberg database. The librarians mentioned that the Van Pelt Library was working to improve and expand the database, and off the cuff asked the students if they were interested in making an app for the database. Jin, Zhang, and Lockett-Streiff jumped at the idea and created an application that tracks the provenance of the manuscripts in the database. The data is presented visually so that scholars can spot patterns in the manuscripts' movement. "Our goal was to try and visualize the data.. mak it sexy," Zhang said. "It's kind of our attempt to give&a new perspective on all this old data that's been collecting over the years," said Jin. I would love to take a look at the app! Thi... [more New App Tracks Provenance]

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]

As mentioned in a post last Friday, there are a number of scholarships available to anyone interested in attending Rare Book School. The 2013 scholarship cycle has just begun and RBS is now accepting applications. The deadline for submission is October 15. Click here for a full list of scholarship opportunities and additional information. [more Rare Book School Now Accepting Scholarship Applications]