The ABAA Diversity Initiative is proud to announce the first season of a guided discovery program for those historically underrepresented among workers in the trade. Designed to co-occur with annual ABAA book fairs, the program offers an introduction to antiquarian book fairs, career insight with ABAA members, visits to local ABAA member open shops/offices, networking with institution professiona... [more]

The ABAA Gender Equity Initiative Committee is proud to announce the second round of the ABAA Mentorship Program. In an effort to further the Association's mission, the mentorship program builds relationships between ABAA dealers and early-career booksellers, provides professional development opportunities for prospective ABAA members, and creates a recruitment pipeline that increases the number a... [more]

The ABAA Women's Initiative is proud to announce the launch of the ABAA Mentorship Program in an effort to further the ABAA's mission to promote ethical standards and professionalism in the antiquarian book trade, to encourage the collecting and preservation of rare and antiquarian books and related materials, and to facilitate collegial relations within the trade. Goals Further the mission of the... [more]

The ABAA has launched a program where seasoned ABAA members act as mentors, i.e. business advisors and guides, to novices in the rare book field and/or those not currently in the trade but whose background and interest in the vocation would make them good candidates to enter the field. The goals of this program are to: • Provide dealers early in their careers with the opportunity to advance thei... [more]

A recent discussion on social media illustrates there are some misunderstandings about the cost and application process when a firm has more than one owner or shareholder. Though not all shareholders may want to become ABAA members for those who do the application process is slightly abbreviated as some components are waived — after all, the viability of the business has already been established... [more]

On March 11th, the ABAA Women's Initiative hosted a panel discussion on Collecting and Women during the New York Antiquarian Book Fair at the Park Avenue Armory. Elizabeth Denlinger, Sarah Gordon, and Molly Schwartzburg discussed topics relating to representations of women in collections, women as collectors, and women-focused institutions as Nina Musinsky moderated. More than 100 men and women bo... [more]

Where do you start with a place like Vegas? Bally's Hotel and Casino is hosting the 2014 Moose International convention and dealing with a chronic shortage of aquatic plant life, willow shoots, and other forage. Hairy guys with backwards baseball caps. Old men and their leisurewear. Fatties in mobile chairs work away, tethered to slot machines. A Bally's credit card at the other end of the line dr... [more]

Welcome to the new ABAA website. We hope you'll find it an exciting place to explore rare books, find items to purchase, and meet some of the best booksellers in the US. The site is packed with new features and possibilities. Many of these features are there to emphasize the individual booksellers, all of whom are members of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America and are held to the s... [more]

Start spreading the news: the 54th Annual New York Antiquarian Book Fair opens tomorrow! As I type, over 200 American and international exhibitors are converging on the historic Park Avenue Armory, unpacking crates of rare books, ephemera, maps, prints, manuscripts, and other gems. If you've never attended, you'll be amazed at the amount and range of material that our exhibitors have in each booth... [more]

ABAA Member Marc Selvaggio recently spoke at the opening of an exhibition he curated at Southern Methodist University's DeGolyer Library on Parables of Promise: American Advertising Fiction, 1856-2014. The exhibit aims to cover how American companies have used fiction and storytelling in this genre to sell "material goods, whether plows, windows, patent medicines, cereals, the telephone, bicycles,... [more]

The ABAA is delighted to welcome the following new members to the Association: Kara Accettola, Little Sages Books; John D. Kehoe, John Kehoe Bookseller; Michael Laird, Michael Laird Rare Books LLC; Thomas F. Nealon, Pazzo Books; Kurt A. Sanftleben, Read 'Em Again Books; Daniel Whitmore, Whitmore Rare Books. Read a little more about each member below. Full Members Kara Accettola, Little Sages Books... [more]

The ABAA is delighted to welcome the following members to, or to a new status within, the Association: Katharina Koch, Books Tell You Why, Inc.; Linda S. Moore, Alcuin Books; Kevin Mullen, Mullen Books, Inc.; and Lynne Veatch, The Veatchs Arts of the Book. Read a little more about each member below. Full Members Katharina Koch, Books Tell You Why, Inc. (Mount Pleasant, SC) Katharina Koch was born... [more]

Stuart at the completion of his ride. As anyone in the trade knows, being an antiquarian bookseller is a pretty much a 24/7 job, so it can be surprising to hear about sellers' lives outside of their work. Nonetheless, sellers can do some amazing things in their spare time! A perfect example is member Stuart Lutz (Stuart Lutz Historic Documents, Inc.). While he's not working with historic document... [more]

Recently, the ABAA committed to a redesign of its website, ABAA.org. We've hired a great design firm and are spending lots of time working on ideas. In 2013, we'll be rolling out a new site, better looking and easier to use, with more of the features we hope you will use to explore the world of rare books. To do this, we'd like your input. We have a simple survey with questions about use of the AB... [more]

A reminder to register for the upcoming Booksellers' Seminar in Seattle, which will take place Thursday, June 28 from 9am to 4pm at the Seattle Public Library. The event is sponsored by the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the ABAA and will feature lectures on reference sources for researching rare books, rare book photography, how to maintain control over your digital assets, and the importance of so... [more]

The ABAA's Pacific Northwest Chapter is pleased to announce that it will be sponsoring a Rare Booksellers' Seminar on Digital Tools and Tricks for the Bookselling Trade. The seminar will be held in Seattle on Thursday, June 28 from 9am-4pm. ABAA members and booksellers in the Pacific Northwest region are invited to attend this free event, but space is limited and pre-registration is required. Digi... [more]

Happy New Year! We are just three weeks away from the 45th California International Antiquarian Book Fair and our office is buzzing with excitement! The California Fair is one of the three major fairs the ABAA sponsors- we also sponsor fairs in Boston every November and in New York every April- and the location alternates between San Francisco and Los Angeles biannually. This year, the fair will b... [more]

The 2011 Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair was a blast for exhibitors and attendees alike. Below is a video that I think will get any book lovers excited about attending a fair, and certainly puts me in eager anticipation for the upcoming California International Antiquarian Book Fair, which will be held in Pasadena this coming February. Enjoy! [more]

ABAA members across the country are gearing up for next weekend's 35th Annual Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair and we hope to see you there! Over 120 dealers from the US and around the world will be exhibiting rare, antiquarian books, modern first editions, manuscripts, autographs, maps, atlases, and an abundance of ephemera. The Fair will be held in the Hynes Convention Center, and will... [more]

The Boston Globe has published an online slideshow of independently owned bookstores in Boston, and ABAA members were certainly the 'stars' of the show, making up half of the total bookstores listed. Congrats to our Bostonian sellers! Please click here to view the slideshow. Almost all of these dealers will be exhibiting at the Boston Antiquarian Book Fair next week. Despite economy, local booksto... [more]

The ABAA is launching an Exhibitions page on our website, which can be found at the following link: http://hq.abaa.org/books/antiquarian/exhibitions. This page will provide listings of book-related exhibitions throughout the country. (You can also access this page by visiting abaa.org, clicking on 'Events' in the top right corner, and then clicking on 'Book Related Exhibitions'). We are actively r... [more]