While the week after the New York Antiquarian Book Fair is generally a week of rest and recuperation for booksellers and collectors alike, there was still plenty of news happening in the rare book world last week.
Bright Young Booksellers: Alexander Akin
ABAA-member Alexander Akin of Bolerium Books was interviewed as part of Fine Books & Manuscripts ongoing "Bright Young Booksellers" series. Read more...
Lou Reed Archive Goes to the New York Public Library at Lincoln Center
Rock and roll legend Lou Reed left a personal archive of unsurpassed detail that will give researchers great insight into both the mundane details of life as a touring musician and Reed's development as an artist. Comprising over 300 linear feet of correspondence and documents as well as over 600 hours of recordings, many unreleased, the archive will be a place of pilgrimage for both musoic scholars and music fans. Read more...
ILAB Launches Mentoring Program to Supoport the Next Generation of Booksellers
The International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (to which the ABAA belongs) has launched an innovative new international mentoring program to assist young booksellers entering the business. Read more...
Kevin Young Named Poetry Editor of the New Yorker
There was great excitement last week when it was announced that noted poet Kevin Young, who's also the director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library, has been appointed as the new poetry editor at the New Yorker. Organizers of the famous Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar (CABS) were particularly excited, as Young is scheduled to be their keynote speaker this summer -- as if bibliophiles needed another reason to attend CABS! Read more...
View the Alexander Hamilton Collection online
One item that featured repeatedly in the media coverage of the New York Antiquarian Book Fair was the archive of documents by and about Alexander Hamilton assembled by ABAA-members Seth Kaller and John Reznikoff, which included a love letter from Hamilton to Eliza and even a lock of Hamilton's hair! While most of us can only dream of acquiring the archive, we can at least examine it online...
New Books by ABAA members!
Many ABAA members are also talented writers as well as rare book experts, and two of these have new books out this month.
Tom Nealon (Pazzo Books) is the author of Food Fights and Culture Wars.
Rebecca Romney (Honey & Wax Booksellers) is the author of Printer's Error.
New York Antiquarian Book Fair: The Reviews are in!
The consensus seem to be that the New York Antiquarian Book Fair was a great success, with the aisles bustling with people and even some of those most-coveted beings, younger collectors, in attendance. Here are some articles from both media and industry sources.