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Marie Bronte died of tuberculosis or cancer in 1821 at the age of 38. She left behind the most remarkable English/Irish writing family known to the world.

Frank E. Schoonover (1877-1972) was one of the most important American illustrators of his time. In more than 40 years he created more than 2200 illustrations which were published in popular periodicals like Harpers, Scribner's, and Colliers, and in over 150 books, particularly children's classics and fiction by authors as Jack London or Edgar Rice Burroughs. His images of Hopalong Cassidy, Blackbeard, Jim Bridger, Robinson Crusoe, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Joan of Arc remain a testimony of his artistic ability.

The friendliest and most approachable event of the antiquarian book fair calendar: If you are already in the trade, an existing collector, or simply curious about old, antiquarian, collectable books, maps and ephemera, then the Chelsea Antiquarian Book Fair at the Chelsea Old Town Hall on Friday 5th and Saturday 6th November is not to be missed. There are 78 exhibitors this year and the beautiful Chelsea Old Town Hall will be filled with interesting and collectable items from 16th to 21st centuries and books to suit all pockets – from £10 to £10,000. You will find everything from books for children to books on chess, counter culture, China (or china) and Churchill, at Chelsea. Are you looking for an unusual present for a friend, colleague or relative? Is there a subject, author or period of history that specially attracts you? Perhaps you have been thinking of collecting books but are unsure of where to start, what to look for, who to approach or what on earth booksellers mean by yapp edges, pochoir plates or slightly foxed ... If so, then Chelsea is the place to window shop and to satisfy your curiosity about the world of antiquarian and collectable books.

It was 1967 and I was just three months an employee of Jake Zeitlin's "Big Red Barn" bookstore, Zeitlin and Ver Brugge, and knew nothing. I guess that we received a list or catalogue offering rare books for sale (computers and the internet hadn't been thought of, at least not in the book business) and I had ordered (for all of $40 if memory serves correctly) an Advance Proof Copy of Bertrand Russell's Satan in the Suburbs. I was just beginning to collect Russell and, of course, had no idea what an Advance Proof Copy of anything looked like! It turned out to be not unlike an ordinary small paperback, but it was an Advance Proof Copy, and it impressed me beyond measure!

Online: Aldines - Schück, Aldus Manutius and the printers of his time

Online: Maps before 1850 - Antique Maps of Iceland - Cartographic Images - Map History / History of Cartography - Yale Map Collection - The Ryhiner Map Collection - Brock University Map Library - MAGIC - Hargrett Library Rare Map Collection - Library of Congress Map Collection - Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection - The Roger Baskes Collection