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. Dues for each additional full member are $250 per year. The benefits of being a full member include the ability to take an active role in the governance of the ABAA through voting rights as well as the ability to serve on the Board of Governors and Committees. The following Q&A aims to answer the most common questions. Second Primary Full Membership What is a Second Primary Member? A Second Primary Member is any additional full member in a firm. Membership lies in the individual rather than the firm. Cost of membership is one-third the price of the first full member. What are the requirements for Second Primary Membership? The ABAA welcomes and encourages applications from individuals who are antiquarian or rare booksellers of good character, reputation, and credit rating who have been in business for at least four continuous years and whose principal place of business is in the United States. Applicants must be owners or shareholders in the firm. What is the application process? Individuals can commence an application at apply.abaa.org. An applicant must be sponsored by three curr... [more Membership Options for Firms with Multiple Owners]
Owen Kubik, a long-time ABAA member from Dayton Ohio, knew it was too good to be true when he discovered a cache of 16th- and 17th-century books in a bulk shipment of used books. Kubik regularly buys large lots of old books from thrift store recyclers. The books are gathered from thrift stores across the country — which either don't want to handle used books in their stores or have too many — and then sold wholesale by the truck-load to book stores and paper recycling operations. Going through such large shipments can be time-consuming, but Kubik finds that this "is a good source for a large volume of general stock for my open shop. There is almost never anything rare or collectible, just good, decent everyday books." A lot sourced from the East Coast in March 2018 proved to be a little different, however. “Here I am, going through old novels, encyclopedias, textbooks, etc... and then all of a sudden I start finding nice 16th-17th century leather-bound books in original bindings,” Kubik recalls. “A Cicero from 1547, Boethius from 1656, and multiple volumes of 16th- and 17th-century Italian poetry.” In total, Kubik found 20 books in fine leather bindings, all in nice condition. Not an average day at the office. "My heart skipped a beat, I think. These are not what should be coming out of thrift stores.” A close examination revealed that all the books had faint pencil call numbers on the back of their title pages. In addition, a few of the books had a bookplate fr... [more ABAA Member Recovers Books Stolen from Yale University]
Book Theft, August 2018 The House of Seven Gables in Salem has suffered a theft of a first edition The House of the Seven Gables, A Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Here are the details: · Published by Ticknor, Reed and Fields, Boston, 1851. Stereotyped by Hopart & Robbins, Boston. First printing. 344 pages. · Brown cloth-bound book with cut fore-edges, blocked-in-blind covers, and gilt blocked lettering on the spine, · Written in pen on title page “Jane Howden.” Written in pen on fly-leaf “To Mrs. Carlyle with the kind regards of ? April 1852. From Mrs. Carlyle (Jeanie Walsh) to Jane Howden Maitlandfield.” Written in pencil on first few pages “B90.0.56.” · Dimensions: o 7 3.8” long o 5” long If you run across this book, please notify the Salem Police Department immediately at 978-744-1212. [more Missing from House of Seven Gables: 1st Ed. The House of the Seven Gables]
ABAA members list new items on abaa.org almost every day, and publish catalogs and E-lists of new acquisitions almost weekly. Among the items that caught the eye this week, are first editions of Armistead Maupin's classic Tales of the City, A.A. Milne's Now We are Six, and Yoko Ono's Grapefruit, along with anti-fascist paper art, Nikola Tesla's John Hancock, and a first edition of John Gould's multi-volume magnum opus The Birds of Europe. Tales of the City First Edition Paperback by Armistead Maupin (Cover map by Phil Frank) New York: Harper Colophon Books, 1978. Paperback. 240p., 7.5x9.25 inches, lightly-worn first edition stated, number line ends in "1" trade paperback original in pictorial map covers with a key to locations of the story. Originally published serially by the San Francisco Chronicle. Made into a TV miniseries and being rebooted as we speak! Offered by Bolerium Books. Metamorphic Puzzle - Hitler the Fifth Pig A 6" x 8 ¾" folding paper puzzle when open flat depicts 4 different pigs. The caption at center reads To find a fifth one fold as indicated. When folded the "business end" of the pigs creates Adolph Hilter's face. Reverse is blank. Offered by Eclectibles. Found in Eclectibles' new catalog "E-list No. 49" (item #11). This item is not listed on abaa.org. The Birds of Europe (5 Volumes; Folio) by GOULD, JOHN (1804-1881) London: printed by Richard and John E. Taylor, published by the Author, 1837. 5 volumes, folio. (21 1/4 x 14 1/4 inches). 2pp. list of sub... [more New Listings: Selected Highlights]
With the 50th anniversary of Desert Solitaire upon us, Back of Beyond Books has launched a unique publishing program to both honor the importance of Edward Abbey's book and continue the discussion surrounding Desert Solitaire. This November, Back of Beyond in partnership with Torrey House Press will publish Desert Cabal: a New Season in the Wilderness by Amy Irvine. In Desert Cabal, Amy Irvine admires the man who influenced her life and work while also examining "the inspiration of Desert Solitaire through the lens of 50 years of desert love and a contemporary, feminist vision." Back of Beyond will also publish a facsimile of the first draft of Desert Solitaire, with hundreds of handwritten manuscript changes by Abbey. This document has never been published before and only fifty sets of the facsimile will be made available. In addition, Ken Sanders Rare Books are coordinating the publication of four Desert Solitaire-inspired literary letterpress broadsides featuring original work by the writers Wendell Berry, Terry Tempest Williams, Doug Peacock, and Amy Irvine. "I'm so excited about these three publications," says Back of Beyond Books' owner Andy Nettell. "But it is a little scary too. Even though I've been in the book trade for 18 years, I really had no idea how expensive books and publications are to publish." To that end the store has launched a KickStarter crowd sourcing fund raiser in August 2018 to support the publication program. "We need to raise $15,000 to successfu... [more Celebrating 50 Years of Desert Solitaire]
A copy of 'Up From Slavery' by Booker T. Washington that was signed by the author has been reported missing. It was last seen at a residence in Sonoma, CA. In addition to the author's signature, there is an addiitonal inscription which reads, "For Kaj Opfell This book was inscribed for your grandfather, Georg Strandvold"; photos are below. If you have any information on this item, please contact Dylan Busse. [more Missing: Signed ‘Up From Slavery’]
The World's Most Beloved (and Criticized) Family of Bears! If you are a '90s child like myself (or a '70s child, or an '80s child, or a 2000s child… or even a 2010s child), I can guarantee that you know a family of bears… that live in (pretty much) the coolest treehouse ever… and whose sister and brother magically (almost) always get along. I grew up envying this small family and their adventures in pumpkin patches and at school. (So get to the point, you say?) Well today we thought we'd do a short feature on our favorite (fictional) family of bears… the Berenstain Bears. The Berenstain Bear family and franchise was created by Janice and Stanley Berenstain in 1962, and has since become a series of over 300 titles. Since his mother's death in 2012 (Stan Berenstain died in 2005), the couple's youngest son, Mike Berenstain, has continued the family tradition by authoring the titles. A full family project, in a sense! Let's see how it all came about… In 1941, Janice Grant and Stanley Berenstain met on their first day at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art and became close very quickly. At the onset of World War II, they took up different war effort posts (as a medical illustrator and riveter), but were eventually reunited and married in 1946. They found work as art teachers, then eventually became co-illustrators, publishing works like the Berenstain's Baby Book in 1951 followed by many more (including, but not limited to Marital Blitz, How To Teach Your Ch... [more Children’s Books: The Berenstain Bears]
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History was founded in 1994 by Richard Gilder and Lewis E. Lehrman, lifelong supporters of American history education, with a goal of becoming the leading American nonprofit organization dedicated to K–12 history education. The Institute's mission is nothing less than to promote the knowledge and understanding of American history through educational programs and resources, which it does through creating curriculums for schools to use when teaching different periods of American history. At the Institute's core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives of American history. Drawing on the 65,000+ documents in the Gilder Lehrman Collection and an extensive network of eminent historians, the Institute provides teachers, students, and the general public with direct access to unique primary source materials. Over the last two years, the institute has gained some fame for its partnership with the musical Hamilton, creating the Hamilton Education Program (“EduHam”) with support from the Rockefeller Foundation to bring economically disadvantaged students to see the musical and integrate the lyrics and performances into a study guide exploring the Revolutionary War and Founding Fathers. The program has been extended to Chicago, where Hamilton is also playing, and is being extended to other cities as the traveling Hamilton show moves around the country. The core of the Foundation is the 65,000+ items in the Gilder Lehrman C... [more Building the Gilder Lehrman Collection]
Every week, ABAA members issue new catalogs of rare books and ephemera. Most of the items featured therein are not-yet listed on abaa.org (but there are exceptions, as you'll see below). We scoured the most-recent batch of catalog to bring you a few highlights from within their pages... A HANDSOMELY ILLUSTRATED REAL GRIMOIRE FOR FANS OF HARRY POTTER FAUST, Johann; SCHEIBLE, Johann. Doktor Johannes Faust's Magia naturalis et innaturalis, oder, driefacher Höllenzwang, letztes Testament und Siegelkunst. Nach einer kostbar ausgestatteten Handschrift in der Herzogl. Bibliothek zu Koburg vollständig und wortgetreu; herausgegeben in fünf Abtheilungen, mit einter Menge illuminirter Abbildungen auf 146 Tafeln. Stuttgart: Verlag von J. Scheible (Druck von Fr. Henne), 1849. 8vo, 5 parts in 1 volume. 263, , pp. (last 7 pages bookseller's ads). With 146 numbered plates (with illustration no. 19 appearing later in volume on same plate as illustration no. 71) also with plates numbered 109 I, & 109 II (so the total does come to 146 as noted in title) lithograph plates (9 folding, 145 in 2 or more colors). Few minor marginal smudges at beginning of volume and some faint foxing. Very nice copy. Original cloth. FIRST EDITION of this rare and beautifully illustrated grimoire or Faustbook titled: "Dr. Johannes Faust's Magia naturalis et innaturalis or the Threefold Coercion of Hell, his last testament and the art of the occult sigil (symbol)" which the publisher states was copied from a manusc... [more Gems from the Latest Catalogs]
This morning, the ABAA leadership learned that Greg Priore, former Carnegie Library Archivist, and former ABAA member John Schulman of Caliban Books, have been charged with theft from the library. This is a truly regrettable situation for the larger book community, and one in which the Association shares the public's dismay that such a theft took place. At this point in time, to comment further would be premature, as we support the legal process currently being pursued and will await its outcome. During this period we will continue to closely monitor the developments concerning this serious matter. Sincerely, Vic Zoschak President, ABAA [more ABAA Statement regarding Carnegie Library Thefts]