Coming up this week, the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair (16–18 November), accompanied of course by the Boston Book, Print, and Ephemera Fair on Saturday, 17 November.
- The concerted action of more than 600 booksellers around the world forced AbeBooks to back down from their plan to withdraw service from certain countries. See coverage in the NYTimes, the Guardian, Antiques Trade Gazette. Well done to all who helped bring about this result!
- David Pearson writes for the Cambridge University Library Special Collections blog about his current work on Cambridge bookbindings from the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries. He's interested in feedback and/or more information about Cambridge bindings, so feel free to contact him (info at the end of the blog post) if you can help.
- Over at Echoes from the Vault, Farshad Sonboldel highlights his recent work on updating catalog records for the Arabic and Persian manuscripts in the St Andrews collections.
- Jessica Bigelow writes about the incunabula in the collections of the American Antiquarian Society.
- On the N-YHS blog, "Lab Notes: The Florence Flood and the emergence of library conservation."
- Mary Fissell writes for the Huntington Library's blog on "A History of the Medical Book," a conference coming up there this week.
- Some drafts of the screenplay for The Wizard of Oz will be sold at auction next month.
- Abigail Cain writes about letterlocking for Atlas Obscura.
- Over on the Fine Books Blog, Barbara Basbanes Richter reports on big changes in the New Haven antiquarian bookselling scene.
Upcoming Auctions
- The Fine Cartographic and Printed Americana Collection of Evelyn and Eric Newman at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers on 12 November.
- Fine Books and Manuscripts at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers on 13 November.
- Rare Books, Autographs & Maps at Doyle New York on 13 November.
- 19th & 20th Century Literature at Swann Galleries on 13 November.
- Travel, Atlases, Maps & Natural History at Sotheby's London on 13 November.
- Fine & Rare Books at PBA Galleries on 15 November.
- Aristophil 11: Livres Illustres et Éditions Originales, Manuscrits et Lettres Autographes des XIXe et XXe Siècles at Ader on 15 November.
- Fine Books & Manuscripts at Skinner on 18 November.
- Livres Rare et Manuscrits at Christie's Paris on 20 November.
- Books and Manuscripts at Sotheby's Paris on 21 November.
- Fine Books, Manuscripts, Atlases and Historical Photographs at Bonhams London on 27 November.
- Russian Literary First Editions & Manuscripts: Highlights from the R. Eden Martin Collection at Christie's London on 28 November.
- The Craig Noble Collection of L. Frank Baum & the Wizard of Oz at PBA Galleries on 29 November.
- Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper at Forum Auctions on 29 November.
Sunday, November 11, 2018
Sunday, November 04, 2018
Links & Reviews
- An announcement from AbeBooks that they would no longer be supporting booksellers based in certain countries as of 30 November (including Czechia, Hungary, Russia, and South Korea) has sent major ripples through the bookselling community. It prompted the ABA to decline AbeBooks' sponsorship offer for the 2019 Firsts summer book fair. ILAB president Sally Burdon noted that "The ILAB Committee applaud the action taken by the ABA in deciding to decline ABE's sponsorship of Firsts next year. This sacrificial action on their behalf, will of course make their fair more difficult to stage and thus sends a clear message to ABE that booksellers around the world stand together and will not ignore blows to the businesses of others."
- In solidarity with their colleagues in the affected countries, more than one hundred ILAB booksellers from around the world have announced that they will withdraw their stock from AbeBooks. I can't take that same step, obviously, but as a frequent buyer of books, I can support the movement in my own tiny way: I will not be purchasing books through ABE's platform while this continues, but will instead buy directly from the booksellers or through another purchasing platform. As an alternative search site, viaLibri is much better anyway, since it includes many additional listings. As I get more information on this, I will be sure to pass it along.
[Update, at 5:50 p.m. on 4 November: see this new article from the NYTimes.]
- Sarah Werner will deliver APHA's Lieberman Lecture on Thursday, 13 December at the Library of Congress: "Working towards a feminist history of printing."
- Proposed new EU license regulations "would require art, antiques and antiquities that are more than 250 years old (regardless of their value) to have import licences in order to enter an EU country," according to a report in the Art Newspaper. ILAB president Sally Burdon says "as it was originally written, the proposed legislation is not workable for antiquarian booksellers, European librarians, private collectors or the many others involved for business or pleasure with old books or manuscripts." ILAB has proposed that the regulations set a higher age and include a value threshold.
- The copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover used by the judge during the obscenity trial sold for £56,000 at auction.
- Marc Harrison writes for the Fine Books Blog about the fall iteration of Bibliomania in Paris.
- Nick Aretakis will be returning to manage the Americana department at the William Reese Company.
- Alexander Alter covers the new Penguin Minis flipbacks for the NYTimes. I ordered these and found them even better than the ones Hodder & Stoughton issued a few years ago: the typeface is much improved, for one thing. I hope Dutton/Penguin will issue a bunch more of them.
- From R. B. Bartgis at Sammelband, "Teaching Bibliographic Format."
- The London Library reported this week on recent research into books on the library's shelves which have been identified as those used by Bram Stoker while he was researching and writing Dracula.
- Rebecca Romney offers some excellent bookish podcast recommendations in her "Book Curious" newsletter this week. I'll add one that dropped after her email arrived: Rebecca Baumann is on this week's "Behind the Bookshelves" podcast talking about her collection.
- Over at Notabilia, "Rare Book Working Group Examines 'Her Book'."
Reviews
- Nancy Campbell's The Library of Ice; review by Gavin Francis in the Guardian.
- David Grann's The White Darkness; review by Colin Dickey in the NYTimes.
Upcoming Auctions
- Printed Books, Maps & Documents at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 7 November.
- Autographs at Swann Galleries on 8 November.
- Food & Drink at PBA Galleries on 8 November.
- Rare & Used Books at the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society on 9 November.
- In solidarity with their colleagues in the affected countries, more than one hundred ILAB booksellers from around the world have announced that they will withdraw their stock from AbeBooks. I can't take that same step, obviously, but as a frequent buyer of books, I can support the movement in my own tiny way: I will not be purchasing books through ABE's platform while this continues, but will instead buy directly from the booksellers or through another purchasing platform. As an alternative search site, viaLibri is much better anyway, since it includes many additional listings. As I get more information on this, I will be sure to pass it along.
[Update, at 5:50 p.m. on 4 November: see this new article from the NYTimes.]
- Sarah Werner will deliver APHA's Lieberman Lecture on Thursday, 13 December at the Library of Congress: "Working towards a feminist history of printing."
- Proposed new EU license regulations "would require art, antiques and antiquities that are more than 250 years old (regardless of their value) to have import licences in order to enter an EU country," according to a report in the Art Newspaper. ILAB president Sally Burdon says "as it was originally written, the proposed legislation is not workable for antiquarian booksellers, European librarians, private collectors or the many others involved for business or pleasure with old books or manuscripts." ILAB has proposed that the regulations set a higher age and include a value threshold.
- The copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover used by the judge during the obscenity trial sold for £56,000 at auction.
- Marc Harrison writes for the Fine Books Blog about the fall iteration of Bibliomania in Paris.
- Nick Aretakis will be returning to manage the Americana department at the William Reese Company.
- Alexander Alter covers the new Penguin Minis flipbacks for the NYTimes. I ordered these and found them even better than the ones Hodder & Stoughton issued a few years ago: the typeface is much improved, for one thing. I hope Dutton/Penguin will issue a bunch more of them.
- From R. B. Bartgis at Sammelband, "Teaching Bibliographic Format."
- The London Library reported this week on recent research into books on the library's shelves which have been identified as those used by Bram Stoker while he was researching and writing Dracula.
- Rebecca Romney offers some excellent bookish podcast recommendations in her "Book Curious" newsletter this week. I'll add one that dropped after her email arrived: Rebecca Baumann is on this week's "Behind the Bookshelves" podcast talking about her collection.
- Over at Notabilia, "Rare Book Working Group Examines 'Her Book'."
Reviews
- Nancy Campbell's The Library of Ice; review by Gavin Francis in the Guardian.
- David Grann's The White Darkness; review by Colin Dickey in the NYTimes.
Upcoming Auctions
- Printed Books, Maps & Documents at Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 7 November.
- Autographs at Swann Galleries on 8 November.
- Food & Drink at PBA Galleries on 8 November.
- Rare & Used Books at the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society on 9 November.
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