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Blog posts by Susan Benne

Susan is the Executive Director of the ABAA. She collects material on Brooklyn as well as ephemera and vernacular photography. Susan is focused on making the book trade diverse and equitable.


Associate Bookseller Position Based in the historic Union Building in Old Pasadena, Whitmore Rare Books has been serving a range of collectors for over a decade, placing rare book and manuscript materials at some of the most influential private collections and institutional libraries around the globe. In 2023, our shop seeks to recruit an Associate Bookseller to assist us in expanding our operations. This is a full-time salaried position based in our Pasadena shop that includes a set in-shop schedule with potential travel to and from book fairs. Salary is commensurate with experience and includes health insurance and paid time off (range $65,000 - $85,000). Interested parties should email a resume and cover letter to info@whitmorerarebooks.com. What the position entails: Research and Writing: • Cataloguing o Assisting with backlog and o... [more Associate Bookseller Position at Whitmore Rare Books in Pasadena, CA]

An ABAA Member reports the following item as lost in transit (FedEx) from Chevy Chase, MD to Chicago. The buyer received an empty box upon delivery. Bressani, Francesco Giuseppe (1612-1672) Breve Relatione d'Alcune Missioni de' PP. della Compagnia di Giesù nella Nuova Francia. Macerata: Heirs of Agostino Grisei, 1653. Quarto: 21.5 x 15.5 cm. , 8 pp., 9-10 ll., 11-127, pp. Collation: π2 A4 B4 (±B1.2) C-Q4 FIRST EDITION. Bound in 17th c. limp sheepskin parchment. With a large woodcut Jesuit device on the title page, woodcut initial, and a factotum built up from fleurons. There is a neatly written contemporary inscription of a Roman Jesuit library on the title page; some leaves foxed or lightly browned; there is a minor ink stain on two leaves. In all, a nice, genuine copy with generous margins. A full description of the item can be found... [more Missing in Transit to Chicago]

UPDATE: The following item has been recovered. The two below are still missing after being placed in a UPS deposit box at The Arsenal in Philadelphia. The First American Edition Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick: or the whale. New York, Harper & Brothers/ London, Richard Bentley, 1851. 8vo (19.3 cm). xxiii, , 654, pp., ff. BAL 13664; Wright, II, 1701; Tanselle 2; Grolier, American, 60. Publisher's purple/brown cloth with company's device stamped in center both covers; orange endpapers; ads at rear. Foxing, top of spine pulled; board edges show wear; spine sunned. In a quarter green Morocco open-back slipcase with a chemise. Spine of slipcase sunned as are part of the sides. The following significant items went missing after being placed in a UPS deposit box at The Arsenal in Philadelphia. The Inquisition & Father Hidalgo's "Manifiesto" Mexico. ... [more UPDATE: Melville Recovered; Missing in Transit from Philadelphia: Father Hidalgo & Lettsom]

The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA) is pleased to announce that Susan Jaffe Tane will fund the prizes for the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest. The prize is now known as The Susan Tane Prize for Student Book Collectors. Established in 2005 by Fine Books & Collections Magazine, the ABAA, along with the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies (FABS), the Grolier Club, and the Center for the Book and the Rare Books and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress jointly assumed leadership of the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest in 2010. The program aims to recognize outstanding book collecting efforts by college and university students, and to encourage young collectors to become accomplished bibliophiles. Ms. Tane has been listed in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in American... [more Susan Tane Funds National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest Prize]

On the 100th anniversary of her birth, an exhibition, entitled GET HAPPY! celebrates the life and artistic contribution of actress, singer and cultural icon Judy Garland. Garland's expansive career hit nearly every popular genre of entertainment during her lifetime, including Vaudeville, blockbuster Hollywood films, sold-out concerts, best-selling records and a television variety show in her name. After 50 plus years since her passing, Garland continues to capture new fans and remains one of the most beloved cultural icons of all time. The exhibit will be situated on the 3rd Floor in the President's Tea Room. Most of the costumes and memorabilia have never been seen by the public, and they include highlights spanning from her most beloved role as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, to what many historians consider her pinnacle performance in A S... [more Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles Hosts Judy Garland Exhibit in June]

Book Fairs are back! After two years without an in-person fair, the ABAA has been able to safely hold two so far this year with Boston coming up this fall. California and New York by all accounts were a success for exhibitors and customers alike, with New York particularly robust for sales and visitors, and exuberant crowds and attendance at record levels. At the height of the pandemic, some feared that Virtual Book Fairs would overtake in-person fairs in popularity. VBF's have been complementary, especially for those sellers and customers who are unable to travel, but are not replacements for in-person fairs as is apparent in these photos from the two events. Profile photo: Sunday Steinkirchner at the New York Book Fair, photo by Meredith Nierman. NCC Book Fair Committee triumphantly opens the Oakland Book Fair! L to R: Alexander Akin, J... [more Notes from the Field: Book Fairs are Back]

The following list of items were stolen from a post office in the Sellwood district of Portland, Oregon during a break-in on Saturday, April 30, 2022. The books had been enroute to a Portland book dealer and were accompanied by an invoice stating their value. These items may be offered to bookdealers in the area, or to dealers that specialize in conceptual art. The books are: 1. Dieter Roth. Preisliste. Dieter Roth-Ausstellung Galerie Ernst Hannover 1969. 6 hectographed pages with illustrations drawn on the matrix by Dieter Roth. Stapled. - Original edition. - Signed and dated Hannover 69 by Dieter Roth in ink at upper right. - "The list is typed as a continuous text by Roth and decorated with small drawn illustrations. It begins: 'Once upon a time there was a man who sat on a sausage, one of the famous and notable literary sausages at 30... [more Conceptual Art Books Stolen in Portland, OR]

A 1916 bound manuscript illuminated by Alberto Sangorski is missing from Oakland University Libraries (Rochester, MI) following a leak in Kresge Library discovered on December 11, 2021. Specifically, the item is Daisy, A Poem, by English poet Francis Thompson, “designed, written out, and illuminated” on 13 vellum pages by Alberto Sangorski for Riviere & Son with notice that “This manuscript will not be duplicated,” signed by Sangorski. Boards are jade green crushed morocco, inlaid with a border of gilt-outlined daisies and ochre celtic knots encircling five thistle flowers bordered by a thin strip of inlaid black morocco and a thicker band of red with studs echoing jewels; emerald crushed morocco doublures with border of gilt flower and pinnate leaf motif framing watered silk, and watered silk endleaves. Portrait miniature (signed... [more Missing: 1916 Bound Illuminated Manuscript by Alberto Sangorski]

Between 1995 and 2004, 62 older and very valuable books from the National Library of Sweden (KB) were stolen by the then head of the unit for manuscripts. Today ten of them are returned to KB, made possible by a generous donation. The returned items' lineage spans three centuries and have previously belonged to both royalty and great book collectors before being incorporated into the library's collections. The extensive thefts at KB are well known to many. Media interest has been considerable and the crimes have even been portrayed in documentaries and fiction. For the library, this event was a tragedy and the theft of the 62 books – the bearers of hundreds of years of history – a great loss for our common cultural heritage. After the thefts were discovered in 2004, the police conducted a preliminary investigation, but the case was dr... [more Ten Stolen Books Returned to the National Library of Sweden, More Still Missing]

The eleven documents were part of a fifteen item lot sold by Charles Hamilton from his catalogue 15 in 1966, and they were not discovered missing until 2010. They consist mostly of legal documents signed by Mark Twain and his business manager Ralph Ashcroft. A link to a list of the documents with full descriptions and a full account of the matter can be found at the Twainquotes website: http://www.twainquotes.com/MissingInDetroit.html If you have handled any of these documents or recall seeing any of them in the market at any time since 1966, please contact Barbara Schmidt who operates the Twainquotes website (bsschmidt@twainquotes.com), or ABAA member Kevin Mac Donnell (info@macdonnellrarebooks.com). [more Possible Theft of Eleven Important Mark Twain Documents from the Detroit Public Library]