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 overflow cataloguing • Editing o Assisting with editing print and digital catalogues o Regularly checking on/editing/revising existing descriptions • Book Fairs o As needed, traveling to or from book fairs to assist in set-up and break-down o As needed, providing on-floor sales support at book fairs Front of shop support: • Shop Walk-ins o Welcoming walk-ins to the shop o Handling in-shop sales o Collecting client information • Phone Call and Email Support • Managing door for deliveries/outbound packages Marketing: • Social Media o Collaborating in developing on-brand content for social media channels o Scheduling and releasing soc... [more Associate Bookseller Position at Whitmore Rare Books in Pasadena, CA]

After sixty-two years in the field of historical letters and manuscripts, Kenneth W. Rendell still feels just as excited as he was when, many years ago, a friend showed him a handwritten letter of George Washington. He couldn't believe it then and still feels "overwhelmed and honored" to collect what he regards as "pieces of human history." This past year, Rendell established two endowed annual lecture series, the first at the Rare Book School at the University of Virginia, focusing on the excitement of collecting original manuscripts and rare books, and the second at The Grolier Club in New York City, on the importance of handwriting in understanding history. The Grolier Club asked Rendell to deliver the inaugural lecture in this series in October 2022, an illustrated talk about pieces in his personal collection and why he considers them interesting and important: "The Power and Importance of Handwriting." This lecture can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/762624186 Kenneth W. Rendell Lecture on the Importance of Historical Letters and Documents from The Grolier Club on Vimeo. [more Kenneth Rendell Endows Two Lecture Series]

In early 2022, the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America's Diversity Initiative Committee announced a new paid summer internship program, co-sponsored by AbeBooks, intended to provide an alternative route to success in the antiquarian-book business, as part of its larger mission to promoted diversity, equality and inclusion in the rare-book business. Military veteran Alba Melgar-C'De Baca, a graduate student at the University of North Texas, was selected for the 10-week program, and interned at ABAA-member Type Punch Matrix over the summer of 2022. Melgar-C'De Baca spoke with Richard Davis at the Behind the Bookshelves podcast about her internship, and you can listen to the interview here... When asked what she'd tell other students considering a similar internship in the future, Melgar-C'De Baca said: “Don't hesitate to apply, there are so many parallels between working with rare books and librarianship…. It's a fascinating field with really great growth and learning opportunities.” Alba Melgar-C'De Baca Alba is a retired Army officer with a background in emergency response, training, operations and logistics. She has advanced degrees in Quality Systems Management and an undergraduate degree in Biology. Her ABAA, AbeBooks internship with Type Punch Matrix is based on her current educational efforts towards and MS-LS in Archival Studies and Imaging Technology as well as her future endeavors toward book sales. [more ABAA Diversity Internship]

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, James Bryant, Mary Hill, Michael Hackenberg, Laurelle Swan, Ben Kinmont, and Beverly Garcia-Garst. Photo by Joseph Driste. aGatherin' in Oakland, photo by Joseph Driste. Laurelle Swan awards the California Young Book Collector's Prize to Stacy Shirk. Photo by Joseph Driste. David & Caroline Brass in NY, photo by Meredith Nierman. Kiley Samz (B&L Rootenberg), photo by Meredith Nierman. Megumi Hill, photo by Meredith Nierman. Miranda Garno Nesler (Whitmore Rare Books), photo by Meredith Nierman. Michael Jennings (Neatline Antique Maps), photo by Meredith Nierman. [more Notes from the Field: Book Fairs are Back]

The ABAA Women's Initiative Committee is proud to announce the second round of the ABAA Mentorship Program. In an effort to further the Association's mission, the mentorship program builds relationships between ABAA dealers and early-career booksellers, provides professional development opportunities for prospective ABAA members, and creates a recruitment pipeline that increases the number and diversity of qualified applicants to the ABAA. Apply as a Mentor (ABAA Members only) Apply as a Mentee During the year-long mentorship period, with support from ABAA Headquarters, mentors and mentees meet monthly to discuss aspects of their individual businesses and the trade as a whole. Knowing that “fit” is key to a successful mentorship, ABAA Headquarters and the Women's Initiative Committee carefully match mentors to mentees, taking into consideration special requests, areas of focus, and business models. Location may also be a factor, but with the availability of technology like Zoom, need not be a requirement. ABAA Headquarters will be available throughout the entire process, from applications to mentorship pairings through the completion of the program, to address any questions or concerns that may arise. More information including a full list of requirements for mentee and mentor applications can be found here... Please feel free to pass this opportunity along to employees, colleagues, or others who may be interested. Don't hesitate to reach out to Eloisa Amezcua, the ABAA's... [more ABAA Women’s Initiative Mentorship Program]

Research documenting rare bindery dust jackets from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. Adapted from the Spring 2019 Journal of The Private Libraries Association, Pinner, Middlesex, England. Reprinted by permission. The practice of issuing dust jackets on new books is generally thought to have begun with the introduction of publishers' bindings around 1820. Books issued before then (and after) in provisional bindings are believed to have neither needed nor received jackets.1 But while this understanding of early jacket use has long seemed correct for British, American and European books, recently examined evidence shows that dust jackets were issued long before the 1820s in the German states and probably elsewhere in Europe. Most of the surviving examples of these jackets, including the earliest ones, are of German origin, which is where this previously undocumented and all but unknown chapter of book history begins. I. Two-piece bindery jackets 1760s–1860s Throughout the latter decades of the eighteenth century and beyond, German binderies produced a distinctive and durable type of dust jacket for the simple board bindings of that period. This practice continued well into the era of publishers' bindings in the nineteenth century. Examples of these jackets have been examined on about thirty titles, all bound in paper-covered boards, from the 1760s to the 1860s.2 These early jackets had several characteristics that were common to them throughout the entire period of t... [more Early Bindery Dust Jackets]

ABAA-member Stuart Bennett (Stuart Bennett Rare Books) talks with Walter Edgar about about his novel, The Charleston Gambit (2021, Evening Post Books) -- recorded at the Charleston Literary Festival in November of 2021. Listen here... [more Stuart Bennett Interviewed About His Novel The Charleston Gambit]

Meet the latest antiquarian booksellers accepted as members of the ABAA. Full Members: Keith de Lellis, Keith de Lellis Gallery LLC, New York City, NY Beginning in 1970 at the age of 15, Keith de Lellis began dealing in Fine Art Photography and has done so continuously over the past 50 years. De Lellis has watched the interest in photographs grow from an exceedingly small specialized market into a major field of collecting. He started dealing when he was in junior high school and was soon selling to the Smithsonian, the Metropolitan Museum of Art along with collectors some of whom are long forgotten others who are now legends to those familiar with some of the early figures in the world of collecting art photography. The first thirty years operating as a private dealer in Manhattan and beginning in 1998 as gallery owner of the Keith de Lellis Gallery in three locations on the upper east side. First in a beaux arts mansion at 47 East 68th Street for 10 years and next at 1045 Madison Avenue for 7 years and for the past three years in the Fuller Building at 41 East 57th Street. De Lellis is known as a canny dealer who spots trends in collecting and undervalued artists before they become mainstream and popular among collectors and museums. The gallery presents five exhibitions a year. Richard Erdmann, Mare Booksellers, Dover, NH Richard Erdmann began selling books, informally, in 2001, as a way to build his personal collection; but by 2007 he transitioned to selling books as a fu... [more New Members of the ABAA]

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 dropped two years later. In 2011, KB was able to locate and bring home the first of the books, Cornelis von Wytfliet's atlas from 1597. At the same time, KB published a comprehensive list of all the stolen books on their website, with the plea: Help us find the books! That call was answered by Tomas Söderblom, a doctorate historian and successful entrepreneur, who took up the challenge. He contacted KB and took the initiative to donate ten of the stolen books, which today are returned to the library. “A fantastic day for culture and society” - This is a fantastic day, not only for KB but for culture and society in its entirety. We have all... [more Ten Stolen Books Returned to the National Library of Sweden, More Still Missing]

We are pleased to announce that for the fourth year the Northern and Southern California chapters of the ABAA will be jointly awarding a prize for the best young book collectors in California. As with prior years, three prizes will be awarded, and the top collection will be exhibited at the upcoming 52nd California International Antiquarian Book Fair to be held in Oakland this coming February. Submissions are due December 1, 2021 and winners will be notified by December 20, 2021. Complete details are found here. [more Announcing The Fourth Annual California Young Book Collector’s Prize]