In conversation with Hervé Valentin, President of the French antiquarian booksellers' association SLAM about virtual fairs, how French booksellers adapted to 2020 and what to take from this year.
LONDON, UK: The Antiquarian Booksellers Association (ABA) is pleased to announce a distinguished list of exhibitors for its third online rare book fair taking place Friday 27th November to Wednesday 2nd December. With several leading names exhibiting at the online fair for the first time, as well as many returning, the winter edition of Firsts Online is set to be a refreshing showcase to mark the end of 2020.
ILAB has been informed of a loss of historic significance which was made public by Cambridge University Library today.
Two notebooks by Charles Darwin have been missing since 2000 and the library has now decided to launch a public appeal for their recovery, as well as asking the rare book trade for its help.
Sheryl Jaeger, Vice President of the ABAA and Head of the Virtual Book Fair Development Team of the association about the upcoming Boston Virtual Book Fair and how to turn the challenges of the COVID pandemic into business opportunities.
In an attempt to knock the Kindle off its throne, a new society was set up in October 2016 by a teacher/Ph.D. researcher from North London in the hope that it will 'make books sexy again'. In an age where the overwhelming majority of us access print culture through electronic devices, we run the risk of losing a wealth of information that can only be discerned from the material text. And whilst the Kindle may be a backpacker's best friend, a book's material form provides us with an insight into its history.2017 Events have just been announced.
"He was the most widely-known member of the trade of his generation" - We are very sorry to report that ABA Honorary Member Paul Minet of Piccadilly Rare Books died on February 6th, 2012. An obituary by ABA President Laurence Worms.
The only existing account of his life beyond his travels is an obituary in the Royal Geographical Society, New Series 1882: Edmund Smyth travelled in the company of John Hanning Speke and Richard Burton, and he made a secret expedition to Tibet and the Brahmaputra with Robert Drummond and Thomas W. Webber. Webber's report "Forests of Upper India" was rejected by Sven Hedin, who "dismissed the account as worthless and riddled with inconsistencies, devoting six pages of his Southern Tibet to demolishing Webber's claims". Why? Hedin had recently returned from Tibet and claimed the discovery of the source of the Brahmaputra as his own.
The Proper Title: In the wake of more high-profile book thefts, the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers is tackling head-on the sometimes thorny issue of provenance.
2nd April 1805 was the birthday of Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, whose fairy tales have delighted children and adults for generations. He wrote more than 150 stories, many of which have become part of the collective consciousness of western culture. Among his best-known stories are The Princess and the Pea (1835), Thumbelina (1835), The Little Mermaid (1836), The Emperor's New Clothes (1837), The Ugly Duckling (1844), The Little Match Girl (1848), and The Ice-Maiden (1861).
"A mere antiquarian is a rugged being" opined Dr Johnson, succinctly and meaningfully, to Boswell in 1778. What's in a name? – and what of the decidedly un-mere antiquarian bookseller?
