When visiting New York for the annual Antiquarian Book Fair, many attendees spend the entirety of their time within a fairly narrow geographic radius of the fair itself. That's understandable -- the Upper East Side has much to recommend it, and for convenience to the fair, it can't be beat. But New York City is a rich tapestry, and bookish pleasures abound throughout. Why not let the fair serve as an opportunity to grab a cab or hail an Uber and explore further afield? For sheer literary density, New York's crown jewel has to be the downtown neighborhood of Greenwich (that's "grennitch") Village. Universally referred to by natives simply as "The Village, this historic district is bounded by 14th Street on the north, Houston Street on the south, 3rd Avenue in the east, and the Hudson River to the west. Originally a bucolic out-of-town escape destination for disease-beset 18th- and 19th-century New Yorkers, the area retained its post-colonial flavor even as the city, marching ever northward, expanded around it. The Village's smaller scale, tree-lined streets, pocket parks, off-the-grid layout, and Bohemian sensibility has long attracted literary types, among them W. H. Auden, Willa Cather, Kahlil Gibran, Allen Ginsberg, Henry James, Jack Kerouac, Emma Lazarus, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Eugene O'Neill, Edgar Allen Poe, Dylan Thomas, Mark Twain, Thomas Wolfe, and many more. The area was the cradle of the "golden age" of New York literary society (dates vary, but broadly from the 1... [more Literary Greenwich Village]
Editor's note: Jim Harrison (1937-2016) was a poet, novelist, essayist, screen-writer, sporting writer, editor, and translator. Much of his work is set in sparsely populated regions of the West and Midwest. As Charlie Brice wrote in a review in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette of The English Major, “Harrison's... appreciation for life's pleasures, his hallowing of the every day, his celebration of food and smells and nature and color, combine to produce a feast of what makes us human and of what makes it so hard to leave our troubled planet.” Jim Harrison was best known for his novella Legends of the Fall which was adapted into a Edward Zwick-directed movie with Brad Pitt, Julia Ormond, and Anthony Quinn, but he was a master of his craft who wrote equally well about nature, food, hunting, fishing, and travel. He was that rare talent who could compose beautiful poetry, write deft and powerful fiction, evocative non-fiction, and deeply personal memoirs. One of the mantras of being a bookseller, at least a successful one, is to not have a valuable personal collection, but I've never been able to sell some of the best Jim Harrison items that I have simply because of my affection for his writing. I was first introduced to him in my early teens when I read his collection of poems, Locations, which I had found at a small library sale that my parents had taken me to (I still have that copy). I quickly devoured many of his books after that and have been a devotee ever since. I've given... [more In Memoriam: Jim Harrison (1937-2016)]
ABAA members will be bringing their best items to the 56th annual New York Antiquarian Book Fair during the second week of April, 2016. Below, we have a few highlights from our members (in no particular order): exceedingly rare books, unique records, and one-of-a-kind ephemera to give a brief flavor of the treasures that await discovery in New York. Members submitted so many featured items that we've had to split the list into two parts. Tune in next week for another sneak-peak at items you'll find at this year's New York Antiquarian Book Fair. (For more details on the book fair, click here...) BODMER, Karl (1809-1893, illustrator) -- Prince Maximilian zu WIED-NEUWIED (1782-1867). Voyage dans l'Intérieur de l'Amérique du Nord execute pendant les années 1832, 1833 et 1834. Paris: Chez Arthus Bertrand, 1840-1843. 4 volumes (text: 3 volumes, 8vo (9 1/2 x 6 1/4 inches); atlas: 1 oblong folio (17 x 23 1/2 inches)). French text: Half-titles, 1 lithographic plan, 31 plates of wood-engraved vignettes, 6 wood-engraved illustrations, large engraved folding map. Atlas: 81 engraved and aquatint plates (48 large aquatint tableau plates (19 hand coloured), 33 vignette plates on full folio sheets (7 hand coloured), all after Bodmer. The greatest illustrated American travel narrative and the most important depiction of American Indians in the frontier era: a very rare issue with the best plates hand-coloured. (Offered by Donald A. Heald Rare Books) KNAUSGÅRD, Karl Ove. Min Kamp. Bok 1. O... [more Featured Items: New York Book Fair (Part 1)]
During the twentieth century, Los Angeles produced a number of fine printers, Saul Marks and Ward Ritchie being familiar names. Perhaps not as well-known was Richard John Hoffman (1912-1989), a native of the city, with a massive output of printed work. Hoffman himself estimated his production at 15 to 20 items of printed material per week over a career spanning 66 years - that comes close to 50,000 items. Not all of it could be described as “fine printing.” Hoffman worked at Los Angeles City College as a teacher and an academic printer from 1933 to 1959, and was an instructor in Graphic Design and Director of the Printing Management Program at California State University, Los Angeles from 1959 to 1978. Upon his retirement he continued to produce printed work of a very high caliber. Hoffman was not a flamboyant character. In 1924, when he was 12, Richard Hoffman helped Francis C. Lofthouse install a printing press in the belfry tower of Trinity Baptist Church in East Los Angeles so that church bulletins could be printed. He married Lofthouse's daughter Ruth in 1934; they were married for 55 years. Hoffman's first employment was from 1925-1928, at the printing office of George Hillenbrand in Monterey Park, distributing type. He enrolled in Los Angeles Junior College in 1930, and began to work at the College Press as typographic editor for student publications, and edited the 1932 yearbook. Upon graduation in 1933 he became assistant manager of the College Press. At this tim... [more Richard Hoffman: Prolific & Pioneering Printer]
The pinnacle of rare book fairs in the US is the annual New York Antiquarian Book Fair, which takes place from April 7-10 at the Park Avenue Armory. Collectors can browse the booths of over 200 rare book dealers from around the world and all across the United States, offering a vast selection of rare books, maps, manuscripts, illuminated manuscripts, and ephemera. This book fair is officially sponsored by the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America and our parent organization the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, which means that collectors can be confident in the authenticity of the items available for purchase. (Scroll down for a few examples of the items that will be available this year.) Hours Preview: Thursday, April 7, 5-9pm Fair: Friday, April 8, noon-8pm Saturday, April 9, noon-7pm Sunday, April 10, noon-5pm Discovery Day Sunday, April 10, 1pm-3pm Location Park Avenue Armory 643 Park Avenue, New York City Tickets Tickets are available on the door or through Eventbrite… Preview Pass: $50 (includes one daily re-admission) Daily Admission: $25 Students: $10 Run of show: $40 More information: http://www.nyantiquarianbookfair.com/ A few of the items ABAA members will be exhibiting at the New York Antiquarian Book Fair... An Astounding Run of all the Holmes and Watson Stories in the Strand Magazines (London and NY, 1891–1927). 75 vols. 1st editions. The 1st appearances anywhere, in the original monthly parts, of the Adventures, Memoirs, Hound (NY ... [more Get Ready for the New York Book Fair]
Who killed the book? I did. I killed it when I bought a computer. My relationship with the computer has taken over – certainly it's a major distraction. And, I cannot go back. My addiction to the computer was very clear to me when the electricity went out last month during a terrific wind storm, toppling a majestic tree in our neighborhood, being close to downtown Carlsbad. Computer – dead – no electricity – all was dark, so we lit a candle and opened a book – to read from the printed page. I selected a copy of Robert B.M. Binning's, A Journal of Two Years' Travel in Persia, Ceylon, London, 1857. I turned to this book as it is anecdotal and I read it aloud to my wife. I wanted to share something of what Binning had to say when he traveled to Persia in the mid-nineteenth century, especially as he describes Shiraz, the poet Hafiz and describes Persian culture. There are many things learned from reading: the language of the past was much more colorful than now. Writers have taken on a new form of writing, just as movies seem to take fully advantage of bigger explosions, longer fight scenes, more blood and perceived gore. Many movies today are extensions of video games: “Mad Max Fury Road” was exactly like that – not a video game, but it could have been. The details in books are truer than what is depicted as history on the big screen. It's just like our mail box – so long a form of communication and now seemingly dead. When was the last time you hand-wrote a le... [more Who Killed the Book?]
Happy Leap Day! We thought you might want something to read on this bonus day, so here's a roundup of the latest news from the rare books world. New Penguins Collectors of Penguin Classics -- and we're nearly all de facto collectors of Penguin Classics by the time we've graduated college -- will be excited to see the launch of a new series of "Pocket Penguins," new editions of the most-widely read Penguin Classics. Color-coded by original language, the new series adapts the iconic Penguin Classics color-scheme and design, and will appeal to book-design afficionados. Unpublished Beatrix Potter Story Found Fear not fans of children's books featuring anthropomorphized animals, a lost story by Beatrix Potter, "The Tale Of Kitty-in-Boots" has been found in the Potter archives, and will be published in the fall. New Tolkien Poems Found Tolkien Scholar Wayne Hammond has succeeded in tracking down two poems by Professor Tolkien published in a school magazine in 1936. Lost Mozart-Salieri Composition Resurfaces Fine Books Magazine details a lost musical work composed by Mozart and Salieri together. Perhaps the depiction of their rivalry in the film Amadeus was less accurate than we thought? Van Filled with Rare Books Stolen After California Book Fair Spare a thought for ABAA-member Lawrence Van de Carr (Bookleggers Used Books) whose van full of $350,000-worth of rare books was stolen in Oakland, following the California Book Fair. One of the thieves has been caught as he tried to sell ... [more Rare Book News]
Recently, I became hooked on a video game for the first time since I was a teenager in the early days of home computers. While my children checked Instagram in the evenings, I would fire up Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes on my phone. After my wife began to tease me for becoming as much a phone slave as the kids, I began to think about why this game interested me so much. And then it hit me, it's the digital equivalent of my major collecting interest: vintage Star Wars toys. I've collected Star Wars figures since the late 1970s, when I could actually achieve the collector's ideal: owning a complete set of all the figures in existence. The toy industry quickly moved such aspirations far, far beyond my financial means, but I never fully gave up collecting Star Wars figures even as other interests and obsessions came and went. Today, I have an attic full of vintage Star Wars toys, but they only ever come out a couple of times a year. (As I'm also a book collector and writer, and have worked in the book industry for almost 20 years, the shelf space must go to the book collection, which is very much a working library.) The game I got hooked on is essentially those 4-inch plastic figures come to life. You assemble squads and embark on missions, fighting against the Empire — essentially a continuation of the battles I acted out with my figures in childhood. But what's so addicting is collecting the characters. You get a handful at the start, and must unlock others through game play. S... [more Why Do We Collect?]
Independent rare book expert Rebecca Romney remembers the great Italian linguist and writer Umberto Eco, who died last week. For a young woman who trained as a linguist; who spent more hours in her college years reading in Latin than reading modern novels; who has a particularly delicate spot for Borges, and for Bruno Schultz; and who found her calling in the rare book world, Umberto Eco was like a lodestar. I feel as if I followed him everywhere. After my first experience with his work, I didn't rush out and buy every book with his name on it; I watched life bring me the opportunities instead. I'd stop in a bookstore and begin searching the shelves for an Eco I hadn't read yet. I especially looked forward to plunking down next to the Essay section in a small independent bookstore on that (always and inevitably) hard carpet, boots splayed in odd directions, leaning forward to scan the titles. I searched with the special pleasure of anticipation (even when some older man would tell me with scorn that Umberto Eco is found in the fiction section). Then, I searched after books he had mentioned in his prose. I let his words guide me wherever they would. What is frequently appreciated in many so-called symbols is exactly their vagueness, their openness, their fruitful ineffectiveness to express a 'final' meaning, so that with symbols and by symbols one indicates what is always beyond one's reach. —Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language, Umberto Eco, 1984 And yes, of course, I d... [more Umberto Eco: In Memoriam]
Eight years ago, shortly after buying Eureka Books, we acquired a collection of Japanese interment posters. These broadsides had been posted in early 1942 throughout California, Oregon, and Washington, notifying “all persons of Japanese ancestry” that they were to be banned from coastal areas. The relocation of more than 100,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese immigrants could not be organized overnight, so the U.S. Army established 110 zones, rolling out the relocation orders over several months. The posters were issued in pairs, two for each zone. First, a “notice” from the Fourth Army, based at the Presidio in San Francisco, alerted Japanese-Americans to contact authorities for instructions. A second poster provided the “instructions to all persons of Japanese ancestry,” prohibiting them from moving freely and warning of imprisonment if they did not voluntarily report to relocation centers (often schools or other public buildings). American citizens were treated exactly like Japanese citizens: they were forced into hastily built camps with whatever possessions they could carry. Many lost their homes and farms in the process. A matched set of Japanese internment posters for Los Angeles. Even though the Supreme Court permitted the interment of native-born citizens of Japanese descent, the unbridled xenophobia the swept the West Coast in the early days of the Second World War is now seen as one of the more shameful periods of the 20th century. When my grandmother ... [more Documenting WWII Japanese-American Internment]