Last weekend's 35th Annual Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair was a great successlots of incredible material was being offered by dealers and each day the fair was filled with enthusiastic attendees both young and old. If you could draw your attention away from the books, prints, maps, ephemera, etc., you could even see a few celebrities! According to the Boston Globe: Rocker Peter Wolf, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough, and Italian novelist-essayist Umberto Eco were among the 4,500 visitors spotted at the 35th Annual Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair over the weekend. The event, held at the Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center, drew 120 rare book dealers from around the world, offering not only first editions of Melville, Wilde, Frost, and Hemingway but also antique maps, letters, political documents, and an array of pop culture totems. Among the latter: a 1967 Bob Dylan album signed by Jimi Hendrix; film directorFrank Capra's manuscript copy of James Hilton's novel “Lost Horizon''; a notepad autographed by members of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and other iconic '60s bands; and an Indiana State University yearbook with a youngLarry Bird on the cover, firing up his patented jump shot. Fetching one of the highest sums - $112,000 - was a hand-written letter from Alexander Graham Bell to his parents, detailing his invention of the iPhone (just kidding). No word on what if anything the Woofa Goofa took home with him, but we hear he's a b... [more Boston Fair a Great Success (And Included Some Celebrity Sightings)]

In commemoration of what would be William Golding's centennial birthday, the Bodleian Library at Oxford will be displaying the original manuscript of The Lord of the Flies. The exhibit was curated by the author's daughter, Judy Carver, and will also include several first editions of the author's works, family photographs, and the Nobel Prize he received in 1983 for The Lord of the Flies. According to the Fine Books & Collections' blog: First impressions of the first edition (with the dust jacket) from Faber start at about $3,000 online. The first American edition, published in 1955 by Coward-McCann, commands about half that price. Ironically, the first American edition is scarcer than the British edition. 2,383 copies of the first American edition were sold before the book initially went out of print. The first British edition, meanwhile, went through a print run of 3,040 copies. The exhibit will be on display at the Bodleian Library through December 23, 2011. Lord of the Flies Manuscript on Display Bodleian Library Exhibits [more 'Lord of the Flies' Manuscript on Display for the First Time]

ABAA members across the country are gearing up for next weekend's 35th Annual Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair and we hope to see you there! Over 120 dealers from the US and around the world will be exhibiting rare, antiquarian books, modern first editions, manuscripts, autographs, maps, atlases, and an abundance of ephemera. The Fair will be held in the Hynes Convention Center, and will run from Friday, November 11 through Sunday, November 13. Highlighted Items at the Fair Fair Activities Fair Hours Friday: 5pm to 9pm Saturday: 12noon to 7pm Sunday: 12noon to 5pm It's going to be a wonderful fair, so mark your calendars if you will be in the Boston area! Please click here to visit the Fair's website. [more 35th Annual Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair]

Today, a collection of over 600 rare bookswhat some are calling "the last great private library "will be auctioned off in New Zealand. The books were collected by Arthur Pycroft, a prominent Auckland naturalist and scholar. Pycroft earned his living as a senior manager of NZ Railways, but his passions were ornithology and natural history, which he delved into with dedicated research and during personal explorations of Hen Island, Little Barrier, the Kermadecs, and Melanesia. At the age of 50, Pycroft received a hefty inheritance and was able to retire and devote himself to his passions full time. He became a member of the "Moa Searching Committee", a group that searched for skeletons at specific sites. He even had a newly discovered species of petrel named after him. Now let's get down to businesswhat are some of the treasures in this collection? A complete set of Cook's Voyages, published in the 1770s A first edition of the first novel published in New Zealand, Taranaki: A Tale of the War by Henry Stoney (1861) A 2-volume set of Captain Scott's journals from his last expedition, published in 1914 Early Maori language publications, including an 1838 New Testament and an 1852 translated version of Robinson Crusoe Te Tohunga, a 1907 German translation of ancient Maori legends and traditions by Wilhelm Dittmer, which features a leather cover adorned with a color illustration Also included are numerous titles about exploration, shipping and maritime history, natural history an... [more Notable Private Library to be Auctioned Today in New Zealand]

Last fall, Johns Hopkins' Sheridan Libraries acquired the Dr. Elliott and Eileen Hinkes Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science. The collection is comprised of more than 300 items, which Dr. Hinkes acquired over the course of two decades, and will be on display for the public in an exhibit entitled Eureka!. Earle Havens, the William Kurrelmeyer Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts at the Sheridan Libraries, said, "The historical sweep and ambition of the Hinkes Collection are staggering, from telescopic visions of the heavens from the ancient world to the most seminal subatomic reflections upon the fundamental nature of matter and energy in the modern era." The collection includes a 1495 edition of the celestial works of Aristotle, early editions of pioneering works from the European Enlightenment, and rare off-prints of groundbreaking essays from the early to mid-twentieth century. Eureka! is on display at the George Peabody Library (17 E. Mount Vernon Place) and will be open to the public from October 24, 2011-February 29, 2012. 'Eureka!' opens at the George Peabody Library EUREKA! The Dr. Elliott and Eileen Hinkes Collection of Books of Scientific Discovery [more 'Eureka!' Exhibit opens at Johns Hopkins' George Peabody Library]

In 1998, a 13th century Greek Orthodox prayer book sold at auction at Christie's New York for $2 million. Why did it sell at such a high price? It's a palimpsest, an erased and overwritten document, and the true value of the book lays beneath the prayers, where one can make out the faint markings of a much older textthe only surviving copy of the essential works of Archimedes. The palimpsest had been identified in 1906 by Johan Ludvig Heiberg, a famous Danish historian who was able to decipher and transcribe portions of the text. The scope of his research was limited, however, by the limited technology at the time and because he was working with the bound text. As soon as the palimpsest was sold in 1998, William Noel of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore contacted the buyer to request permission to loan the palimpsest and put it on temporary display at the Walters. To Noel's surprise and delight, the buyer arrived in Baltimore with the palimpsest in hand and offered to fund an extensive scholarly project to conserve and study it. Noel was appointed director of the Archimedes Palimpsest Project, and he embarked on a twelve year journey 'into' the text. Conservators, historians, manuscript experts, and scientists from around the world assisted the project, and Noel pointed out that "dedicated scholarship has brought these erased texts back to light." X-rays were particularly helpful in revealing text beneath saints' portraits, but regular x-ray beams were not focused nor powe... [more Lost Texts and Diagrams by Archimedes Found In a Medieval Manuscript]

The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America is delighted to announce the winners of the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest! First Prize: Mitch Fraas, Duke University, Anglo-American Legal Printing 1702 to the Present Second Prize: Maggie Murray, Johns Hopkins, Literature of the Little Review: In Which Margaret Anderson Enters an Antiquarian Bookstore Third Prize: Sarah McCormick, University of California-Riverside, Desert Dreams: The History of California's Coachella Valley Essay Prize: Emily Brodman, Stanford University, Sourcing the Sanctuary Movement After a two year hiatus, the contest was reinstated last year under the joint leadership of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America, the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies, the Center for the Book, and the Rare Books and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress, with major support from the Jay I. Kislak Foundation. Students who entered the contest were top prize winners of book collecting contests at their respective institutions. Judges were once again impressed by the scope and genres represented among the collections. Jean Kislak, a trustee of the Jay I. Kislak Foundation and lifelong collector, served as a member of the competition judging panel. "It was very exciting to see such a diverse array of book collections. These young collectors have shown such skill and creativity in assembling their outstanding collections." Mr. Fraas' collection began when he was studying ... [more 2011 National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest Winners Announced!]

The ABAA is launching an Exhibitions page on our website, which can be found at the following link: http://hq.abaa.org/books/antiquarian/exhibitions. This page will provide listings of book-related exhibitions throughout the country. (You can also access this page by visiting abaa.org, clicking on 'Events' in the top right corner, and then clicking on 'Book Related Exhibitions'). We are actively researching and compiling listings, but our page also allows users to submit events. If you are aware of a current or upcoming bookish exhibition, please visit our page to submit information about it. Our goal is to compile a comprehensive database so that a person can find a book related exhibition wherever they may be. Thanks in advance for your help! [more ABAA Book Related Exhibitions Page]

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 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]