Which books and pieces of ephemera caught the eye among this week's crop of new listings? First editions of The Lord of the Rings, a medieval manuscript in a 15th-Century binding complete with library chain, and a contemporary fine-art binding of Sinclair Lewis' classic, It Can't Happen Here, among others... THE LORD OF THE RINGS comprising THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE TWO TOWERS & THE RETURN OF THE KING (First Editions) by TOLKIEN, J. R. R. "One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all And in the darkness bind them"THE LORD OF THE RINGS comprising THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE TWO TOWERS & THE RETURN OF THE KING, Allen & Unwin, 1954, 1954 & 1955 respectively, each in first edition, (first printing), all 3 volumes vg+ or better in vg dust-wrappers save for some light fading and wear and tear to the dus... [more Books of the Week]

Which books and pieces of ephemera caught the eye among this week's crop of new listings? A very early biography of Stalin, a protest poster from 1969, and a first edition of an influential poetry volume from the Harlem Renaissance, among others... Stalin: The Career of a Fanatic (First Edition) by Essad-Bey (Pseudonym for Lew Nussimbaum) New York: The Viking Press. Near Fine in Very Good dj. 1932 (c.1931). First American Edition. Hardcover. . (B&W photographs) First published in Germany, this was one of the earliest books about Joseph Stalin. Although probably unreliable as history (the New York Times reviewer characterized the first part of the book, dealing with Stalin's early life, as "rather fictional"), it still painted a persuasive portrait of the dictator's personality and gave a compelling account of his rise to power. The author... [more Books of the Week]

What caught the eye among this week's crop of new listings? Why a signed letter from P.T. Barnum, a bound set of the Harvard Law Review (1984-2004), and a signed Christmas card from (arguably) the most-famous Royal couple of the last century, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, among many other things... Rebecca (First Edition) by Daphne du Maurier New York: Doubleday Doran and Company, 1938. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. First edition stated, first printing. Very Good with toning to pages, foxing to endsheets and news clippings pasted to front free end paper. Cloth lightly worn and silver band lightly rubbed. In a Very Good+ dust jacket with publisher's price of $2.75 intact; light rubbing and a small chip missing from the bottom corner of the front panel and another at the base of the spine. Scarce in the dust jacket. Offered by B... [more Books of the Week]

Pioneering screenwriter Anita Loos was born on April 26, 1889. After learning her trade acting and writing one-act plays for her father's somewhat-disreputable theater troupe, Loos began submitting unsolicited scripts to film companies. D.W. Griffith directed The New York Hat, a film based on her screenplay, starring Mary Pickford and Lionel Barrymore in 1912. In 1915 Loos became the first “staff writer” for a film production company, when she signed on with Griffith's studio. She wrote hundreds of scripts during the silent era of cinema, most of which went unproduced, but the films that were made were noted for their wit and humor — all the more remarkable for being silent! Her collaboration with director (and future husband John Emerson) began by working on several romantic comedies which made Douglas Fairbanks a star. In later ye... [more Anita Loos: Hollywood Pioneer]

ABAA-member Kenneth Karmiole has endowed a new research fellowship at his alma mater, the University of California Santa Barbara. This is the second endowment Karmiole has established at UCSB, the first supports the purchase of rare books. Karmiole says that university libraries are becoming increasingly valuable resources, because “Old bookstores are closing left and right, so universities are the great repositories of printed history." A press release from UCSB details how the UCSB library was an important part of setting Karmiole on his career path: As a history major at UCSB in the 1960s, Kenneth Karmiole liked to hang out in used bookstores. He often found scholarly books from the 19th century that sold for $1, and wondered why they weren't worth more. To learn about the academic book business, he sought out UCSB Library's head of ... [more Kenneth Karmiole Endows Research Fellowship]

A selection of rare books and print ephemera newly listed or catalogued by members of the ABAA. The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells London: William Heinemann, 1896. Pictorial ochre cloth, stamped in black and red. Frontis. Rear inner hinge cracked (but sound), some rubbing to cloth and small offset spots to lower cover, some shallow splashmarks along the top edge of the front free endsheet and pastedown, a bit of foxing to the tissue-guard, otherwise a very good copy. First UK edition, in the preferred state of the binding, with the blindstamped logo in the lower corner of the lower cover. The terminal catalogue is the 32pp. form beginning with THE MANXMAN and concluding with OUT OF DUE SEASON. Among Wells's most important works, functioning as both an imaginative entertainment, and as a cautionary tale about scientific progress unc... [more Books of the Week]

Why is it that we love tales of book heists? Two new films set in the world of rare books, both crime thrillers, are coming in 2018. The first trailer for "Can You Ever Forgive Me?", based on Lee Israel's career as a forger of literary letters was released this week, and the trailer for "American Animals" based on a 2004 robbery of the Special Collections Library of Transylvania University, in Lexington, Kentucky has been playing for a short time. The proximity of these two films may simply be coincidence, but the source material for these tales -- magazine articles about book thieves and true-crime accounts of heists succesful and unsuccessful -- are abundant. Perhaps it's simply an extension of the idea that everyone has a book in them -- which makes so many people think they could be an author "if they had the time" -- that draws peopl... [more Hollywood Loves Rare Books]

Our monthly roundup of the stories bibliophiles are reading, sharing, and discussing. Kenneth Karmiole Establishes Research Fellowship at UCSB ABAA_member Kenneth Karmiole has established the Kenneth Karmiole Endowed Research Fellowship, which will support scholars working with primary resource materials and rare books in the University of California Santa Barbara Library. How a rare Revolutionary War-era document ended up in Utah “Who knows what's in anybody's garage, right?” Read more... 2018 Pulitzer Prizes Andrew Sean Greer won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel Less; Caroline Fraser won the Biography Price for her biography of Laura Ingalls WIlder, Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder; and Frank Bidart won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his volume of Collected Poems, Half-light. Read about ... [more Rare Book News]

ABAA-member Raymond Smith has an exhibition of his black-and-white photography, "In Time We Shall Know Ourselves" running at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT through June 3, 2018. Inspired by the photographs taken in the American South in the 1930s by Walker Evans, a teacher and mentor of Smith at Yale University, as well as by Robert Frank's The Americans (1958), in the summer of 1974 Smith embarked on a photographic expedition of his own. Smith traveled with his Australian friend Suzanne Boyd in an aging Volkswagen from New England through the South and into the Midwest, photographing the people and places he encountered during the three-month journey. Lecture/Reception The Bruce Museum will host a reception and artist talk for the exhibition on Sunday, April 15, 3–5 pm. At 3:30 pm, Raymond Smith will present a lecture titled, “I A... [more In Time We Shall Know Ourselves]

Meet the latest members of the ABAA. Andrea Peacock, Elk River Books Andrea Peacock is an author and former newspaper journalist who took up bookselling when she and her husband built a new house and didn't have enough room for all their books. She teamed up with Marc Beaudin and in 2011 launched Elk River Books, an open shop in the small town of Livingston, Montana, which sits along the big bend of the Yellowstone River. After a few years, she tired of selling $7 paperbacks to tourists, and attended CABS on a friend's recommendation. That changed everything. They moved from their tiny storefront into an enormous building in Livingston's arts district, and refocused on antiquarian and collectible books. She took classes at Rare Book School, and began specializing in works by the Montana Gang and “outdoor literature”—a catchall that ... [more New ABAA Members]