By Bruce McKinney

On two successive recent weekends, first in San Francisco and then LA, the San Francisco Book, Manuscript and Ephemera Fair and then the ABAA annual west coast Book Fair offered California book collectors a chance to buy interesting and collectible printed material. For the serious collector it was the venti-double-cappichino of show me, tempt me, sell me and for dealers a double hand of "dare" to invest to be ...more

By Bruce McKinney

Literary firsts, poetry and prose, are a Venus in the Jupiter-sized world of literature. Every day, tens of thousands of books are sold, much of it fiction. A few examples, here and there, are collectible copies. Often they are first editions, some signed by the author, others signed by interesting owners. Another few otherwise insignificant examples, by luck and sometimes intention are preserved in perfect ...more

By Bruce McKinney

The constant on AE is change and this month the introduction of AE Book Blog more evidence of it. For those unaware, a blog as a noun means "weblog," as a verb "to write entries in, add material to or maintain a weblog." A blog is an effective way to communicate in the web environment. Over the past few years they have become popular as a way to converse intermittently. I'll use AEBB to write about online ...more

By Bruce McKinney

Bloomsbury Auctions, whose Normandy is New York and who came ashore late last summer, is up and running and laying out an aggressive schedule of sales for the balance of the year; 16 from now through the end of the December. In hand is their catalogue for New York 7, their 7th sale to date and first of 2008: Bibliophile Americana & Literature. It's scheduled for March 5th and is well worth a look.

The ...more

by Renée Magriel Roberts

I was on eBay last night, searching for new antiquarian material. And, like every night, I saw innumerable lists of images that have been ripped out of their books. These are not just colorful botanical prints, but just about any kind of frontispiece, plate, or even in-text illustrations. Links from eBay stores lead one to other sites, which house tens of thousands of these images, bereft of text ...more

By Michael Stillman

Leading internet bookselling site AbeBooks has launched a new service in territories outside its traditional base of North America and Western Europe. Its name is Gojaba, and the first countries to be served (now in Beta) are Russia and Sweden. Brazil is expected to follow not far behind.

Gojaba hearkens back to the early days of Abe. It is described in their news release as "a new no-frills, ...more

By Michael Stillman

For those fascinated by American history, there are few events more exciting than a presidential election. However, here in Texas, particularly a far corner, presidential elections are a distant spectator sport. Nobody important comes here. Nominations are sewn up before our primary, general elections a foregone conclusion. Not this year. For a brief time, a bizarre twist of fate has made us the center of ...more

By Michael Stillman

The latest eBay strike has come and gone, and the results were predictable. The strikers may have claimed a moral victory, but the actual victory, as always, went to eBay. It was never in doubt. This was not Obama vs. Clinton, but Obama vs. Kucinich, Ali vs. Chuck Wepner, Google vs. Altavista, the Patriots vs. the Giants (okay, scratch that comparison), or Anybody vs. the Knicks. The outcome was determined ...more

By Michael Stillman

The Rosenbach Museum and Library will be holding an exhibition of the life and career of famed children's author and illustrator Maurice Sendak. It is called There's a Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak, and will run from May 6, 2008 until April 30, 2009. If you will be anywhere near Philadelphia during the next year, this is your opportunity to learn all about this man and his fantastic imagination. ...more

By Karen Wright

Diversity! It's a word that is bandied about all the time nowadays in regards to people, music, and food. In February, at the San Francisco Antiquarian Book, Print and Paper Fair, it was the name of the game in books. In our eighteen years in the book business, I don't believe we have seen a more diverse or interesting conglomeration of books and booksellers.

Where to start, where to start? The ...more

By Bruce McKinney

The fourth issue of The Bookseller's Comet will appear in the April issue of AE Monthly. It will include printed material and objects offered by members pertaining to Maps, Atlases, Books with Maps and related materials. It's intended to provide an interesting cross section of material selected by AE members for collectors to evaluate for purchase. The catalogue will be posted as a Collectorˇ¦s Guide for one year, ...more

This month, you will find 14 new booksellers' catalogues reviewed in Section Two. The Polar Regions are the focus of Aquila Books, while Africa and British explorer Richard Burton are featured by Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books. Travel and exploration is covered by Antiquariat Eigl.

Rare Americana is offered by Michael Brown Rare Books, while the American West is highlighted by Clark Rare Books and ...more

By Michael Stillman

Be careful what you wish for. Leave well enough alone. Any number of cliches could apply to the hapless Transy book thieves, who somehow managed to make a bad situation worse. These are the four students who stole several valuable books from the rare book room at Kentucky's Transylvania University, in a theft even more comical than their disastrous appeal. A few more appeals and they'll spend the rest of ...more

by Michael Stillman

This month we review our first catalogue from Jarndyce Antiquarian Booksellers, located opposite the British Museum in London. The firm has been selling books for 35 years, and this is the 174th catalogue they have issued. Jarndyce specializes in antiquarian English literature and history, although the works here are perhaps a bit older than most they usually offer. The catalogue is titled Books ...more

By Michael Stillman

We have received our first catalogue from Antiquariat Ralf Eigl, a German bookseller from Rosenheim. Antiquariat Eigl has been selling books for over twenty years and our first catalogue is actually their 32nd. Their specialty is rare books in the field of travel and exploration, so the title of this catalogue, Travel and Exploration, makes perfect sense. Along with some of the more expected ...more

By Michael Stillman

The 259th catalogue from the William Reese Company of New Haven has arrived. It is titled Native Americans. For convenience, we will refer to these people as "Indians," as this is the name the natives were given in antiquity, though this makes about as much sense as calling them Pakistanis. Almost all of these works were written by settlers or Europeans, so the bias is frequently evident, though ...more

By Michael Stillman

Antiquariat Banzhaf of Tubingen, Germany, recently published a listing of books for their appearance at the San Francisco and Los Angeles Antiquarian Book Fairs. The topics are too varied to pin a label on what the bookseller has to offer, but it is nonfiction with works in such areas as architecture, gardening, science, medicine, furniture and much more, including trade catalogues and ephemeral items. ...more

By Michael Stillman

We recently received a spectacular catalogue of Maps, Atlases and Views from Donald Heald Rare Books of New York. This is a collection of antiquarian works which depict a changing world, as new discoveries brought greater understanding of the unknown. Some maps are surprisingly accurate considering the difficulty in obtaining accurate information; others make you wonder what people thought they saw. ...more

By Michael Stillman

Now available from Aquila Books of Calgary, Alberta, Canada is Catalogue 108. Aquila specializes in books and ephemera relating to the polar regions of the globe. Most of these, naturally, concern travels and expeditions, since few people would want to live permanently under such brutal conditions. It is hard to imagine how people could journey to such hostile climes a century and more ago, ...more

By Michael Stillman

Michael Brown Rare Books has issued their Catalog 46 -- Americana. This is a collection of 225 items of Americana (though a few are really more British), generally rare or obscure. Most range from the period of the late Colonial era to the late 19th century. Along with books and pamphlets are several interesting collections of photographs. This is a fascinating group for those who collect Americana ...more

By Michael Stillman

Now available from Clark Rare Books is their Catalog 932 of Americana, The West, and General. Offered is a mix of primarily western antiquarian books, recent works about the past, and more recent reprints of older works. In other words, this is a catalogue for both collectors and scholars, as well as those looking for some interesting books to read. Clark offers over 250 (actually 251) books ...more

By Michael Stillman

Now available is Catalog No. 2 from Michael Sharpe Rare and Antiquarian Books. Sharpe offers a variety of material, from history to travels, literature, science, theology, art, maps, illuminated books and more. Just about anything may show up in the pages of this catalogue. What is common to the selections is that these are significant works and their condition is generally exceptional for ...more

By Michael Stillman

Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books has created a catalogue for collectors of Africa and the travels of British explorer Richard Burton. The title is Books by Sir Richard Burton together with a selection of books on Africa, from a private collection. Offered are 57 titles, all bound in green half morocco gilt, with marbled board and edges. They were apparently so bound for British bookseller Henry Sotheran ...more

By Michael Stillman

James Pepper Rare Books has issued their Catalogue 170, otherwise unnamed, likely because of the diverse offerings. As usual, there are many items related to the theater and film, literary first editions and mystery, but where do you categorize We Saw Lincoln Shot. One Hundred Eyewitness Accounts? We'll let you contemplate that mystery, and proceed to a few examples of what is offered, with ...more

By Michael Stillman

Frits Knuf Antiquarian Books recently issued their Catalogue 212, Reference Books on Manuscripts, Miniatures. The field of manuscript collecting has become very popular, the one-of-a-kind nature appealing to those who appreciate the unique. This catalogue provides those with an interest in these handwritten documents much information about the field, plus numerous catalogues of collections of important ...more

By Michael Stillman

Gene W. Baade Books on the West has issued Catalogue 208, a brief collection of items from their stock. This is a group of works ranging from a few decades ago to the days when the Old West was still new. Baade offers an interesting group of titles, both readable and collectible, and few will break the bank. There are many intriguing books for those fascinated with the West in the days before it was ...more

By Michael Stillman

The latest Short Title List from the Antiquariaat Forum of the Netherlands was published for the recent California International Antiquarian Book Fair in Los Angeles, sponsored by the ABAA. The Antiquariaat Forum is a regular participant in book fairs all over the world, and they always bring some of their most interesting books along. Here are few which made the recent journey across the ocean to ...more