The Felpham home that William Blake lived in is currently on the market for �650,000 (or approximately $988,000). Blake lived in the charming cottage from 1800-1800 while he worked on several illustration and engraving projects for William Hayley, a popular poet. Blake had run into some financial difficulties at the end of the 18th century and began to rely heavily on patrons for his paintings and drawings. Blake and Hayley made an agreement that Blake would move to Felpham, where Hayley resided, and once there Hayley would hire him for a series of commissions. The arrangement worked for a short time, and Blake enjoyed life on the Sussex coast, writing that Felpham was "the sweetest spot on Earth." However, Hayley and Blake's relationship soured by early 1803. Blake felt that Hayley was more preoccupied with business than Blake's artistic endeavors, and he made plans to move to London. Before he left Felpham, Blake was involved in an altercation with a soldier who accused him of making seditious comments against the king. Though the accusation was consistent with Blake's beliefs, he plead not guilty. Several witnesses testified on Blake's behalf and he was acquitted of the charges. Whoever purchases the Felpham cottage today will likely have less drama. The house is set in a walled garden and has four bedrooms and two bathrooms. This is the first time the house has been on the market since 1928. It is being offered by real estate firm Jackson-Stops & Staff. Check out the pict... [more William Blake's Cottage For Sale]

It's been an exciting few days for baseball fans here in NYC with the various All-Star events, which culminate in the big game tonight. (Did you see Céspedes in the Home Run Derby last night?!) It's the ninth time that NY has hosted an All-Star game, the last time was in 2008 at the old Yankee Stadium, but only the second time that the Mets have been hosts. The last time the Mets hosted was in 1964, their inaugural season at Shea. My father and brother are rabid baseball fans (Mets and Yankees, respectivelya house divided). I've always loved watching and attending games, but admittedly have never been very attentive about players, records, and statistics. During the Home Run Derby last night, I got interested in the history of the game and began doing a little research during commercial breaks. Needless to say, I was bombarded by a wealth of information. Baseball has its roots in English folk games, like stoolball, "tut-ball", and rounders, but there is evidence suggesting that an early version of the game was played in Flanders, France, and even ancient Egypt. The first written reference to baseball appears in a 1744 British children's book, A Pretty Little Pocket-Book by John Newberry (coincidentally, Newberry's book is also considered to be the first in its genre; the Newberry medal is named for him). It presents a woodcut (shown at right) and a little rhyme about the game. The first American reference to the game appears in a 1791 bylaw from the town of Pittsfield, MA t... [more Baseball Fever]

George Washington's personal copy of Acts of Congress is currently on display at Southern Methodist University's DeGolyer Library in Dallas, TX. The leather-bound book was published by the official printer of Congress in 1789, Washington's first year as President of the United States. This copy was custom-printed for Washington and contains his signature and handwritten annotations. Copies of the book were presented to other key politicians of the time, like Thomas Jefferson and John Jay. There are only thirty known copies in existence. The book is on loan from the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, which purchased the book for a whopping $8.7 million ($9.8 million including auction fees) last year at Christie's. The sale price broke the record as the highest for an American book or historical document. The book will be on display for the public until July 27. It is part of a larger exhibit at SMU called "Hail to the Chief: American Presidential History in Word and Image", which displays presidential memorabilia from Washington onward to the present day. That larger exhibit will be open until October 4. After a national tour, Washington's Acts of Congress will be on permanent display at the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington, a new center opening at Mount Vernon in September. ​Rare volume from George Washington's library is on display at SMU [more Washington's Annotated Copy of 'Acts of Congress' on Display at SMU]

Manuscripts for a previously unknown novel by Pearl Buck were discovered in a storage locker in Texas. The novel, entitled The Eternal Wonder, appears to have been completed just prior to Buck's death in 1973 and is described as "a coming-of-age tale of a young man who ends up on patrol in the Korean demilitarized zone and in his travels finds love and romance." “It's a novel that encompasses some of Buck's common themes: intercultural relationships, travel, China; Asia in general,” said Michael Carlisle, a partner at Inkwell and literary agent who represents the Buck estate. “This is a very, very exciting moment for anybody who loves the oeuvre of Pearl Buck.” The two manuscripts, one handwritten and one typed, were found in a Fort Worth, TX storage locker that was auctioned off. Luckily, the purchaser of the locker realized what she had and contacted the Buck estate. She gave the manuscripts to Buck's family in exchange for a small finder's fee. Buck's son, Edgar Walsh, said in a recent interview that he "had not known that mother had written this in the last year or two of her life." The novel will be published this October in both print and electronic formats. Buck is best known for her novel The Good Earth, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1931. She is one of only two American women to win both the Pulitzer and the Nobel prize, which she was awarded in 1938; Toni Morrison has also won both prizes. ​Searching for a long-lost Pearl Buck manuscript? Try a ... [more Pearl Buck Manuscript Found in Texas Storage Locker]

The NY Times recently reviewed a new book by Travis McDade, the curator of rare books at the University of Illinois College of Law. Thieves of Book Row: New York's Most Notorious Rare Book Ring and the Man Who Stopped It tells the true story of a rare book crime ring centered around Manhattan's Book Row in the 1920s and 1930s. Sounds like a perfect summer read! Book Row was established as early as 1890 on Fourth Avenue, a short avenue right below Union Square. It ran for six city blocks and had forty-eight bookstores. Sadly, Book Row is no more but one famous bookstore remains: ABAA firm Strand Book Store, which opened in 1927. If you've ever visited this NYC establishment, you know that their famous "18 Miles of Books" slogan is easy to believe. If you haven't been there, make the trip next time you are in the neighborhood. Here's a link to Hymn to Fourth Avenue, a poem by Eli Siegel that celebrates Book Row. [more New Book on the "Thieves of Book Row"]

Two Illinois State University math professors recently authenticated that two math-notebook pages belonged to Abraham Lincoln. The pages were found in the archives of Harvard's Houghton Library and were part of a math workbook, called a ciphering book, that Lincoln worked on in his youth. The ciphering book is the oldest known Lincoln manuscript. Nerida Ellerton and Ken Clements, the professors who made the discovery, believe these pages indicate that Lincoln had more formal education than scholars previously believed. Lincoln was thought to have completed only three to nine months of school, but the professors think he went to school for up to two years. "He made very few errors, and he always knew what he was trying to do," Clements added. "We've studied thousands of these cyphering books. You don't always get the feeling that 'this guy knew what he was doing.'" Historian Daniel Stowell, the Director of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln project at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, agrees that Lincoln may have attended school for three to five winters. The dates on the pages and in the notebook suggest that Lincoln worked on these problems over the course of several years in the 1820s. "They are arguing with some merit that a ciphering book would have been created in a school setting," Stowell said. "It does at least open the possibility that he may have had more formal schooling than originally thought. Not a whole lot more, but still more." The professors came across t... [more Lincoln Math Workbook Indicates Additional Education]

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 �... [more Howard L. Karno Endowment Fund Established at the University of New Mexico]

The ABAA is pleased to announce the 2013 recipients of the Edwin Glaser Scholarships to the Colorado Antiquarian Booksellers' Seminar: Rebecca Bott (Botolphston Books), Lawrence Hammar (Blue Jacket Books), and Zachary Stacy (Books-O-Rama). Congratulations! Rebecca Bott offered an extensive background in antiquarian books and manuscripts. She worked as a student assistant at her university's rare book and manuscript library, earned an MLIS degree and has catalogued texts and manuscripts for private collectors and institutions. Presently living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, she recently established Botolphston Books, with stock in early printed material. She noted in her essay: "my discussions with booksellers have confirmed that an appreciation for, or even a deep knowledge of books is not enough to make one a good bookseller. The antiquarian book trade is a business, and a complex one." Lawrence (Larry) Hammar came to bookselling as a later profession. His Blue Jacket Books in Xenia, Ohio is a general antiquarian bookstore with social sciences and humanities as a strong focus. The bookstore is now in its third location, having outgrown one and then forced into a third after a flood. He has needed resilience to keep Blue Jacket Books going. His ambition is to make Blue Jacket a better store and himself a more knowledgeable bookman and businessman. As he wrote, "We don't have any money, but we have more space, seemingly boundless energy, and a lot of community good will." Zachar... [more ABAA Woodburn Fund Awards Scholarships to the Colorado Antiquarian Booksellers' Seminar]

Paper marbling is a centuries old art of aqueous design that is transferred to paper or fabric. There are several methods of marbling, but the basic process uses a shallow tray of water or viscous mucilage, known as size or sizing. Ink or paint colors are carefully applied to the surface of the water or sizing with an ink brush (chemicals are used to help keep the colors floating). The artist then uses various apparatuses such as brushes, rakes, combs, and styluses to create designs. Once the artist is satisfied with the design, a piece of paper is laid on the surface and voilà, the colorful design is transferred to the surface of the paper. Watching the process of paper marbling is mesmerizing, as is illustrated in the video below. Seyit Uygur is a Turkish ebru artist (ebru is the Turkish name for paper marbling). Seyit UYGUR { Ebru Artist } from Oguz Uygur on Vimeo. If you're interested in trying your hand at marbling, check out your local Center for Book Arts to register for a class. Here's a link to an instructional video from the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. The page also includes a great link to examples of different marbling pattern samples. There are also a number of neat videos on YouTube. [more Mesmerizing Paper Marbling]

The following items were recently stolen from Wentworth & Leggett Rare Books. If you have any information on these items, please contact Barbara Wentworth at 919-688-5311 or 919-479-1938. 1. Arthur Rackham's Book of Pictures London 1913 limited edition signed by Arthur Rackham http://www.wentworthleggettbooks.com/Pages/Item/Illustrated.aspx index 73 of 90 to 76 of 90 2. 6 vol set of Fox Hunting stories by R.S. Surtees Handsome half leather embosed Original cover and spine tipped in the back of each volume Illustrations by John Leech and Phiz http://www.wentworthleggettbooks.com/Pages/Item/Illustrated.aspx index 38 of 90 to 41 of 90 3. The Viscera of the Human Body Edited by Jones Quain M.D. and W. J. Erasmus Wilson Full leather cover medical atlas Folio Hand colored plates London 1840 http://www.wentworthleggettbooks.com/Pages/Item/PrintsMedical.aspx index 54 of 85 to 85 of 85 4. D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatterley's Lover Florence, Italy (1928). Pirated edition. Mulberry-colored boards and paper spine label same as original edition 5. Observations Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty...Mountains and Lakes of Cumberland and Westmorland (we're pretty sure this is the title) by William Gilpin late 1700's 2 vol full deep olive green leather many aquatints fore-edge painting on each vol special lined slipcase fore each vol [more Books Stolen in North Carolina]