BIBLIOGRAPHY WEEK happens each year in New York City at the end of January when the principal national organizations devoted to book history have their annual meetings. Other groups plan interesting events, too, since so many bibliophiles are in town. Some events (not noted here) are open to members only, but mostly you are encouraged to show up everywhere: get a sense of what is going on in the book world, hear some interesting papers, schmooze over cocktails ...
Thousands of book lovers, booksellers, and scholars will converge in Southern California for the 53rd California International Antiquarian Book Fair over the weekend of February 7-9, 2020.
The Rare Book Fair Stuttgart is proud to announce the patronage of the Lord Mayor of Stuttgart. 75 German and international dealers will present a variety of material from illuminated manuscripts, and incunabula to rare books, autographs, illustrated works and graphic art of the 20th century.
Mark Hodkinson ponders the nature of our personal book collections, why and how we gather books, what it says about us, and how we ever expect to find time to read them all.
" Books, glorious books — confessions of a bibliomaniac"
As a Radio 4 documentary about book collectors airs, the Times deputy literary editor, James Marriott, who lives in a room full of volumes, admits to his problem.
Sandra Hindman is owner and founder of "Les Enluminures" with galleries in Chicago, Paris and New York specialising in manuscripts and miniatures from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the gallery also handles rings and jewelry from the same periods.
In this podcast Sandra has invited collector Benjamin Zucker and looks at their roles and relationship as dealer and collector. While this podcast focusses on the current "Diamonds" exhibition, it also reveals the fascination to collect, the handling of manuscripts and the knowledge needed to deal in historical items.
In 2011 the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers initiated an internship program which enables young books to spend some time in another country. They are hosted by ILAB booksellers, work in their businesses and learn a lot about rare bookselling. Valentina Rudnitskaya is one of four ILAB Interns from Russia who travelled to the United Kingdom, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Netherlands and Australia. Read her report.
They were everywhere. Squealing, chittering hordes of them. Not as disgusting as crack house roaches or subway rats; vaguely humanoid in fact, with their funny knitted hats, backpacks, discrete piercings, and plastic communications devices dangling from their ears. Utterly self-absorbed, concentrating intently on posting the next YouTube video of their friends in line at Starbuck's. I'm talking, folks, about teenagers.
"Picaresque" derives from the Spanish word "picaresca," which comes from "picaro" ("rogue" or "rascal"). Usually satirical, a picaresque novel follows the exploits of a hero, usually low born, who must survive by his wits as he travels about on various (usually unlooked-for) adventures. The roots of the genre can be traced all the way back to Rome, with works like Petronius' Satyricon and Apuleius' The Golden Ass. Although influential writers like Chaucer and Boccaccio certainly included elements of the picaresque in their writing, the first modern picaresque novel is Lazarillo de Tormes. It was published anonymously in Spain and Antwerp in 1554. Cervantes undoubtedly popularized the genre, which blossomed in the next two centuries all over Europe. Sterling examples Voltaire's hilarious Candide and Henry Fielding's The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. Here's a look at other great authors who have contributed to the genre of the picaresque.
John Turner's new bibliography is an essential guide for any devotee of Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit and of illustrators of children's books during this period. Illustrated with eight pages of color photographs, it contains over 300 entries published between 1904 and 1980.
Have you recently become a bookseller? Would it help if you could get regular advice from an experienced ILAB antiquarian bookseller in your field? Report by mentored bookseller Gregor Gumpert.
You want a collecting tip? Here's one for American collectors: don't collect Maurice Maeterlinck! He was wildly popular in the wake of his Nobel Prize, in the early part of the 20th century. His books appeared in beautifully designed editions, that might even beguile the discerning collector of today.
