This year the Caxton Club published Other People's Books: Association Copies and the Stories They Tell, a collection of essays about the stories behind a number of association copies. (An association copy is a book signed by an author and inscribed either to a personal friend or relation of the author, a colleague, or a famous figure.) The book is being distributed by Oak Knoll Books. From their website:
Other People's Books provides stories of fifty-two presentation copies from 1470 to 1986, narrating how each book came to be inscribed. Containing 112 illustrations, this work is a lively historical account of the journey of twenty-four books from institutional collections and twenty-eight from private hands. Set in England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States, these books range in topics from astronomy, ornithology, political science, and psychology, to art, film, history, and literature. While many of the books are presentation inscriptions directly from the author, others were inscribed by someone who was closely connected with the author. The book highlights the owners of these volumes now, many of whom are famous names in literature and history or book scholars and collectors.
Click here to read a review of the book from Fine Books & Collections. Click to view an excerpt or to purchase. It sounds like a great read for any bibliophile!
Endpaper: Stories with a personal history