The Fine Books Blog

Reading

2010-03-11T17:24:13Z

Spare an hour or two to browse Harvard's new interactive "Reading" website:

Reading: Harvard Views of Readers, Readership, and Reading History is an online exploration of the intellectual, cultural, and political history of reading as reflected in the historical holdings of the Harvard Libraries. For Internet users worldwide, Reading provides unparalleled digital access to a significant selection of unique source materials--more than 250,000 pages from 1,200 individual items, including 800 published books and 400 manuscript selections.

For a quick wow, click on the Collection Highlights, where you can literally flip through 15 fantastic finds, including Dibdin's Library Companion (1824), The Country Book-Club (1788), or the manuscript charging record from the Harvard library showing which books Henry D. Thoreau checked out from 1836-37.

Said FB&C columnist (and assistant reference librarian at the Massachusetts Historical Society) Jeremy Dibbell: "It's really a perfect example of how libraries can use current technology to highlight their collections and make things available at the same time. Really nicely done."

I couldn't agree more.

Alice, Alice Everywhere

2010-03-09T19:20:43Z

I had Alice (or maybe more precisely, Johnny Depp) on my mind when I wrote this month's Dear Reader, which I titled "Mad March Hare." But it's not just me. The Alice in Wonderland film (directed by Tim Burton, starring Depp) had its U.S. premiere over the weekend (it's now the #1 movie in America...). So everyone's talking Alice. Print Magazine had four designers storyboard their favorite scenes. The Private Library blog had a guest editorial about Alice. The Folio Club sent out an email about its new deluxe manuscript facsimile. Even the British Library held festivities last month.

Want to join in the Alice madness? Actually, the British Library is the best place to start. You can read about the original manuscript, leaf through it using their "Turning the Pages" software, and go down your own rabbit hole.

Collecting E-books?

2010-03-08T13:27:16Z

In case anyone missed yesterday's New York Times (myself included), this fun little essay about book collecting, e-books, Walter Benjamin, and the Kindle. An excerpt:

Beholding "the several thousand volumes that are piled up around me," Benjamin exclaims: "O bliss of the collector! Bliss of the man of leisure!" With nothing piled up around me but the Kindle and its charger, I may be missing out. But even Benjamin, who managed to see the future of media and technology more than once, knew he was writing an elegy for a way of experiencing books. I like to think he would be the first to recognize that the Kindle delivers a new kind of bliss.

Five seconds is all it takes ...

2010-03-06T20:43:47Z

WASHINGTON -- Everyone who runs a business knows that it takes a long time to win a customer for life but that you can lose one in five seconds. That's about all it took today for an organizer of the Washington Antiquarian Book Fair to tempt me to cross it off the list of events I support. Worse, it could kill the interest in the entire hobby for a visitor who took home her first rare books.

I hope the experience I share today along with two other mistakes organizers made serve as reminders for WABF and of any fair to remember the basics of solid customer communications.

What happened?

My friend Won-ok and I had finished our shopping around 3 p.m. today after we spent five hours shopping. We bought a ton of treasures. One of the volunteers with Concord Hill School -- the Maryland school that organizes the fair as a fundraiser -- nastily told us that "You can't have all those bags." She was referring to the grand total of three that another hard-working volunteer had filled with our goods. The woman then snatched some contents from one of our bags and overloaded them in the other two.

It was a shocking display of rudeness that left me biting my tongue to avoid lashing back.

My experiences to date with every single Concord Hill School volunteer had been nothing but outstanding. This event, by the way, is the first fair I ever attended and its friendly, helpful volunteers played a key role in giving me my seemingly incurable rare book collecting fever.

But today I was ticked. The fair would close in only two hours, more empty bags were on the table, and I was standing there with piles of books in hand.

"Excuse me," I wanted to say, "I just spent a thousand dollars on books that I'd rather not have crash onto the ground in the parking lot. I think you can spare another two-cent bag."

The volunteer was oblivious to how she sounded and made no effort to soften it the way people do when they realize they've been rude. I knew it wasn't my imagination, either. The volunteer standing next to the first looked horrified. She recognized the need to administer some emergency room customer service and was sweet as pie.

I stood frozen for a minute longer. I reflected on the otherwise delightful time I had over the past two days and how much I love the books -- and etchings -- I bought. "It's certainly not the book dealers' fault this volunteer was so rude," I thought. "Don't form your opinion of the fair based on the last five seconds."

Still, this wasn't the first ball organizers dropped this week. They stated on the Web site that there would be lectures by book dealers (there were none), and a request for additional information sent through the site went unreturned.

I chose not to say anything to the rude volunteer. Won-ok and I got in my car and pulled out of the garage. She is a lot more understanding than I am so it didn't even occur to me that she might have been irritated, too.

"You know," she began, softly -- knowing how much I love book collecting and how much I had talked about the WABF -- "That was pretty interesting for my first time. I enjoyed it, actually. But I didn't like being treated like that. It kind of leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth."

I cringed.

Even though they were well out of earshot, I suspected about 75 book dealers did, too.

Hey Washington -- let's bust out of cabin fever and buy some books

2010-03-06T03:09:45Z

WASHINGTON -- I busted out of cabin fever Friday night ... heading straight to the Washington Antiquarian Book Fair to hunt for a few new prizes to add to my collection of 18th and 19th century books related to the American Revolution. I'll be there again Saturday (March 6) not long after the doors open at 10 a.m. If you're within reach of the nation's capitol, you should come join me. The event runs until 5 p.m. so you've got time.

The event here is a great way to dump your blizzard blues, warm up your noggin' and even do your part to stimulate the economy. Whether you're a rare book collecting champion who attends fairs all the time or someone who has only heard of the hobby but never given it a try, the Washington fair is a great one to get out and see. The fair is big enough to give you a chance to touch and browse a wide array of rare reads yet not so big you have to hit the gym to train for taking it all in. It's just as right for your wallet. You can buy a beautiful book for less than $20 or you can drop tens of thousands of dollars if you're so inclined.

The Washington fair also gives me the chance to talk to dealers and ask questions ... everything I wanted to know about book collecting or my specialty area but couldn't ask google. The dealers like it, too.

"It's so easy to do things remotely on the computer," Sharlan Douglas told me. "It's nice to meet face to face." Her bookseller husband Ken Hebenstreit (booth 11) agreed. "We hope to sell some things, of course," he said, "but this gives us a chance to meet new people. We also have a very good customer in D.C. and we're going out to dinner with him."

The neatest item Hebenstreit brought down from Michigan? A first edition, advanced reading copy of To Kill A Mockingbird ($19,500).

Across the aisle in booth 38, new friend Ronald Cozzi of Old Editions Book Shop & Cafe told gave me some good news -- becoming the latest bookseller to tell me that his business is surviving the economic slump. He shared a very interesting take on why he's still doing well.

"Collectors find a lot of comfort in this hobby," the Buffalo resident told me. "They turn to their books even more."

I then helped myself to a double scoop of comfort by adding The Pulpit of the American Revolution to my collection. It was only $200 and covered an element of America's founding not yet represented in my library.

I kept my eyes on my niche but I enjoyed watching people smile when they spotted something that fit theirs. You can't help but shake off winter when you see a first edition copy of Charlotte's Web signed by the author. You can find that in Peter L. Stern & Co. booth (26 A) for $8,500. Booth 31 (Jeff Bergman Books) will lead you to a copy of the only authorized biography of Babe Ruth.

Jett W. Whitehead Rare Books in booth 42 B is a beacon for poetry lovers. Gibson Galleries has a gorgeous set of something that every nature lover would love to own but you'll have to get there quick on Saturday in case some writer-type decides to snatch it up. (Hint: Fine Books has written a lot about him recently, including a review of a novel about him that I wrote.) Hemingway makes several key appearances in various booths.

I could go on but it's closing in on midnight and I've got to get my biblio rest. My first stop tomorrow is at booth 18, where I'll hand The Book Corner $125 for the memoir of Revolutionary War Major-General Heath. I'm still kicking myself for not buying a book from that dealer last year. The book about a Hessian's view of the war was rare yet inexpensive. It would have been perfect for my collection but I got so distracted I forgot to go back and get it. The owner, Bill, event spent a half an hour teaching me about books on that subject.

You should visit him, too. Be sure to tell him I sent you -- but keep your paws off books about the Revolution!

Starstruck

2010-03-04T18:21:04Z

Film buffs & poster collectors, take note. Film historian Ira M. Resnick has just published Starstruck: Vintage Movie Posters from Classic Hollywood, which features the best of Resnick's personal collection of more than 2,000 vintage movie posters and 1,500 stills. It contains 250 posters and forty stills from the golden age of Hollywood -- 1912 to 1962. The publishers bills it as "A one-of-a-kind art book, Starstruck combines cinematic history, a guide to poster collecting, firsthand account, and dramatic full-color artwork--a blend of genres that is unlike any other movie poster book. Resnick offers entertaining anecdotes about how he managed to acquire such stellar examples of movie poster art, as well as historical information about the stars and films shown on the pieces he collected. Bonus material includes a list of Resnick's fifty favorite one-sheets, advice for the movie poster collector, and a glossary of terms and poster sizes. A must-have book for every collector and film buff, Starstruck offers a beautifully illustrated, personal tour of a bygone age of the motion picture advertising industry."

An exhibit of vintage posters from his collection will be on view at the Furman Gallery at Walter Reade Theater through March 9.

Below, Resnick's book signing at Rizzoli Bookstore in Manhattan, last month.

Photo credit: www.JessicaShaynPhotography.com

Peace, Love, and a Bookshop for Sale

2010-03-04T18:09:40Z

This was sent to me today by my local indie bookseller, in Woodstock, NY.

The Golden Notebook is housed in a building it owns right in the center of the Town of Woodstock, NY. It consists of a general bookstore with approximately 750 square feet of selling space and an upstairs stock room and office. Right next door is our children's bookstore in a rental space with approximately 600 square feet of selling space and access to a basement for storage. Both stores have garnered a well deserved reputation and have many established customers. Our goal is to find a buyer who will continue to maintain it as an independent bookstore. If interested, direct inquiries to ellen.tgn@gmail.com.

As you can imagine, Woodstock is a pretty neat place (even if the legendary concert did NOT in fact take place there).

Dawn of the Dreadfuls (& Contest)

2010-03-03T13:41:35Z

As devoted readers of FB&C will know, I've been following Quirk Classics from its very quirky beginning. Last year, Quirk Books of Philadelphia published a "mash-up" of Jane Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which became a New York Times bestseller. I interviewed the mastermind behind that book for the September 2009 issue of FB&C. It was a very cool concept, followed quickly by Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, which was about 25% less engaging its precursor, but still lots of fun. (I say 25 % because in P&P&Z, there was an ratio of 85% classic Austen to 15% "bone-crushing zombie mayhem." The follow-up had 60% real Austen and 40% bloody filler.)

The newest title in the series, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, however, is entirely original, and has entirely failed to capture my imagination. It's meant to be a precursor to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, so most of the characters are Austen's, excepting ones like Master Hawksworth, Elizabeth's ninja instructor and love interest. For a young adult audience, this might work. Otherwise, I fear Quirk has taken a grand idea and run it aground.

Still, the jacket art is stunning. And, you've got to hand it to an indie publisher for doing something--anything--to counter the same old corporate publishing nonsense that fills superstore shelves. Their marketing campaigns are themselves worthy of awards. In the case of Dawn of the Dreadfuls, March 3--today--has been declared BlogSplosion 2010. This means that if you click here, you can enter for a chance to win one of fifty Quirk Classics prize packs. They'll also give a preview of two illustrations from the book, due out later this month. Good luck.

In the meantime, I suppose we'll have to wait until June to see if the next mash-up, Android Karenina, redeems the spirit of Quirk Classics.

Party at Deborah Mitford's

2010-03-02T13:03:14Z

The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, aka Deborah Mitford, the last surviving Mitford sister is throwing open the doors to her country house Chatsworth in celebration of her 90th birthday. Anyone aged 9 or 90 is allowed free entry between March 14th and March 30th to view the extensively renovated house and the new exhibition "Celebrating Deborah Devonshire," with a wide variety of personal material and photographs relating to Deborah's eventful life, which in many ways mirrored the 20th century.

While on the Mitford kick, Folio Society collectors can also add the new edition of Jessica Mitford's autobiography, Hons and Rebels, to their bookshelves.

More information on the Chatsworth House exhibition here.

How Does a Library Go Green?

2010-03-01T18:49:32Z

In this month's Preservation magazine, Eric Wills writes about the transformation of an old Colorado high school into a state-of-the-art, eco-friendly library. As in most libraries, "One of the largest challenges was configuring the new heating and cooling systems. In the end, an ecofriendly geothermal system, which operates using groundwater, proved the least intrusive option." There's also a recycled rubber floor and a fireplace made from old blackboards.

A trend for libraries? Perhaps not yet, but the Parkway Central Library of Philadelphia is also undergoing environmentally-friendly restoration. It recently got a green roof -- seriously, it's made of vegetation, which is expected to aid in waterproofing, insulation, and drainage.

Collector Owns Nearly 700 Editions of the Same Book

2010-02-26T14:49:20Z

Book collectors can be obsessive types. I'm reminded of the movie "The Conspiracy Theory," in which Julia Roberts' character, upon entering the apartment of Mel Gibson's character, finds a multitude of copies of J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye and is a bit taken aback by his obsessiveness.

Walk into the home of Bill Ewald and you'll see an obsession he's developed all on his own. He has upwards of 700 copies of Two Years Before the Mast, written by Richard Henry Dana Jr. and first published in 1840. The Auburn Journal profiles Ewald, here.

It begs the question then - what's the one book you keep collecting? For me, I once was smitten by this book.

Thoreau Society Auction

2010-02-24T19:26:48Z

Would a printed poster of Thoreau's Concord look nice in your library? Is a Thoreau stamp with first day of issue cancellation more your style? Or Don Henley's drumsticks? Today begins the Thoreau Society's annual online auction fundraiser. Various Concord-related books, collectibles, tours, and gift certificates have been donated to the society to be auctioned off between now and March 17. (Fine Books is offering a year's subscription to our new print quarterly to one lucky bidder.) Saunter over and take a look.

Casanova and Other Librarians

2010-02-24T15:05:07Z

The news this week that the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris had acquired the manuscript memoirs of the great eighteenth-century Venetian lothario known to one and all as Casanova--Tiger Woods can only dream of walking in this guy's remarkable footsteps--brought to mind a very nice book published a decade ago by Louisiana State University Press, Casanova Was a Book Lover: And Other Naked Truths and Provocative Curiosities about the Writing, Selling, and Reading of Books. This smart collection of bibliophilic essays was written by John Maxwell Hamilton, an occasional commentator on NPR and dean of LSU's School of Mass Communications; you have to love a book that is dedicated to "all reviewers," and includes the explanation that "only ungrateful asses would pan a book after having it dedicated to them."

Hamilton's title piece took irreverent note of the fact that Giacomo Girolamo Casanova de Seingalt (1725-1798) spent the final years of his eventful life as a librarian in the household of Count Joseph Karl von Waldstein of Bohemia, and it was in that dreary castle that he took pen to paper and wrote Histoire de ma vie, the racy memoirs for which he became famous, and which an anonymous benefactor acquired on behalf of the French National Library (BNF). Though the actual purchase price was not disclosed, the figure was widely reported to be five million euros, about $9 million, which, if correct, would qualify it as the costliest manuscript transaction on record. The papers--comprising 3,700 pages of yellowing sheets--were transfered Monday to the BNF in thirteen boxes, and represent the complete, uncensored account of Casanova's amorous adventures. The material had been owned since 1821 by the Brauckhuas publishing company in Germany, and was once thought to have been destroyed in World War II; it was later found safely stored in a bank vault.

For those truly interested in the role of librarians, especially those coping with so many seismic changes brought on by the twenty-first century, I heartily recommend a new release from HarperCollins, This Book Is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All, $24.99, by Marilyn Johnson. A staff writer for Life magazine. Johnson says that she first became interested in the subject while doing research for her first book, a well received examination of obituaries wryly titled The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries. "With the exception of a few showy eccentrics, like the former solder in Hitler's army who had a sex change and took up professional whistling, the most engaging obit subjects were librarians."

Before long she was fully involved in the world of these wonderful professionals whose sole goal in life, it seems, is to provide knowledge and information to others. Johnson's coinage of the word "cybarian" takes note of the changing nature of the business, and of the many ways the people she proceeded to spend so much time with have adapted to the new technologies. She describes the modern librarian as a person whose job is to "create order out of the confusion of the past, even as she enables us to blast into the future."

The result is a most enthusiastic book that is great fun to read (and one which, I feel bound to disclose, makes generous mention of several books that I have written.) Its greatest contribution, I think, is that it pays tribute to an essential public service that so many government officials blithely feel can be cut at will during budgetary crises, reductions made especially easy for them to impose since these temples of wisdom have no well-heeled lobbyists throwing corporate money around to champion their cause. The epigraph to one of Johnson's chapters says it best: "In tough times, a librarian is a terrible thing to waste."

Big Donations for Special Collections

2010-02-23T03:44:47Z

In the past few days, two rather large donations to rare book repositories were announced. On Friday, the University of Pennsylvania's Rare Book & Manuscript Library (home to 250,000 rare books, as well as the Michael Zinman collection and the Gotham Book Mart collection) announced a $4.25 million donation toward the renovation of the library. According to Penn's press release, "The gift will support the first phase of a $15 million expansion project whereby the collection, study, and curatorial facilities on the sixth floor of the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center will be transformed into a new Special Collections Center. The redesigned Center will play to the strengths of the rare book library's teaching and digitization program. The Center will encourage the use of special collections in both research and in the curriculum; a fully equipped and staffed conservation suite will ensure continued effective stewardship of Penn's rare book and manuscript collection."

And just in time to celebrate Washington's birthday, Mount Vernon announced a tremendous gift. The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, a regular supporter of the historic site, has pledged $38 million to construct a George Washington Library at Mount Vernon. From the press release: "Construction of the 45,000 square foot facility, which will be named the Fred. W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington, is expected to begin in early 2011, with a completion date in 2012." Currently Mount Vernon holds 45 books from Washington's original library, as well as 450 letters and manuscripts in his hand, and about 1,500 additional eighteenth-century books and documents. Seems like they have a bit of buying to do -- book dealers, take note.

Book Trivia

2010-02-22T00:54:48Z

Q) Who invented the construction hat?

1) Gertrude Stein
2) Franz Kafka
3) Donald Trump

A) Franz Kafka. Although this story is considered by some to be a wee bit apocryphal, Kafka did work at the Worker's Accident Insurance Institute in Bohemia in 1912. It is a little doubtful that he actually invented it, but it is generally considered to be true that Kafka insisted upon its use since Kafka would have been professionally interested in lowering accidents. It was management guru Peter Drucker who first spread this story. However, there are no records to prove Drucker's theory true.

There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that Kafka was one of the founding partners in Terminix.