Our members list new acquisitions and recently cataloged items almost every day of the year. Below, you'll find a few highlights from these recent additions... The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck New York: The Viking Press, 1939. First Edition. First edition, with "First Published in April 1939" on copyright page and first edition notice on front flap of dust jacket. 8vo., publisher's heavy grain decorated beige cloth. A near fine copy in like dustjacket, bright, clean and fresh. Housed in a tailor made leather spined case. Inscribed by the author to the front flyleaf: "For Jules and Joyce and also Joan with love John Steinbeck." Beneath the signature is one of Steinbeck's irreverent flying pig sketches (or "Pigasus" if you prefer), generally an indication that the recipient of his presentation was a close and valued friend,or someone he held in high esteem. In this case it was Jules Buck, and Joyce Gates, with their young daughter, Joan. Jules Buck started out as John Huston's camerman for his wartime documentaries ("Winning Your Wings", "Let There Be Light" etc.) and then grew into an influential producer, both in the US and abroad. Although having a sketchy working relationship with Huston, they reportedly fell out over Huston's anti-Semitic behaviour (Huston later referred to Buck as "My body servant" which is obviously super healthy). He collaborated with Steinbeck on the screenplay of what would end up as Elia Kazan's "Viva Zapata", although uncredited, and later prod... [more Weekly Highlights]

The ABAA Gender Equity Initiative is proud to announce the fourth year of the ABAA Mentorship Program, designed to further the ABAA's mission to promote ethical standards and professionalism in the antiquarian book trade, encourage the collecting and preservation of rare and antiquarian books and related materials, and facilitate collegial relations within the trade. Goals � Further the mission of the ABAA. � Provide dealers early in their careers with the opportunity to advance their professional development. � Build a recruitment pipeline for the Association that enhances the number of qualified applicants. � Advance the diversity of new members. � Allow mentees to build a relationship with an ABAA member. � Educate potential candidates about a career in the trade (for example, graduate students looking for a profession outside of academia). Structure With the assistance of the Gender Equity Initiative, mentors and mentees will be paired with consideration of a variety of factors such as any specific requests, specialization/area of focus, and business structure. Location could also be a point of consideration. Once paired, mentors and mentees will commence a one year period of mentorship (May 15, 2024-May 1, 2025). Over the course of the year, mentors and mentees are required to have face-to-face communication for a minimum of 1-2 hours each month (this could be completed electronically). The schedule structure to meet this requirement will be determined by the pair. We e... [more 2024 ABAA Mentorship Program]

Browse the latest catalogs, newsletters, and e-lists of rare books, fine bindings, incunabula, print ephemera, and much more from the members of the ABAA below. (Also includes podcasts, blog posts, and other digital formats.) *New* indicates any catalogs brought to our attention since mid-February 2024. AARDVARK BOOKS/EZRA TISHMAN BOOK APPRAISALS March Exit Stage Left List *New* March Lion List (March 2024) *New* Featured item: Mitchell, Samuel Augustus MITCHELL'S NATIONAL MAP OF THE UNITED STATES; (Leather, with Brass Clasp and Two Foldout Maps) Philadelphia, PA: Samuel Augustus Mitchell, 1843. First Edition. Leather-bound. 12mo. (7 1/4 in. x 4 1/2 in.) Rich dark-brown leather, double ruled in blind, brightly lettered and ornamented in gilt. Rays of the sun in an arch above the lettering to front board; this repeated to rear board with the addition of an eagle, with wings outspread holding an American shield in its beak, grasping an olive branch with his right talon, and a brace of arrows in its left. All this above ta cloud-construct with a large banner ("E. Pluribus Unum" above and "United States" below. Recent conservator's touch-up to previously lightly rubbed extremities. Two lovely colored mounted folding MAPS in clean, bright condition. The first map (34 1/2 in. x 25 1/2 in, and bordered in lovely rose and yellow) is entitled: "A CONCISE VIEW OF THE NUMBER, RESOURCES, AND INDUSTRY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, IN THE YEAR 1840: Comprising the Different Classes of the Inhabi... [more Latest Catalogs of Rare Books]

The ABAA is accepting entries for the 2024 National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest where more than $6,000 in prizes will be awarded to student collectors! The National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest is jointly administered by the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA), the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies (FABS), the Grolier Club, and the Center for the Book and the Rare Books and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress. The contest is open to all prizewinners of college contests, whether or not first prize, and to interested students whose institutions do not offer contests. More information can be found here... All entries should be submitted here (in PDF) by June 10, 2024. For more information on the contest, please visit contest.abaa.org... 2023 NCBCC winners... [more 2024 National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest]

View the recording of this event here: To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the ABAA, the March Brown Bag Lunch Series will feature a panel discussion with veteran and young ABAA members. They will share their experiences with book scouting, memorable moments as a dealer in the trade, the ups and downs of a book dealer, and much more! Treasure Hunt Stories Wednesday, March 20, 2024 at 2pm ET Advance questions can be submitted to xin@abaa.org by noon ET Monday, March 18th. Moderator: Lizzy Young, Lizzyoung Bookseller (member since 2016) Lizzyoung Bookseller sells rare books, ephemera, and manuscripts with a focus on food and drink History, women's history, cultural history, children's books, and anything else that makes her smile. A former pastry chef, Lizzy caught the bookselling bug when she started working for her father, Roy Young Bookseller. The rest is history. Panelist: Jim Cummins, James Cummins, Bookseller (member since 1981) A lifelong collector, Jim started James Cummins Bookseller in 1978 after running the rare book department at Brentano's. He is a prominent and well respected figure in the antiquarian book world and a fixture at auctions. His expertise is wide and is reflected in the breadth of stock at his namesake firm. You can see Jim in action in the 2019 documentary, The Booksellers. Panelist: Megan Bell, Underground Books (member since 2024) Megan Bell is the co-owner, along with Josh Niesse, of Underground Books, ABAA in Carrollton, Georgia. One of the ne... [more Brown Bag Series: Treasure Hunt Stories]

Meet the latest members of the ABAA. Full Membership Robin Beck, Primary Sources, Uncharted Americana Born and raised in the foothills of western North Carolina, Rob Beck came to bookselling after twenty years of deep and focused collecting in a very narrow slice of the Americana pie. In 2017, he and his wife, Laoma, launched Primary Sources, Uncharted Americana, specializing in rare, unique, or unusual American paper, whether printed, manuscript, or visual. Primary Sources is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and operates primarily through catalogues, having issued seven to date. Rob received his BA in Political Science from UNC-Chapel Hill, his MA in Anthropology from the University of Alabama, and his PhD in Anthropology from Northwestern. He has been a professional archaeologist for more than thirty years and has worked in Bolivia, Peru, China, and much of the eastern United States. He continues in that career as a university professor, but he's always on the hunt for exciting new material for Primary Sources. Scott Givens, Crooked House Books & Paper Scott Givens founded his first bookstore in 2001 and opened a second in 2006. After twenty years in the retail trade, he sold his bookstores and started to specialize in more rare, collectible, and vintage books at Crooked House, although he still keeps a decent inventory of books priced under ten dollars just for fun. Scott exhibits at book fairs along the West Coast, and is delving into printing single-subject “creative cata... [more The Latest Members of the ABAA]

Edit: You can view a recording of this event here: ---- Please join the ABAA Gender Equity Initiative on Zoom on February 14th, 2024, at 2 PM ET for a Brown Bag Lunch Series with Alexandra (Allie) Alvis, Curator of Special Collections, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library. Rare books and manuscripts are more than historical objects, they are potent – and elastic – symbols. Shifting cultural values emphasize (and de-emphasize) parts of history to suit their goals, with books frequently being caught up in the mix, but rarely a focal point. Despite being relegated to supporting roles, the material forms of books in popular culture specifically tell us a great deal not only about how non-specialists conceptualize historical periods, but of how they understand book history in general. Enter Pop Bibliography. The most common place people encounter book history is not in the library, but through popular media. Pop Bibliography is the study of the production and reception of bibliography through this media lens, to reverse-engineer the popular concept(s) of the "Old Book" in Western pop culture. This talk will delve into the origins of some of the historical sources of these concepts, and address how they speak to the fetishization of the book as an object in the digital age. February 14th @ 2pm Alexandra (Allie) Alvis - Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library Pop Bibliography: Finding Book History in Popular Media Allie Alvis (she/they) is the Curator of Special Collections at the Wi... [more Brown Bag Series: Allie Alvis]

The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America's Diversity Initiative Committee is proud to announce a paid summer internship program co-sponsored by AbeBooks. We invite you to apply and share this opportunity with qualified applicants at your institution and beyond. This 10-week paid, hands-on, learning-oriented program seeks to provide an opportunity for entry to historically underrepresented individuals in the trade—Black, Indigenous, people of color, and/or LGBTQ+, by offering tools, experiences, and exposures necessary to pursue a career in the antiquarian book trade. The intern will gain experience in research, cataloging, customer relations, and more with an ABAA member as host. Application Requirements Self-identify as Black, Indigenous, person of color, and/or LGBTQ+. Minimum requirement of a high school diploma, OR be a currently enrolled student in any degree program, OR be a recent graduate (< 1-year post-grad). Must be detail-oriented, have independent research experience, strong writing skills and time management, and be comfortable working on solo and collaborative projects. Prior experience working in a bookstore, library, or customer service setting is a plus. Ability to secure summer housing independently and ability to coordinate commute if necessary. The application is a 2 stage process. Stage 1 application can be found here. Stage 2 of the application can be found here. The application deadline for Stage 1 and Stage 2 is April 30, 2024. Please note... [more 2024 ABAA x AbeBooks Internship]

For most people, managing one career, mastering a sport, or overcoming a major medical challenge are the work of a lifetime. ABAA-member Zhenya Dzhavgova, owner of ZH Books in Fremont, California, has done all these and more in a very short time, as well as successfully navigating the shifting sands of integrating into a new culture, language, and most-recently parenthood. After moving to the US and completing her education, Dzhavgova got involved in the antiquarian book world, and via the well-worn path of Colorado Antiquarian Book School (CABS) and the University of Virginia's Rare Book School (RBS) established herself as a specialist on Slavic and Eastern European books. In 2016, she became a member of the ABAA, but thereafter her story diverged from the “typical” path of an antiquarian bookseller. Her odyssey began in the summer of 2021, in the middle of a global pandemic, when Dzhavgova was diagnosed with breast cancer, and not one, but two types at that! Here is the story of her medical odyssey in her own words: I have been told I had pretty much achieved an impossible goal. I am a former athlete, I eat a healthy diet, I never do drugs, I am active, I had always been very healthy, until I wasn't! Exactly two years ago, at the end of Summer 2021, right in the middle of the pandemic during a routine checkup – I was diagnosed with not one, but two types of breast cancer. I was 41, with a 4-year-old daughter. Even worse, it turned out that MRI, the most advanced imagi... [more Zhenya Dzhavgova: Medical Emergencies and Sporting Triumphs]

The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA) is delighted to announce the winners of the 2023 National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest: First Prize Ishaan Prasad (Harvard College) for "Confessions of a Former Sheep Thief: Ten Years of Exploration in Typography". Prasad first became interested in typography while designing arcade-style games for the iPhone, which led to a desire to understand the principles and reasoning behind typography and design. Second Prize Joshua Shelly (Duke University) for "Alte Bücher in Haifa: (Re)building a German Jewish Library in the 21st Century". Shelly came to collecting while working on a dissertation on German Zionist literature and became intrigued by the experiences of “a generation that continued to search for solace in the pages of German literature, even while its members packed their bags and set sail for far-off locales in search of refuge.” Third Prize Enrique Vazquez (Yale University) for "Tales of the Midwestern Northwoods". Minnesota native Vazquez grew up exploring the Boundary Water Canoe Area with family; his collection grew as a way to remain connected to the North Woods while being unable to visit. Essay Award Nichole Nomura (Stanford University) for "Classroom Editions of Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". Nomura's collection explores the evolving discourses around the teaching of race, the value of prose written in the vernacular, and perceptions of educators' obligations to students through ... [more 2023 NCBCC Winners]