We were excited to see Catherine Opie name Andrew Cahan as one of the un-sung heroes of the photography world in Aperture's Photography As You Don't Know It series. As a monograph collector, Ms. Opie was struck by Cahan's focus on Japanese monographs from the 1970's. From that point onward, she was hooked and they became fast friends. Cahan has moved back to his hometown of Akron, Ohio and still seeks out the best in books by and for photographers. More on their relationship here. [more Andrew Cahan Featured in Aperture’s Winter Issue]
Bookseller News
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 (Cooper City, FL) A self-proclaimed perpetual optimist and student of life, Kara Accettola was looking for her life's work when she stumbled into the antiquarian world and started Little Sages Books in 2008. With a penchant for oddities and a love of beauty, she remains a generalist bookseller and ephemerist with favor for the visually captivating and culturally relevant. She balances a busy fair and travel calendar with the comfort of home and family. John D. Kehoe, John Kehoe Bookseller (Norwalk, CT) John Kehoe's introduction to bookselling came the old fashioned way, as a scout in the pre-Internet era. While working as a crane operator (IUOE, Local 478) and a magazine editor and writer (bylines in Rolling Stone, Cigar Aficiando and Pest Control Technology Magazine, among other publications), his travels took him throughout the country, where he began to scout for resalable books (or at least those he thought were resalable). With impeccable timing, in October 2008 he opened John Kehoe Bookseller at the Antique and Artisan Center, in Stamford, CT. Defying both the trends and the o... [more New Members Admitted to the ABAA]
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 in Germany, and moved to Charleston, SC in 1995 with her family. In 2002, Books Tell You Why was started. Currently still a college student studying Biology, her first year was spent at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and she is now in the Honors College at the College of Charleston. Katharina developed a passion for collectible and antiquarian books since an early age and plays a role in the everyday life of Books Tell You Why, be it cataloging a new acquisition, interacting with customers, or worrying about the marketing logistics and finances of a growing book business. She takes personal pride in curating the offering of children's books (specifically Caldecott Award and Newbery Medal winners), Christmas books centered on The Night before Christmas, as well as the works of Charles van Sandwyk, and all too often ventures into fine press publications. Kevin Mullen, Mullen Books, Inc. (Marietta, PA) Kevin Mullen has been selling books since he left the Environmental Consulting field in 1992. His love of art and satisfaction of answering only to himself for his success or... [more New Members Admitted to the ABAA]
ABAA Member Dan Wechsler's film 'More Than the Rainbow' won the prize for Best Documentary Feature at the 13th Annual Coney Island Film Festival last month. The film was previously posted about on our blog and you can watch the trailer at the link. Kudos, Dan! [more 'More Than the Rainbow' Won Best Documentary Feature at Coney Island Film Festival]
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 documents, letters, and autographs or being with his family, Stuart is an avid bicyclist. Yesterday he completed his sixth NYC Century Bike Tour, an annual event that allows riders to determine the length of their ride, which ranges from 15 to 100 miles. Stuart opted to complete the full century ride and navigated 100 miles through four of the five NYC boroughs. Cheers, Stuart! [more Stuart Lutz Completes NYC Century Bike Tour for the Sixth Year]
Russ Davidson, the former University of New Mexico Libraries' Latin American/Iberian curator donated $25,000 and pledged an additional $225,000 to the University Libraries to establish an endowment fund in honor of his longtime friend, Howard L. Karno. Howard was a preeminent Latin American bookseller and member of the ABAA who passed away last year. "I have long wanted to create an endowment that would help the University Libraries continue to deepen and strengthen a part of its holdings that for years have been recognized as exceptional, and to some degree unique, by students and scholars in the U.S. and across the hemisphere," Davidson said. The Howard L. Karno Endowment for Latin American Pictorial Collections will finance the acquisition of rare and specialized Latin American visual resources, including prints, posters, photographs, broadsheets, fine press imprints, illustrated books, artist books, and cover art. “Howard was a bookman of impeccable taste, relishing the book as an artifact, with its special qualities of binding, typography, design and so on. Yet for him, books and perhaps even more powerfully visual images, represented something more . . . they connected us, in a very real, vivid way, to life and human experience," Davidson explained. "In addition, some of the credit for assembling the Libraries' Latin American pictorial collections should go to Howard, because he understood our strength in this area, shared the vision of enlarging its scope and range â... [more Howard L. Karno Endowment Fund Established at the University of New Mexico]
The deadline for submissions to the 2013 National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest has been extended to Monday, June 3 at 5pm. To enter, please visit the following link: apply.abaa.org Please pass along this information to any interested parties! [more National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest Deadline Extended]
Exciting news for ABAA member Greg Gibson: his noir crime novel The Old Turk's Load was just named a Top Crime Fiction Debut by Booklist Online. From Booklist: Pay attention to our debut winners. You're going to be hearing their names, reading their books, and seeing them on best lists for years to come. Congratulations, Greg! [more 'The Old Turk's Load' Earns More Critical Praise]
ABAA member Greg Gibson, proprietor of Ten Pound Island Book Company, has just released his latest book, a noir crime novel entitled The Old Turk's Load . The story takes place in 1967 Manhattan and the lives of the colorful cast of characters is entwined by a $5 million herion shipment that goes awry. I have yet to read the book myself, but it has already garnered critical praise. From the New York Journal of Books: "...character descriptions that shine like pistols in sentences that burst like bullets&The Old Turk's Load is probably the fastest neo-noir read on the crime novel shelves. Exquistely hard boiled, this crime novel is the perfect beach read for those matured on Tantantino and Spillane." Greg has authored several other books Gone Boy, Demon of the Waters, and Hubert's Freaksand has a great blog about his involvement in the antiquarian book trade, The Bookman's Log. (Check out recent entries in his blog that relate to The Old Turk's Load.) Greg will be exhibiting at the New York Antiquarian Book Fair this weekend and will be signing copies of his new novel, with all profits going to the ABAA's Benevolent Fund. Stop by Booth D23 and get your copy! I know I will. [more Greg Gibson's New Novel, 'The Old Turk's Load']
It was announced in March that Joel Silver was appointed as Director of one of the country's foremost rare book libraries, Indiana University's Lilly Library. The Lilly Library houses over 400,000 rare books, 150,000 pieces of sheet music, and 7.5 million manuscripts. Some of the highlights include the New Testament of the Gutenberg Bible; the first printed edition of Canterbury Tales; George Washington's letter accepting the presidency; and the personal papers of Orson Welles and Sylvia Plath. Silver has been with the Lilly Library since 1983, working in a number of different capacities: operations manager, curator of books, associate director to former Lilly director Breon Mitchell, and interim director for two independent appointments. He is also an adjunct associate professor and director of the special collections specialization in the IU School of Library and Information Science and an adjunct faculty member in the Department of English. Silver has also published a great number of articles, books, and exhibition catalogs; he lectures at and leads rare books seminars; and he has curated exhibitions at the Lilly Library. His most recent book, Dr. Rosenbach and Mr. Lilly: Book Collecting in a Golden Age, was published by Oak Knoll Press, which is owned and operated by ABAA member Robert D. Fleck. "I'm honored to have the opportunity to serve as the director of the Lilly Library, one of the greatest repositories of rare books and manuscripts in the world," Silver said. "Th... [more Joel Silver Appointed Director of Lilly Library]