I've been reading a fascinating book about how humans have exchanged news and views through the centuries, and the changes printing made possible. In Writing on the Wall: Social Media The First 2,000 Years, Tom Standage, the digital editor of The Economist, traces the history of social media through the last 2000 years, highlighting how the last 150 years of broadcast media are in fact an anomaly in human communication. Yes, social media has been around for 2000 years, not a little over a decade as I thought. Far from being the brave new world that Facebook et al. like to claim, online “social media” is, in Standage's view, simply a return to an older style of communication, a style for which humans may be hardwired. Serious book collectors and students of printed history may be the only ones not surprised by this claim, as Standage draws on a great deal of printed history to prove his persuasive thesis. The LETTERS Of MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO To Several of his Friends: with Remarks by William Melmoth, Esq. To Which is Now Added, A General Index. In Three Volumes. Offered by Tavistock Books. Starting with ancient Rome, and the great orator and letter-writer Cicero, Standage discusses how letters were essentially public artifacts, and that writers like Cicero encouraged the recipient to read them to and share them with others. They in turn would often copy a letter, add their own thoughts, and forward it on many others. It's because of this letter-sharing network that Cicero ... [more Early Social Media: Letters, Pamphlets & Newspapers]
On Collecting Books
"Celebrating the Mark Samuels Lasner Collection: Rare Books and Manuscripts, Victorian Literature and Art" Symposium at the University of Delaware Library Newark, DE March 17-18, 2017 On March 17 and 18, 2017 the University of Delaware will host a two-day symposium, "Celebrating the Mark Samuels Lasner Collection: Rare Books and Manuscripts, Victorian Literature and Art." The keynote speaker will be Elaine Showalter, Professor Emerita of English, Princeton University, and additional speakers will include Mark Dimunation (Library of Congress), Barbara Heritage (Rare Book School, University of Virginia), Edward Maggs (Maggs Bros. Ltd., London), Joseph Bristow (UCLA), Linda K. Hughes (Texas Christian University), Margaretta S. Frederick (Delaware Art Museum), William S. Peterson (Emeritus, University of Maryland), David Taylor (UK historian and author), and Margaret D. Stetz (University of Delaware). The symposium is free and open to the public, but registration in advance is requested. More information, including online registration, will be available at https://library.udel.edu/msl-symposium-2017/ The symposium is being held in conjunction with the exhibition "Victorian Passions: Stories from the Mark Samuels Lasner Collection," curated by Margaret D. Stetz, University of Delaware, on view in the Special Collections Gallery, UD Library, from February 14-June 3, 2017. The Mark Samuels Lasner Collection focuses on British literature and art of the period 1850 to 1900, with an em... [more Symposium: Celebrating the Mark Samuels Lasner Collection]
Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton is a phenomenon, even by the standards of hit Broadway musicals; people who have no hope of getting their paws on a ticket until sometime next year are obsessively listening to the cast recording and watching videos compulsively on YouTube. If the subject matter was anthropomorphic felines or an alternative take on a classic children's book we wouldn't blink an eye, but Miranda's remarkable success is built on the comparatively dry history of the founding fathers that most people day-dreamed their way through in high school. Looking through the items listed by ABAA members, we find many rare books and documents signed or written by the actual people dramatized in the musical. While you're waiting for more tickets to be made available, check out some of these amazing first editions, fine-press reprints, and even some original documents signed or written by or about Alexander Hamilton, Lafayette, James Madison, Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington. The Federalist: A Collection of Essays BURR: "Alexander joins forces with James Madison and John Jay to write a series of essays defending the new United States Constitution, entitled The Federalist Papers. The plan was to write a total of twenty-five essays. In the end, they wrote eighty-five essays, in the span of six months. John Jay got sick after writing five. James Madison wrote twenty-nine. Hamilton wrote the other fifty-one!" -- lyrics from "Non-Stop" (Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton:... [more Collecting Alexander Hamilton]
Book Collecting in the United States: A 21st-Century View of Our Collectors, Our Research Libraries, and Our Booksellers While the antiquarian book community is very small worldwide, it has been in the United States, the tiniest of them all, until very recently. Among all the cultures around the world who have written and read manuscripts and printed books in their variety of forms, North American literacy and book production occurred centuries if not millennia after those of predecessors like the Chinese, Greek, Hebrew and Mesopotamian, Indian, Mexican and Central America peoples. 1 As our many settlers came to North America and found homes, books were often left behind, either in the “old country” or before an arduous journey across the land. A bible, sacred book, or a family memento might accompany the traveler, but not a heavy, cumbersome library. Also, in early America, libraries and bookshops were few and far between. Overall, books remained a very minor part of life in this country until the end of the 19th century, when printing technology made the book widely available and accessible due to machine-set type, machine-rolled paper, and a perfected method of binding. As a result, we Americans as a whole have little knowledge of old books or printing history. Until recently, there was only a small group of serious book collectors in America. These collectors acquired antiquarian books and manuscripts, especially on the subjects such as travel and exploration of Ameri... [more Book Collecting in the United States (Part 1)]
When you pick up a book to read, do you also pick up a pencil, ready to mark up the margins with your thoughts and ideas? If so, your written additions are part of a body of writings called marginalia. For many readers, scribbling on the pages of books is a beloved, recreational practice. For others, it's more of a necessity. Whether they are humorous jots and tittles, lessons learned from the story, or more serious notes of textual analysis, marginalia are simply fascinating. System of Chemistry, 5 vols. by THOMSON, T - ASSOCIATION COPY WITH THOMAS COOPER'S NOTES AND DRAWINGS Edinburgh: Bell & Bradfute, 1807. Third Edition.. Full contemporary calf.. Good; bindings broken on all volumes; library bookplates in all volumes; otherwise quite clean and bright throughout.. 8vo, Four printed plates. The J K Mitchell, John Redman, Thomas Cooper copy. Accompanied by hundreds of pages of Cooper's original marginalia and notes with his original ink wash drawings of chemical set-ups and apparatus. The set is signed in volume 1 on a blank portion of the title: "Thomas Cooper, Northumberland ". Below that is the inscription: "Bought by J K Mitchell from Redman" - J K Mitchell has signed all the title pages of the set. What is unique about this set is that Cooper has annotated every volume with his notes and commentary. In addition he has added four original ink wash drawings to the endsheets that illustrate his coal gas apparatus, Accum's hydro-pneumatic table (Cooper eventually edited the... [more In Defense of Marginalia]
At a time when some brick and mortar antiquarian bookstores are closing their doors in favor of an internet-only presence, Matthew and Adrienne Raptis, of Raptis Rare Books, have gone against the grain and recently opened a rare bookstore on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach. Worth Avenue, like Madison Avenue or Rodeo Drive, is synonymous with luxury brands and caters to an island that is home to the rich and famous, including the new President-elect, Donald Trump. Raptis Rare Books had previously operated mainly as a catalog and online business out of a beautiful Italianate villa in Vermont, but Matthew Raptis wanted to have more interaction with his customers and allow people to come into greater contact with “these wonderful written works of art.” The new gallery opened on November 1, but the grand-opening is being held until January 2017, when the holiday rush is past. "We've had an outstanding initial reception to the store,” Matthew commented. “People love the idea of something new and different on the Avenue and when they walk in they often talk about their love of the smell of old books and how a particular book touched their lives. Holding a rare book is like holding a bit of history in your hands.” Almost all of the books in the Raptis Rare Books inventory are first editions and many of them are signed or inscribed by the author. Matthew and Adrienne refer to the new store as a gallery because "like fine art, in a way it is like stepping into a museum." Unlike a ... [more Raptis Rare Books Moves to Palm Beach, Florida]
I think of myself as a Beatrix Potter fan. I bought some nice reproductions of the original Peter Rabbit stories for my kids when they were young, and my Farmer McGregor impression regularly reduced them to fits of giggles. But, until recently, I never realized there are literally dozens of books and characters by Potter that I've never come across. Perhaps publishers don't believe her brand of simple humor and anthrpomorphic animals doesn't appeal to "modern" children (although mine would strongly disagree), but a search of the ABAA database reveals some wonderful stories and colorful characters that likely won't be familar to anyone but children's book collectors and rare book dealers. You can view our members' listings for yourself, but here are just five books by Beatrix Potter that most people are unlikely to have heard of... GINGER & PICKLES London, Frederick Warne and Co., 1909, first edition. Color frontispiece with several other illustrations, most of them in color, with the 1909 publication date on the title page. Ginger was a tom-cat and Pickles was a terrier, they gave unlimited credit to their customers, Peter Rabbit among them, and thus went broke. (Offered by James M. Dourgarian, Bookman) Search for other copies of Ginger & Pickles... THE FAIRY CARAVAN Philadelphia: McKay (1929). 8vo, green cloth, pictorial paste-on, Fine. 1st U.S. ed. (Priority of U.S. and U.K. editions has not been determined). After Potter finished her Peter Rabbit series Potter intended to ... [more Five Beatrix Potter Books You’ve Probably Never Heard Of]
The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America congratulates the 2016 winners of the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest: 1st Place: Luke Kelly. Harvard University. “A Collection of Eugene Walter, King of the Monkeys” 2nd Place: Megan Jones. University of Kansas. "The Life and Times of Sacco and Vanzetti” 3rd Place: Micaela Beigel. Goucher College. “Once We Were Dreamers: A Collection of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust” Essay award: Samantha Flitter. Princeton University. “The Sand and the Sea: An Age of Sail Library in Rural New Mexico” The winners will receive their awards during a ceremony on Friday, Oct. 14, at 5:30 p.m. at the Library of Congress, Montpelier Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E. The event is free and open to the public. The special guest speaker is Toni Tipton-Martin, a food and nutrition journalist and community activist. She is the author of “The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African-American Cookbooks,” a James Beard Award-winning annotated bibliography that tells the story behind her rare collection of African-American cookbooks and food culture. The judges were impressed with the stories and thought that went into assembling these collections and wish to thank all who participated. The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (www.abaa.org) is a trade association of more than 450 professionals who specialize in fine and rare books and printed matter. Members are united in a... [more Press Release: 2016 National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest Winners Announced]
Even when they're successful, some writers prefer to keep their day jobs. For example, Wallace Stevens was an executive at a Connecticut insurance company, and he believed that work kept the poetic spirit properly anchored. Goethe worked as an enthusiastic civil servant and administrator long after the smashing success of Young Werther. To this camp also belongs Geoffrey Chaucer, who stayed gainfully employed despite being a prolific poet. Chaucer's day job, however, was far from the typical cubical-and-office grind. He worked in the court of the King. Geoffrey Chaucer was born to a prosperous family. While no aristocrat, his father was a successful vintner and wine merchant. His mother inherited a large amount of property, including 24 shops, when her uncle died. The Chaucers would have been regarded as upper middle-class today, if not elite. This status helps, certainly, when you want to get your son's foot in the door of the professional world. The Chaucers' connections would get Geoffrey his first gig as a page for an aristocratic woman, and this position was the official start of Chaucer's career in the upper crust of government and society. It was a career that would take him through a long roster of roles. He was a diplomat, administrator, courtier, and bureaucrat. His work abroad was both dramatic and formative. In France during The Hundred Years' War, Chaucer was captured in the Siege of Reims. King Edward III paid his ransom. The ordeal did little to dissuade Chauce... [more Chaucer’s Day Job]
A quick look at the stories being discussed in book-collecting circles this week. The Highlights: ABAA-Members interviewed on CBS Sunday Morning Starting off with the news that's closest to home, ABAA-members George Koppelman and Daniel Wechsler were featured on CBS Sunday Morning recently. The booksellers' belief is that they may have identified Shakespeare's personal copy of John Baret's Alvearie; or Quadruple Dictionarie, and they have published a book, Shakespeare's Beehive, detailing their exhaustive investigation. Possible Napoleonic-War Journal Found in Second Hand Bookshop A customer rummaging through an old store cupboard in an Australian second-hand book shop unearthed a hand-written diary that appears to have been kept by a British Army officer serving under the Duke of Wellington between 1810 and 1812. Time to give a second glance to those out-or-reach corners in our local used bookstores, perhaps? New Fine Press Launched Wired magazne trotted out the tired "Print is Dead" line to frame a story about a former dot-com techie turned fine-press publisher who launched his new venture with a deluxe edition of Edwin A. Abbott's classic Flatland. Collectors already know print isn't dead, but the news of a new publisher with the goal of creative high-quality, well designed books as beautiful objects in their own right is always encouraging. Collecting the Easter Rising The world has been saturated with coverage of the 100th anniversary of Ireland's Easter Rising in 1916 f... [more Rare Book News]