The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America was founded in 1949 to promote interest in rare and antiquarian books and book collecting, and to foster collegial relations. The association invites you to attend the September Brown Bag Lunch Series, a panel discussion: Meet the ABAA: Demystifying the Application Process. You'll gain insights into the present-day ABAA, membership benefits, and how to become a part of it. The panelists will include the president and the executive director of the ABAA, as well as ABAA members Robin Beck of Primary Sources and Sunday Steinkirchner of B & B Rare Books. The webinar is moderated by Lizzy Young, ABAA member and the Chair of the Gender Equity Initiative.
September 24th @ 2 PM ET
Meet the ABAA: Demystifying the Application Process
Panelists:
Alexander Akin, President (member since 2019)
Alexander Akin, co-owner of Bolerium Books in San Francisco, specializes in radical political ephemera, Chinese books, and publications of Asian-American immigrant communities. He is the current president of the ABAA.
Susan Benne, Executive Director
Susan Benne has worked in the rare book trade for 25 years. She began her career cataloging children's and illustrated books for a rare bookseller in New York, then moved into managerial roles, first as the director of the New York Antiquarian Book Fair, then as the Executive Director of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America. She holds a bachelor's degree in classical vocal performance from Catholic University and an MBA from NYU. Susan collects and seeks vernacular photos of people doing yoga, contortion, and handstands.
Robin Beck, Primary Sources, Uncharted Americana (member since 2023)
Robin Beck, born and raised in the foothills of western North Carolina, came to bookselling after twenty years of deep and focused collecting in a very narrow slice of the Americana pie. In 2017, he launched Primary Sources, Uncharted Americana, specializing in rare, unique, or unusual American paper, whether printed, manuscript, or visual. Primary Sources is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and operates primarily through catalogues, having issued seven to date. Rob received his BA in Political Science from UNC-Chapel Hill, his MA in Anthropology from the University of Alabama, and his PhD in Anthropology from Northwestern. He has been a professional archaeologist for more than thirty years and has worked in Bolivia, Peru, China, and much of the eastern United States. He continues in that career as a university professor, but he’s always on the hunt for exciting new material for Primary Sources.
Sunday Steinkirchner, B & B Rare Books (member since 2009)
Sunday Steinkirchner is a founder and owner of B&B Rare Books in New York City. She has been buying and selling books since 2003. Her specialties include 19-20th century English & American literature, signed & inscribed books, and 19th-century baseball. Sunday serves as the Mid-Atlantic Chapter Representative for the ABAA Board of Governors and the Chair of the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair. She was a keynote speaker at the York Antiquarian Book Seminar and was a Forbes Small Business Contributor. Her favorite book is Mrs. Dalloway.
Lizzy Young, lizzyoung bookseller (member since 2016)
Lizzyoung Bookseller sells rare books, ephemera, and manuscripts with a focus on food & drink history, women's history, cultural history, children's books, and anything else that makes her smile. A former pastry chef, Lizzy caught the bookselling bug when she started working for her father, Roy Young Bookseller. The rest is history.