Q: What stopped me in my tracks as I perused this week's batch of new catalogs? A: Everything from the national importance of a presidential inaugural address to the particulars of a menu from a dinner in 1959. Menu: A Dinner in Honor of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (1959) Given that I am a sucker for The Crown, Downton Abbey, and most other British television shows, spotting a menu from a forma... [more]

UPDATE (5/13): RECOVERED Three items have been reported missing in the wake of the New York Antiquarian Book Fair. (Two broadsides and one CDV -- descriptions below.) The items were last seen in Booth B-12 and were likely misplaced during move-out. If you catch word of these items, please contact ABAA Security Chair Garrett Scott via email. With thanks, Garrett Scott Chair, ABAA Security Committee... [more]

Printed American broadsides of the 18th and 19th centuries—what we might think of today as “posters”—were an important public means of spreading news and information within a community. A broadside might print a political manifesto, a religious sermon, a military declaration, news of a great battle, or a Presidential proclamation. A broadside might advertise a newly arrived shipment of goo... [more]