Bookseller News

The Boston Globe has published an online slideshow of independently owned bookstores in Boston, and ABAA members were certainly the 'stars' of the show, making up half of the total bookstores listed. Congrats to our Bostonian sellers! Please click here to view the slideshow. Almost all of these dealers will be exhibiting at the Boston Antiquarian Book Fair next week. Despite economy, local bookstores endure [more ABAA Bostonian Members in the News]

It has just been announced that ABAA member Larry McMurtry of Booked Up in Archer City, TX will be stepping in as the "New Books" columnist for Harper's Magazine. He will be filling in for Zadie Smith, who is on temporary leave. Congrats, Larry, we can't wait to read the column! 'Lonesome Dove' author Larry McMurtry writing books column for Harper's Magazine [more Member in the News: Larry McMurtry]

The ABAA is pleased to announce that member interviews can now be viewed on abaa.org. A few years ago, Michael Ginsberg embarked upon an archival journey for the ABAA. Recognizing the absence of member histories in the ABAA annals, Michael began conducting video interviews of members at our three annual fairs. The interviews cover members' personal histories as well as their involvement in the rare book trade. The ABAA extends many thanks to Michael, as well as Taylor Bowie, who has also conducted a number of interviews. Click here to visit the ABAA Bookseller Interviews Homepage. [more ABAA Bookseller Interviews]

The Rare Book School had some wonderful course offerings this year (as they do every summer!). ABAA member and past President Tom Congalton of Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. was there as instructor for his fourth year, co-teaching Printed Books since 1800: Element of Description and Analysis. He wrote a great blog post reviewing his course and experience. Click here for a very enjoyable read! [more Read Past ABAA President Tom Congalton's Report on the Rare Book School]

The following review of ABAA member David Bromer's Aun Aprendo: A Comprehensive Bibliography of the Writings of Aldous Leonard Huxley was written by fellow member Brian Cassidy. It appeared in the ABAA Spring 2011 e-Newsletter. Kudos, David! ********************************* Review: Aun Aprendo: A Comprehensive Bibliography of the Writings of Aldous Leonard Huxley by Brian Cassidy Aldous Huxley is primarily rememberedin the popular imagination at leastfor one book, his classic dystopia Brave New World. This is unfortunate. Huxley was one of the most prolific and versatile British writers of the twentieth century. He wrote on everything from philosophy to psychology, history to the paranormal. He was a pioneer in the field of drug literature, clearing the way for Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, and other seminal figures of the counterculture. Huxley authored dozens of books and during his life published well over two thousand short stories, poems, dramas, screenplays, and essays. He worked as an editor, journalist, reviewer, and translator. In other words, any Huxley bibliographer has before him an enormous challenge. It is perhaps not surprising therefore that no comprehensive bibliography of Huxley has been undertaken since before his death in 1963 (Claire John Eschelbach and Joyce Lee Shober'sAldous Huxley: A Bibliography 1916-1959 ) and no descriptive bibliography since R. Duval's in 1939. As explained in James Sexton's foreword to the new Aun Aprendo: A Comprehensive Bib... [more Review: Aun Aprendo: A Comprehensive Bibliography of the Writings of Aldous Leonard Huxley]

Bibliofile, Yale's dedicated site for Book History, has announced the publication of “Rare Book Photography: An Introduction”. This free guide “explains the handling and photographic practices that support libraries' preservation aims and the needs of researchers in clear language accompanied by many illustrations from Yale's Medical Historical and Law Libraries.” Click here to view or download the guide. Bibliofile notes that a larger pdf version is available if anyone would like to have copies printed professionally; email photo.design@yale.edu with your request. Training Manual: Rare Book Photography [more Yale's Free Introductory Guide to Handling & Photographing Rare Books]

The New-England chapter of the ABAA is pleased to invite members of the ABAA, the trade in general, and all interested observers to a special one-day "unseminar" entitled "New Tools: Marketing Approaches, Platforms, & Technologies for Antiquarian Booksellers," to be held Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. We plan a full day of presentations, speakers, and open discussion. Since all of our distinguished panelists are either active book dealers or people serving the larger community of antiquarian booksellers, we are calling "New Tools" an "unseminar" to emphasize the participatory and "bottom-up" character of the event. Participants include Dan Gregory of Between the Covers, who will deliver two full presentations during the morning session. First up is "Rare Book Photography for the Busy Professional Bookseller" which is very similar to the same talk Dan gives every August at the famed Colorado Antiquarian Rare Book Seminar in Colorado Springs. Following a short break Dan's second presentation will be "The Printed Rare Book Catalog in the Digital Age - New Tech Tools for an Old Sales Channel," a highly-praised talk that he delivered last year at the ILAB Congress in Bologna, Italy. Following lunch on your own at any of our local restaurants, our afternoon session will feature three highly successful and innovative booksellers, and a web designer known to many in the ABAA: 1. Greg Gibson of Ten Pound Island (and "Bookman's Log") on b... [more New England Chapter “Unseminar” on New Tools: Marketing Approaches, Platforms, & Technology]

The Hamilton Library at the University of Hawaii at Manoa is very grateful to Michael Hollander for the recovery of 218 booksand for alerting the Library of the books' absence in the first place. Michael was contacted by someone in Hawaii who was offering over 200 books for sale. The books were from the mid-1800s to the early 20th century and their total estimated value is between $50,000 to $100,000. Upon receiving six books to examine, Michael noted that they were all stamped as property of the University of Hawaii and had UH bar codes, and he immediately contacted the Hamilton Library to confirm that they were indeed offering these volumes for sale. Associate librarian Alan Grosenheider was alarmed by the call because the UH " sell books like other libraries." An internal investigation began and librarians discovered that the books were indeed missing from their shelves. Michael provided police with the seller's return address, and they in run raided a Waikiki apartment and recovered all the books. Police arrested and charged a former student of UH at Manoa with the thefts. Kudos to Michael for doing his due diligence and making the ABAA proud! Alert collector helps UH retrieve stolen rare books [more Member in the News: Michael Hollander]