The 53rd California International Antiquarian Book Fair takes place in Pasadena, California over the weekend of February 7-9, 2020. Here's is a little taste of the rare books and items of print ephemera ABAA members will be exhibiting at this year's Fair! Bradbury, Ray. The Martian Chronicles. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1950. First edition. 222pp. Octavo. Green cloth boards. Light sunning and wear, corners of jacket clipped. Leaf inscribed by Bradbury laid in. An excellent example of Bradbury's seminal future history detailing relations between human settlers and Martian natives. Offered by Ken Sanders Rare Books, booth #610. Women Organizing for Suffrage and Political Change: A Collection of Unusual, Ephemeral, and Delicate Pieces of Suffrage And Related Women's Social Reform Movements Large collection of 36 original memorabilia and wor... [more CA Book Fair Preview]

The ABAA admitted a number of full and associate members at the end of 2019. Please welcome these new members below: Full Members Alexander Akin, Bolerium Books (San Francisco, CA) Alexander Akin, the son of two labor activists, made his first international trip at the age of 15 to North Korea – an eye-opening visit that sparked an enduring interest in Asian history. He began part-time at Bolerium Books doing various tasks for store credit while finishing a Ph.D. in Chinese history. After a teaching stint, during which he discovered that academia pays even worse than the book trade, he returned to Bolerium full-time in 2011 and became a co-owner in 2013. Melding his academic interests with his activist background, he has expanded the bookstore's purview to include Asian language books and ephemera, while also cataloging materials relate... [more The Latest ABAA Members]

ABAA-member John Crichton of San Francisco's Brick Row Book Shop has loaned the oldest-known Christmas card to the Charles Dickens Museum in London for inclusion in their current exhibition “Beautiful Books: Dickens and the Business of Christmas.” The card, illustrated by John Calcott Horsley and designed and commissioned by Sir Henry Cole, was printed and mailed in 1843, making it the oldest known Christmas card. Crichton acquired the card in 2017, and interested parties should contact Brick Row Book Shop if they wish to own this piece of history. Charles Dickens, of course, was pivotal to the Christmas industry as we now know it! His celebrated story A Christmas Carol appeared the same year as this card, and was an instant success — so much so that another publisher was offering bootleg editions within the year! 1000 copies of the... [more The World’s Oldest Christmas Card on Display]

One of the oldest and most respected antiquarian book shows in the country, the 43rd Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair will be held November 15-17, 2019 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. Featuring the fascinating collections and rare treasures of more than 130 American and international booksellers, the event gives visitors the opportunity to see, learn about, and purchase the finest in rare and valuable books, illuminated manuscripts, autographs, political and historic documents, maps, atlases, photographs, fine and decorative prints, and much more. An alluring treasure trove awaits seasoned collectors as well as new visitors at an event that offers the top selection of items available on today's international literary market. Attendees have the unique chance to get a close look at rare and historic museum-quality items... [more Boston Book Fair 2019]

What new additions to the abaa.org website caught the eye this week? Signed books from James Baldwin, Annie Leibovitz, and P.L. Travers, as well as several classic children's books, among other interesting items... If Beale Street Could Talk (Signed) by James Baldwin New York: The Dial Press, 1974. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Signed by Author. First edition. Copy #6 of 250 specially bound copies signed by the author on the rear limitation page. 197 pp. Leather lettered in gilt in original brown cloth slipcase. Near Fine with slightly foxed edges and light rubbing to gilt, in Near Fine slipcase. A novel by the African-American expatriate, the basis of an upcoming film directed by Barry Jenkins. Offered by Burnside Rare Books. Annie Leibovitz: Photographs 1970-1990 (Signed, first edition) New York: HarperCollins, 1991. First editio... [more Books of the Week]

WHO OWNED THIS? Libraries and the Rare Book Trade consider issues surrounding Provenance, Theft and Forgery. A symposium presented by the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA) and the Grolier Club. -- Speakers and more detailed information will be published shortly. Information When: March 5, 2019 Where: Grolier Club, 47 East 60th Street, NY 10022 Cost: Free for ILAB affiliates and guests, reservations required Organized by the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB). For more information or to RSVP contact: Angelika Elstner (secretariat@ilab.org). [more Who Owned This? A Symposium]

What new additions to the abaa.org website caught the eye this week? An interesting endorsed letter to President Andrew Jackson, a very early collection of medical recipes, and first editions of books from Virginia Woolf and Richard Fariña, among other items... The Waves (First Edition) by Virginia Woolf New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, .. Octavo, original blue cloth, spine panel stamped in gold, top edge stained brown. First U.S. edition, first printing with "first edition" on copyright page. Connolly 70. Kirkpatrick A16b. A fine copy in decorated dust jacket (designed by Vanessa Bell) priced $2.50 on front flap with light tanning to spine panel, a couple of mild fox marks, and some general dust soiling. Actually, a pretty decent copy overall. (Offered by L.W. Currey) Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me (First Edition) by Ric... [more Books of the Week]

Every famous poet and writer started small, usually with cautious publishers who printed small batches of the first edition of their early books. For most, the cautious print runs continues, even after winning awards, because poetry has ever been an relatively low-volume business, even for the big names. When they later became reknowned, even famous, at home and abroad, these relatively scarce first editions became highly prized by their fans and collectors. Here are a dozen first editions from poets who became big names in their time, drawn from the current inventory of ABAA members. The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot New York: Boni & Liveright, 1922. Near Fine/Near Fine. First edition. Publisher's flexible cloth, the stamped number (198) 5mm in height, and the "a" in "mountain" on page 41 (a possible state in the first printing); one of the f... [more Poetry First Editions]

What newly listed or catalogued items caught the eye this week? A rare astronomical textbook from 1482; a useful set of Firsts, a magazine about collecting first editions; and a first edition by today's birthday boy, George Orwell. A bound collection of 32 full-color costume plates of French noblewomen by LANTÉ, LOUIS MARIE; GEORGES-JACQUES GATINE (ENGRAVER) (1827) Slim folio 32 colored plates bound in contemporary 3/4 leather with speckled paper over boards, decorative gilt stamped borders on both boards, and a leather label mounted to the front board, with the gilt title "Costumes Francoises," within ornamental gilt floral borders (label just starting to peel at the edges). These plates most likely originally came from a larger work consisting of 70 plates, titled "Les femmes célèbres de la France historique et littéraire à travers... [more Books of the Week]

Five books caught the eye among this week's crop of new listings -- along with one unusual piece of jewelry! -- which proves you never know what you'll find in a rare book shop! Winne-the-Pooh (First Edition) London: Methuen, 1926. Shepard, Ernest H.. First edition. Limited to 350 copies printed on handmade paper and signed by Milne and Shepard. With all of the well-known and well-loved illustrations and a fold-out map of Pooh's and Christopher Robin's territory, which appeared in the ordinary edition as endpapers. Bound in quarter dark-blue cloth with light-blue paper over boards. Corners slightly bumped and minute soiling to upper cover, else near fine in original dust wrapper, which shows expected toning. Housed in a red-cloth chemise inside a matching slipcase. Bookplate of former owner. Offered by Bromer Booksellers. Autograph Letter... [more Books of the Week]