UPDATE: This item was recovered 5/18/20. The following item was reported missing and last seen at the ABAA Fair in Pasadena this past February: Nightingale, Florence. Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What It Is Not. London: Harrison, . First edition, early issue. 79pp. Octavo in flexible black textured cloth with gilt title on front wrap. Rebacked, with original wraps. Light wear to extremities; hinges reinforced, interior unmarked. With publisher's advertisements for the year 1860 on endpapers. With ads for Burke's Peerage and the Foreign Office List, both for 1860 (with the '8' in the Peerage ad's '1860' in slightly larger type); with 'The right of Translation is reserved' appearing in brackets at the foot of the title page; and with spelling errors uncorrected on pages 40 and 44. Identification number is 56736. If you have any informa... [more Missing: Early Issue of “Notes on Nursing” by Florence Nightingale]
Blog posts by Janine Moodhe
Janine graduated with a BA in English and American Literature from New York University, where she also minored in Visual Arts, and later completed the Documentary Photography and Visual Journalism Program at the International Center of Photography. She is an avid photographer, reader, and concert-goer. Janine started working for the ABAA in 2010 and has been Associate Director of the Association since 2011.
The following items were stolen last weekend during a robbery in Roanoke, Virginia: Three volume Lord of the Rings, 1st edition in jackets. George Allen & Unwin, fourth, sixth and eighth impressions. Majesty of the Law, Easton Press. Signed by Sandra Day O'Connor. If you are offered or have any information on these items, please contact Linda Steadman at 540-985-6469. [more Stolen Books from Virginia]
A book sent from London to the William Reese Company in New Haven, CT has gone missing in shipment. It was sent in July, and almost certainly addressed to the wrong recipient (likely a bookseller in the United States). The book is Henri Joutel's JOURNAL HISTORIQUE DU DERNIER VOYAGE....Paris. 1713. It is 12mo., bound in contemporary French speckled calf, gilt arms of Louis-Francois-Armand, Duc de la Rochefoucauld stamped on front board, spine richly gilt, raised bands, gilt label. Inkstamp of the Bibliotheque de la Roche-Guyon on titlepage. If anyone has received this book by mistake, or has been offered this copy for purchase, please contact the Americana Department at the William Reese Company, at amorder@reeseco.com. [more Missing in Transit: Henri Joutel’s JOURNAL HISTORIQUE DU DERNIER VOYAGE]
The following item went missing during transit after passing Canadian customs: ERASMUS, Desiderius. Institutio principis christiani, saluberrimis referta praeceptis, per Erasmum Roterodam, ab eodem recognita. Praecepta Isocratis de regno administrado ad Nicoclem regem eodem interprete. Cologne: Ex officina Eucharij Ceruicorni (colophon: Impensis M. Godefridi Hittorpij), May 1529. 8vo, pp. With fine woodcut title after Hans Holbein and woodcut white on black initials; contemporary owner's inscription on title-page crossed out; Latin inscription on first page of text in a contemporary hand; some light foxing. Early vellum over boards. BOUND WITH ERASMUS, D. Epistolae familiares propter singularem elegantiam & argumenti materiam Scholis & adolescentum studiis captuique accommodatae ex omnibus, quas reliquit, literis summo doctissimorum iudic... [more Lost in Transit: An Early Erasmus Sammelband of Student’s Texts]
The following item has been reported missing from California, last seen on July 31, 2015. Bohemian Club Ledger. Manuscript ledger of the Bohemian Club from its founding in 1872 to 1899, roughly three hundred pages of manuscript minutes and records along with relevant printed material from the period. The notes include mention of founder Ambrose G. Bierce, Henry George, Ina Coolbrith, Mark Twain and others. The cover is a black “pebbled” ledger style cover, approximately 8” by 11”, 250 - 350 pages. If you have any information on this item, please contact Richard P. Koch at rpkoch1@sbcglobal.net or (415) 397-1060. [more Missing: Bohemian Club Ledger]
The ABAA's Woodburn Fund provides financial support for scholarly research and education relevant to the antiquarian book trade. This includes annual scholarships to Rare Book School, California Rare Book School, and the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar. Ezra Tishman of Aardvark Books/Ezra the Bookfinder was the recipient of a Woodburn Fund scholarship to Rare Book School this year and had the following to say about his experience. I wanted to take moment to officially thank the ABAA for the scholarship assistance I received to attend a Rare Book School course in Bloomington, Indiana. The assistance allowed me to take the time off from work, and I spent an amazing week at Indiana University's Lilly Library, learning from the legendary "Master of Bibliographical Resources", Joel Silver. His encyclopedic knowledge of available references -... [more Woodburn Fund Scholarship Recipient on Rare Book School]
We have received a report that the items pictured below were lost in transit in July 2017. They were originally purchased at auction and listed under the lot "'Shabbat Shuva' sermon in the handwriting of the Chatem Sofer." If you have any information on these items, please contact ABAA Headquarters at hq@abaa.org or (212) 944-8291. First Item: Second Item: [more Missing Items Lost in Transit]
A copy of The Maltese Falcon was reported stolen from Rhode Island. We were provided with the following details on this particular copy: Inscribed on the upper right-hand corner of the first page was "R Stackpole” and written just below was "to Carol” The book had no stains, no rips, no other writing, no fringe tears, and was wrapped in white tissue paper. Regarding the wrapping: #1) the colorful book-cover lightly enclosed in airy white tissue paper in its own box-the lid was exteriorly taped shut on all for corners and # 2) the book itself was loosely wrapped in white tissue paper and placed in its own airy lidded box; which was taped the same way. Both containers had written on the exterior tops, "VERY VALUABLE BOOK DO NOT OPEN" and underlined. If you have any information on this item, please contact Carol Cummings at (401) 846-212... [more Stolen: “The Maltese Falcon”]
UPDATE: These items have been recovered. On 29 March 2019, a box with 26 Japanese books went missing in Salt Lake City, UT. The books had been exhibited at the ARLIS/NA conference and were packed and sealed in a brown cardboard box, heavily taped and labeled, that was to be shipped by UPS Freight to Boston, MA. The box was issued a UPS Freight tracking number that was never activated. A list of the missing material is below. Please contact Boston Book Company if you have any information about the package or its contents: 617-522-2100 or office@rarebook.com 1. MORIGUCHI Tari, editor. HYÔGENSHUGI KENCHIKU ZUSHÛ. Tôkyô: Kyôyôsha, Taisho 12 25.4 x 18.8 cm. A portfolio, tied, of some 60 plates, on the topic of "EXPRESSIONIST ARCHITECTURE". Wonderful modernist designs, real and proposed, from the cutting edge of the architectural design o... [more Update: Missing Japanese Books, possibly in transit from Salt Lake City]
The following item has been reported missing: On April 20, a first edition/first printing of the first Nancy Drew book-- The Secret of the Old Clock-- was stolen from a locked case at a downtown Savannah antique mall. The book itself is a little over 1" thick, medium blue with pale pink capital letters outlined in black. Other than the lettering, the front of the book is plain; there is no Nancy Drew silhouette as in later printings. The endpapers are white and blank except for an inscription that is dated September 27, 1930. The title page has considerable foxing, and the book does not have a dust jacket. We have the thief on surveillance video, and a police report has been made with the Savannah Police Department (Case #190420124). The SPD contact is Officer Mosteller, and you can reach him at (912) 651-6990. If you have any information... [more Stolen: 1st Edition/1st Printing Nancy Drew Secret of the Old Clock]