Looking at the history of book banning worldwide, from Henry VIII's destruction of Catholic iconography and religious books during the dissolution, to Hitler's famous bonfires of any work deemed insufficiently Germanic in the 1930s, and up to today's over-zealous parents eager to shield children from whatever they imagine was absent in their own childhoods, some books simply appear to attract more negative emotion than others. These challenges usually cite the same few justifications: sex, violence, racism, or the presentation of facts or theories outside of mainstream belief. To mark Banned Books Week, we pick out a selection of the most-frequently challanged books, and a couple whose publication spawned landmark freedom-of-speech cases. Almost anything by Judy Blume Before the young adult genre became best known for daring fiction that pushes the envelope, Judy Blume was one of the most-challenged authors in America because she wrote honestly about adolescent sexuality before it was trendy, with novels like Tiger Eyes, Forever, Are You There God It's Me, Margaret, Deenie, and Blubber appearing on the annual lists of frequently challenged books throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Deenie by Judy Blume (First Edition) Scarsdale, NY: Bradbury Press, 1973. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good+ binding/Very Good dust jacket. A clean First Edition with no marks of any kind. Like many of Ms. Blume's young adult novels, this one has been banned in schools for dealing openly with topics ... [more Infamous Banned Books]

One reason books have not been replaced by electronic approximations -- despite many predictions of doom -- is the appeal of the physical objects themselves. Lavish illustrations, careful design, and artistic typography elevate a book from text to art. A page from the Kelmscott Chaucer (to give just one example) will never look as good on your phone. Long before pixels and digital everything, publishers understood that books should be works of art, and worked to create illustrations to compliment the prose. Some works lend themselves to being illustrated better than others, and Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market has proven irresistable to artists since its first publication. (Of course having a famous artist for a brother, it was perhaps inevitable that her work would be richly illustrated.) Here are a few of the beautifully illustrated editions of her classic work Goblin Market currently available from ABAA members. Rossetti's more-famous brother, the poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, contributed two illustrations for the first publication of Goblin Market & Other Poems in 1862 (a second edition followed in 1865). Goblin Market and Other Poems Cambridge: Macmillan, 1862. First. hardcover. good. With Two Designs by D. G. Rossetti. Small 8vo, blue cloth stamped in gilt. Cambridge: Macmillan, 1862. First Edition. The binding is lightly rubbed; inner hinge cracked, one signature spring, corners bumped. Housed in a blue, half morocco solander case. (Offered by Argosy Book ... [more Illustrating Goblin Market]

A selection of featured items from among those offered by ABAA members, including very rare inscribed, pseudonymous novels by Agatha Christie, a first edition H.G. Wells, rare Robert McCloskey, and an unusual piece of Titanic memorabilia. Titanic Among the various anniversaries and milestones that occur in September is the 30th anniverary of the discovery of the wreck of the Titanic. While this discovery ended any notions of attempting to raise the famous ship (as explored in Clive Cussler's bestselling 1976 thriller Raise the Titanic), it did reignite a slumbering fascination with the world's most infamous shipwreck -- a fascination that's lead to the world's #1 blockbuster movie, a new museum in the city that built the Titanic, and innumerable novels and books about the voyage. One interesting item among our member's offerings is this copy of the 1912 official report on the sinking: Shipping Casualties - Loss of the Steamship "Titanic": Report of a Formal Investigation into the Circumstances Attending the Foundering on the 15th April, 1912, of the British Steamship "Titanic", of Liverpool, After Striking Ice In or Near Latitude 41 46' N., Longitude 50 14' W., North Atlantic Ocean, whereby loss of life ensued London. His Majesty's Stationery Office. Printed by J. Truscott and Son. 1912. Bound in imprinted blue wrappers. Housed in archival clamshell box. Tall 8vo. The First Edition. The British inquiry into the sinking of the Titanic was headed by a former judge, Lord Mersey,... [more Featured Items: September]

Rounding up the rare book news for August... Ernest Hemingway Look-Alike Competition Yes, there really is an Ernest Hemingway look-alike competition. This is the guy who won it this year... Lost Colony Relocated? A clue to the lost colony is discovered in a repaired map... Featured item: THE ARRAIGNMENT AND CONVICTION OF SR VVALTER RAWLEIGH, AT THE KINGS BENCH-BARRE AT WINCHESTER. ON THE 17. OF NOVEMBER. 1603 . . . COPPIED BY SIR THO: OVERBVRY London: Printed by William Wilson for Abel Roper, 1648. FIRST EDITION. Hardcover. 191 x 133 mm (7 1/2 x 5 1/4"). 1 p.l. (title), 38 pp. This is a rare copy of a text relating to the accusation, in 1603, that Raleigh had conspired with fellow courtier Baron Cobham to facilitate a Spanish invasion to prevent James Stuart from inheriting Elizabeth's throne. An educated poet, courtier, explorer, buccaneer, and one-time favorite of Queen Elizabeth, Sir Walter Raleigh (1552?-1618) lived a life full of adventure and controversy. Among many other things, he had an important intersection with American history as the person who attempted to found Roanoke Colony in Virginia in 1587. This is a rare book: since 1978, ABPC records just one other copy at auction. (Offered by Phillip J. Pirages Rare Books) For the Love of Font The Paris Review indulged in a spot of fontification this week: Civil War throgh Japanese Eyes An 1872 history of the United States published in Japan was recenlt acquired by the LSU Libraries' Special Collections Department. The... [more Rare Book News: August 2015]

We thank all who submitted applications. Once again, the ABAA is delighted to be a part of the contest. Without further ado, the 2015 Winners of the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest are: 1st prize: Alexander P. Ioffreda (Harvard University) Formalists! Musical Scores of Repressed Soviet Composers 2nd prize: Laura A. Hartmann-Villalta (Northeastern University) Representations of the Spanish Civil War: Testimonies, Pamphlets, Novels, and Scholarship 3rd prize: Rose Berman (University of Chicago) Antoine de Saint Exupéry: Pilot, Author, and Friend Essay Prize: Anne P. Steptoe (Duke University) Look Homeward: Journeying Home through 20th Century Southern Literature The Awards Ceremony will be held at the Library of Congress (James Madison Building, Montpelier Room) in Washington, DC on October 16th at 5:30pm. Our featured speaker is Ellen Dunlap of the American Antiquarian Society. [more 2015 Winners of the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest]

Ted Hughes was born on August 17, 1930. He became one of the most-famous poets of the Twentieth Century, and was Great Britain's Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death in 1998 (Poet's Laureate traditionally served for life -- the exception being John Dryden, who was dismissed from the post in 1688 because he would not tale a loyalty oath to the new king, Wiliam III -- but the institiution was amended after Hughes' death, and the new-normal is for the Poet Laureate to serve for 10 years). Hughes published a vast wealth of poetry and children's stories during his life -- and that life provided fodder for an even-vaster wealth of books about the poet and his tempestuous romantic liasions. ABAA members offer a large selection of signed items, first editions, and fine-press or other scarcities. Here is a selection of some of the more eye-catching items. (You can find a full listing of current offerings by or related to Ted Hughes here...) Meet my Folks! (Signed, First Edition) London: Faber and Faber. (1961). First. First edition. Illustrated by George Adamson. Fine in near fine dustwrapper with a little rubbing. Contemporary owner names on the front fly, under which is a Signed sentiment from the author: "with good wishes, Ted Hughes." The author's third book and first book of children's verse. A very nice copy. (Offered by Between the Covers Rare Books) Crow (Signed, First American Edition) New York: Harper & Row. (1971). First. First American edition, hardcover issue. A modest... [more Ted Hughes: Signed & Scarce Items]

Virginia Woolf is on people's minds this week, as Monday was the anniversary of her marriage to Leonard Woolf, who spent his life caring for her and founded the Hogarth Press largely so Virginia could publish without the aggravation of dealing with an outside publisher's demands. One of Virginia Woolf's most-influential works -- if not at the time, then it's certainly become so in the years since her death -- is the essay "A Room of One's Own." So that seems an apt place to begin this week's selection of featured items. A Room of One's Own (First Edition) by Virginia Woolf London:: Hogarth Press, 1929. First edition. A classic of feminist literature, her most famous and influential work. Faint offset on endpapers, otherwise fine in near fine dust jacket with professional touch up to few chips and tears. (Offered by Quill and Brush) Further reading: In 2014, ABAA Member Sunday Steinkirchner of B&B Rare Books, Ltd. acquired several books by Virginia Woolf from Vanessa Bell's personal library. Read Sunday Steinkirchner's essay on acquiring this remarkable group of association copies... Roots (Signed, First Edition) by Alex Haley Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1976 First edition, limited issue of 500 numbered copies. Signed by Haley on the limitation page. Finely bound in the publisher's brown morocco, spine lettered and ruled in gilt, top edge gilt; housed in the publisher's light beige marbled slipcase. Fine; slipcase with some minor wear to the edges, else bright ... [more Featured Items: August]

Can you point to your first book? I can. No, it wasn't the first book I ever read, but it was the first collectible book I ever obtained. It started me on a journey that took me from nascent book collector, when I really had no idea what that meant, to sophisticated book collector, to professional book seller, to member of the Antiquarian Bookseller's Association of America (ABAA). The year was 1967. I was a 19-year-old sophomore at San Jose State University. My girlfriend at that time knew I was a big John Steinbeck freak, having written just about every term paper in high school about him and his works. He was my hero. He died a year later. For Christmas that year she gave me a book -- a first edition of Steinbeck's masterpiece, The Grapes of Wrath. I was thrilled. It was a very thoughtful gift, one that I would never have considered. At that time I knew nothing about collectible books, but let's take a peek at this specific book, which I still own, to see what I may have missed 48 years ago. My first thought is that it's missing the dust jacket which Elmer Hader so ably illustrated. Even a beginning book collector knows this is a major problem, a major flaw, but this missing dust jacket meant nothing to me back in 1967. The cloth of the front and back cover has stray ink marks. Kind of ugly, eh? The spine panel is both faded and darkened. It's far from being a sharp copy. Upon opening to either the front or rear pastedown and free endpapers, it's easy to see that both are... [more My First Book]

We've all been there, living in small spaces made even smaller by the ever-increasing accumulation of books: piles growing like mushrooms from the floor, double-stacked on shelves, laid flat under chairs or sofas. When we eventually escape to a larger apartment or house, we hastily box up the books and it's only upon beginning the reshelving process in our new space that we notice the damage that has accrued: bleached spines and covers, yellowed page edges, mold, spider webs, scratches on previously-pristine dust jackets, bent or torn covers, cocked spines, pages sagging or come loose from the binding… We resolve to do better, but usually get no further than alphabetizing the collection before the cycle starts over again. So, how should we store our books to prevent common deterioration? 1. Careful shelving Unless a book is a very old or delicate, shelve them upright, as they would be in any bookstore. (Medieval manuscripts should be stored flat, if you're lucky enough to have some in your collection.) Shelve similar size books together, as they benefit from the support of other books on each side. But, don't shelve them so close together that you have to pull hard to remove one -- that can tear the top of the dust jacket or spine. A good rule of thumb is to stop when you think you could probably squeeze one more book in there. Note: the featured image above shows a variety of ways -- good and bad -- to shelve your books, including diagonally, which can lead to bent and cro... [more How to Store Books Safely]

A few fantastic rare books and unusual signed items to whet your appetite for collecting this week... With the fourth anniversary of the end of the space shuttle program falling on July 21, this signed photo commemorating the first mission of the shuttle Discovery may be of interest to space and science buffs: Framed Photograph Signed by Entire Discovery Crew (Discovery's First Mission) 1984. Unbound. Outstanding official NASA photograph signed by all six members of Flight STS-41-D, Discovery's first mission. This vibrant color 8 x 10-inch photo features all six crew members in flight gear: Charles Walker (the first non-government person to fly in space), Judy Resnik (who died two years later at the age of 36 in the Challenger explosion), Richard "Mike" Mullane (a former Air Force Colonel), Steve Hawley, Hank Hartsfield, and Michael L. Coats (the pilot of this mission). No place, no date, circa 1984. Set in a cream-colored matte and brown wooden frame measuring 12 x 14 inches. Near fine condition. (Offered by Argosy Book Store) "A monumental history of the early centuries of Eastern papermaking, unprecedented and impossible to reproduce. " Old Paper Making in China & Japan Tall folio. Chillicothe: Mountain House Press, 1932. Tall folio, 71pp. with 15 specimens of paper made from bamboo, mulberry, china grass and mitsuma, 3 specimens of bark, and numerous color and black and white illustrations. Three quarter buckram and decorated paper boards, printed paper label to upper boa... [more Featured Books: July 21]