Our members list new acquisitions and recently cataloged items almost every day of the year. Below, you'll find a few highlights from these recent additions... Pet Sematary by King, Stephen Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1983. First Edition. Near Fine/Near fine. First edition stated, first printing. Signed by Stephen King and inscribed to a former owner on the title page. Bound in pub... [more]

Robert Jordan was the best-selling author of The Wheel of Time fantasy series, and (because I need to get my utter impartiality out of the way at the start) one of my favorite authors. I've collected his books for the past 25 years. If you're unfamiliar with The Wheel of Time, think of it as a 14-volume The Lord of the Rings set at a future point in Earth's history when society has regressed techn... [more]

Like any field of endeavor, the rare book trade has its quirks and rituals, its habits and history, its jargon and secrets. Unlike some other trades, book dealers have never been afraid to commit their secrets, memories, and insights to paper. There are many, many fascinating and educational books detailing the inner workings of the rare book trade. We polled some dealers and collectors and arrive... [more]

Many people now collect J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books. In fact, the major book collectors of tomorrow will likely bond over their memories of midnight-release parties and argue the merits of Mary GrandPré versus Thomas Taylor's cover illustrations. My own book shelves host two complete sets (so far), one American (hardcover) and one British (paperback), and one set-in-progress (the illustrate... [more]

The ABAA Glossary of Book Terms defines a first editon, in part, as "all of the copies printed from the first setting of type," which can "include multiple printings if all are from the same setting of type." So, the term is rooted in the physical act of printing the pages of a book. But, the term also has a second meaning, specifically the first form given to a book, i.e. before any later changes... [more]

What new additions to the abaa.org website caught the eye this week? Signed books from James Baldwin, Annie Leibovitz, and P.L. Travers, as well as several classic children's books, among other interesting items... If Beale Street Could Talk (Signed) by James Baldwin New York: The Dial Press, 1974. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Signed by Author. First edition. Copy #6 of 250 specially bound... [more]

Every famous poet and writer started small, usually with cautious publishers who printed small batches of the first edition of their early books. For most, the cautious print runs continues, even after winning awards, because poetry has ever been an relatively low-volume business, even for the big names. When they later became reknowned, even famous, at home and abroad, these relatively scarce fir... [more]

Five books caught the eye among this week's crop of new listings -- along with one unusual piece of jewelry! -- which proves you never know what you'll find in a rare book shop! Winne-the-Pooh (First Edition) London: Methuen, 1926. Shepard, Ernest H.. First edition. Limited to 350 copies printed on handmade paper and signed by Milne and Shepard. With all of the well-known and well-loved illustrati... [more]

Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita is one of the most-celebrated and most-notorious novels of the twentieth century. Its path to publication did not run smooth, and there are many different editions and translations worthy of the collector's attention. 1955: The Olympia Press Two-Volume First Edition The multi-lingual Nabokov (he grew up speaking Russian, English and French at home) finished Lolita in 1953... [more]

I think of myself as a Beatrix Potter fan. I bought some nice reproductions of the original Peter Rabbit stories for my kids when they were young, and my Farmer McGregor impression regularly reduced them to fits of giggles. But, until recently, I never realized there are literally dozens of books and characters by Potter that I've never come across. Perhaps publishers don't believe her brand of si... [more]

Happy Roald Dahl Day! The renowned British children's book author, screenwriter, and WWII fighter pilot, was born one hundred years ago, today (September 13, 1916). Dahl (or more accurately his books) has been in the headlines often in 2016, first as Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Dahl's classic The BFG hit the theaters and again after the death of the actor Gene Wilder, whose most-celebrated ro... [more]

On Black Friday, I got an email from Barnes & Noble trumpeting their (discounted) signed books! The most notable thing about the email -- besides their rather dubious claim to have the greatest selection of signed books “in the world” 1 -- was that this was their primary marketing message, the pitch they were pinning their financial hopes on: signed books were going to make their Black Friday ... [more]

Ted Hughes was born on August 17, 1930. He became one of the most-famous poets of the Twentieth Century, and was Great Britain's Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death in 1998 (Poet's Laureate traditionally served for life -- the exception being John Dryden, who was dismissed from the post in 1688 because he would not tale a loyalty oath to the new king, Wiliam III -- but the institiution was ame... [more]

Can you point to your first book? I can. No, it wasn't the first book I ever read, but it was the first collectible book I ever obtained. It started me on a journey that took me from nascent book collector, when I really had no idea what that meant, to sophisticated book collector, to professional book seller, to member of the Antiquarian Bookseller's Association of America (ABAA). The year was 1... [more]