Rare books and ephemera can be a fascinating avenue to examine the past and understand what was really happening during significant events or time periods. We took a deep dive into the database to see what light our members offerings could shine on America's new favorite drama... The Queen's Gambit Netflix's #1 new show is the coming-of-age story of a female chess prodigy struggling with addiction and the chauvinism inherent in 1960's American society. Based on Walter Tevis's 1983 novel of the same name, the show is being talked about for many reasons, not the least of which is the way it revels in decidedly analog pleasures -- the slow, methodical game of chess itself and the fashions of the 1960s -- and a very retro style of editing at odds with the frantic pace of modern television. At the same time, its vision of glass ceilings shattering and the importance of a team of like-minded friends to support each other speaks directly to issues very much on our minds at the current moment. Chess lovers have noted the accuracy and care with which the chess games themselves are depicted, which is no surprise considering the show recruited Grand Master Garry Kasparov and noted chess instructor Bruce Pandolfini (who also helped proof-read the original novel!) to oversee the gameplay and coach the actors on the nuances of competitive chess. In this time of social isolation, games like chess are discovering new fans and inspiring older ones to return to the board (the so-called "pandem... [more Behind The Queen’s Gambit]

HBO's latest hit show, "Lovecraft Country" is based on Matt Ruff's 2016 novel of the same name which mines the horror and mythology of H.P. Lovecraft, but instead of hiding his racist views, highlights them by having a group of African Americans from Chicago encounter both racists and supernatural forces in Lovecraft's New England during the Jim Crow period. H.P. Lovecraft has long been praised as a visionary and trailblazer for American fantasy; and is regarded as "second only to Edgar Allan Poe in the annals of American supernatural literature" by critic Michael Dirda. A prolific writer, Lovecraft was nevertheless unable to make a significant income from his fiction during his life. His reputation and influence only increased after his death, and there are now many collectors of his work, both serious and casual. Most of his stories were published in pulp magazines during his life, which can present challenges for collectors who wish to own copies of the magazines in which various stories made their first appearance. His work has been widely collected and anthologized in recent decades. After his death, his friends and fellow horrow writers August Derleth and Donald Wandrei attempted to interest major publishers in a collection of his best work, but found traditional publishers had little interest in occult horror. They formed a publishing company, Arkham House, specifically to reprint Lovecraft's stories, and over the decades published much of Lovecraft's fiction, as well ... [more Exploring Lovecraft Country]

Every so often an ABAA member lists an item that gets people in the business talking, regardless of whether it fits with their own particular interests or specialities. One of those items is this exceptional letter from Jack Kerouac to a young boy tasked with writing to a published author for a school project. The response is generous, eloquent, and expansive, offering more of a window into the author than the typical high-school project might reasonably be expected to produce! Jack Kerouac Autographed Manuscript by Jack Kerouac Description: 1964. Jack Kerouac's candid handwritten reply to a young man's questions about being a "Beatnik," his life philosophy, his thoughts on Montana, and more. Students in Robert Dodd's ninth-grade class were given an assignment to contact their favorite writer with their own unique series of questions relating specifically to that writer. The young Dodd chose Jack Kerouac, and the author replied at length to his questionnaire, which includes queries about his classification as a "Beatnik" (his answer: "I never was a Beatnik - it was the newspapers and critics who tagged that label on me...."), life philosophy ("My philosophy is 'No Philosophy,' just 'Things-As-They-Are'"), career goals ("Be a great writer making everybody believe in Heaven"), the ideal way of life ("Hermit in the woods..."), his thoughts on fame ("My name is like Crackerjacks, famous, but very few people buy my books..."), and segregation ("he Irish and Italians of Massachuset... [more Jack Kerouac in His Own Hand]

Note: We're reposting this article on collecting film scripts in light of the growing difficulty in acquiring copies of classic mid-century films and movie studio's reluctance to make classics available for exhibition. It was originally published in August 2019. According to a great many people, the film (or movie, if you prefer) was the great art form of the 20th century, so it shouldn't be any great surprise that there is a large number of collectors — individual and institutional — focused on the movie business; but it might surprise many to learn that there's great interest in collecting the seemingly least-glamorous part of the entire filmmaking process — the scripts themselves. Collecting scripts is different from collecting many other forms of printed matter, as scripts were not mass-produced (excepting the relatively recent trade-paperback editions of hit films) or made available for sale to the general public. Scripts were typed out and mimeographed; changes were printed on different colored pages and the earlier pages thrown away; scripts went through innumerable drafts, and sometimes several sets of writers; and all that before the production technicians and artists got hold of the "finished" script and began annotating it for their own purposes. There are therefore multiple different types of script and an entire language of shorthand to decipher when evaluating a script manuscript. Different eras and areas of production had their own conventions and practic... [more Collecting Film Scripts]

Like any field of endeavor, the rare book trade has its quirks and rituals, its habits and history, its jargon and secrets. Unlike some other trades, book dealers have never been afraid to commit their secrets, memories, and insights to paper. There are many, many fascinating and educational books detailing the inner workings of the rare book trade. We polled some dealers and collectors and arrived at this list of the top ten books every book collector should read. Let's start with the more-educational books: 1. ABC for Book Collectors by John Carter The classic reference work on book terminology. First published in 1952, the current edition (the 9th) has been updated to include terms spawned by the internet and -- for the first time -- illustrations! With subtle wit and humor, first John Carter and now Nicholas Barker unpeel the layers of meaning from phrases that -- although once more-common -- now appear terribly obscure outside of rare-book circles. In a field where it's essential that buyers and sellers understand what they're talking about, ABC for Book Collectors is an excellent guide to our common language. After one learns the terminology used in the used book trade, the next thing one needs is a guide that can help you determine whether the book you have come across might of particular value and/or interest. While an acquaintance with an experienced rare book dealer is the best way to access this kind of information, there are several good books that ABAA members an... [more 10 Books Every Book Collector Should Read]

The ABAA has launched a program where seasoned ABAA members act as mentors, i.e. business advisors and guides, to novices in the rare book field and/or those not currently in the trade but whose background and interest in the vocation would make them good candidates to enter the field. The goals of this program are to: • 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 and diversifies the membership • Afford mentees the opportunity 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 ABAA Headquarters is responsible for coordinating and implementing the program. 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 but, with the availability of technology like Skype, need not be a requirement. Once paired, mentors and mentees will be introduced via ABAA Headquarters and, if both felt that it was a suitable fit, would commence a one year period of mentorship. 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 electronicall... [more ABAA Launches Mentorship Program for Novice Book and Manuscript Sellers]

The makers of Downton Abbey go to great lengths to get their period details and history correct, and one of the ways they do this is by incorporating contemporary books into conversations and even at times the main plot. In fact, it can be difficult to find an episode of Downton where the references to Dickens, Trollope, or now-obscure English historians are not flying thick and fast. When Lady Edith started dating a London editor, one expected to meet Virginia Woolf or E.M. Forster at a party any moment. Alas, poor Michael Gregson died before the producers could work a Bloomsbury party into the show. (Post script: After this post was first published, I attended the "Dressing Downton" exhibition at Asheville, NC's Biltmore House -- which has a stunning library -- and discovered that Virginia Woolf was a guest at that London party, albeit in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it, non-speaking role. Her costume is the one on the right of the photo below. The exhibition was so popular it went on tour, and an expanded version will open at the Biltmore House in November 2019 and run until early April 2020.) Outfits worn by Lady Sybil (left) and Virginia Woolf (r) in Downton Abbey. Shown in the Biltmore House as part of the "Dressing Downton" exhibition in early 2015. (Source: Cincinatti Enquirer.) Given creator Julian Fellowes' attention to detail and habit of tangling the fictional Crawleys in real historical events, those featured books are genuine and are generally well-chosen. The disce... [more The Books of Downton Abbey]

Faith Baldwin was once one of the bestselling authors in America, although she was never a lauded award-winner. Instead, Baldwin practiced what was variously called “light” or popular fiction, and today is generally called romance — usually with a touch of superiority. In her obituary, The New York Times declared her 'the doyenne of American light fiction writers.” Raised in relative wealth and comfort in Manhattan, Baldwin initially saw acting as a means for a single women to gain independence, but as her writing career took off, she embraced it. At the start, she wrote for the women's magazines, publishing poetry and prose -- whatever there was a market for. In 1921, she published her first novel, Mavis of Green Hill, and by 1927 she was able to regularly sell the serialization rights for many of her novels to mainstream magazines, assuring herself of a steady income. Critics have alternately praised Baldwin for being a proto-feminist and dismissed her for being too conservative, which is unsurprising as Baldwin generally wrote about the domestic concerns of love, marriage, and a woman's career, concerns which tend to be under-appreciated in any age. But, in novels like Private Duty (1935), Hotel Hostess (1938), and Career By Proxy (1939) she often returned to the question of whether a woman could be fulfilled through work and also find marital bliss — although her heroines often had to accept their fate of leaving their job after marriage — and she frequently f... [more Collecting Faith Baldwin]

In an effort to assist in the recovery of materials missing as a result of the Carnegie Library theft, the ABAA would like to bring to the public's attention the list of items believed stolen. Click this link to view the list. Update 8/20/18: The following list includes more details. Should any member of the public identify having purchased or otherwise having knowledge of the disposition or current location of any items from the Carnegie Library—whether on this list or not—please contact one of the following detectives from Allegheny County District Attorney's Office: · Det. Fran Laquatra (412) 388-5305 flaquatra@alleghenycountyda.us · Det. Perann Tansmore (412) 388-5307 ptansmore@alleghenycountyda.us ` · Det. Lyle Graber (412) 388-5316 lgraber@alleghenycountyda.us Please note, the detectives do not have reason to believe that anyone who may have purchased any of these items was necessarily aware that the material had been reported stolen. The ABAA appreciates your attention and assistance with respect to this grave matter. Please check our post from March for further details, including additional information on collection markings. Sincerely, Vic Zoschak President, ABAA Brad Johnson Chair, ABAA Security Committee Susan Benne Executive Director, ABAA [more Carnegie Library Theft]

In his day, Horatio Alger, Jr. (1832-1899) was one of the most-famous authors in America. While his books have largely fallen out of print today, everyone is familiar with his main idea, because Horatio Alger, Jr. popularized the “pulling oneself up by the bootstraps” ideal that permeates so much of American life. It's not too much of a stretch to say that Alger gave America its great national myth, that hard work (and clean living) can allow anyone to achieve success — although people often seem to overlook the amount of sheer luck that comes into play in his fiction. A more-jaundiced reading of Alger's oeuvre would assert that success for Alger was usually defined as social advancement or preferment, and it was usually achieved by finding a wealthy patron through performing a selfless deed or some service (returning a lost wallet or proving ones virtue in some way). Of course, the only individuals who could achieve this social advancement were white males, and the agent of this change was invariably an older white male. Nevertheless, his books were popular after the Civil War, and achieved a huge surge in readership in the early decades of the Twentieth Century. It wasn't an easy road to success for Alger, the son of a Unitarian Minister and descendant of Puritan ancestors. After attending Harvard -- where Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was part of the faculty -- he published fitfully, and none of his varied early books really found an audience. After a brief attempt to w... [more Horatio Alger, Jr.]